Cloth Diapers 103 - Care and Cleaning

Well if you've missed out on cloth diapers 101 and 102, you can read about what cloth diapers look like these days and why on earth I chose to use cloth, but I have found that one of the first questions I get about cloth diapers is, "How do you wash them?"  Translation:  "How gross is it actually, to wash them all the time?"

Well, here's your answer...  the short version is that all it takes is a pre-wash and an extra rinse and spin.

Here's the long detailed version:

Diapers should go no more than three days without being washed.  I wash every third day and I only buy enough cloth diapers to last three days.  There's not really any reason to have any more than that.  While they're waiting to be washed, they sit inside a high quality kitchen trash can lined by a diaper pail liner.  Choose a trash can that's going to keep odors in.  A diaper pail liner is a water proof polyurethane bag that lines the diaper pail.  I recommend getting two so you have something to line your diaper pail when the other one is in the wash.  There are also smaller polyurethane totes for when you're on the go.

To wash a load of cloth diapers, cloth wipes and diaper covers, start by tossing it all (diaper pail liner included) into the washer and run it on a cold pre-wash with the maximum amount of water.  (Cold, not hot.  Hot sets stains.)  This is to rinse out all the mess and send it down the sewer, where it goes.  (Also, make sure all Velcro is hooked to itself so it doesn't snag and ruin other items.  The easiest time to do this is right after taking it off of the baby before tossing it into the laundry.)  Next, run a regular wash cycle with the maximum amount of water on cold and add about half of the amount of laundry detergent you would usually use for a regular amount of laundry.  Cloth diapers are extremely absorbent, so we don't want to much detergent to get into all the micro fibers of the cloth and stay there.  Finish it off with an extra rinse and spin using cold water and maximum water.  The maximum water is to help thoroughly rinse out the very absorbent cloth.

Now for drying...  the polyurethane (water resistant) diapers, covers, liners and totes should be hung dry, never thrown in the dryer as the heat will ruin the polyurethane and they will no longer keep wet inside.  The good news is that they dry very quickly.  Here in extremely dry Colorado, they're dry in under 4 hours.  Anything that's NOT polyurethane can go right into the dryer on high heat.  I usually have to dry them for a cycle and a half because the thick absorbent cotton takes a little longer to dry.

That's it, folks!

As far as which laundry detergent to use - well every household is different.  I use our regular laundry detergent that we use for everything else.  If you're looking for an environmentally friendly, additive free detergent, I really like Allens Naturally.  (And just as a reminder, NO, I'm not being paid for a product review.  These are just the products that I really like, recommend, and put on my own baby's bottom.)  Never use fabric softeners on cloth diapers, as these can cause a build-up in the cloth and can decrease its absorbency.

I have heard of some moms wanting to "strip" their cloth diapers.  If you are washing properly with a good detergent, you shouldn't have to do this, but if you are experiencing a residual odor, I suggest giving Dani a call.  She's the owner of Baby Cotton Bottoms (my favorite cloth diaper store) and diaper guru.  She can help you figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.

I did find myself wanting to strip my diapers once...  they just built up a smelly odor and didn't seem to get rid of it in the wash.  This worked for me:  I loaded them into the washer and ran a pre-wash on hot water with a cup of bleach and the maximum amount of water.  Then I ran a regular wash with hot water with twice the amount of laundry detergent you usually use for your diaper loads (or the same amount of detergent you use for your regular laundry).  Then I ran an extra rinse/spin with cold water two or three times.  It took me all day, but it did the trick.

Chinese flat pre-fold diapers (my personal diaper of choice) need to be pre-washed and shrunk before they are ready for use.

To prepare them for use, put them through a wash cycle with very hot water and no detergent.  Then completely dry them on the highest heat.  Repeat this process 3 or 4 times until the diapers are nice and fluffy.  I've heard you can reduce the number of times you need to do this process by boiling the diapers in a very large pot of water over the stove first, but I think using the washer is much easier.  Other types of cloth diapers do not need to be pre-washed.

See?  Pretty simple once all is said and done.

Do I need a Cloth Diapers 104?  Does this leave you with more questions?  If so, ask away... otherwise this might be the conclusion of the cloth diaper series...  I'm not too sure what else is needed.

Happy Cloth Diapering!



**Picture of Chinese prefolds graciously provided by babycottonbottoms.com (my favorite cloth diaper store).