Lets have a cloth diapering roll call

Xath · April 2014

ecinereb said:
I'll also ask my question here as this thread got bumped. Also sort of a prepping question but I bought a lot of used diapers, if you did this what's the best wash routine to sterilize them? I've heard goods and bads about bleaching them?
If you bleach what does your routine look like?

I have a front loader so I don't bleach in the washing machine. I fill the bathtub, add 1/2 cup of bleach, mix it in and then add the diapers to soak overnight. Then I wash like normal.

I've found issues with bleaching in a front loader because you're more likely to get a concentrated chunk of bleach in the diapers; not a big deal with prefolds or flats, but something to think about fitteds or other colorful diapers.

RachelCA29 · April 2014

@Mapleme you are so wise! Thanks for ALL the answers.

I need to make a list of all the cloth diaper loads I will have to do to organize myself.

ThereBeDragons · April 2014

Interesting! @mapleme I'm only doing cotton prefolds and covers so it sounds like I might have the edge case where free and clear works just fine

thanks for the info!

tjkdlhb · April 2014

@ThereBeDragons

If you choose to use All Free and Clear, just keep it in your mind that if the diapers start to smell/leak/repel liquid, that it might be because of the detergent. It works fine for some people, not for others, depending on washer, water type, fabric of diapers etc. You may have to strip and switch detergents later, but you also might not have any issues at all.

I have eczema and use Tiny Bubbles without any issues. But my eczema is mild.

elizabethb3 · April 2014

@ThereBeDragons

From what I've read - and I've done a lot of online research - not all free & clear detergents are bad for cloth diapers. It's that the term "free & clear" doesn't necessarily mean it is safe for cd's. The brand "All Free & Clear" doesn't get very good reviews for cd's, but there are other free & clear detergents that get excellent reviews. What if you tried switching to one of those? It seems to me that some of those other brands are even milder and safer for your skin than the All brand. The brand I'm planning on using is Ecos Free & Clear bc it's made locally, inexpensive, all natural and biodegradable (safe for the environment), and most importantly it's safe for cd's. But some other brands that get high marks are Purex Free & Clear, Mountain Green Free & Clear, Country Save, and Charlie's.

I have eczema, as well, and while I would never use Tide detergent, I wouldn't hesitate to try some of these other, much more mild detergents.

Good luck!

Xath · April 2014

There are 2 different types of All Free and Clear. The military version (in a camo bottle, only sold on base commissaries and PXs) is good for CDs because it's free of everything, but it's difficult to come by if you're not in the military. The commercial version has optical brighteners and other enzyme additives that can build up over time.

tjkdlhb · April 2014

elizabethb3 said:

@ThereBeDragons

From what I've read - and I've done a lot of online research - not all free & clear detergents are bad for cloth diapers. It's that the term "free & clear" doesn't necessarily mean it is safe for cd's. The brand "All Free & Clear" doesn't get very good reviews for cd's, but there are other free & clear detergents that get excellent reviews. What if you tried switching to one of those? It seems to me that some of those other brands are even milder and safer for your skin than the All brand. The brand I'm planning on using is Ecos Free & Clear bc it's made locally, inexpensive, all natural and biodegradable (safe for the environment), and most importantly it's safe for cd's. But some other brands that get high marks are Purex Free & Clear, Mountain Green Free & Clear, Country Save, and Charlie's.

I have eczema, as well, and while I would never use Tide detergent, I wouldn't hesitate to try some of these other, much more mild detergents.

Good luck!

I switched to Ecos for a while when I ran out of Tiny Bubbles... I ended up with a lot of stink issues. (but I have hard water and an HE front loader...so it might work better for you)

RachelCA29 · April 2014

tjkdlhb said:

elizabethb3 said:

@ThereBeDragons

From what I've read - and I've done a lot of online research - not all free & clear detergents are bad for cloth diapers. It's that the term "free & clear" doesn't necessarily mean it is safe for cd's. The brand "All Free & Clear" doesn't get very good reviews for cd's, but there are other free & clear detergents that get excellent reviews. What if you tried switching to one of those? It seems to me that some of those other brands are even milder and safer for your skin than the All brand. The brand I'm planning on using is Ecos Free & Clear bc it's made locally, inexpensive, all natural and biodegradable (safe for the environment), and most importantly it's safe for cd's. But some other brands that get high marks are Purex Free & Clear, Mountain Green Free & Clear, Country Save, and Charlie's.

I have eczema, as well, and while I would never use Tide detergent, I wouldn't hesitate to try some of these other, much more mild detergents.

Good luck!

I switched to Ecos for a while when I ran out of Tiny Bubbles... I ended up with a lot of stink issues. (but I have hard water and an HE front loader...so it might work better for you)

I'm planning on using Eco's F&C ass well, but I have heard the hard water issue. Luckily we don't have hard water and we have a top loader. I've also heard that if you add some vinegar to your rinse about once a month it really eliminates the build-up and potential stink issues that sometimes occur with Ecos.

I can get Ecos F&C at Costco, so it's one of the cheapest options for us, and around my area a lot of the other suggested options aren't available or only at high-end cloth diaper stores so they cost a lot of money.

ThereBeDragons · April 2014

Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

Xath · April 2014

ThereBeDragons said:
Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

I think with hard water you're just going to end up stripping more. Try getting some RLR and adding it to the wash once in a while; that should prevent too much mineral build up.

tjkdlhb · April 2014

ThereBeDragons said:

Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

Prefolds and covers are the easiest to care for

QOTR · April 2014

tjkdlhb said:

ThereBeDragons said:

Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

Prefolds and covers are the easiest to care for

that's good to hear! That's all I've bought so far. I'm overwhelmed to venture out from those yet.

tjkdlhb · April 2014

QOTR said:

tjkdlhb said:

ThereBeDragons said:

Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

Prefolds and covers are the easiest to care for

that's good to hear! That's all I've bought so far. I'm overwhelmed to venture out from those yet.

You may not need to.

We have a mix of AIOs, Fitteds, Pockets, different brands. I bought most of the AIOs and Pockets for DH because I figured that's what he would like the best. We still use them, but honestly prefolds and covers are our favorite. Esp with the HE machine and hard water. It would have saved us a ton of money too!

My daycare and MIL are happy to use them... My mom actually says she prefers them as well. If I had my time back, I'd have spent less on the expensive ones and just went primarily with those!

ThereBeDragons · April 2014

QOTR said:

tjkdlhb said:

ThereBeDragons said:

Hrm, hard water and a front loading HE machine here. Sounds like I've got everything going against me lol. Oh well. At least I like simple cotton prefolds with covers. I'm trying not to borrow trouble. Haven't even gotten in most of our prefolds yet, so not even to the prepping stage.

Prefolds and covers are the easiest to care for

that's good to hear! That's all I've bought so far. I'm overwhelmed to venture out from those yet.

I've got a pair of all in ones- one a gift, one DH and I picked out to see if they were worth Investing in (consensus: nah). I figure I'll keep them handy for if I need someone scared of cloth to diaper baby or maybe stash one in the car as an emergency backup. They're painfully cute though (Albert print from BG and a Dino print from Simplex) so maybe they'll come out for special occasions since most of our cover stash are plain colors.

Xath · April 2014

@kitchencolors‌ Albert is my favorite BG print. I have it in a Freetime and a Flip cover. We used AIOs and pockets for daycare, but do prefolds for home.

QOTR · April 2014

I have another question, that probably should go in the "dumb questions" thread.

Do you prewash your new covers? I prewashed all of the clothes and washed & dried the prefolds 3 times, but I wasn't sure if I should prewash covers too?

Scantron3000 · April 2014

We'll be trying gDiapers with disposable inserts. My husband wasn't 100% sold on the idea, and his cousin even bought us regular disposable diapers as a baby shower gift, which I thought was pretty rude considering she knew we were going cloth. But after talking to a friend this weekend who cloth diapered and mentioned how they never had poop up their baby's back, like people who use disposables experience, he's now completely on board!

We saw his cousin again this weekend and she asked if we had bought any disposable diapers yet and my husband flat out told her no, we're going with cloth all the time. Victory!

frasey · April 2014

QOTR said:

I have another question, that probably should go in the "dumb questions" thread.

Do you prewash your new covers? I prewashed all of the clothes and washed & dried the prefolds 3 times, but I wasn't sure if I should prewash covers too?

yeah toss them in once. they might have chemicals from the factory on them or something. Just put them in with another load of dipes.

ehowa499 · April 2014

I'm a FTM and trying to cloth diaper as economically as possible. I got a planet wise wet bag as a shower gift and thought "shoot.... Totally forgot about these!" Anyway, I'm not an especially crafty person or a good sewer, but I made 2 diaper pail liners following this tutorial: https://www.runs-with-spatulas.com/2013/01/crafty-fridays-diy-diaper-pail-liner.html. They cost a grand total of $14.00 for the 2 of them (Joann's coupons), and I checked them after I made them and they hold water, so they should work great. I'm just so darn excited that I actually made something useful that I wanted to share.... Diaper pail liners can be pretty pricey and these were super easy and quick to make! Up until this my sewing skills have been limited to burp cloths and serged wipes.

KatieP71312 · April 2014

Does anyone know of a co-op on FB running an Alva insert deal now or soon? I invested in a ton of new pockets (2 kids in CDs) and prefer the Alva 4 layer inserts to the BG microfiber ones.

Thanks in advance!

RachelCA29 · April 2014

Started prepping my diapers last night!

Luckily I bought my prefolds used (GMDs) so I don't have to wash them 5+ times to get them fluffy, I just ran them through with bleach to disinfect. The rest of my natural stuff is cotton flats, bamboo terry inserts and 3 hemp blend quick absorbing liners. Those only need 3 hot washes to prep, so I did 2 cycles last night (and threw the prefolds in with one of those loads to makes sure the bleach was absolutely rinsed out).

Tonight is just one more hot wash for that stuff and then a pre-wash/dry for all my covers, fitteds (poly blends), cloth wipes and wetbags! After all this stuff is washed and ready I think I will feel VERY prepared for this baby.

spacepotatoes · April 2014

Ordered the rest of my stash last night and I'm getting ready to prep my prefolds! This has been a great thread to have on hand for reference. Thanks again for getting it going, @ABColeslaw!

His(1&only)wife · April 2014

All my newborn diapers are washed and ready to go!!! Today I am lanolizing ALL the wool

I've done the newborn sizes so far and have some smalls in now. I also made up wipe solution this morning that smells yummy.

ThereBeDragons · April 2014

I prepped 66 prefolds and 48 flannel wipes yesterday. I now realize I have nowhere to store the sheer volume of fluff that now needs a home. Whoops! The one cubby box I had set aside it certainly not going to be enough. Will probably need 3-4.

But omg the tiny covers so adorable! And holy crap are the prefolds small after they quilted up. I can't wait to put them on my tiny squish.

pistolpackinmomma · April 2014

@ThereBeDragons‌ I just wanted to let you know I have a front loader and hard water. I use borax (put in with the detergent) as a water softener and tide powder already has some water softeners in it as well. No issues here since starting that!

jessicastanley · April 2014

I want to CD soooo bad, but DH is a SAHD and will be almost 100% responsible for it. He too gets grossed out but he's very financially conscious. I'm hoping I can sway him during the NB period. Wish me luck!

ThereBeDragons · April 2014

pistolpackinmomma said:

@ThereBeDragons‌ I just wanted to let you know I have a front loader and hard water. I use borax (put in with the detergent) as a water softener and tide powder already has some water softeners in it as well. No issues here since starting that!

I'm massively allergic to anything that Tide produces. I'm planning on sticking with my all f&c until/unless we have issues since it's worked well for us for the last 10 years or so.

On the plus side, I discovered that the insane sanitize/steam cycle on our fl he works great on loads of cotton-only prefolds and wipes. Wouldn't use it all the time, but its nice to know that the simplicity of prefolds means I can get pretty radical with washes if needed.

pistolpackinmomma · April 2014

ThereBeDragons said:

pistolpackinmomma said:

@ThereBeDragons‌ I just wanted to let you know I have a front loader and hard water. I use borax (put in with the detergent) as a water softener and tide powder already has some water softeners in it as well. No issues here since starting that!

I'm massively allergic to anything that Tide produces. I'm planning on sticking with my all f&c until/unless we have issues since it's worked well for us for the last 10 years or so.

On the plus side, I discovered that the insane sanitize/steam cycle on our fl he works great on loads of cotton-only prefolds and wipes. Wouldn't use it all the time, but its nice to know that the simplicity of prefolds means I can get pretty radical with washes if needed.

I've heard of a lot of people liking gain too if you can use that.

JAM85 · April 2014

So I am prepping some AIOs I have and holy cow they don't want to dry! Three spins in the dryer and they are still damp- what trick am I
Missing?!

pistolpackinmomma · April 2014

JAM85 said:
So I am prepping some AIOs I have and holy cow they don't want to dry! Three spins in the dryer and they are still damp- what trick am I
Missing?!

That is the #1 reason I have not tried AIOs. I've heard they take too long to dry.

RachelCA29 · April 2014

pistolpackinmomma said:

So I am prepping some AIOs I have and holy cow they don't want to dry! Three spins in the dryer and they are still damp- what trick am I Missing?!
That is the #1 reason I have not tried AIOs. I've heard they take too long to dry.

THIS. I have 2 AIOs that I got for $5 each at the Kushies outlet. I've heard Kushies is not a great brand so $10 was all I was prepared to spend to try them out. When I prepped my stash they took forever to dry!

So I think I will probably use them exactly once. I'm sure if they were a better brand I might love an AIO (like a BG freetime or Blueberry simplex) and it would be worth the dry-time, but I am so skeptical of the ones I have now.

JAM85 · April 2014

We'll I'm glad they were gifts then- we are starting out with grovia hybrids and a mix of disposable inserts and snap ins until we figure things out but I have 4 AIOs and 2 pockets right now to try as well. AIOs may be the losers with this drying time

busterbeagle · April 2014

All the diapers are clean and there isn't enough room on the changing table! FWCDP! *Streaks through epically long CD thread*

spacepotatoes · April 2014

@JAM85 and @RachelCA29 Have you tried throwing in a dry towel or two with them, or the wool dryer balls to speed things up? I don't know how well that would work for AIOs but the towel trick does seem to help my prefolds. The book that came with my starter kit actually suggested it.

bumpuser9353653 · April 2014

spacepotatoes said:
@JAM85 and @RachelCA29 Have you tried throwing in a dry towel or two with them, or the wool dryer balls to speed things up? I don't know how well that would work for AIOs but the towel trick does seem to help my prefolds. The book that came with my starter kit actually suggested it.

I second this suggestion! I keep a spare towel or two in the laundry room just to throw into the dryer with the diapers. Definitely speeds up drying time!

RachelCA29 · April 2014

RugbyMamma said:

@JAM85 and @RachelCA29 Have you tried throwing in a dry towel or two with them, or the wool dryer balls to speed things up? I don't know how well that would work for AIOs but the towel trick does seem to help my prefolds. The book that came with my starter kit actually suggested it.
I second this suggestion! I keep a spare towel or two in the laundry room just to throw into the dryer with the diapers. Definitely speeds up drying time!

I might try that. I was planning to hang dry over the summer because we have a line out back. I think it will be great for my prefolds and flats. The AIOs I have start at 13 lbs or something, so I might not even be using them over the summer depending on how big/fast growing LO is. But once we're into the cooler months a towel might do the trick!

Xath · April 2014

Baby's first cloth today.

frasey · April 2014

My BG AIOs (Elementals) dry pretty quick as they're designed that way, but I used to have a few other brands that took FOR.EVER. to dry. Hated. Sold 'em and bought more Elementals. What I do is put them in the dryer w my inserts (we use mostly pockets) for an hr, and then hang them on the rack w my pockets overnight. They're dry in the AM.

chknma · April 2014

We used our first cloth today! We used a simplex to get DD2 to her appointment. I've also done a prefold, fitted and flat. My folding needs some serious work. Luckily everything has stayed where it belongs. So far my biggest frustration is keeping it low enough to not rub the cord stump. Plus my anticipated 9lber was born 3 weeks early and I only have a limited # of NB PF and fitted. Can't decide if I want to quickly order more or just make due so I have more in budget for OS.

chknma · April 2014

Mapleme said:

chknma said:
We used our first cloth today!

So cute! You could pick up a few more flats or FST, so they keep working for OS. And the NB flat folds seem easier to me than the OS ones.
This is what I'm leaning towards after a few MOTN flat changes that did not result in any leaks!

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