How to make cloth diapering (from commercial brands) more eco-friendly?

CloudyWithSprinkles

I have had great success and would like to know more about the process and what works does not work but more specifically geared towards how to incorporate more of a holistic/eco friendly aspect into the mix. Are there any tricks that you know of? What is the best way to strip the diapers? Hang dry or dry on low?

What are the hardest questions you have answered (usually preceded by, "You cloth diaper!? Are you crazy?")? 

I also make my own detergent, borax, detergent soap, oxyclean. What does everyone else use? 

I wrote an article about the subject and was hoping for some honest feed back from moms (or dads!) who go through this every day. 

 SPAM

Thanks for answering all those questions! 

BriDaily

Oooo... this is going to be fun answering!

I started cloth diapering DS with a few pocket style diapers and an AI2. I had run across Green Mtn. Diapers (due to so many people recommending it on here!) and had read Karen's comments about synthetic materials being difficult to keep stink free. I had kind of shrugged it off, but pretty quickly I learned my lesson! I live in an area where our water is rather hard and has high levels of calcium and other minerals. I passed those synthetic suckers on ASAP!

Needless to say, I ended up going with the Clotheez organic prefolds from GMD. I have since decided I really like the birds eye flats, though, so I have a mixture. I was so excited when they introduced the organic workhorse fitted diapers, although I miss the colorful snaps! I also have some other organic diapers in my stash - Babee Greens fitted, Hemp Babies, etc. When it comes to eco-friendly and CDing, buying organic is probably number one on the list! That or gently used

Wool is definitely the next part of the discussion. When it comes to covers, wool is probably the most eco-friendly... as long as the sheep have been raised eating organic grasses and their wool has not been treated with harsh chemicals. Up-cycling wool follows closely behind, but it is really important to thoroughly clean the wool before using it to make a cover.

PUL covers are more economical, of course, although they aren't terribly bio-degradeable. I am hoping to see more ways to up-cycle PUL after it has lived its use as a cover (cutting the good parts out to make small reusable snack bags, make-up bags, etc.). I imagine the snaps could be recycled.

When it comes to detergent, I have really enjoyed using Soap Nuts! I buy mine from Green Virgin Products in FL and have been quite impressed. Not only do I use them on my cloth diapers, I also use them on my clothes, and I make a multi-purpose cleaning spray with them!

2 cups soap nut water (simmer soap nuts for about 20 minutes in a pot), 1 cup water, 10 drops of each - Tea Tree EO, Orange EO, and Lemon EO (I use Young Living)

This leaves mirrors streak free, works really well as wood cleaner, and is non-toxic (if LO gets a bit, just have them drink a lot of water to flush it out). 

I also use OxyBoost from Pacific Sands to keep diapers super clean and stain-free. It is also great for removing spit up stains on baby clothes, unclogging drains, and a host of other uses! It is sort of like OxyClean, but without any added brighteners, fragrances, etc.

OxyBoost can also be used to strip the diapers, although I find I rarely have to when using natural fibers. I just throw a scoop into the hot wash every other week or so to keep them squeaky clean. I have only stripped my prefolds once (three hot washes with OxyBoost in each one) and have been using them for about a year!

As for my wash routine, it consists of a cold quick wash with soap nuts and a hot wash with soap nuts. I do not usually do a cold rinse afterwards (unless I threw OxyBoost in) and have not had many problems in doing so, thanks to the hypoallergenic nature of soap nuts!

I generally dry my diapers in the dryer (we live in an apartment), but will definitely be using a clothes line once we are in a house! I hang my covers to dry on a drying rack. I also only partially dry my AIOs in the dryer, then hang them to finish on the rack.   

stoneycakes

OP, you may want to repost this on the cloth diapering board.  It's very active

Racie

In terms of saving water and energy, I think using flat diapers is the way to go.  The dryer is one of the biggest energy users in an American household.

I have to pay to use the washer and dryer so it was very important to me that I find a diaper solution that needed minimal time in the machines.  I use flat diapers for this reason.  Because they are a single layer, they only need one cycle in our washing machines (I use the long cycle, which has an extra rinse at the end) and I don't pre-soak them (though we do rinse them before they go in the diaper pail).  We usually hang dry them on a drying rack and they take about an hour to dry that way (probably longer when it is humid).  In the dryer I think they take about 15 minutes, so we can plan other laundry loads to line up so that we can use the rest of dryer time on something else.   Using flats means more inconvenience in having to fold diapers, but more convenience in having a super fast laundry routine.