PSA: Cloth Diapers

fourthnlast · December 2013

We are going to cloth diaper this time around and I sent an email to my SIL begging her for help. She sent me this and I thought some other newbies to cloth might like it as well.

1. How are you planning to wash them?

Washing diapers is more complicated than washing clothes. If the diapers do not get clean enough then they can get a detergent or ammonia build-up that stinks and can lead to diaper rashes.
Cloth diapers need a LOT of water to rinse through the urine. If they do not have an abundance of water, they will just soak up the available water (with the pee) and flop around, never getting clean.
A top load washer works better for diapers, because front load washers do not always have options to add extra water to the wash. We have a high efficiency top loader that allows me to add extra water and extra rinse time to the cycle.
Diapers need to be washed every day or every other day. Get two large wet bags and one small one. The large ones are good for storing diapers at home. One is used to store the diapers, the other one you can throw in the wash with the diapers. A small one for your diaper bag.
It is important to use a detergent that has no added dyes or softeners. We use Charlie's Soap and it works great--however, try washing an article of clothing first before washing your diapers in it to see if she had an allergic reaction to it near her skin. Rocking Green is also popular, but more expensive. There are sites that list all the detergents that are good for cloth diapers.
You should not use diaper creams or fabric softeners with cloth diapers. G never had a problem with diaper rash, but I think there are powders you can use.
Flush-able diaper liners are nice for poopies, but not necessary. G usually pooped in the toilet or potty from the time he was an infant, so I didn't worry about poop clean up too often. Other moms I have talked to just plop the poop in the toilet and wash the diaper, even if there is a little skid mark. A diaper sprayer is also nice to get the diapers really clean or if there is diarrhea in the diaper. It is important to get a sprayer with adjustable water pressure and make sure to hold the diaper vertically (perpendicular to the toilet) and spray down like a waterfall. If you spray at the poop it will fly everywhere and you will cry.
Cloth wipes are not as convenient as wet wipes, but they are cheaper and do make a fuzz mess if you accidentally wash them. Cloth wipes can be thrown in the wash with your diapers. I used a spray bottle with water to moisten them, but you can per-moisten them and store them in a wipes container for a short time.

My wash routine was as follows:
1) No detergent. Rinse and Spin (No Spin option), Two Extra Rinses, and Extra Water- Diapers should smell clean and be very wet.

2) I scoop (1 TBS) Chralie's Soap. Heavy Duty Cycle, Two Extra Rinses, and Extra Water- Diapers should smell like nothing.
3) Some brands of diapers can go in the dryer. I always hung mine to dry on a drying rack. It helps them last longer and keeps them from getting stinky build-up.

Once every one to two months, I would wash them on the Sanitary Cycle with Two Extra Rinses, and Extra Water to keep them really clean.

2. What system/type of diaper to go with?

There are a lot of good systems out there. I would recommend getting a sample pack from a cloth diaper site and trying out a few different brands to see what you like before buying a lot of one type of diaper. There are also diaper swap sites online and on Facebook to buy diapers second hand. Ebay also has a good selection of used diapers and wipes. I would recommend snaps over Velcro fastenings. Velcro wears out more quickly and can snag on the diapers. I have used:

Fuzzibunz- these are my favorite brand. The one-size elite have are have snaps and adjustable elastic at the waist and legs for a slimmer fitting diaper, especially for infants. However, it is a pain to adjust all of the elastics as baby grows. Use a safety pin or bobby pin to insert and adjust the elastics in the diapers. I also have some small and medium diapers and I like those as well. These diapers come with two inserts and you can adjust the amount of padding/absorption that you want in there. They are removable, this makes them easier to wash and dry.

BumGenius One Size- I like these as well. They fit G better when he was older (but he was a big, stout baby). These only have snaps and you can fold up the snaps to make the diaper smaller. They are bulky for infants, but nice for older babies.

Ebay- There are some diapers similar to the BumGenius that I found on Ebay from China. I bought them for G's Halloween costume and they worked pretty well.

G-diapers- I never used these, but they have a washable outer shell and disposable inner layer. A hybrid between disposable and cloth diapers.

Diapers for Sensitive Skin- Bryston's Jenni uses a brand that is made for sensitive skin. I don't remember what they are called though. If your other kids had very sensitive skin, this may be something to look into. G never had a problem with diaper rash. We never used diaper cream or powder. I was also careful not to over-wipe his skin.

I do not recommend pre-fold diapers. They are great for burp clothes or to soak up potty training messes, but not for sane diapering.

Here are some links to products that I like.

Diapers
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XOHB3C/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Diaper Sprayer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G6NOYI/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Liners (Get the Large ones and cut to fit diaper)

https://www.amazon.com/Bummis-BL-L-Bio-Soft-Liner-Large/dp/B0025YWL4W/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1385906427&sr=1-2&keywords=disposable+liners

Cloth Wipes
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039VCRPI/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Charlie's Soap
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018B15FE/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Drying Rack
https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-DRY-01610-Heavy-Gullwing-Drying/dp/B00383O2UU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385906802&sr=8-2&keywords=clothes+drying+rack

Wet Bags- Get two large and a small one.

https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Wise-Diaper-Wet-Bag/dp/B005WWIMGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385905105&sr=8-1&keywords=cloth+diapers+bags

Burp Cloths and Accident Clean Up (get the unbleached to avoid stains)

https://www.amazon.com/OsoCozy-Prefolds-Unbleached-Cloth-Diapers/dp/B003AJHDQW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1385909697&sr=8-3&keywords=cloth+diapers

LittleLady77 · December 2013

Other CDing moms... Is this wash cycle typical for you?

RedDawnsRevenge · December 2013

I do a "rinse" cycle first with one scoop funk rock in hot water. Then set for a full wash cycle on hot with 1scoop rockin green hard rock. Then I put the wipes and the inserts in the drier. In the summer the diapers get hung on the outside line and in winter/rain/shaker season in the hall. We use Charlie banana diapers.

fourthnlast · December 2013

Holy shit. I'm so overwhelmed right now. Looks like the only thing in my favor is that we have a top loader. Thanks for the extra info ladies, i'm trying to learn as much as possible.

fourthnlast · December 2013

ColleenSwerb said:
1) I use Tide Original detergent and it works awesome. Same as we use on our clothes, so much nicer and easier than buying Rockin' Green or another special detergent all the time.

Awesome!!!

fourthnlast · December 2013

ColleenSwerb said:
Oh and I think she's totally off base on prefolds. I absolutely LOVE prefolds, especially in the newborn phase. I know people who use prefolds or similar from birth through potty training.

Wtf is a prefold?!

thomas930 · December 2013

Wow that wash routine is way over complicated. In the 5 years I've been cloth diapering its never been that complicated.

I use Tide Original powder.

1 rinse, no soap

Wash cycle with enough soap per the load size, on hot

Then one extra rinse to make sure the soap is out.

You also don't have to wash everyday as long as you have enough diapers either. I wash every 2-3 with no issues

fourthnlast · December 2013

How many diapers should i have to start?

MamaFantastic · December 2013

i'm going to keep a running tally of my comments as i scroll through all of the info above.

DISAGREE about prefold diapers. they were AWESOME for the newborn stage! you can't ideally diaper a newborn baby with one-size diapers. the leg holes are just too big for tiny newborn thighs, and pee/poop will go everywhere. newborn prefolds aren't hard at all. even my husband, who was diaper-averse at first, now proudly says he loves them and can't wait to use them again. this time around, i have many more fancy/easy newborn diapers that don't require a prefold/cover system... so maybe i'll just gravitate more toward those since they're just put-on-take-off... but prefolds are not the pain in the neck most people think they are. given them a chance too! plus, they are the EASIEST diapers to wash... no stink ever!

you DO need a lot of water to wash. i had this ridiculous system set up with my HE front loader. i'd hook a small hose up to my bathroom sink faucet, then add extra water in through the detergent drawer while the machine was filling up. the people at whirlpool would probably crap themselves if they saw how i was "misusing" the washing machine, but it really worked to get my diapers clean! you can't have moist diaps flopping around in a front loader... they need to be sloshing through ponds of water. it's just a reality of diaper washing.

planet wise is the BEST. don't settle for anything less. the wet/dry bags are the best invention ever for the diaper bag. store all your cleans in the fabric side, and put the dirties in the waterproof side. easy as pie!

colleen described our at-home dirty pail solution: a regular 13 gallon swing-top kitchen trashcan with a planet wise pail liner in it (agree on buying 2 pail liners... one to use and one to wash). we didn't even wash the liner every time once he stared using his AIOs, as there wasn't as much dirty diaper touching the liner. and i found, actually, that the diapers got cleaner when i'd NOT wash the pail liner together in the load. the liner tended to retain water inside it, which made for a less rinsed load in the end. i found i'd just do a quick 5 minute hand wash in the sink when both liners were dirty and i had just emptied the pail into the washing machine.

here are two links to excellent charts that compare most all detergents, and rate them according to how CD-safe they are:

front loading (HE) detergents

top loading regular detergents

we used cloth wipes 100% of the time when he was a baby, and when he started having nasty food poops, we switched to wiping poops with disposable wipes (but still used cloth for wiping pee) since it was easier than trying to spray off poop chunks from a tiny cloth wipe.

i think a diaper sprayer is essential, but i know others don't necessarily agree! we used BG elementals diapers, which were a labyrinth of cotton layers, and his peanut butter-y poop liked to squeeze and hide in every crevice and between every layer. a diaper sprayer saved our lives.

we switched detergents a lot. first was country save, then tide original, then rockin green, then ruby moon organics, then back to tide, then back to country save. i found no matter what i used, i had to switch after about 4 months and try something new.

we dried everything in the dryer. as i said, we used bumgenius elementals diapers for the post-newborn phase, which were an organic cotton AIO (all-in-one) so they would take 2 days to air dry, and would be stiff and crunchy and sometimes a bit stinky because of the long drying time. no thanks! 75 minutes on high did the trick. it was worth the risk that i'd "ruin" the diapers.

you WILL get poop stains on your diapers (hello, introduction of sweet potatoes!!) and the sun is a miracle worker! the exception to my machine-drying routine happened when i'd have really stained diapers, which i would lay out on our deck in the summer time and the sun would literally magically erase the stains. you have to see it to believe it. it's crazy!

https://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm <--- GREAT general website with a crazy ton of information about pretty much any/everything you'd ever want to know about cloth diapering. it will take you a week to sift through everything, but it's a worthy read for sure.

fourthnlast · December 2013

You ladies are amazing! Thank you! Still a bit overwhelmed, but i'm weirdly excited about all of this!

MamaFantastic · December 2013

ooh, good point colleen!!

what colleen has is what i had with my son. it felt like just barely enough. this time around i have in my newborn stash:

36 prefolds

9 covers

3 fitteds

15-ish AIOs or pocket diapers (basically a one-piece easy diaper)

we have about 20-25 of the BG elementals that are left over from my son's "big boy" stash. i've added 4 since then, so i have a pretty full stash for the older baby and toddler months.

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

This is one of the things about diapers, whatever one person thinks about even the smallest piece of cd minutiae someone somewhere will vehemently disagree!

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

I have heard a lot of people say they use tide original and it works well. We don't because I don't like heavily fragranced detergent and it's important for me in our particular situation to use a more biodegradable detergent. We use Charlie's soap on all our laundry. I do an express wash to rinse, a wash with soap that has a presoak and an extra rinse, and an express wash to rinse. Towards the end of our last go round I started using a little bleach in every load, before that oxyclean. I like to so the express wash instead of a rinse and spin or whatever because it changes the water more times which does a better job, IMO, of cleaning.

MamaFantastic · December 2013

Rrrrrachel said:

This is one of the things about diapers, whatever one person thinks about even the smallest piece of cd minutiae someone somewhere will vehemently disagree!

and to take it a maddening step further, what works for one baby (your first, even) may not work well for your subsequent child/ren!!

example: my kiddo could handle having wet pee next to his skin without breaking into horrible rashes most of the time... provided we were diligent about changing him quickly afterward. my friend's kids?? all 3 girls would break out into wild red rashes if they wore anything but a fleece lined pocket diaper. you just never know!

i also remembered something else i meant to add above:

not ALL diaper creams are unsafe for cloth... you just have to buy the right ones. my favorite is CJ's BUTTer... but grandma el's is also pretty good. again, here's a list of the creams that are safe: https://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/diaperrashcreams.htm

kmommy37 · December 2013

I have signed up for a class at a baby store in my neighborhood. I too am super overwhelmed but hopefully a class sorts some of it out.

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

I live cjs, too. We have the live potion one. I am very sensitive to smells but this is just scented enough to be yummy without being gross. I still have a bunch leftover from the last round. So you think it's ok to use the same stick between kids? We didn't really have yeast problems or anything.

thomas930 · December 2013

I haven't had many issues with rashes and I've been able to get by with using Motherlove nipple cream for redness and mild rashes.

J&NL · December 2013

This has been such a helpful thread. Thank you! I've been stressing over the wash routine since I've joined a CD group on Fb and all I seem to see are wash routine mishaps.

thomas930 · December 2013

Try not to stress to much. You are more than likely going to go through a trial and error phase as you get to know your particular washer, water (hard, soft, normal) and soap you choose. Most mistakes can be reversed by stripping the diapers with Dawn or bleach and just starting over.

Lovelife14 · December 2013

Try joining "the cloth diaper compendium" on Facebook for some good information. I wish I had joined earlier. There is a ton of good reading in their files. You will save yourself a lot of time & money. There are a lot of myths surrounding "safe" cloth diapering, and it sounds like your SIL believes a lot of them. I use tide original, pre-wash and 1 wash cycle every 2-3 days with no issues. I promise that it's not all that complicated. And it's fun!

MamaFantastic · December 2013

thomas930 said:

Most mistakes can be reversed by stripping the diapers with Dawn or bleach and just starting over.

BUT.... be sure you're using the right kind of dawn!!!! (i speak from experience... and it took me about 15 rinse cycles to undo my damage... holy cow was i irritated with myself for making that silly mistake the first time around!)

this is the un-concentrated original "blue dawn" you should use:

this is the ultra-concentrated dawn you SHOULDN'T use:

spano41 · December 2013

I'm a FTM but I'm learning about cloth diapering and I highly recommend you tubing "cloth diapers" to find videos that explain the different types of diapers. There are a ton of videos out there. I was so confused reading about all of the options until I saw what the different types look like and how they work.

thomas930 · December 2013

@MamaFantastic thanks! I forgot to mention that. I mostly strip with a little bleach now and don't use Dawn that often.

thomas930 · December 2013

jellysparkles said:

Hats off to you ladies... I can't even be bothered to separate my darks and lights...

Wait! People do that??

The only laundry I wash separately are diapers and towels...all clothes get thrown in together no matter the color.

fireflygirl12 · December 2013

thomas930 said:

Wow that wash routine is way over complicated. In the 5 years I've been cloth diapering its never been that complicated.

I use Tide Original powder.

1 rinse, no soap
Wash cycle with enough soap per the load size, on hot
Then one extra rinse to make sure the soap is out.

You also don't have to wash everyday as long as you have enough diapers either. I wash every 2-3 with no issues

This is our wash routine too. I also strip with RLR about once/month at my parent's house since they have a top loader and we have front loaders. I have 20ish pockets, which is plenty for laundry every 2-3 days. Since around 6 months, we usually go through 6-8/day.

LittleLady77 · December 2013

I have a front load washer... Will that work?

Lovelife14 · December 2013

Works for me, but instead of doing just a pre-rinse I do a full "quick wash" before the main wash.

MamaFantastic · December 2013

LittleLady77 said:

I have a front load washer... Will that work?

of course it will work! but it won't be as ideal as a top loader. those who have HE front loaders sometimes report more stink issues, or issues with needing to use extra rinses. it honestly really depends on how fancy your washer is. if you can initiate a setting that adds more water, you're much better off than those who have simpler machines (like mine) that don't have an extra water option. that's why i chose to artificially dump more water into each of my loads... it just ended up being better even though it was annoying to do it every single time.

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

There are tricks for the front loader, like put a towel in with them. After you do a rinse the towel is wet, the load is heavier, and the machine thinks it needs to use more water. We used an he front loader for a long time just fine. Now we have an he top loader which I don't think is a lick better and also fine.

J&NL · December 2013

Lovelife14 said:

Try joining "the cloth diaper compendium" on Facebook for some good information. I wish I had joined earlier. There is a ton of good reading in their files. You will save yourself a lot of time & money. There are a lot of myths surrounding "safe" cloth diapering, and it sounds like your SIL believes a lot of them. I use tide original, pre-wash and 1 wash cycle every 2-3 days with no issues. I promise that it's not all that complicated. And it's fun!

I'm on it

my cousin recommended it to me and I have learned a lot from it!

LittleLady77 · December 2013

Thanks girls. I haven't heard about the front loading washer issue before and I've already purchased 30+ CDs so I got worried! My machine doesn't have an extra water setting but it has all kinds of options that I guess I need to start playing around with them.

sueann911 · December 2013

This thread was so useful. Thanks for the links OP and @mamafantastic. They were really helpful. The laundry aspect has been confusing to me since there are so many options, but now that I know that it can vary for everyone, I feel better.

I have a stash of about 15+ used CDs and am still in the process of buying more. I was a little overwhelmed last night when I was going through them all and realizing that I don't know much about all the different kinds.

kwolslager · December 2013

If you spray at the poop it will fly everywhere and you will cry.

I laughed out loud at this.

fourthnlast · December 2013

Just won a lot of newborn cd's on Ebay! They are pretty dang cute too

Gigi8212 · December 2013

thomas930 said:
Wow that wash routine is way over complicated. In the 5 years I've been cloth diapering its never been that complicated.

I use Tide Original powder.

1 rinse, no soap
Wash cycle with enough soap per the load size, on hot
Then one extra rinse to make sure the soap is out.

You also don't have to wash everyday as long as you have enough diapers either. I wash every 2-3 with no issues

Absolutely this. I think your SIL could definitely simplify her wash routine. The above is my routine as well, right down to the detergent.

hlm184 · December 2013

fourthnlast said:

Just won a lot of newborn cd's on Ebay! They are pretty dang cute too

Mine from black friday just arrived... so adorable and TINY!

MamaFantastic · December 2013

kwolslager said:
If you spray at the poop it will fly everywhere and you will cry.
I laughed out loud at this.

You laugh now....

Poop spraying almost sent us to therapy! ( I'm only 90% kidding about that.) Wanna see a grown man throw a bona fide hissy fit?? Give him a stack of 5 nasty diapers, wait 35 minutes (because evidently it really takes him THAT long...) and then judge his methods and demand he disinfect the walls and floor next to the toilet

Airynn Chica · December 2013

We have a FLoader as well and I do the simple method of washing:
1 rinse cycle
1wash with a normal amount of normal detergent (We don't have special CD detergents here in Botswana)
Sometimes an additional rinse; sometimes not.
Line dry in the desert sun
Good to go! We wash about every 3-4 days as well.

We use Sunbabies and so far they are great!

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

Sunning the diapers (drying in the sun) helps a lot with all kinds of issues. It's a good idea whenever you can do it, desert sun or not! Plus they look adorable on the line

jessech89 · December 2013

This might be a silly question but I've never line-dried anything. Will it affect the diapers at all if I'm in a humid area? Obviously I wouldn't put them out in the rain but if it's just a sunny day, we still usually have high humidity in the spring and summer.

Rrrrrachel · December 2013

The sun is still good for them, even if you pop them in the dryer for a bit afterwards. I do that sometimes when it's humid here.

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