Cloth Diapering - Washing Part 1

Thinking of cloth diapering, but worried about the burden of laundry? I get ya. Having a baby means you are having to do about 100 loads a week of receiving blankets, bibs, tiny clothes, sheets... for me, adding 1 extra load every 2-3 days wasn't even noticeable. I found it easier than reaching for a diaper at 3 am and realizing we only had 2 left and the nearest store didn't open until 8am. 

Don't:

• use a wet pail. Lots of old school cloth diaper moms will tell you to put your diapers in a pail with water to avoid staining. Gross. Don't do it. It leads to mould and a much stinkier mess. If you are washing on a regular basis, you are golden.
• bleach diapers. Again with the old school advice. 'The only way to kill the germs is bleach." Not true. Bleach is a nasty chemical. I don't want it near my daughter's bottom.
• use dryer sheets. Even in other laundry. They use beef tallow to soften laundry (that is gross on it's own) and leave build-up in your dryer. The scents and chemicals also really effect air quality in your home and can aggravate allergies and asthma. You can google how to clean the residue out of a dryer. Wool dryer balls are a great alternative.
• use diaper cream. It leaves a residue in diapers that takes a lot of effort to remove. A natural oil like coconut oil or All Things Jill diaper cream is an alternative. Even when using safe cream, only use if a rash is present, use sparingly and pop in a liner.

 Do:

• find a great diaper pail. We use the Motherease pail because it has a charcoal filter. It sits in the middle of our living room and no one smells anything. We line it with an Applecheeks wetbag so that I never have to wipe it out.
• wash every 2-3 days. Don't push it any longer or you will have mouldy diapers.
• use a diaper safe detergent. No dyes, no scents, no optical brighteners. Stick to something natural. We like Nellie's, but there are a lot of options. I won't list them all because if you are reading this, you can google. 
• use natural germ killers. Washing regularly, hot water, the sun, baking soda, and vinegar will kill bacteria. Don't use vinegar if you have hard water or you will have ammonia smelling diapers.
• sun bleach. I thought this was a crock - until I did it. My really badly stained prefold was spotless within one round of sun bleaching. Lay your diapers still wet in the sun. As they dry, the sun bleaches out the stains. You may need to do a couple rounds, but it really works.
• hang to dry. If you want your covers to last, hang to dry. I hang to dry all my covers and put prefolds in the dryer. Pop your covers in the dryer every 5th wash to reseal.
• strip your diapers. If they aren't absorbing well, they stink after one pee, you kid gets a rash - you need to strip those diapers. More on adventures in stripping later. 

  Washing instructions to follow.