Washing Cloth Diapers May Not Be As Easy As You Thought!

So you've decided to use cloth diapers! Fabulous! Now are you ready for all of the washing involved? While it may seem a no brainer and fairly easy, here are a few things you'll need for the cleaning process.

• You'll need a mini shower/diaper sprayer for the not so solid poo,  that your little one has so graciously left for you.
• A spray Pal to keep the mess from splattering all over the toilet and bathroom.
• A waterproof wet/dry bag, preferably one with a zipper or draw string to close it off, so that the smell of soiled diapers doesn't linger in your home.

Now for the process! You have your first dirty diaper! Lets say that it's a solid poopy diaper. It's as simple as just shaking it into the toilet and flushing it away. Then toss the diaper or just the inserts depending on if you used the pocket or not, into the dirty diaper bag.

Now lets change things up a bit! Your little one has an upset tummy and things aren't exactly solid when you go to change his/her diaper. This is where the sprayer is needed! So here's what you do:

• Clip the diaper into the spray pal over your toilet. If you don't have the spray pal then just hold the diaper against the side of your toilet. Without the spray pal it could get a little messy!
• Spray off the icky poo and flush.
• I tend to take the wet diaper/inserts after the spraying is done and spray them with spray and wash to prevent stains while the diaper sits waiting to be washed.
• Then either toss it in the dirty diaper bag or the washing machine if you're about to wash a load.

You may wonder if the sprayer is really necessary? YES!!!!! It is very necessary! Your washing machine may be amazing and do wonders on your clothes but trust me, you do not want to toss a dirty diaper into it without getting the icky poo off! If you have a front load washer like I do, the rubber around the door will catch it and you'll have to clean it or your regular clothes will have a dirty smell no matter how many times you wash them!

So you have your diapers in the washing machine and you're about to wash your first load. If you have a top load machine I recommend that you use your highest settings and do a cold rinse or pre wash prior to the main wash. If you have a front load machine be sure to set your prewash and extra water settings! You'll need the extra water to insure everything is properly rinsed and the pre wash helps keep the odors down and any tiny pieces of poo you may have missed get washed away instead of floating around during the main wash. I recommend setting the soil level to heavy or between normal and heavy. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• I've read where people advise against using fabric softener as it supposedly ruins the absorbency of the inserts. I find that to be false! I add fabric softener to every load!
• Using bleach shortens the life of your inserts and diapers!?! However I wash the inserts once a week with bleach to insure that everything is clean. It just makes me feel better!
• Pre wash and extra water are important!
• Spray and Wash or Resolve help keep the inserts and diapers looking new.

Well you've successfully washed your first load of cloth diapers! Congrats! Now lets get to the drying!
You can machine or line dry. Whatever suits you. I do a combination of both. Sometimes I'll hang a few up in the house to dry if my dryer is preoccupied at that time. But mostly I just machine dry. So there you have it. Happy Washing!

Not Your Grandma's Cloth Diapers

With everything else in the world changing, so have cloth diapers! The single square piece of cloth and big ole clothes pins are a thing of the past. Now a days you can find cloth diapers with many patterns and even an option of Velcro or snap together buttons. You may find yourself considering cloth diapers for a few reasons.

• You prefer to slow down the mass dumpings in landfills
• Financially it just seems logic (4 children can be expensive)
• Or simply you just like the whole idea

Whatever your reason, I highly suggest that you do a bit of research. I myself ran into this quite blindly. With being a middle class family and living pay check to pay check and having just had our fourth little pooping bundle of joy, there was no way that we could afford diapers for three little ones all at once. We found ourselves spending $100+ weekly on diapers alone while our oldest was still using pullups and being potty trained (that's a whole nother monster all on it's own!). So we had an idea of what to expect financially if we continued to buy disposable diapers while our last three were working their way up to potty training age. So I figured why not make the switch to cloth diapers? I went online and found what seemed to be good deal. With usually spending $18+ on a single box of disposable diapers, $35 for six cloth diapers plus six inserts didn't seem so bad. Well I opted for the snappy buttons because my munchkins knew all too well how to yank anything Velcro right off of their rear ends!

I received everything fairly quickly and tossed one on my son. About an hour later as he strolled through the living room, I figured that I better check and make sure that everything was holding up okay. Sadly that is when I realized, ONE single insert wasn't going to do the trick and six diaper covers were far from enough. I toughed it out over the next few weeks only using disposable diapers as a back up while I washed the cloth ones. Started the potty training hot and heavy for my then two year old daughter. Finally I was able to order another set of inserts. This set was much more absorbent than the first. So I had gotten all of my ducks in a row and figured out a system. With just using the six covers and twelve inserts, I managed to keep everyone and everything clean and dry! But my washing machine was definitely put to use. Washing every morning and every night and possibly a time between. My daughter was completely potty trained in a months time so it got much easier with only having to diaper the boys. So while I managed to come up with a solution to my dilemma, I worried that what if someone happened to make the same mistakes? Hopefully this can help a little.

Before You Buy Cloth Diapers:

• Remember more is better! A set of 5 is hardly enough for a single child!
• 2 inserts per diaper cover to prevent leaks!
• Velcro is fine for newborns but if they are walking, I recommend snap together buttons!
• Washing the inserts prior to use helps them absorb better.
• YouTube has how to videos if you're not sure how to put them on.
• Inserts laid on the inside of the diaper rather than put into the pocket of the diaper make it so you can reuse the diaper cover and only change out the inserts.

Stay tuned to learn how washing cloth diapers and the insert can be a complicated without the proper know how, dirty diaper storage, and disposal of the waste before washing!