Simple is Good

So I had this problem with Little Man's cloth diapers a few laundry loads back. Can you see the discoloration (no, it's not normal diaper discoloration, and I do know what I'm talking about) and all the nasty little worn spots and holes? I was perplexed and distressed. I really like all the cute little blue flannel prints the diapers are made of, and my mom made them, and on top of it all they are really useful. ; ) I ended up having to throw away quite a few. These are the ones I hope to be able to patch and salvage.

I don't think it's caused by the washer or dryer since I've never had any other problems with this sort of thing. All I could think of was that maybe there was some chemical reaction happening. So, I devised an elaborate experiment using scraps of the pale yellow flannel and many combinations of liquid laundry soap, Bio-kleen Bac-out (which I spray on the messy diapers), powdered laundry soap, and baby powder. And guess what. Nothing made any difference. Arg.

I was expressing my discouragement about the lack of results in my experiment to my husband and trying to figure out how to perfect it so I could figure out the problem. He looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked a few questions, the last of which was something like, "What did you do different on the load that they did that?" To which I replied, "I used powdered laundry soap instead of liquid." He replied, "Then just use the liquid soap." Duh mixed with hehe. I have to giggle to myself about my complicated plans when all I needed was a little simple troubleshooting.

I'm really thankful for him. ; )

Do any of you use cloth diapers and have similar experience? I'm curious to know if it's just a weird little thing that happened to me or if I'm not alone. Do you have any expert advice on how to clean them less dangerously to the flannel?