When I first tried cloth diapering 5 years ago, laundry was gross and a pain. I've now discovered that it is quite simple and there is no soaking or wringing out nasty diapers involved. Everyone has a slightly varied routine, but here is what I do.
I use a dry pail. (My "pail" is actually a kitchen garbage can with the step activated lid. The inner bucket lifts right out.) No water or solution to soak in. I just put about 4 drops of tea tree oil in the bottom of the pail when it is emptied to keep it fresh and keep the nasty stuff from growing. Then, as the diapers are soiled, I just toss them into the dry pail. Fitted diapers and All-In-Ones just get thrown in as is. Pocket dipes I give a good shake so that the insert comes out and then it gets washed seperately. **My son is currently just breastfed so there is no concern of solids. When that time comes, the routine will be altered a little to involve shaking the solids into the toilet. The same as you need to do with a disposable diaper. **
When the pail is full I take the inner bucket out and carry it down to the laundry room. I start the washing machine on a cold wash/cold rinse cycle. I add a small amount of purex free and clear detergent to the wash basin. (about 1/4 of the amount recommended on the bottle) Then I dump in the diapers, close the lid and leave.
When that cycle is finished, I start another cycle of a hot wash/cold rinse. I add 1/4 cup of white vinegar to the wash basin. This helps to neutralize and soap residue that it left in the diapers. Too much soap and residue can make your diapers stinky and water repellant. Not what you want!
Once they are done in the wash I toss them into the dryer. The only ones that don't go in the dryer are the bumGenius 1.0. They need to be hung on the line to dry. The newer 2.0 and 3.0 versions are dryer friendly. About halfway through the dryer cycle, the pocket diapers will be dry. You can either remove all the diapers at that point and hang the damp ones up to finish drying, or just keep the dryer going. Depends on your preference.
Once the spring comes I will be using the clothes line to dry the diapers and then maybe just touching up for a fluff in the dryer. Any diaper with PUL (polyurethane laminate) on the outside such as the fuzzi bunz and the very baby AIO will be put in for a few minutes on high heat. This helps to keep the laminate sealed to the cotton. Using the clothesline will also help to remove any stains that your diapers have.
Easy right?
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
My decision to switch to cloth diapers.
As a brief introduction, our second son was born September 2, 2007 and we did start off using disposable diapers. I had attempted cloth with our first born son 5 years prior but had no luck as the dipes we were handed down did not fit and leaked everywhere. I also did not realize that the internet could be such a wonderful source of info on this, so I just gave up in frustration.
After 2 months of using sposies with our second son I really started to be disgusted at the amount of trash that was being carted up the driveway each week. Our trash can was so heavy with diapers that I could barely lift it. I decided to start looking around.
I found a cloth diapering group on facebook by accident and started to get some ideas as to where to start on my hunt for cloth. I checked out second hand stores that specialized in kids' clothing and found about 25 dipers to start off with. They were all white flannel fitted diapers. Half of them had snaps and half had velcro. I also ended up with about 5 kushies wrap style covers to go over these. I also bought another 8 diapers through mybabystuff.ca which is a free online classifieds site that specializes in baby and kids' items. I found that this amount of diapers was more than enough, but I was changing them way too often as they were not very absorbant nor did they keep the moisture away from Nick's skin. The kushies covers also were so-so. They stayed dry on the main part of the cover but the leg elastics wicked the moisture and created leaks. I found that I was using the cloth at home, but it was not convenient enough to go out in so I was still using disposables any time that we left the house.
Then Danielle from http://www.babyplanetboutique.com/ came by one day with some items that I had ordered from her. She knew that I was starting to cloth diaper and brought along with her 2 diapers that she had from when her son was a baby. She had never used them and was generous enough to gift them to me. (This girl is wonderful!) The one diaper was a Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper and the other was a Very Baby All-In-One (AIO). I was so excited to try these diapers. They just looked so amazing in comparison to the plain white flannel. They were my cadillac diapers! I saved those two for overnights and going out. At that point I was having to do laundry at least every second day so that I could have a night diaper available. I would still on occasion reach for a disposable if I ran out of cloth dipes, but I noticed that Nick was starting to fuss when I put the pampers on him. He did not like them anymore.
After looking around the facebook cloth diapering group some more, I was told to check out http://www.diaperswappers.com/. I headed over there to see what it was all about. It is an online cloth diapering and all-things-mothering community. They have chat forums in regards to cloth diapering, breastfeeding, babywearing, health and weightloss, crafts and a ton of other stuff. They also have a For Sale Or Trade (FSOT) section that lists diapers, covers and everything else that you could think of. I should not say that it is a mothering community, as there are dads on there too. The majority of the members are moms...but it is a parenting site.
I had a look around the FSOT and ended up buying 5 bumGenius 1.0 diapers which are another brand of pocket diaper. I also purchased 2 more Fuzzi Bunz and 2 Aristocrats wool covers.
When these arrived I was officially in love with cloth diapers. The pocket diapers are so easy to care for and the wool covers are so much softer than the vinyl type covers are. Just before Christmas I bought another lot of Fuzzi Bunz and when they arrived I finally had enough good cloth diapers that I could stop using disposables. Granted I couldn't go longer than 2 days without having to do diaper laundry but it was worth it not having to use paper diapers anymore! Yay! (By this time Nick had grown out of the original snapping flannel diapers that we had bought, so the number of diapers had decreased.)
I have also now added to my collection some more fitted diapers which I love but mostly just use around the house or for short outings.
~The 4 Sugarplum baby fitteds are so trim, but not overly absorbant. They are good for at home, but I don't use them away from home as Nick pees through them too quickly. The snap in soakers do make them easy to launder though.
~The 2 Sugarbritches fitteds are quite absorbant. I really like thes ones. They are a little puffier on the bum but super cute and with the soaker being sewn in just at one end, they dry rather quickly.
~ also managed to grab one Muttaqin baby fitted which I love. It has cotton sherpa inside and cotton velour outside and also has a snap in soaker. It is so soft and is my favourite so far.
I am still looking to buy some more fitteds and pocket diapers so that I can get to the point of only having to do laundry every 4 days or so. I wouldn't want to leave the diapers any longer than that. Once I'm at that point I'll need aa larger diaper pail, as the current one fills up after about 2 days. I'll probably just get 2 large hanging pails (wetbags) which can just be thrown in the wash along with the diapers.
After 2 months of using sposies with our second son I really started to be disgusted at the amount of trash that was being carted up the driveway each week. Our trash can was so heavy with diapers that I could barely lift it. I decided to start looking around.
I found a cloth diapering group on facebook by accident and started to get some ideas as to where to start on my hunt for cloth. I checked out second hand stores that specialized in kids' clothing and found about 25 dipers to start off with. They were all white flannel fitted diapers. Half of them had snaps and half had velcro. I also ended up with about 5 kushies wrap style covers to go over these. I also bought another 8 diapers through mybabystuff.ca which is a free online classifieds site that specializes in baby and kids' items. I found that this amount of diapers was more than enough, but I was changing them way too often as they were not very absorbant nor did they keep the moisture away from Nick's skin. The kushies covers also were so-so. They stayed dry on the main part of the cover but the leg elastics wicked the moisture and created leaks. I found that I was using the cloth at home, but it was not convenient enough to go out in so I was still using disposables any time that we left the house.
Then Danielle from http://www.babyplanetboutique.com/ came by one day with some items that I had ordered from her. She knew that I was starting to cloth diaper and brought along with her 2 diapers that she had from when her son was a baby. She had never used them and was generous enough to gift them to me. (This girl is wonderful!) The one diaper was a Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper and the other was a Very Baby All-In-One (AIO). I was so excited to try these diapers. They just looked so amazing in comparison to the plain white flannel. They were my cadillac diapers! I saved those two for overnights and going out. At that point I was having to do laundry at least every second day so that I could have a night diaper available. I would still on occasion reach for a disposable if I ran out of cloth dipes, but I noticed that Nick was starting to fuss when I put the pampers on him. He did not like them anymore.
After looking around the facebook cloth diapering group some more, I was told to check out http://www.diaperswappers.com/. I headed over there to see what it was all about. It is an online cloth diapering and all-things-mothering community. They have chat forums in regards to cloth diapering, breastfeeding, babywearing, health and weightloss, crafts and a ton of other stuff. They also have a For Sale Or Trade (FSOT) section that lists diapers, covers and everything else that you could think of. I should not say that it is a mothering community, as there are dads on there too. The majority of the members are moms...but it is a parenting site.
I had a look around the FSOT and ended up buying 5 bumGenius 1.0 diapers which are another brand of pocket diaper. I also purchased 2 more Fuzzi Bunz and 2 Aristocrats wool covers.
When these arrived I was officially in love with cloth diapers. The pocket diapers are so easy to care for and the wool covers are so much softer than the vinyl type covers are. Just before Christmas I bought another lot of Fuzzi Bunz and when they arrived I finally had enough good cloth diapers that I could stop using disposables. Granted I couldn't go longer than 2 days without having to do diaper laundry but it was worth it not having to use paper diapers anymore! Yay! (By this time Nick had grown out of the original snapping flannel diapers that we had bought, so the number of diapers had decreased.)
I have also now added to my collection some more fitted diapers which I love but mostly just use around the house or for short outings.
~The 4 Sugarplum baby fitteds are so trim, but not overly absorbant. They are good for at home, but I don't use them away from home as Nick pees through them too quickly. The snap in soakers do make them easy to launder though.
~The 2 Sugarbritches fitteds are quite absorbant. I really like thes ones. They are a little puffier on the bum but super cute and with the soaker being sewn in just at one end, they dry rather quickly.
~ also managed to grab one Muttaqin baby fitted which I love. It has cotton sherpa inside and cotton velour outside and also has a snap in soaker. It is so soft and is my favourite so far.
I am still looking to buy some more fitteds and pocket diapers so that I can get to the point of only having to do laundry every 4 days or so. I wouldn't want to leave the diapers any longer than that. Once I'm at that point I'll need aa larger diaper pail, as the current one fills up after about 2 days. I'll probably just get 2 large hanging pails (wetbags) which can just be thrown in the wash along with the diapers.
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