July 2018 Moms

Cloth Diaper Mama Check In!

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Re: Cloth Diaper Mama Check In!

  • If you're using pockets or prefolds with covers, you can also air dry your diapers and be even more environmentally friendly.  My all in ones take too long to air dry, lol.  Regarding the rash when skin is exposed to the sticky inner (it's called PUL fabric), it's most likely just because it was against the PUL.  I had some rumparooz covers once that I had this problem with.  Without the air circulation with cotton between the baby and diaper you'll get irritation sometimes.  Suggestion? All in one or pockets, or fitteds and covers.  Otherwise I'd just make sure you are washing/rinsing well.  It takes much more soap and water than you would expect to get a good wash.  
  • I mean, c'mon.
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  • @lavillard I had a sprayer but I think I only used it a few times. I breastfed, and once we started on solids most of her poops were firm enough they just plopped into the toilet, no muss no fuss. I also kept my loads small and ran them once. I noticed I'd feel like they needed to run more than once if I stuffed them too full. But every washer is different. And the extra rinse cycle is a MUST. I never felt like my washer was gross inside. Also, if you're worried about stains, you just lie the diaper out in the sun. Strips away all stains, lickety split. 
  • Ladies, I have a question (FTM here). I'd like to do CD but we don't have our own washer and dryer. While the room is a few feet from my front door, it's extremely clean, and never busy (only 6units in my complex) I worry about hygiene and how it would work if I were to wash those extremely dirty diapers in there. Does anyone have any suggestions/experience with a similar situation? Apologies if a similar question is already in the thread, I tried to read it all but TB keeps crashing on me!!
  • lovesclimbinglovesclimbing member
    edited December 2017
    Ladies, I have a question (FTM here). I'd like to do CD but we don't have our own washer and dryer. While the room is a few feet from my front door, it's extremely clean, and never busy (only 6units in my complex) I worry about hygiene and how it would work if I were to wash those extremely dirty diapers in there. Does anyone have any suggestions/experience with a similar situation? Apologies if a similar question is already in the thread, I tried to read it all but TB keeps crashing on me!!
    *lurker*

    My husband was weirded out by this at first, but it's never been an issue. I do (and most people recommend this) a rinse first followed by the wash cycle with soap. After the diapers come out, the washer smells perfectly clean and clothes following it do too. 

    SALE ALERT:

    clothdiaper.com has a 12 days of Christmas sale every year. It's going on right now. They sell most brands, and today's sale is Osocozy organic prefolds. 
  • I was looking into cloth diapers, but hubby said he didn't like the idea.. Which I figured he would be on board to save a little money! Lol
  • hayhay93hayhay93 member
    edited December 2017
    Sooo, I’m very interested in cloth diapering to save money, but wondering how much we would actually save considering that we live in an apartment building and have a shared laundry facility that costs $1.30 per cycle. Also wondering about sanitation of that, since we share with about 150 other units. How much laundry are we talking here? Maybe I can hand wash? Any tips cloth diaper masters? 
  • I cloth diapered with my first. I was gifted some newborn disposables so we used those until we were through the meconium poop and then switched to cloth. Will likely do the same with number 2. Also exclusively breastfed with number 1 so we didn’t use a sprayer until 6 months when we introduced food 

    DH was skeptical at first but we never had blow out issues. We did have some urine leak issues, usually overnight when we needed to adjust the size or add a doubler 

    my favorite brand is softbums. Well worth the investment, imo. 

    Pro-tip: we used a spray-pal for a while, but this thing is the best and puts the spray-pal to shame. https://rinseworks.com/product/cloth-diaper-sprayer-splatter-shield
  • lavillard said:
    Thanks for all of the good ideas and tips! I am also planning on CD but am a first time mom so it's nice to hear from people that have experience with it. It sounds like grovia is a favored brand in this group. 

    I was wondering if most/all of you with experience with CD also use a sprayer, or if there is another method that you like?

    Also I have read a few places that the CD load should be run through the wash 2x. Do any of you do that? Or do you do any extra steps to keep your washer clean?



    We have a sprayer but didn’t use until we introduced solids. 90% of poops were ploppable. 

    We used a dekor diaper pail with their cloth wet bag liners. Never had stink issues. Typically washed every other day. Wash routine was 2 cycles. First with no detergent and second run through with detergent. Hung shells to dry and inserts went in dryer. 
  • Oh hay!  CD'er here.  Well part time CD'er.  I used them with DD#1 then partly with DD#2.  They didn't fit her quite as well and I gave up but saved them all so fingers cross I'll use them on #4...Unless I get lazy about the laundry.  Then I may do half and half but I really love being able to save $$$ so I'm aiming for another fluffy butt baby.   Charlie Bananas are my absolute fav.  I have a handful of WAHM ones, and a bunch of random alvas.  
  • I use a diaper sprayer once solids are introduced (BF poop is water soluble)  but before I got that  I just plopped the poop in the toilet and gave them a good rinse in the sink.  My cousins boyfriend came over for a birthday party a couple weeks ago and commented on my diaper sprayer in the bathroom. He thought it was super cool..but had no idea what it was for.  Lolol. 

    As for a wash routine I kinda experimented a lot before I found one that worked best for us.  Unfortunately we have an HE Washer so I have to give it a few washes with an extra rinse cycles since ours doesn't have just a "Rinse" cycle.   
  • I did gdiapers with my first, will do again 
    Pregnancy Ticker
  • I have always been super interested in CD and this thread has been super helpful! I cannot wait to try them out. I'm thinking perhaps I'll do a little bit of disposable too, maybe as a safety net for a while. We'll see! xo.
  • edited December 2017
    @mrsj1215 my husband was skeptical too, but I took him to a CD class where he could gets hands on and see how easy it was (literally no harder than regular diapering) and he was on board after that. It's hard for some people to visualize. 

    To people worried about the hygiene in sharing washers...I guarantee poop has been in those washers. And blood. And pee. Just saying. ;)

    @hayhay93 how often you wash depends on how many diapers you buy. I have a large stash and could get away with 2-3 extra loads per week, less as the baby grew, but if you buy, say, 16 or so you'll have to wash every day. But you want to keep diaper loads small (the more water to diapers and more room to swish around the better), which would be a benefit to multiple washers, you could do three loads at once. 

    To people thinking of part time, that's what I did. I used hospital disposables until the muconium passed, then CD-ed during the day and used a disposable once my DD started sleeping through the night, because she'd sleep through in a disposable but not cloth. And I needed sleep. I'd also take disposables on trips out of town, or any time we'd be out for more than 10 hours just because I didn't want to lug diapers around on top of all the other gear needed for day-long excursions with a baby. It's all about making it work for you. If you want to CD 100% of the time, more power to you. There's no bad way to cloth diaper, you just have to find what works for you and your family. Every diaper not in the trash is a win!
  • edited December 2017
    Also, to people with questions about washing: much of it is trial and error. There are a few tips that are pretty universal, such as keep loads small and water big, extra rinse cycles before and maybe even after, check that your soaps are CD compatable, pre-treat your diapers before they go on your baby's bum, but otherwise what works for one mom may not work for you because you have a unique combination of washer and water in your house. Different washers clean CDs differently, and different waters from different areas have different water hardness or softness, which affects the wash. You'll have to just read the tips and try stuff out until you figure out what works with your set up. But unless your washer is a piece of crap, you shouldn't have poop left behind ever. At all. 
  • Thank you so much for the advice. That is one thing I love about a shared laundry facility, there is almost nobody in there whenever I go and the other day I was able to do 5 loads at once. It’s a time saver for sure. I think I’ll start out part time and see how it goes. I definitely want to do it, but can see how doing it full time would be hard until we move into a place with our own washer/dryer. @christycalifornia
  • hayhay93 said:
    Thank you so much for the advice. That is one thing I love about a shared laundry facility, there is almost nobody in there whenever I go and the other day I was able to do 5 loads at once. It’s a time saver for sure. I think I’ll start out part time and see how it goes. I definitely want to do it, but can see how doing it full time would be hard until we move into a place with our own washer/dryer. @christycalifornia
    Same here. I really don't know in terms of pricing though because I pay $1 for every load. And having to potentially do a ribce cycle too, that makes it $$. I might be completely naive, I am a FTM and have no freaking idea how much diapers cost, lol. I'll start part time as well and see how I do!
  • My tiny stock is up to five shells and 6 inserts and 2 boosters, lol. (Oh, and the cutest freaking Jack Skellington wet bag...) Baby stock still, but 7 more months to get it up. My win was finding a gently used grovia shell and insert for 4.99, WHAT?!? Love consignment, I'm going to be scouring. 

    Question. I'm sorry in advance if this was already asked and I just didn't see it. Cloth wipes. I'm still on the fence about this one and I feel like there's just not a lot of info on them compared to cloth diapering. Anyone gone the cloth wipe route? If so, what was your system like and was it a total chore adding it on to changing times and prep? 
    Ziggy       <3 07/2018-08/2018 <3
    Micah      <3 10/2015
    #recurrentpregnancylossawareness
  • @d_marie_23 My view is that if you’re going to cloth diaper you might had well use cloth wipes. I find they’re less irritating for my LO’s skin and it’s simple to wash them with the diapers. My rule is I use cloth wipes with cloth diapers and disposable wipes with disposable diapers (for example, when we’re out) which makes the clean-up easier as then everything goes in the wet bag and/or garbage together. 
  • @d_marie_23 what st3lla said. I think most people who use cloth use cloth wipes. If you don't you have to have a separate trash can for poopy wipes, and you'd have to come up with some kind of gentle dry clothes anyway to dry their bottoms off after using a wet wipes, because you can't leave skin damp with CDs or you'll get bad diaper rash. Tiny tushies have to be put away dry. With cloth wipes you just bundle them in the CD same as you would with disposable diapers and wipes, and the whole bundle goes in the wash. I highly recommend checking out Etsy. Tons of people make really affordable double layer cotton fleese wipes, and double layer beat the pants off single layer (which most commercially made brands are). You can make some yourself if you have a server sewing machine. Some people keep some wipes in a box with a gentle solution so they pull out wet. I tried that, but since my daughter pooped infrequently I just kept a spray bottle of solution around so I could spray her bum before wiping when needed. They do a great job of cleaning, too. I only ever had to use more than one a few times. 
  • Lol! I am a FTM too and am totally clueless. My mom told me I should start stocking up on diapers when I get to the second trimester because they are expensive and you use a ton at first. But I agree, our laundry costs between $1.10 and $1.30 a load and we don’t have an extra rinse cycle option so we would have to wash twice. I think it will be trial and error with figuring out expenses. Good luck to you! @kissableviv
  • *lurker* 

    We use cloth wipes. They are cheap Walmart washcloths (something like $3-$4 for a pack of 12). I cut the wash cloths into quarters and then zigzag stiched the cut edges (which is only two sides of each square). Cut up like that, they're pretty small. I think the wash cloths were 11x12 inches so the wipes would be about 6x5.5 inches. That seems small but they're so much thicker than disposable wipes. I only use one for pee and one or two for poop depending on how much poop it is. They are much tougher than disposables. The texture also helps clean her bottom off better than disposables. 

    Cloth wipes are just as easy as disposables. With disposables, I put the wipe inside the diaper and then roll up the diaper and wrap the Velcro around and put it in the trash. Cloth is just the same. I set the cloth wipe in the diaper which is folded in half when I grab it and then I stick the whole thing in the bag. Then the bag is just dumped out into the wash. So simple. They don't need separating. 
  • Thanks for the info on cloth wipes, ladies. Helpful, as always :D
    Ziggy       <3 07/2018-08/2018 <3
    Micah      <3 10/2015
    #recurrentpregnancylossawareness
  • I use both cloth and disposable wipes.  I made my own cloth ones out of old receiving blankets and serged the edges.  My best advice is save that vagina squirt bottle from the hospital and use that to moisten the wipes!  It was seriously the most convenient thing ever for that purpose
  • @GoldAndCurls oh dear God I totally forgot about that magical/ miserable thing. I am having so many flash backs now, lol. Great tip, btw!
    Ziggy       <3 07/2018-08/2018 <3
    Micah      <3 10/2015
    #recurrentpregnancylossawareness
  • I joined the $1 cloth diaper auction group someone mentioned on here and was wondering...what's up with these wipe bits? Are they lovely? Should I consider them?
  • I'm fixing up some of my diapers now! I got a bunch of Grovia for super cheap that need elastics so I'm getting them ready for the babies. 

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  • I use cheap baby washcloths for wipes. I also use one of the wipe warmers for them. It’s worked well. DD has never had diaper rash issues. 
  • SmashJam said:
    I joined the $1 cloth diaper auction group someone mentioned on here and was wondering...what's up with these wipe bits? Are they lovely? Should I consider them?
    I’ve used the bits and like them. They can be a bit tough to dissolve unless you use hot water. 
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