How to Wash Cloth Diapers

I'm sure you have come across a hundred blogs and websites declaring the "proper" way to wash your cloth diapers. There is sooooo much overwhelming information out there that if you get swept up in, could completely discourage you from cloth diapering all together. Well, i'm here to tell you that it's really not as hard as those mom snobs make it out to be!

So, here is my simple routine.

Remember, it's just laundry! You do laundry everyday. It's not rocket science. It's diaper science.

CHECK OUT MY 1 MINUTE VIDEO GUIDE ON WASHING CLOTH DIAPERS:

Heres how I wash my clothes diapers:

I use a re-useable diaper laundry bag placed in a trash can.

Toss all my diapers straight into the laundry bag (without taking liners out of the diaper, because I mean who wants to separate poopy/urinated on liners from their diapers)

Then I take the entire bag of dirty diapers and toss it in the washer WITH the laundry bag too!

If you have a small re-usable dirty diaper bag you take with you when you leave the house, then throw that in too.

Now for the wash---

PRE-WASH: To remove the baby butt by-products (poo) before washing everything in that poo-y mess. 

Prewash with a HOT water HEAVY duty wash with 1/2 c. laundry detergent.

TIDE ORIGINAL POWDER without those weird breezy scents is the way to go. It is still the best and no it does not ruin your diapers or make them irritate your baby's skin (that's what a double rinse is for).

NORMAL-WASH:

After pre-washing your diapers, wash HOT water, HEAVY duty wash, with a cup of TIDE original powder detergent. Use the 2ND RINSE option. (That means there is a double rinse that happens to wash away any extra detergent to ensure nothing is left to irritate baby's little butt.

DRYING:

When putting your diapers in the dryer, this is when you would take the liners out of the diapers so they can dry more evenly. Often times, the washer will naturally separate the two, but whatever it doesn't just do it yourself before drying them. 

Dry on DELICATE DRY for the maximum amount of time (my dryer calls it the MORE DRY time). 

FOLDING:

Now, with a big mound of diapers on your bed, RE-STUFF the diapers with their liners, fold them, and put them away in your baby's adorable diaper drawer. 

I toss them all back in the now clean diaper laundry bag to carry them upstairs and put away, but you could always use a laundry basket if you want. 

TIP: Keep an extra diaper laundry bag so that when one is in the wash, you have another one to line your laundry pail (trash can) with. 

(for the record- my $9 trash can works just as well as those expensive $50 diaper pails)

Types of Cloth Diapers

When I started researching cloth diapers, I became totally overwhelmed! There are so many different types so how could you possibly know which cloth diapers work best?!

Well, I can't tell you which ones you will like best since we all have different preferences and some babies are more explosive than others! However, I can tell you what I have found to be the best and why I like them the most.

TYPES OF CLOTH DIAPERS:

Diaper Covers with prefolds-
Let's be real, prefolds are a pain in the ass. They are basically the rectangular white "diapers" that our grandmas used back in 1930, except now instead of using pins to secure them, you stuff them into a diaper cover/shell. They are bulky and annoying, but some women out there somewhere seem to like them.

 The prefolds are amazing for cleaning up spit-up and drool, covering my changing table so I don't have to wash my changing table cover as much, and for sopping up leaky milk while I sleep. However, I do not use them for actual diapers.




All in One "AIO Diapers"-
These diapers are definitely the easiest to use and are most like a disposable diaper since they consist of a diaper with absorbent inserts already attached to them.

AIO's are great for sending off to the daycare, babysitter, and for giving your dude the confidence to cloth diaper without them feeling like they're gonna mess up or do it wrong.





All in Two "AI2" Diapers-
These diapers have a diaper cover with an insert you just set inside. The cover is usually lined with some sort of fleece/fabric.

No stuffing is involved, which makes these quick and easy.

Bamboo inserts are my favorite. I'll get more in depth on inserts in another post.



Hybrid Diapers-
These are basically a type of AI2 diaper but instead of having any fabric in the cover, it consists of a thin waterproof cover/shell that you simply lay an insert inside of.

The hybrid allows you to also use disposable liners if you're on an airplane or long ride and don't want to lug around your poopy diaper bag (which if you get a reusable smell-proof carry bag doesn't matter anyways, but to each their own. :)

My favorite thing about AI2 hybrid diapers is that when baby pees, you can just replace the liner and keep him in the same diaper until he blows poop everywhere and it gets on the shell.
They are also less bulky than the other types and take up less room in your diaper bag, which means you can store more at a time.




Pocket Diaper-
These diapers are cushy and soft with a microfiber insert that you stuff inside the "pocket".

Some people think pocket diaper are more work since you have to take 10 seconds out of your day to stuff them, but they are definitely my favorite type of diapers.

From my experience, they are more absorbent, super soft, and seem to fit the most comfortably on little baby bums.

I stuff my pocket diapers when I take them out of the dryer so they're all ready to go when you need them.

Also, if you have a heavy wetter or don't want to change diapers in the middle of the night, you can just add an extra insert inside the diaper. Doubling up means less changing and don't worry, the micro fleece wicks away moisture so your baby isn't sitting in wet pee all night like a poor abused puppy left in the rain or something.

My favorite pocket diapers are CHARLIE BANANA and BUMGENIUS.





So there you have the basic five types of diapers used in cloth diapering.

A lot of moms I know buy one of each type of cloth diaper they're interested in and see which works best.

Other moms try out the 2 week trial period that a lot of companies offer so you can try out their cloth diapers risk free.

I put cloth diapers on my registry so I didn't actually have to pay for any of them myself. I just picked out what I wanted and put it on my Amazon.com and BuyBuyBaby registries.

It's definitely best to let your baby shower guests know you're choosing to cloth diaper so that you get what you want and don't end up with 30 boxes of disposable diapers. :)

Happy Diaper Hunting!