Washing Cloth Diapers

Washing cloth diapers can be a little intimidating but there are so many different ways to do it that you'll soon figure out what works best for you.

Here's my routine for my LG Wave Force WT5101H top loading HE Washer:

(I just copy and pasted from my sign posted by my washer for those that may be helping me with laundry once baby comes so let me know if you have any questions)

RINSE

1.    Put in all diapers & wet bags (check diaper bag)
*Make sure nothing with desitin, a&d, resinol, etc on it goes in*

2.    Take inserts out of diaper & fasten velcro tabs to laundry tabs on backside of diaper

3.    Add 1 T. of Country Save detergent in tray with a small amount of Rockin Green's Funk Rock

4.    Hit Special button (under screen) until on Rinse & Spin

5.    Start (Play button on right) (takes about 25 minutes)

WASH

1.    When that's done, add Country Save (to line on blue scoop in box) to tray

2.    Turn washer dial to Heavy Duty

3.    Push Wash/Rinse button to Hot/Cold

4.    Push Extra Rinse button TWICE

5.    Start (takes about 1 ½ hours- don’t let them sit in washer overnight!)

 There are many different ways you can wash your diapers but these specific cycles & times I've found to work best for me.  Basically I do a prewash in cold water - just rinse and spin and then a HOT wash with 2 extra rinses (3 rinses total).  

You do want to be sure to include a prewash, hot wash and most often at least 1 extra rinse.  If you have an HE washer, your wash routine tends to vary and get a little trickier since it uses less water and doesn't have the agitator in it.  I however haven't had any issues since I started this wash routine.  Some people say to add a soaked towel in with your diapers to trick your washer into adding more water - I haven't found the need to do this as long as you use either the Heavy Duty or Bulky/Bedding cycle.

DETERGENT

You don't want to use just any detergent when washing your cloth diapers.  As you can see above, I chose to use Country Save detergent - this is basically because it's so cheap that I can use it on all my clothes and not have the confusion or necessity of buying different kinds of soap for different needs.  I bought mine on Amazon a year ago and I got 4, 10 lb boxes (160 HE loads) and still have not run out.  As I said, I use it on ALL our clothes and still have 1 box that's not even open yet so I spent about $60 on all our detergent for the past year and still used cloth diaper safe detergent on our diapers.  (Pretty good deal I think!  I find this site to be an excellent reference on what detergents to use/not use.  Also if you look around it, there's tons of other helpful information there too!  

I started out using Rockin' Green Classic Rock and really liked it until I switched to the HE washer - then it didn't work well.  We also moved at the time though and got really hard water, so I'm sure that was part of the problem.  However, it's much more expensive than Country Save so I'm glad I switched anyway!  I've heard of lots of people using Charlie's Soap, Ecos, and the make your own detergent as well with good results.

Here's a make your own detergent that was shared on my cloth diaper group on Facebook: (I haven't used it so can't give you any helpful hints - sorry!)

Powder detergent

1/3 bar Fels Naptha 

½ cup washing soda

½ cup borax powder

I  cut my bar into slices then ran through the blender or food  processor then when it looks smaller than rice I dumped it into a bowl and added the washing soda  and borax and mixed till it was combined really well.

Use 2 tablespoons per full load!

Liquid detergent

1/3 bar Fels Naptha 

½ cup washing soda

½ cup borax powder 

~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

I hope that at least gives you a little overview of what to expect when it comes to washing. I tried to hit the basics but also give you a few tips along the way for those that might be trying to troubleshoot so hopefully it helps you out. If not, post a comment and I'll see if I be of any assistance!

OTHER TIPS 

You will want to wash about every other day - to cut down on number of diapers you need to buy and also to cut down on smelliness and chance of ammonia issues occuring.

The recommendation is to wash no more than 24 pieces in one load - but I usually wash about 16 pockets (plus 16-25 inserts) in each load and have not had problems - again I'm sure this depends on your washer.

ALSO - BE SURE TO FOLLOW YOUR DIAPER'S MANUFACTURER'S DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO WASH YOUR SPECIFIC TYPE/BRAND OF DIAPERS. THIS IS WHAT I GENERALLY USE ON MY DIAPERS BUT YOU MAY WANT TO ALTER THE ROUTINE SO THAT IT WORKS PROPERLY FOR YOU. IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW YOUR MANUFACTURER'S DIRECTIONS, THE WARRANTY COULD BE VOID SO BE SURE TO CHECK THAT OUT PLEASE - THIS IS BY NO MEANS A REPLACEMENT ROUTINE.

My Personal Cloth Diaper Stash & Reviews

Many of my expectant friends have expressed an interest in cloth diapers and want to know what I use....So here it is!

My go-to diapers:

Mostly my stash consists of BumGenius 4.0 one size pockets. These were recommended to me by my good friend, and I've been pretty happy with them.  They are a little bulkier than the sized diapers because obviously they're one sized so there's a little extra fabric in there when it's snapped down on smaller babies. However I like the one size because it's way easier on your budget - you buy 25 or so of them and your stash is complete. You don't have to buy 25 more when it's time to size up, and then size up again...  You can choose either hook & loop closure (Velcro) or snaps. I have both & love the convenience of the hook and loop but some of M's diapers are showing wear at 16 months, and I am in the process of replacing some of the laundry tabs. Also she's figured out how to take off these dipes and still can't take off the snaps - so if I had to do it over, I guess I'd probably get mostly snaps.  (Although the velcro is easier on grandparents and others that might assist in diaper changes once in awhile)

M's diaper drawer - this is all BumGenius 4.0s or Rumparooz
(RaR's are the bright yellow and purple on the middle left) 

Another of my favorites right now are Grovia's hybrid diaper which is a shell (or cover) with a snap-in insert.  I like these because they are definitely trimmer than the pockets but probably not quite as absorbent. There are different inserts you can get for these - organic cotton or hemp & I have both; however, I definitely prefer the organic cotton. For some reason, the hemp ones seem to be the ones that cause leaks if there ever are any.  These also have the choice of hook and loop or snap closure. I only purchased the snaps because of my issues with the BumGenius (BG), so I can't tell you how the Velcro holds up, but I've heard it's very good!  Also Grovia's have the option of using disposable inserts for those times when you need the added convenience or have to battle diaper rash.  The disposable insert is not as absorbent as a disposable diaper which seems like they can suck in anything, but it's nice knowing that it's made of renewable resources and doesn't have the nasty chemicals of regular disposables...  I use these sometimes when M has a bad diaper rash and I want to use a non-safe cloth diaper cream like Desitin or A&D to treat it.

We also have a few Rumparooz one size pocket diapers that are in regular rotation.  I like these a lot and love the double gusset however they are a little bulkier, so I mostly use them at home instead of haul them around in the diaper bag.  (Note: They are not really that much bigger, but I like to take advantage of every little space in my diaper bag :) )  Also they seem to have a lower rise so I had to size up on the snaps sooner than on the BumGenius however she still fits into them fine at 17 months and 24 pounds so we'll see if she outgrows these sooner or not...I'm not sure why the fit is different!

Other diapers I've tried:

Fuzzibunz one size pocket - I really like the trimness of this diaper - it is less bulky between the legs which is nice however we've had a hard time sizing it right and seem to get leaks.  These not only have a resizable front like the BG's but you can also resize the elastic around the legs and in the back.  I really want to like these but just haven't gotten the hang of it I guess.

GoGreen Diaper - These are also a one size pocket diaper - they have different colored snaps on the front to help get both sides snapped the same.  Inside - the pocket is open in the front and back and they also have double gussets which helps to reduce leaks.  I find them a bit bulky however and don't really care for them.  I'd sell it but my husband likes using it so I just go ahead and use it to - no big complaints really.

Baby Beehind bamboo fitted - M is a very heavy wetter, so I had to try a few different things to get a system that works for me.  I bought one of these and put a wool cover over it as that was a system that was suggested to me by many people.  I thought it worked pretty well, but M seemed to begin waking up during the night needing changing, so I don't think it's quite absorbent enough for her.  Love the diaper though - think she just outwets it!

The Sleepy Sheep wool cover (over Baby Beehind fitted for overnight).  This took me a long time to try as the wool intimidated me for some reason but it was really easy to care for actually and did work pretty well.  I didn't fall in love with it like many seem to but maybe it's just because my daughter is such a heavy wetter.  This brand is from a WAHM in my town so I don't know if other brands would work better or the same but this is what we went with - no longer use it though.

Flip hybrid system: both Organic and Stay Dry inserts.  I bought these to try as well as many people raved about them.  We tried the organic insert for overnight which worked for awhile when she was around 9 months old probably.  It however is SUPER bulky and I felt bad having her wear it all night.  The Stay Dry inserts are not as absorbent as I'd like them to be and usually only get used when we are running low on diapers.  They are very trim however so if you're willing to change more often, they're a great option; however, I definitely prefer the Grovia hybrid system over this one.

All the diapers we own including the cute little newborn diapers we haven't gotten to try yet! :-)

So that is what I've tried and my reviews.  Obviously all of this is just my personal opinion so feel free to take it as you wish.  I do think I'd like to buy a few of the Fuzzibunz sized diapers for this new little one to take along in diaper bags, for pictures, etc where a trimmer diaper would be nice to have but I haven't done this yet.  Also I am going to cloth diaper this baby sooner than I did M.  With M, I started at around 6 weeks when she fit into the BG 4.0s so this time I'm going to start with GMD prefolds and Thirsties covers and probably begin either as soon as we get home or get into the swing of things.  I'll let you know how that goes once I have the experience.  :)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you have any questions for me.  I can let you know what I've tried or what I've heard others doing or hopefully at least send you to a good resource.  I love to hear what others think of their cloth diaper experiences and am happy to help newbies get started as I love cloth diapering!

I am going to do another post on my wash routine and how I've converted mostly away from the microfiber inserts that come with most one size diapers and why.

Cloth Diaper Safe Diaper Rash Creams

There is always a question as to what diaper rash creams are safe with cloth diapers so here is a great link I found that all cd'ers should have on hand.  It's from Pinstripes and Polkadots which is a great online cloth diaper resource!

I use CJ's BUTTer and have had pretty good success.  I think it's best used for preventing rash rather than curing it once your little one (lo) gets a bad rash but of course it's better than nothing!  I also use coconut oil which works really well - you can usually find this in the organic section of your grocery store.

I think I might buy some of this to try too - Angel Baby Bottom Balm - sounds pretty good!

And don't forget - even if you don't use cloth diapers, you could still use these creams as they are a more natural product to put on your little one's tushy.  =)

Why can't you use any old diaper cream with cloth diapers?  Diaper creams like Desitin or A+D will cause repelling issues with your diapers because of the ingredients in them.  They are made to create a thick barrier on baby's bottom which then transfers to your diapers and causes repelling.  If this happens, you have to 'strip' your diapers which isn't the most fun process in the world...although not terrible if it does!  My mom actually just got some Resinol on one of my diapers and it's currently soaking in hot water and blue dawn to 'strip' it out.

If you feel that you do need to use a cream like A+D or Desitin, you can use a liner in your diaper so that the cream doesn't get on your diaper.  Just be sure that you wash the liner separate from your diapers and don't throw it in the wet bag with them either because the cream could transfer during washing.  Also be sure not to wash cloth wipes that you use to wipe the cream off with your diapers either.

Making hemp/bamboo diaper inserts

I finally got a couple of my diaper inserts made!  I only ordered the fabric MONTHS ago!  My little one (lo) is currently 1 year old and a very heavy wetter, so I'm trying to get away from the microfiber inserts and go to natural materials which hold more liquid and aren't as bulky.  I thought that I'm handy enough to make them myself (albeit they may not be pretty!) so my friend and I got some cheap fabric, and I thought I'd give it a try.  I don't have a serger otherwise these would be way prettier!  But they go inside a diaper anyway and on my baby's butt so what does it really matter what they end up looking like, right?  

First I decided that I like using the Hemp Babies insert that I currently have so I thought I'd use it as a pattern.  It's a good size that I can fold it in half to stuff it in and it's nice because that would make 4 layers and it would still dry as fast as if it were 2.  

I started out by laying the Hemp Babies insert on top of my hemp material, and I just cut around it roughly.

Once I got that cut out, I pinned the hemp fabric to my bamboo fabric that I'm using as the 2nd layer.  I've never used bamboo but it is a softer fabric than hemp, so I decided to put it on one side in case I ever decided to use it as an insert in a cover sometime because then it would be softer against her bum.  It's also still supposed to be as absorbent as hemp so hopefully this works out for me!  You could also do two layers of hemp though or two layer of bamboo or whatever you feel will suit your needs!  Hemp is also soft and would be perfectly fine against baby's skin but the bamboo is just softer, so why not?!?

Here you can see the softer bamboo on the outside (whiter fabric) and then hemp on the other side. These are the sides off the fabric I decided to keep facing outwards because: 

for the bamboo: it was smoother than the other side so I thought it would get cleaner and help decrease on pilling &

for the hemp: because that's the side that was outward in the hemp inserts that I purchased so I took my hint from the pros. :)

I cut my bamboo layer out around my already cut hemp layer - like I said I did not do this in a technical manner.  I laid the fabric down and cut around it.  It is not perfectly square but I think it will work (and it was a lot faster than measuring everything out perfectly!)  I then pinned all the way around because that's what I have to do. :)

Then I took my machine and did a zigzag stitch all the way around to fasten the two layers together.  Again - NOT perfect in any way but it will work....and voila you're done!

My first finished hemp/bamboo insert.  I discovered that I needed to adjust my tension after the fact - you can see that it sort of curls on the sides, but hopefully I'll get better as I go.  

My two finished inserts!  The bottom one is bamboo side up and the back one is hemp side up.  I started out making 2 because I want to try them out before I use up all my fabric in case they don't work quite as well as planned.  I think I am going to make a few that are 3 layers and also a few that are just 1 layer to add in as a doubler.  That way, when baby #2 arrives, it doesn't have to use the 3 layers & extra bulk if it doesn't need it.

SO....try it yourself!  Order some fabric and try it out - as you can see, mine are nowhere close to perfect but they'll work to stuff in a diaper.  And think of the money you'll save!  I'll update this when I use up all my fabric and let you know how many inserts I made and what the comparable price would have been if I had purchased them all pre made.  But with the small Hemp Babies at $6 a piece, I'm pretty sure I'm going to come out ahead!  :)

Let me know if you have any tips or tricks on how I can make mine better or what works best for you.  

I had one momma tell me that she made hers in a long skinny insert that she folds up twice instead of in half  - the way she bought her fabric was in a tube so she didn't even have to sew the ends of it!  That way she ends up with 6 layers of absorbency for her lo's.  That sounds pretty slick too! :)

Cloth Diapering 101: What you need to know before you begin

I'm going to start by giving you a very general overview of what cloth diapering is like these days.  I'm sure most people imagine big white cloths and pins sticking into baby's legs and that is definitely not what modern cloth is about!

I think the most popular style of modern cloth diapers is the one size pocket diaper.  This means that, generally, it will fit babies from 8-35 lbs or so.

Aren't they cute?!?!

The pocket means that there is a slit in the back of the diaper where you can add or remove inserts depending on the absorbency you need for your specific child.  The majority of my fluff stash are BumGenius 4.0s (shown above) by Cotton Babies.  You can get them in velcro (known as aplix in the diapering world) or snaps.  Aplix is easier for sizing around the waist but also easier for a toddler to figure out how to take off - As I've recently learned with my just-turned 1 year old!

Styles
Now there are other styles of cloth as well - prefolds & covers would be the closest to what you were originally picturing in your mind and they are definitely the most budget friendly choice.

All In Ones (AIOs) - are the most like disposables in that the absorbent part of the diaper is built in to them.  No stuffing or unstuffing just wash, dry and put back on baby's bum.  Downfall is that you cannot add absorbency if you discover you need it (as I probably would with my heavy wetter)

Hybrids or All In Twos - are where you have a cover and an absorbent layer to go inside.  Sometimes the layer snaps in and sometimes it lays in the cover.  Examples of this would be the Flip Diaper or the Grovia.

These are the basic types of diapers.  I know I didn't cover all of them but these are what you will hear about most of the time.  Now back to the basics of cloth diapering....

Washing
This is probably the most daunting thing for first time cloth diaperers...but it doesn't have to be!  It really isn't that involved!  For starters, when baby's start our and are exclusively breast fed (EBF) you don't have to do anything to the poo diapers before putting them into your washing machine.  Once your baby starts solids, you will probably want to get the poo off the diapers before storing for wash day.  You can either do this the old fashioned way by swishing them in the toilet and flushing, a diaper sprayer (YAY!) or you can use either disposable or reusable diaper liners.  You'll want to wash about every 2 days - you can sometimes stretch it to 3 if you have to but I definitely recommend every 2.  Now you'll want to store your dirty diapers in a wet bag - they have a variety of kinds - either a zippered bag or one you can put as a liner in a trash can and then you can just throw the wet bag in the washer with the dirty diapers.  You'll want to do a cold prewash to rinse out all the excess poo (EBF poo is water soluble that's why you don't have to wash it off before putting into the washer) and then follow your specific diapers recommendations, but usually a warm or hot water wash with detergent followed by an extra rinse.  Sometimes your wash routine will have to very from this - it just depends on the type of machine you have, if you have soft or hard water, etc but this is a good starting point.  Then you throw your inserts into the dryer if you want and you will want to line dry your covers.  Wa-La - no harder than doing the rest of the laundry at your house right?!?

Traveling with Cloth
One of the other prevalent questions about cloth I've heard is "How do you take cloth out in public with you?"  This was intimidating for me as a newbie too but after I tried it the first time I was wondering 'what was I so worried about?!?'  So when you go out and about you'll want to take your diapers along with a small wet bag - I use something similar to this Planet Wise.  I think I have the medium size.  So when you change your diaper, it's just like at home, take out the new cloth diaper, put the dirty one in the wet bag and then put the wet bag back in your diaper bag.  This is also a handy reason to use cloth wipes because how often do you just wipe baby's bottom, stick the dirty wipe in the diaper and roll it up? (at least typically with disposables)  So if you also use cloth wipes you can do the same with your cloth diaper and throw it in the wash at home with your dipes!  (I have to admit though that I haven't gotten to doing this when traveling yet but I'm not sure why...I have found way too many washed disposable wipes in my dryer and had to pick out the little fibers that were left - you'd think that would be inspiration enough to get me to change huh?!  This is my goal in the near future...)

Why Cloth Diaper?
It's better for your baby.  It's better for the environment.  It's better on your wallet.  Do you need more reasons?!?  Studies have shown that it can take up to 500 years for ONE disposable diaper to decompose in the landfill...how crazy is that?  That means that if you use disposables on  your child, that that diaper will still be there when their great-great grandchildren's children are walking this earth!  Also studies have shown that cloth diapering can save you an average of $1000-2000 for ONE child.  So if you reuse the same cloth diapers for your second, third, fourth, etc child then that savings would multiply awful fast!  I obviously haven't done any of these studies first hand but I have found some pretty legitimate sites online (that I'll try to post) that have and it sure made me feel good for cloth diapering...not that I haven't also had to use a disposable or two once in awhile...

Well I think I've told you the basics of cloth diapering and hopefully you found it somewhat interesting.  Please post questions as comments and I will try to answer them as quickly as possible.  I always have people asking me about cloth diapering, so I'm glad I finally have a place I can refer them to instead of retyping my advice/info every time.  :)  Feel free to refer your friends, family or strangers who have asked you about cd'ing to this site as well.

Also want to note that I did not receive any compensation from the linked sites - I merely frequent those sites so I used them as reference points.  Also be sure to follow your cloth diaper manufacturer recommendations on proper usage and washing instructions.