The wash and the "ick" factor

Truthfully washing cloth diapers is a little more "hands on" than throwing away a disposable. But not much. You do have to use a wipe or some TP to lift anything that's not going to dissolve off of the diaper before washing. That's not much different from getting it off of your kids rear though. If you use diapers lined with fleece or put a scrap of fleece on top of a regular diaper then the solids will (for the most part) roll off (if your child has solid BM's). Breastfed BM's dissolve until solid food is added to the diet.

Washing Instructions: How I wash diapers.

  1. Remove diaper from baby.
  2. Wipe baby with either disposable wipe (BM) or re-useable wipe.
  3. Discard disposable wipe and any solids removed from diaper in trash. If you use a flushable wipe you can just toss these in the toilet and flush.
  4. Separate parts of diaper (stuffing, liners, covers... whatever you happen to be using), attach all velcro back on itself, and place in lined diaper pail. I use a PUL liner that I can just wash when I wash diapers (any washable waterproof material will work).
  5. On washday I set the washer a long cycle - mine is called "powerscrub" and I set it for an extra rinse. I also set it on HOT wash with COLD rinses.
  6. I put all of my detergent and wash additives in at once. (My washer and dryer are outside so I can't hear when the cycle changes to run out and add something.) I recomend using a Free and Clear detergent - I like Purex. I also add 5 drops of tea tree oil to the wash baisin as well as 5 drops into the fabric softener dispenser and enough wter to fill the dispenser. Sometimes I add lavender oil too.
  7. When the cycle ends I smell a diaper or two to make sure that they haven't held on to any offensive odors.
  8. Then I load everything - diapers, liners, stuffing, wipes into the dryer on high. a lot of people hang them to dry and if you live in a dry enough climate it's certainly more economical to air dry them on the line. However, I've found that mine don't dry for days when I do this because I live in a very humid part of the country.
  9. When I fold I assemble all of the pocket diapers so that they're ready to just velcro onto a bare heiny and go.