What is your wash routine? Cloth Diaper Carnival Part Deux!

Would you believe that washing cloth diapers is easy?  I run into so many people that, when they find out I am cloth diapering my baby, they ask if I have a diaper service.  A diaper service will bring you clean new diapers every week, but not without a hefty bill.  You will pay between $15-25/week and you are stuck using prefolds!!!!

I’m all about the cost saving option, do it yourself!!!  I cloth diaper to save the environment, but like many I also enjoy saving money too.  I love my all-in-one Bum Genius, and One-Size Gro Baby diapers, and washing them couldn’t be easier.

When my baby was born, in December 2008, I had some cute x-small all-in-one/pocket diapers (Blueberries, was the brand name).  I also had some all-in-one small Bum Genius diapers.  I found a wash routine online and decided to try that.

First, I bought some detergent from a local woman who sells cloth diapers (www.softandcozybaby.com).  I went to a cloth diapering workshop a day after my son was born and bought the detergent there, it was Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diaper Detergent.   I was all set to go home and wash my diapers.  First step put poopy diapers, wipes and all in the washing machine.  Next, run a cold rinse with no detergent.  Once the cold rinse was complete I ran a hot/cold wash with a tablespoon of my new Fuzzi Bunz detergent.  It was as simple as that, clean, fabulous smelling diapers every time, right?  Well, not quite.

I quickly learned that the poopy diapers came out stained, and I was not happy about that!  I knew not to use bleach to get the stains out, so what should I do?  I began running the diapers through several more times in the washing machine, but I thought it was really inefficient!  I knew there must be a better way.  I had read that the best way to get stains out was using the sunlight to naturally bleach the diapers, but I was skeptical, could the sun really work as well as chemical bleaches?

I was already hanging my diapers to dry to avoid ruining the elastic, so why not try hanging them in the sunlight?  The only issue was that it was the middle of winter!  Well, guess what I found out (from reseaching online of course) that the best place to get stains out of diapers in the winter was on the dash board of my car, so I gave it a try.  Presto, I put them in the sunlight for 1-2 hours and the stains disappeared, like magic!  I could not believe my eyes, diapers were white as new!  Now that it is summer time, my regular routine consists of bringing my cloth diapers outside on their drying rack to hang dry, not only do they dry much faster, but all the stains are removed as well.

Now, at 9 months old, the diapers really begin to stink!!!  Even after many washes, the smell seems to stay with the diaper….oh no, another dilemma!  Of course, I used the internet to research another earth-friendly way to get the stink out!  I first tried using vinegar, I read that this was one person’s solution, while the diapers smelled a little bit better, they weren’t quite perfect.  On my next try to get the stink out I used baking soda, my next go to cleaner (between baking soda and vinegar, I use them to clean everything).  I put about a tablespoon of baking soda in during the hot/cold wash and it worked wonders, the stink was gone!  I have also read that borax works, but I since I didn’t have it around the house, I didn’t try it….I will though one day!

All in all, washing diapers is easy laundry, throw them in and they are clean, hang to dry and that’s it!  I love washing my diapers and definitely wouldn’t pay for a diaper service…with 24 diapers I have enough to do was every 3 day or so, basically twice a week…not bad for some cute diapers that I will be able to use for years to come!  Yay cloth diapers!!!!

To see all the Cloth Diaper Carnival Entries, click here:

Powered by MckLinky

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

Tagged as: Bum Genius, Gro Baby, stains, sun bleaching, wash routine

8 comments