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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Cloth Diapering Part 2

Since yesterdays post I received a handful of emails asking a few cloth questions so I thought I would answer them and add in a few things I left out yesterday. 

I have tried a few different brands of cloth some I really like, and others I hated... not because they were bad, or  not made well they just didn't fit the needs that I had on this cloth adventure.

However the brands/companies that I would order from again are:
Links attached
{I order One Size adjustable diapers, I have found these cheaper on amazon, and ebay}
{Diaper Covers}
{Diaper covers with fancy prints}

Diaper Brands I wouldn't mind trying out

I recently ordered a Thirsties Diaper I am just waiting for it to arrive. 

WASHING
When it comes to washing diapers there are many different methods, some people wash diapers every day, some soak overnight, some line dry, others dry in the machine, some use diaper detergent other dont.. I have not tried alot of different methods but so far.. here is what works for us
I wash diapers every 3 days, until they get washed they sit in a pail, with baking soda and lavender essential oil, I also use Rockin Green diaper pail freshener in "Smashing Watermelon" scent.

 Once I change a diaper, I rinse it out qickly under hot water, then wring it out, take out the insert and place it in the pail. I do not fill the pail with water as that holds more odors. There are all different kind of pails, you can use a trashcan lined with a waterproof diaper pail liner, or you can use a hanging wetbag/pail like this one from Planetwise

I have both, and alternate!

Then when its time to wash I dump the whole pail into the washing machine, the baking soda in the pail will help lift some of the stains during the wash cycle. I alternate how I wash them, sometimes I will wash them on a cold rinse cycle, then  HOT cycle, other just a hot cycle, depends on how many diapers and how soiled they all are. Then I hang them all out on the line. Cloth diapers really benefit from line drying it removes odor, and the sun bleaches out the stains really well. Like I mentioned in the last post prefold tend to get crunchy on the line, so sometimes if they do not have any stains I will just dry them with out clothes in the dryer, if they need to be in the sun then I throw them in the dryer for about 8-10 minutes once they are dry to fluff them up. 

There are a few different kind of detergents made just for cloth diapers, My favorite has been Rockin Green..

 They have a few different formulas depending on what kind of water you have, along with refreshing scents like lavender-mint, watermelon, and they also have an unscented for sensitive babies  

Diapering on the go..
Like I mentioned in yesterdays post, you will need a travel wetbag to hold your diapers when you are out and about.. make sure your wetbag is lined with PUL so that you do not have to deal with any fluid leaks. Once you get home the diapers and the wetbag can all go right into the washer together, and then the bags can be dried on the line as well.

Prepping a diaper
When you first receive a new diaper in the mail, you cannot just use it right away, you have to prep it.. just like stone cookware that has to be baked a few times or "seasoned"... 

The best information I have found on this comes straight from Diaper Junction.. you can read the article here..


always make sure you plan for about 24 hours to run a few cycles on a new diaper before using it.

I was also asked "why" I chose to start cloth diapering...
My main reason for started the cloth adventure was the cost.. we were constantly buying boxes of diapers, and then just throwing them away.. hundreds of dollars just getting tossed.. so I thought about it and realized that while it would include extra work on my part it would save us alot of money in the long run.. especially since all of the diapers can be used on the next baby, and if there would not be any more babies they can be sold. I have found lots of great diaper deals on craigslist, and ebay.. there are also diaper swapping websites that you can get great deals on ! 

While it's great that its another way of going green, and saving the environment I can tell you that was not my main concern.. it was the money saving that really changed my mind. I did some research and learned that the average baby in a 3 year period goes through about $2,500 worth of disposable diapers, on a cloth diapered baby the average price spent is $500-700 dollars depending on what brands, how many, and experimenting.. I have so far spent $200 dollars on all the diapers that I have {both buying new and used} I really do not need many more then what I have.. most of My cloth diapers are OS(one size) so like I said before they fit newborn through potty training.. cutting out cost's of buying larger sizes as baby grows. 

I honestly have not ventured too far into cloth wipes.. I am still buying disposables.. I buy them in bulk (900ct) to save money.. I do have a few sets of disposable wipes and I rotate them through which does save on using the disposable wipes us as fast. If you are looking into doing cloth wipes, you can find a DIY wipe solution recipe on THIS blog, she is also a cloth diaper mama with some really great tips

I received an email regarding "diaper Sprayer"
I have found that you really need a diaper sprayer to make this whole process MUCH, MUCH easier.. thay are not incredibly expensive and you can find them used from time to time.. we have this one

From Fuzzibunz

I recently read a DIY post that can be found here


It makes cleaning the diapers a breeze.. there is no old fashioned "dunking" them in the toilet.. if that was the case I would NOT be doing this at all. The sprayer connects to your toilet, and then you just spray off the diaper and throw it in the pail!

This is all of the info I have so far... I am still learning.. but enjoying the learning process as we go, and honestly there is nothing cuter then a baby booty in a cloth diaper!

Head on over to THIS blog who is hosting an online raffle including over $1400 in prizes lots of cloth diapering essentials.. all proceeds go to help a family in need 





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love my planetwise bag! Rockin Green soap is definitely my favorite soap I have tried so far too. I have tried swaddlebees and really like them so far. And dunking? Absolutely no way was I was going to stick my hand in our toilet!

Kim said...

Seeing that sprayer that attaches to the toilet actually makes me consider switching to cloth. Every time I thought about cloth I would think about rinsing them in the toilet and I just can't do it. Thanks for the good info, you've given me a lot to think about!

Anonymous said...

Thank you tons for your tips. My sister is on the baby track and was wanting to look into cloth diapers. I knew nothing of cloth diapers when I had Em (now 8) and I wish I did. It would have saved me in not only diapers but diaper cream too.

Fash Boulevard said...

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