Cloth Diapering

Is it true?! (Liners question)

FTM here (due May 2016) and going the cloth diaper route for many reasons.  I've been doing as much reading as I can, and recently scored nearly a full lot of barely used cloth diapers including BG from a lady who decided it wasn't for her.  Lucky me :)

In my reading, one cloth diaper user said adamantly that you absolutely cannot ever put microfiber against baby's skin.  Most of the diapers I have are the pocket variety, and I hadn't necessarily planned on "stuffing" the pocket per se.  I liked the info sheets/video I saw where the liner was placed in its correct location but NOT inside of the pocket (rather, against baby's skin directly) - seemed more user friendly for both grandparents who will be our "daycare" and husband who is staying home after my maternity leave ends. 

The diaper lot I got includes a TON of microfiber inserts.  Will my diapering plan not worth with these inserts?  What kind of inserts CAN I place against baby's skin? What is the exact issue with microfiber against skin?  Too abrasive?  Thanks!

Re: Is it true?! (Liners question)

  • The microfiber will pull moisture away from baby's skin and leave it seriously dried out (you'll notice your hands will get very dried out just in the time you stuff diapers). If you're not going to use the actual pocket, plan on wrapping the insert with something absorbent (like a flour sack towel) or using different inserts all together. 

    For what it's worth, stuffing diapers takes us all of five minutes. Daycare doesn't separate the inserts-we just do that when we throw everything in the laundry. It's really not too bad. 
  • barrelocarolbarrelocarol member
    edited February 2016
    I might be super out of the loop, but I actually bought a pack specifically bc of the microfiber inserts. We love them and they work so well for us. 

    Perhaps it's a certain type of microfiber? I don't know...

    But, as PP wrote, stuffing is super easy and actually make the process easier. Stuffing the diaper makes the diaper change just like a disposable diaper change...and this will come in so handy. 

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  • Thanks all!  It's not the stuffing of the diaper that has DH freaked out, it's the removing of the liner to wash it - he's got some serious poop/pee phobias.  He's come A LONG WAY in dealing with the cat and dog - 2 years ago when I woke up to paper towels scattered everywhere - apparently the cat had thrown up and he had "marked" the spots for me, haha.  He's getting better but I'm trying to make cloth as easy as possible for him because its so important to me (environment, etc). I've sold him on cloth diapering on the following fronts:

    1. We have to drive to the dump - 30 minutes one way - for trash.  Its hours are terrible, you pay by the cubic yard ($9/yard) and we're lucky if we can make it once per month.  Taking bags and bags and bags of poopy disposable diapers only once per month (or longer!) is gross.  And expensive.
    2.  With a spray nozzle on the toilet, a scraper and disposable biodegradable liners for the ''pumpkin poop" phase, his actual contact with poop is not bad.
    3.  By not stuffing pockets, he can remove the diaper like a disposable, shake out the solids and drop it into the wet bag without touching anything too closely. 

    With regard to #3 - if he just drops the whole diaper into the wet bag without removing from the pocket first (after shaking out solids, etc), is it going to be awful for me to go back later and remove the liners from the pockets? Will they be caked in there?
  • I'm not speaking from experience, but I've watched lots of YouTube videos on cleaning cloth diapers. I've seen lots of people dump solids and spray off he diaper, then throw it in a pail and not remove the insert until wash day. 
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  • I use pocket diapers and just throw the whole thing (liner still inside pocket) into the washer, they come apart during the cycle. There really would be no need for your husband to touch them. 
  • skelly70skelly70 member
    edited February 2016
    Our daycare just puts diapers--solid waste and all--in the wetbag and we deal with it at home. No sprayer, just dunk and swish. Most diapers are really no big deal.

    Our washer doesn't usually shake the inserts free of the pockets, but we have a top loader with an agitator basket. That might have something to do with it. 

    If you/your DH are really grossed out by the idea of grabbing wet inserts, I've seen diaper dawgs at Kelly's Closet. They're little silicone mitts that protect your hands. 

    Edited to correct "wetbag." Apparently my autocorrect includes racial slurs. 
  • Thanks everyone!

    haha, diaper dawgs - they've really marketed everything :wink:

    I'm not too worried about poop - I figure parenthood comes with a lot of stuff grosser than that!  I think husband will come around to it too; mostly I think he's dramatized it in his head.  Thanks again!
  • DH has come a long way (2 kids CDed) but he still doesn't take the insert out-I do it all on wash day. Also let's me catch if a disposable wipe from the diaper bag got into the wetbag (we use cloth wipes). This baby is still EBF, but with DD1 I did all the spraying/scraping at the end of the day. I sent flushable liners to daycare, so those were thrown out there, but anything that got on the diaper was my responsibility.
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  • It's true! Microfiber liners are meant to be stuffed into the pocket of the diaper. If you stuff all of your diapers as part of your laundry process, they'll be ready to go for any caregiver & are really easy that way. As a PP said, I also just provide a wetbag for dirty diapers that I wash later.
  • My husband was the diaper sprayer and washer in our house. He has no sense of smell so I figured it was best if he did it!

    For our diapers we always ran 3 washes, a cold rinse with just a little laundry soap, a hot with more soap and then a rinse with no soap. After that first rinse a lot of the inserts would come out. If they didn't, I'd take them out then.

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  • My husband thinks this is so gross, but I put the diapers directly into the washing machine...no spraying, dunking, nothing. 

    I do a baby load daily and I put Dreft scent crystals in the machine while I'm "storing" the laundry until I'm ready to start the load. 

    If there's a particularly solid poo, I'll drop it in the toilet, but that's the most I'll do. 
  • My husband thinks this is so gross, but I put the diapers directly into the washing machine...no spraying, dunking, nothing. 

    I do a baby load daily and I put Dreft scent crystals in the machine while I'm "storing" the laundry until I'm ready to start the load. 

    If there's a particularly solid poo, I'll drop it in the toilet, but that's the most I'll do. 
    This is what I've been doing and it's working well. We are still on bf poops, so I don't even bother rinsing. I do one cold rinse cycle, then go back and separate the liners from the diapers if they haven't separated themselves, then continue to wash.
    When it's time to stuff diapers I sit lo down to talk to, and by the time he is bored, I'm usually done!

  • I got tired of stuffing pockets for hating the feel of microfiber so I sewed a layer of cotton (used old t-shirts) to the outside so I could use them on top of the pockets or in covers.  Since I'm a novice at sewing I didn't worry about looks and I removed the layer of cotton when I was ready to sell them.

    My favorite pocket stuffing is/was pad folded flats so the mf inserts, even with the extra outer layer, didn't get a whole lot of use here..

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