This is a very “only Moms will care” post, be forewarned.
I use cloth diapers. And I love the heck out of them. When I was extremely nauseous/sick earlier this pregnancy I just couldn’t handle them [too many smells! too much work!] and it saddened me.
The #1 reason I love them??? THEY ARE COST EFFECTIVE. Seriously, you can pay less than $500 to diaper 2++ kids. And you’d be out $500 in just 10 months of diapering one child in disposables (if you’re averaging one $50 case of diapers per month). Yes, there is more work required, but with kids you’re already doing tons of laundry so…what’s the diff? That’s how I feel anyway.
first day in cloth, 3 weeks old!
There are a bajillion cloth diaper blogs and resources out there, which is why I haven’t felt the need to post anything about my routines and such. However, I have noticed a trend in these online sources….THEY ARE SO WORDY. Granted, there can be a lot to say about cloth diapers and wash routines if you care or are trying to solve a problem. But if you’re just curious or are a new Mom just starting out??? You don’t need to know all of that crap! [ha. ha. ha.]
So I present to you:
Rachel’s Condensed Cloth Diaper Guide [or, how I contain my child’s excrement in a sanitary fashion]
complete with links to specific products, if you’re interested!
- I use covers and prefolds [or inserts].
- Covers are waterproof and re-useable, as long as they are not slathered with poo inside
- The prefold or insert is the absorbent part that collects the pee/poo. This is the part you swap out during a normal diaper change
- I have about 5 covers in each size.
- I have about 12 inserts for my 20 month old, and 18-24 prefolds for when she was younger
- There are other types of diapers. All in Ones [AIO], All in Twos [AI2], and Pockets are the most popular.
- I also use cloth wipes. They are made of flannel cut into squares, and baby washcloths.
- Wipe solution = 1C water+1T liquid castile soap+1T coconut oil+10 drops tea tree oil
- I soak a stack of folded wipes in the solution, and store in a plastic container
- If baby is exclusively breastfed, I don’t rinse the poo. It’s water soluble.
- If baby is eating solids, I dump what I can into the toilet, I don’t worry too much if something won’t come off
- I store the diapers in a hanging wet bag, which I wash with the diapers.
- I own two, so that I can have a clean one hanging while the other is in the wash
- I wash dirty diapers every other day. Here is my wash routine:
- Dump dirty diapers into top-loading washing machine
- Set water level to low, temperature to cold
- Add a towel if there aren’t enough diapers to make up a small load (you want it to be like diaper chili, not diaper soup. but don’t take it all the way to stew, either. too much OR too little water can prevent diapers from agitating properly. HE/front loading washers regulate this for you automatically)
- Sprinkle a small amount of regular Tide detergent, run a “casual” cycle (AKA quick cycle)
- Add a full scoop of Tide, run a “heavy duty” wash cycle
- Take diaper covers out to line dry, put inserts and everything else in the dryer
- Run for 1-2 cycles on bulky/high heat
- If the diapers ever smell a little stinky after they’re clean, I dump some bleach into the bleach dispenser in the washing machine during my normal wash routine.
- If that doesn’t take care of it, I soak the clean diapers in bleach for 30mins and run a wash cycle without soap
- For a bleach soak I use approx 1T bleach per 1gal water
- You can do a bleach soak in the bathtub or in a top loading washer
Ta-da! There it is. The condensed how-to guide, according to me. There is a LOT more I could say, but I won’t unless you’re curious! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. I loooove talking diapers so much. So so much.
love, rach
Waffles&Cereal 