Cloth Diapering Basics

Cloth Diapering: Sounds like a page out of the 80s, right? Plastic pants, leaky diapers and more. Those were the old days of cloth diapering. Nowadays, it easier then ever to cloth diaper. All you need are a few basics.

There are many reasons to cloth diaper, the main reasons being environmental and cost savings. Now I love the earth and everything in it, but I decided to cloth diaper with my 2nd child to save money! Reducing waste was a side benefit.

I am a very analytical person so I spent hours researching the best diapers, the best methods, the cheapest options, the best detergent, on and on and on. Hopefully this article will save you hours on research. If you verge more on the granola spectrum, this article is not for you. I like to keep things simple and efficient. There are so many factors to different methods, that I simply choose not to stress over certain things more than others. My main goal was to save money, period. With that being said, here is my take on the basics of cloth diapering.

1. TIDE detergent. I tried a few different detergents and this has far been the most effective. Like I said before, if you lean towards the granola side of things, stop reading. Tide is a best selling detergent for a reason. It works! And my husband doesn't break out in a rash from it (as he does with other brands) and neither does my sensitive little boy ,who has eczema, for that reason). That is a double win for me.

2. My cleaning routine: Once again, there are many ways you can do this; I like to keep things simple, so this is my routine:

a. Rinse in toilet. Place in a wet bag which I keep by the toilet. (Note: If you are using pocket diapers, then make sure you hold onto the insert, even if it is inside your diaper. I recently had an unfortunate incident where one slipped out of the pocket while I was rinsing, and it went down the toilet. A plumber was called. This is a costly incident which I hope to save you from and not repeat myself.

b. Every two to three days I rinse on cold, then I wash on hot regular. Sometimes I add an extra rinse if my diapers are extra stinky. Seriously, do not stress if you do not wash every other day. It will be okay! Life is much too short to stress over the little things

c. I dry most of my diapers in the dryer (no dryer sheets, it can make the diapers less effective). The only thing I don't put in the dryer is the cloth covers, but seriously don't stress if one accidentally gets thrown into the dryer. One time will not kill you. If you desire, you can also hang out to dry in the sun. This acts as a natural sterilizer (think sun's brightness and heat!). Hint: You may want to at least throw in the dryer a few minutes to make them softer.

d. Rinse and Repeat. ;)

I believe simplicity is best.. I personally use pocket diapers most of the time currently. I occasionally use the basic cloth pre-folds with a cover as well. (I did this more when my baby was little). I find pocket diapers to be easier with a toddler. :)

This season is already a hard time in life, so keep things as simple as possible. There is no reason to stress over cloth diapers. There's enough to worry about in this life. If you have any other questions about specifics, I'm happy to answer any questions from what I found in my countless hours of research.

You can make yourself crazy with all the details of cloth diapering, so do yourself a favor and just take it one step at at time. Choose a method and just start. You can always change it up.

Check out the resources I found to be the most helpful: