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Home > Washing Cloth Diapers
 
Washing Cloth Diapers
Washing Cloth Diapers

How Often To Wash
Depending on the amount of diapers you own you will need to wash every 2-3 days . If you decide to go much longer than that you will find that your diapers will be a little harder to clean and I generally do not recommend it.

Before You Wash
Remove your child's diaper and shake off the solids into the toilet or flush the disposable liner down the toilet or spray the solids off with a Diaper Sprayer (works incredibly well).  If your baby is exclusively breastfed, there is no need to shake excess poop into the toilet as it will wash out easily.

Unfold your diapers to ensure thorough cleaning and remove liners or inserts.  Re-fasten the Velcro® strap and place the dirty/wet diaper into a DRY diaper pail.  If the diaper cover also got dirty you can add it to the pail or rinse off the "poop" and throw the diaper cover in with your regular laundry.  If your diaper cover only got wet, let the cover dry and re-use it a few more times.

 Washing Is Easy!
 
  • PRE-WASH - COLD WATER, NO DETERGENT AT HIGH WATER LEVEL
    Empty Diaper Pail Liner into the washer (and throw it in with the diapers to wash it) and use pre-wash cycle (or a rinse cycle) to rinse out urine and fecal matter.  I like to use a normal wash cycle as my rinse cycle as I find this to be one of the most important steps.       Add a wet towel to increase the amount of water or set water level to maximum.
  • MAIN WASH - REGULAR CYCLE, HOT WATER AT HIGH WATER LEVEL, 2nd RINSE
    Add detergent (use a detergent that is additive-free, the simpler the better!).  Use a bit less than you normally would when washing your clothes.  Once your diapers are washed you can test if they are clean by holding them to your nose and take a deep breath - they should smell very fresh!  If they do not, run one more hot wash cycle without any detergent.  When washing diapers it is really important to have an idea about the quality of your water - if you have hard water, use less detergent and you might even have to run your diapers through a hot wash without detergent after a regular wash cycle every month or so.  In hard water the detergent does not rinse well and your diapers can start smelling due to detergent build up, if you use too much detergent or do not rinse well enough.  DO NOT use the sanitizing cycle.
  • RINSE - ANY TEMPERATURE, NO DETERGENT AT HIGH WATER LEVEL
    This step is especially important if your little one has sensitive skin as detergent residue can irritate baby's skin.
  • DRY - PUT DIAPERS IN THE DRYER OR SUN DRY DIAPERS TO GET THEM EXTRA WHITE
    Keep the Dryer on a low heat setting.  Leave the covers out to air dry (without sun, the diapers may show stains from poop - however, they are clean!)  Please also remember that the dryer is hard on any waterproof fabric, so if you want to extend life keep them out of the dryer as often as possible (See manufacturer's recommendations.).
  • DONE…your diapers are clean and ready to use!!!

Detergent:

Choose a detergent that does not contain any of the following additives, as they can create residue problems. Detergent residue will lead to leaking, absorbency issues and stinky covers.

  • Fabric softeners

  • Natural oils

  • Perfumes

  • Dyes

  • UV brighteners

  • Stain guard ingredients

  • Enzymes (they will not affect performance, but may cause rashes on some babies’ skin)


Good examples of detergent choices are:
  • Country Save
  • Rockin' Green