The Truth About Cloth Diapers
See Step 1: convincing my husband that cloth diapers aren't lunacy
See Step 2: Pick your diaper
My most serious concern about using cloth diapers was putting baby poop in my washing machine. I did a great deal of investigation on how to make sure everything was sanitary. My investigation didn't turn up many results that referred specifically to disinfecting the diapers and the washing machine. I was genuinely surprised, I know I am NOT the only one that thinks poop is disgusting and cringes at the thought of washing their clothes in it. I figured out how to keep the germs at bay on my own using vinegar and tea tree oil. Both can be used as a disinfectant and are natural so they won't irritate a baby's bottom. You can see how I wash and disinfect the washing machine in my post Wash the Washer.
What I did find was various ways to store your dirty diapers. I learned about things like wet pails, dry pails, and pail liners.
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| White vinegar in a squeeze bottle for easy use |
If the soiled diaper looks at risk for stains you can pre-treat it by squirting a 50% water and white vinegar solution on it (this stops the stain from setting and kills bacteria), or maybe some Bac-Out Enzyme Stain Remover. Some people even choose to rinse they're diapers off completely in their toilet or bath tub. I'm not that dedicated. My diapers get a shake down, a vinegar squirt, and plopped in the dry pail with a sprinkle of baking soda.
Wet pail:
This is a storage system for dirty diapers that involves filling a 'pail' (a bucket with a locking lid would do) partially with water and placing your diapers in the pail to soak while they wait for laundry day. The benefits of a wet pail include the decrease in treacherous odors, fewer stains to fight, and being able to add ingredients to the water that pre-treat your diapers for washing. The wet pail method also has some pretty serious disadvantages, for example having a bucket of water in your house 24/7 is dangerous for young children who could topple in and drown, if you use a laundry-mat your wet pail isn't going to be easy to transport, and the water will need changed daily.
Examples of additives to pre-treat your diapers:
Tea Tree Oil
Borax
Vinegar
Baking Soda
An interesting version of the wet pail is to use your washing machine as the pail. Let the washer fill half way with cold water (hot water sets stains), add your desired pre-treatment, and drop the diapers in as they're dirtied. The water still needs changed every day, but I feel like the washing machine makes that process easier. You have the option to just wash them every night, I mean they're already in there and you need to change the water daily anyway, right? Plus, the threat of a child falling into you washer is noticeably smaller than a bucket of water. This might fit easily into your lifestyle if you already have a laundry schedule where you do all of your laundry on one day. In that case you can have a separate pail for diapers on laundry day (probably even a trash bag would do).
Dry Pail:
This can be any container with a lid. You may choose to use a liner in your dry pail so that you don't have to handle the dirty diapers when you're ready to wash them. Just a garbage bag will work. or you can use a nylon bag and wash it with the diapers on laundry day. Most families that use dry pails choose to add baking soda, tea tree oil, or other ingredients that fight bad odors.
My pail of choice is the Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail, found here for $24.99 at Target. It's meant for disposable diapers but I choose it #1 because a dear friend gave it to me as a shower present, and #2 because it's awesome. It sprinkles a touch of Arm and Hammer baking soda every time I close the lid, which is good for containing stink and is a nice pre-treatment for my diapers. When it's full I take out the bag and rip it open over my washing machine so that I don't have to touch the stinkies. The disadvantage here is that I have to buy special bags that aren't cheap, but I deal with it for the convenience of an automatic sprinkle of baking soda for every diaper and I've always got my eye out to find the refill bags on sale. I've been using this for 17 months and have only had to change the baking soda cartridge once!
Laundry Day:
If you've treated potential stains as you've placed dirty diapers in the pail you don't have to handle the diapers on laundry day. You can just poor the diapers into the washing machine. I recommend three cycles:
1st cycle: Use cold water! Hot water sets stains. Let the washer fill with water and then stop the cycle and let your diapers soak for a few hours. I prefer to let the machine agitate a few times before I stop the cycle and then let them soak over night if I have the time. You can use some additives in this initial soak, I like to use 1/2 cup of vinegar and 3 drops of tea tree oil. Both have disinfecting properties, plus vinegar is a great deodorizer. But you should use whatever works best for you. Other options include baking soda, Borax, or Bac-Out Enzyme Stain Remover. Do NOT use bleach (or any other strong chemicals) it will destroy your diapers and your baby's bottom. After the soak, let the cycle run it's course.
2nd cycle: Use cold water again, this time run the cycle and use a gentle scent free detergent. I use my home made detergent, you can find the recipe in the post DIY Household Cleaners. Detergents that are scented or have too many additives can negatively affect the absorbency of cloth diapers and irritate your baby's skin. There's a chart on DiaperJungle.com that ranks detergents for use with cloth diapers, shows what additives they contain, and even breaks down the price per load. Click here to see the magnificent chart.
3rd cycle: Okay, NOW use hot water. Don't add anything, just run them through a full hot cycle to get a thorough hot rinse.
I've seen other moms use this same diaper washing technique, some that switch the first two cycles and use detergent first (letting them soak after the first cycle but before the second), some that combine the first two cycles, and I'm sure there are some moms out there that do something completely different. The point here is you have to do what works best for you.
Drying: It's mostly not recommend to put cloth diapers in the dryer. The dryer apparently shortens their life so it's best to hang dry them. My guilty confession is I put mine in the drier. There's been no damage so far, and I usually tumble dry them with no heat. There have been times that my diapers were dried with heat if I'd forgotten to change the dryer's setting and other times when I was just plain in a hurry. The diapers did not spontaneously combust. It's even less recommended to use drier sheets, the chemicals are bad for babies skin and they decrease diapers' absorbency. That's a rule I don't break. I don't use dryer sheets in the dryer at all, not only are they bad for diapers but they're also bad for your dryer.
I'm happy to answer any questions! Just leave a comment :)
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| Baking soda sprinkle magic! |
My pail of choice is the Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail, found here for $24.99 at Target. It's meant for disposable diapers but I choose it #1 because a dear friend gave it to me as a shower present, and #2 because it's awesome. It sprinkles a touch of Arm and Hammer baking soda every time I close the lid, which is good for containing stink and is a nice pre-treatment for my diapers. When it's full I take out the bag and rip it open over my washing machine so that I don't have to touch the stinkies. The disadvantage here is that I have to buy special bags that aren't cheap, but I deal with it for the convenience of an automatic sprinkle of baking soda for every diaper and I've always got my eye out to find the refill bags on sale. I've been using this for 17 months and have only had to change the baking soda cartridge once!
Laundry Day:
If you've treated potential stains as you've placed dirty diapers in the pail you don't have to handle the diapers on laundry day. You can just poor the diapers into the washing machine. I recommend three cycles:
1st cycle: Use cold water! Hot water sets stains. Let the washer fill with water and then stop the cycle and let your diapers soak for a few hours. I prefer to let the machine agitate a few times before I stop the cycle and then let them soak over night if I have the time. You can use some additives in this initial soak, I like to use 1/2 cup of vinegar and 3 drops of tea tree oil. Both have disinfecting properties, plus vinegar is a great deodorizer. But you should use whatever works best for you. Other options include baking soda, Borax, or Bac-Out Enzyme Stain Remover. Do NOT use bleach (or any other strong chemicals) it will destroy your diapers and your baby's bottom. After the soak, let the cycle run it's course.
2nd cycle: Use cold water again, this time run the cycle and use a gentle scent free detergent. I use my home made detergent, you can find the recipe in the post DIY Household Cleaners. Detergents that are scented or have too many additives can negatively affect the absorbency of cloth diapers and irritate your baby's skin. There's a chart on DiaperJungle.com that ranks detergents for use with cloth diapers, shows what additives they contain, and even breaks down the price per load. Click here to see the magnificent chart.
3rd cycle: Okay, NOW use hot water. Don't add anything, just run them through a full hot cycle to get a thorough hot rinse.
I've seen other moms use this same diaper washing technique, some that switch the first two cycles and use detergent first (letting them soak after the first cycle but before the second), some that combine the first two cycles, and I'm sure there are some moms out there that do something completely different. The point here is you have to do what works best for you.
Drying: It's mostly not recommend to put cloth diapers in the dryer. The dryer apparently shortens their life so it's best to hang dry them. My guilty confession is I put mine in the drier. There's been no damage so far, and I usually tumble dry them with no heat. There have been times that my diapers were dried with heat if I'd forgotten to change the dryer's setting and other times when I was just plain in a hurry. The diapers did not spontaneously combust. It's even less recommended to use drier sheets, the chemicals are bad for babies skin and they decrease diapers' absorbency. That's a rule I don't break. I don't use dryer sheets in the dryer at all, not only are they bad for diapers but they're also bad for your dryer.
I'm happy to answer any questions! Just leave a comment :)
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