Diapers Q&A

what is the best way to clean reusable (cloth) diapers? ...give me your personal experience pls?

is there a certain procedure you used?

Public Comments

1. i rinse them in the toilet to get the poop and pee off then i put them in a bucket and let them soak and wash a load in the washer every couple days.
2. The best way to clean them is to use HOT water, and vinegar (to take stains and smell out of clothes). Then in the rinse cycle, use a 1/2 cup of baking soda to make the fabric soft...but be careful your baby could get a rash from it.
3. I use Bumgenius 3.0s and it's really easy to clean them! :) I use a dry pail, and shake poop into the toilet (I use a diaper sprayer if they are pretty smushy). I wash every other day with a TINY amount of detergent (has to be free of dyes, fragrances, brighteners, etc). First a cold wash, then a hot, and a rinse or two. If the inserts are stained I lay them wet in the sun for natural bleaching. I hang them to dry, which really extends their life and saves power. If they do smell I squirt a little Dawn dish soap in the first rinse to strip any detergent residue from the diapers. **This site helps me IMMENSELY!! :) http://www.cottonbabies.com/clothdiapers.php#detergent
4. I used to wash every few days in the washer. Cold water with a 3 table spoons of arm and hammer powder detergent, then hang dry. But now... I wash them every night by hand. The poopy ones I shake out in the toilet. I just fill a 5 gallon bucket up with cold water and let them soak a few minutes. Then I rinse that out and put 1 tablespoon of Arm and hamer and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and swish them around. Then I rinse them twice and ring them and put them on the line. I started to do it daily to save on electricity and water from the washer, and I just couldnt stand having like 30 diapers to wash and hang at the same time. It only take about 10 minutes every night to wash them and it gives me something to do....lol. And now I only have to wah like 6-8 a day. Hope I helped
5. I have used cloth diapers for 3 years now and really prefer them to paper. I have used a combination of prefolds, fuzzi buns and a couple of snug-to-fit brand diapers for both my kids. There are a few essential tools I had and recommend that won't totally break your bank: - tight fitting lid garbage pail (small version) - buy from Walmart, Target, Zellers (in Canada) - you get the idea. Don't spend a tonne on a special diaper bin if you don't have to. - Bummis waterproof tote bag (large size to fit in the garbage pail and a smaller travel size for your diaper bag) - mini hand-held shower that attaches to your toilet - flushable diaper liners (or washable, depending on your preference) For breastfed babies, all diapers can go straight into the bag and then into a hot water wash (Tide Free or Arm and Hammer detergent are the two I use that work really well). I also throw the diaper bag in with the diapers when I wash (every 3-4 days with the # of diapers I had). The idea of letting my diapers soak really grossed me out, and I found that if you have a tight fitting lid on your pail, the odors don't spread. Rinsing the poop off right when you change the diaper means that most of it comes off and whatever doesn't will wash out. Sun drying is best (bleaches the poop stains that may be left) but if you can't, throw them in the dryer. The bag and the covers for cloth diapers do not go in the dryer (and I have also found from personal experience that velcro closures don't do well in the dryer either.) For bottlefed or solid-fed poops, the minishower is great to clean the poop and then again the diapers go into the diaper laundry bag. Same hot water wash, etc.. You can also buy flushable liners that make it easier to clean the poop. Simply remove the liner, poop and all and throw it into the toilet.
6. When putting cloth diapers on my son, I would use a biodegradeable liner as well. This way after I changed his dirty diapers, I could flush the liner away (with the poop on it). Then I would store them in a dry bucket to wait to be washed. I used to make baking soda "pucks" to keep the odour under control - and when I was ready to wash them I just dumped the entire bucket, puck and all, into the washing machine. To make the pucks, I mixed baking soda and just enough water to make a paste, then I added a few drops of tea tree oil (which is a natural disinfectant). When I washed them, I would run them through 2 hot cycles before drying them. I would throw a bunch of baking soda in when I started the first wash, and with the second wash I added a Downey ball with some vinegar. The vinegar helps to make sure that all soap / baking soda residue are rinsed clean from the diapers, so that baby's skin doesn't get irritated. It also acts as a fabric softener. Hope this info helps!
7. I wash our diapers every other day. Since my son eats solids now, if he poos I dump that in the toilet. (But if you breastfeed a new baby, you don't have to do this. Breastfed poo can go straight into the washer.) I keep them in a waterproof bag from: http://www.thegoodmama.com/ If it's a wash day I dump the diapers, inserts, wipes, and the bag itself into the washer and run a cold rinse with some baking soda. Then I do a hot wash with about 1/4 of the recommended amount of Arm and Hammer for Sensitive Skin. When it's on the final rinse cycle I dump some vinegar in there. When they're done washing I hang them on the line to dry.
8. The best way is to follow the manufactures instructions to make sure that you won't damage the fabric. The basics are: rinse any poop of right away (or use flushable liners) every day (or every other day): Do a soak 10 min to 2 hours (depending on stink and type of diaper) with either just cold water, cold water with 1/3 cup baking soda, or cold water with some oxyclean. Then do a pre-wash or rinse cycle ON COLD so as to not set in stains. Then do a wash with a residue free detergent (half the recommended amount) with the highest water level ON HOT. Then do an extra cold rinse. For those tough stains, oxyclean soak and hanging them in the sun to dry is great. To disinfect, oxyclean works great, a tiny bit of bleach like every couple of months (with lots of rinses) only for those flat and prefolds, or you can boil the flat and prefolds. I use pockets and AIOs and so to get that stubborn stink out, I rub baking soda directly onto a clean, wet, diaper and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then wet again with lime juice. Another wash in the washer (w/o detergent) and they smell totally fresh. BTW, http://www.zbeardiapers.com/ has a great bargain bin if you are interested in the easy AIO route.
9. i use the dry pail method wet just toss in pail (foot pedal garbage can w/garbage bag) poopy (when baby was younger just shook off in toilet and tossed in pail) - now put in plastic shopping/diaper bag - wait till a bit dry and shake off into toilet) use a utility sink to get 'clean' before putting in washer - if you dont have a utility sink, they have sprayers that attach to the water line on the toilet i tried wet pail for about 1 week and decided it was too much work - and not good for the diapers to be wet so much and long - i have been cd'ng since baby came home i wash 24 prefolds with flats and doublers to make about a medium size wash - on a full size water level - i use the free and clear detergents, sometimes i add the free and clear oxyclean (has green lid instead of blue) - occasionally i will use just vinegar the first cycle - do another wash cycle with nothing then the regular soap i use - when i use petroleum based products on my baby - i use dawn dish detergent - usually the first wash - another wash w/no soap, then regular soap i have only stripped my diapers once (the ones i bought that were used) - wash w/free and clear detergent - then do at least 3 hot washes - to make sure all soap residue is removed - if you squeeze them out and you still get soap bubbles - wash again -