What do you do with the poo?

How to clean your cloth diapers is one of the biggest questions out there.  There are several different ways out there explaining how to wash cloth diapers.  Two of the biggest things you need to know is never use fabric sheets, as they will cause a film to build up on your diapers causing them to be less absorbent; and do not use bleach on anything with a waterproof barrier.  The bleach brakes down the barrier, resulting in voided warranties and leaking diapers and/or covers. Bleach can be used on prefold fabric diapers, but only sparingly, maybe once every couple of months if they are looking dingy.

In the old days many, if not most, of mom's used the wet pail method, where there was water and detergent and/or bleach in the pail that they put their diapers in.  This method is no longer commonly used .  There are two main reasons for this.

One, it is easier for bacteria to grow in the warm, dirty water and two, the pails could pose a drowning hazard.  Most mom's these days use a dry pail method.  You simply put the diapers in a pail with a lid, that's it.  Nothing special.  There are pail liners to make wash day easier and some may add some baking soda to help absorb odor, but neither of these are necessary.  Generally you will do laundry every two to three days or when you run out of diapers.  The number of diapers you have in your rotation will be the biggest variable in determining how often you do laundry.

The first thing you have to do is right when you're changing the diaper.  If it was a poopy diaper then you need to knock as much of the poop as possible in the toilet (disposable diapers also direct you to do this on their labels).  If you have a diaper or cover with Velcro, you will need to secure the Velcro to prevent it from sticking to the other diapers.

On laundry day some may put the diapers in the washer and fill it with cold water and let it sit for a couple of hours.  I generally do not do this.  I put the diapers in and run a cold rinse cycle with no detergent to get off any solid particles.  I then run a hot/cold wash cycle with detergent (I'll talk about the detergent later), with an extra rinse cycle.  Some may put baking soda (between 1/2 - 1 cup) in with the diapers.  This acts as a brightener and also absorbs odors.  You can also put vinegar in the spout for liquid bleach or liquid fabric softener (or a fabric softener ball).  I would say a couple of TBS is sufficient.  Vinegar neutralizes the ammonia from urine.  Neither the baking soda or vinegar is essential but it can help, especially if you are having odor issues.  When they are done washing, put in the dryer.  To save energy, you can line dry.  During the summer on nice days, this is just as fast as the dryer.  In order to keep them soft, you can bring them out of the sun before they are completely dry and throw them in the dryer for about 10 minutes.  The sun will also help lift out any pesky stains and naturally kills bacteria.

OK, so what about the detergent?  Generally speaking, you will need to use LESS detergent than you would for a regular load of laundry.  As little as 1/2 to 1/4 of the recommended amount.  Also the type of detergent matters.  Always check with the manufacture of the diaper to see what detergent they recommend.  Using other detergents could void their warranty.  The most commercial detergent recommended for diapers is Tide.  There are some other's that are not as commonly found.  Charlie's Soap has mixed reviews.  Some people love it, saying it cleans their diapers really well and rinses well.  Other people have complained of their baby's getting horrible rashes with it.  The one that I have heard the best reviews, from both manufactures and parents, is Country Save.  It is made by a company out of Washington St and it is not available around here, however you can buy it off of Amazon.com.  If it becomes necessary I may start to carry it, if the demand is there.

Now sometimes you will get detergent build up in your diapers.  You will know this because it causes your diapers to have a smell even when they are clean and can cause the diapers to be less absorbent.  The solution for this is called stripping.  As with the washing routine, there are different theories on the best way to do this.  From what I have read, stripping is about washing all of the build up detergent out of the diapers, so that means a lot of rinsing.  You start with your regular wash routine.  You would add an extra wash cycle with very hot water (if you have a top loader you can add boiling water) and no detergent.  You then continue to rinse the diapers until the water no longer has soap bubbles in it.  This can take up to 6 rinses or more if there is a lot of build up.  Doing this should remove any odors that were lingering in your diapers.  Some have suggested adding a small amount (ie 1/4  tsp) of Dawn dish detergent to the second wash cycle.  This helps pull out the detergent from the fabric.

Well, I hope this overview has helped you understand how to wash your diapers and see that it isn't that scary!  Happy washing!