Wash Routine

I've had a few people recently ask me about my wash routine for my cloth diapers so I thought I would dedicate a post to washing!  Keep in mind what works for one person, may not work for another person, but it's a start.  Cloth diapering is an art, not a science.  As a lot of factors, like hard water, can come into play with how you wash and care for your diapers.  It doesn't have to be hard or difficult, you just have to find what works best for YOU.


For starters, you want to start out with a cloth diaper safe detergent.  Don't skimp on this...seriously!  I've talked to several people who are using detergents that really aren't recommended for cloth diapering and they are now having issues (rash, stink, repelling, etc) and they wonder why.


Here is a very helpful list of detergents to use and to avoid:


http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html


Personally, I use Allen's Naturally detergent.  I bought a gallon bottle (for about $37.00 with shipping) and I've been using it since day 1.  I still have a TON left, so while it may seem expensive up front, it lasts a long time (7 months and counting). 


Now on to the wash routine (note, I have an HE front loading machine, which requires less detergent than a top loading machine):

1. Cold rinse, no spin with no detergent (takes approximately 9 minutes)
• Note: HE machines are just that, high efficiency, so they use less water to save energy.  I do the cold rinse with no spin to "trick" the machine into thinking it needs more water.  The weight of the wet diapers will tell the machine that it needs more water to get the load clean.
2. 1/4 ounce Allens Naturally detergent, fill fabric softener dispenser to line with white distilled vinegar
• Vinegar is great for many reasons...1) it kills odors and 2) it can also kill bacteria, which is obviously a good thing when cloth diapering and 3) it is a natural product so no harsh chemicals like bleach on babies bum!
3. Optional, add 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil to the vinegar.  I use lavendar oil, but I have read that adding grapefruit seed extract is a great way to prevent and cure yeast spores (often times a baby will get a yeast rash after being on an antibiotic)
4. Hot wash, followed by two cold rinses (takes approximately 1 hour and 11 minutes on my machine)
5. If no soap residue (bubbles) are in the machine, you are ready to dry your diapers.
• If you see soap residue, you need to do another rinse and you may be using too much detergent.  Soap build up can cause lots of problems (which leads to stripping).  Soap build up can cause your diapers to repell and make them unable to absorb.  It can also lead to rashes on baby.  If you see suds, rinse again!
• If your diapers come out stinky, you probably didn't use enough detergent.  If they come out soapy, you probably used too much.  It's a fine line but once you find the routine that works for you, stick with it! :o)
6. No suds?  Throw those babies (I mean diapers) in the dryer.  The majority of my stash is made up of pocket diapers.  A pocket diaper has 2 parts, a cover and an insert that goes in the pocket (usually made up of microfiber (MF), hemp or bamboo).  I put all of my inserts in the dryer (along with my fleece liners and cloth wipes) with wool dryer balls (found on etsy.com and most cloth diaper stores).
• Note: Do not use fabric softener or fabric dry sheets with your cloth diapers. It will cause the diapers to repell.  Fabric softener also makes clothing highly flammable, so I don't even use it on our clothing (especially Marissa's) anymore.
7. I hang dry all of my covers inside when it's cold and outside when it is nice!
8. Once everything is dry, I stuff all of my pocket diapers and get them ready for use.  It usually takes me about 15 minutes while watching TV to stuff all of them.

Currently, I do 2 loads of diapers a week.  It really depends on how many diapers you have in your stash that will depend on how often you have to do laundry.  I currently have about 45 pocket and all in one (AIO) diapers.  I wouldn't recommend going longer than 3-4 days between washes, just because you don't want them sitting around dirty for too long.


In the beginning, when we were using prefold diapers (newborn stage since pockets were still too big) I had 28 prefolds (size infant with green stitching) and 3 Kissaluvs Size 0 (KL0s) and I washed every 2-3 days.  It sounds like a lot but it really wasn't, I was on maternity leave and had nothing better to do anyway, right? :)  I used Thirsties duo covers to put over the prefold as a waterproof cover to prevent leaks.  Next time around (yes, I am already thinking about baby #2), I think I want to try some workhorse fitteds instead of the KL0s.  They are much cheaper and I've heard great things about them!


If you are interested in prefolds for the newborn stage, check out this site with great pictures and tutorials on how to use prefolds, snappis and covers!  http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/


So I got off on a few tangents, but hopefully you now have an idea of how to wash your cloth diapers!


Questions?