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January 2011 Moms
nsouplynn
member
CD mamas - What is your laundry routine?
nsouplynn
member
I finally took the plunge to start CD'ing part-time to see how it works for us. I've been waiting for some great deals on cloth diapers so luckily I found some through EcoBabyBuys and Babysteals! I bought 3 cloth diapers to start out with.
Now please tell me....what did you do when you first received your cloth diapers? What detergent do you use? How is your laundry routine? JUST TELL ME EVERYTHING. I know I can go to the CD board but I rather hear from you ladies first. 
I'm still going to finish up the MANY boxes of disposables we were given to use at night or when we are out or if she spends the weekends at my parents.
(Me) 30 & (DH) 32 {Together 11 years - Married 04.17.15}
TTC Baby #2 since 06/15 | BFP 9/4/15 | EDD 5/07/16
This discussion has been closed.
Re: CD mamas - What is your laundry routine?
If you're buying brand new cloth diapers, you need to wash them a minimum of 5 times before you slap them on your kid's butt. If you're using used, one wash is fine.
I use Charlie's Soap, but I'm going to switch to Tide powder shortly. I run a 'soak' cycle on cold with soap, then a 'whites' cycle on hot with soap, then another 'whites' cycle with warm water and no soap. I wash every 3rd day, even if I'm not out of diapers (I did laundry yesterday evening, so the latest I'd do wash again is Friday morning). I try to line dry at least once out in the sun every other week or so, but I usually dry for an hour on the lowest setting possible.
I probably do it all wrong since I just started, but here's what we do-
Our whole stash is mostly BumGenius Flips and Smartipants with a few cute prints made by WAHMs. I love the flips because it's just the insert and cover, so it seems like less laundry, and they dry quickly (inserts in dryer, covers on a line). I love the smartipants because you don't have to unstuff the insert, it agitates out in the wash. I'm lazy like that. So we use the flips during the day and the smartipants at night and naps and for going out. I have 3 flip covers with 15 inserts, and 14 smartipants. We wash every 2-3 days depending. Usually when we run out of wipes because we only have 20 or so.
New diapers, like PP said wash and dry 5 times. After that, we do a cold rinse no detergent, then a hot wash with 2 rinses and detergent. We use Purex Free and Clear, because we're cheap like that, and it got decent ratings on this site-
www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
Then all the inserts go in the dryer and all the covers "line dry". I should mention our "line" is the shower curtain rod. I usually wash after LO is down for the night so they hang dry overnight and are ready to go the next day. I haven't had any stains yet so I haven't sunned yet. I think the HOA will have a cow when I do.
HTH and if you want any other info feel free to PM me. I'm still learning too!
Hi! What kind of diapers did you buy? If the dipes are made of natural fibers (like prefolds and fitteds.) the you will need to prep them by washing them separately from synthetic ones (microfiber inserts like the ones in bum genius or fuzzibunz). Wash them at least 5 times to get all the natural oils out. Dipes with microfiber just need to be washed once. When they are prepped they can all be washed together.
You will need more than 3 diapers to get started. I know you are just trying it out, but you might get a little frustrated if you only have 3. You will go through them pretty quick and be washing a lot. So keep in mind when you are getting started that if you had more diapers it would be easier as far as washing goes etc. Maybe check out cotton babies they were having a sale on 3.0's and all in ones this past week. They might still have it. Grab a couple more. Or even some pre folds and covers from Green Mountain Diapers. (all cheap options to make it easier on you.) We go through our diapers pretty quick, I have a very heavy wetter.
My washing routine is to wash every other day. (I use a diaper sprayer immediately on any poopie diapers.) I keep them in a wetbag until washing. I do a pre rinse in cold, no detergent. Then a hot/cold cycle with detergent. Then followed by 2 cold rinses no soap. You will not need to use as much detergent as you would normally. So be careful of that. I use Dropps and rock n green for detergent right now, but I have also use planet and trad joes powder. They all worked fine.
The Faq link on the CD board might be helpful to look over. Also sites like Kelly's closet, Jillian's drawers and Cotton babies all have sections that explain how to care for your diapers and what detergents to use etc.. I found all of that to be very helpful in the beginning. I line dry or put them in the dryer on low. And that is about it. 
Also, you will need a CD safe diaper cream. CJ's butter is the best I have found. I usually get it from here:
https://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com/Diaper-Creams_c_400.html
They will also send you a sample. I like the monkey farts scent.
Like PP said, if you have any questions or concerns after you give it a try feel free to PM me and ask.
Good luck to you!
I agree with PP...I would get a few more so you can at least have enough for a small load of laundry. Kawaii diapers are really inexpensive for pocket one-size...I recommend them (from Sweetbottomsbaby.com). We also love our Flip diapers.
I wash every 3 days.
I have a simple old washer, so my wash routine is to put it on rinse with a few squirts of Bac-Out. Then I put it on Hot/Heavy with a scoop of Charlie's Soap. Then I put it on rinse again. I hang dry as often as I can, since the sun will bleach out stains. (-: That was the simplest routine I've found that worked. But everybody figures out what works for them.
Btw, Charlie's Soap has been known to give some babies bad rashes. I didn't know until after we started using it and it doesn't effect my girl so we keep on using it. But I'd do some research on the best soap.
(we love CJ'sButter for cd safe diaper cream)
Sorry for the late reply. I have been without my laptop for almost a week now and I'm waiting for it to be repaired.
I figured 3 CDs wasn't going to be ideal to start out with but since they were such good deals, I went ahead and got it. (Thanks to my mom's help) I would like to get at least 7 more so I can do it part-time while I'm at home and see how that goes.
I bought 1 Blueberry Snapminky with the bamboo inserts and 2 Sage Diaper Sure Fit Pocket Diapers & Snap-It Inserts. I've been keeping my eye out for good CD deals but I will definitely check out the websites that you ladies suggested. Maybe my mommy can help me buy some more?? =D
I was able to DL a Cloth Diaper app for my iPhone and it has a step-by-step of how to wash the diapers so that will help me when I don't have TB with me on hand.
I still have about 350 size 3 diapers to go through but I will give another box to my mom so she can have some on hand. I can't wait to start CD'ing. Thanks for your help ladies. I'm going to copy and paste this into a Word document for me so I can reference back on this. Thank you again!