May 3, 2011

The Down & Dirty on Diapers


Here is the tutorial on washing cloth diapers like we promised. The good news? There are only three steps in the process: wash, dry, fold! The bad news? Well, there really isn't any from this household.

the wet/dry bag of dirty diapers from the last three days:
(prefolds, wipes, and covers all mixed together)

Update: Since this picture I have ordered a Planet Wise pail liner. I put it in a covered trash can, and this is easier to store the soiled diapers while at home. I still use my Planet Wise wet/dry bag when we travel. Both the bag and pail liner keep odor in and are machine washable.

Babies go through a lot of diapers, hence the bulging bag:

Next we just dump the entire thing into the wash - bag included:

Set the washer to Whites - Hot water, Heavy soiled, Presoak, Extra Rinse. Add an 1/8th a scoop of detergent and push START:

Throw the prefolds into the dryer (or line dry if you live in a warm, sunny place) 
and lay the covers out to dry:

cute, aren't they? :)


Fold into thirds and then in half and reuse:

the before and after:



Ta Da!

Our stack of wipes consists of baby wash cloths and flannel wipes, but I have to admit the actual flannel wipes are better. Instead of buying more, I am planning on re-purposing some of our flannel swaddling blankets that are just too small to hold our baby boy tight into more wipes.

3 comments:

  1. Love the post! Isn't cloth diapering great? I had the same thought about repurposing flannel receiving blankets into wipes, but then after washing them realized I needed to sew a border around the edges because they frayed like crazy. Still haven't gotten around to it, but just thought I'd share :) What detergent do you use? I'm just using free and clear arm and hammer, although I tried a little sample of Rockin Green. Thinking about switching over to that...

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  2. What brand of covers are you using? I used gDiapers with cloth inserts for Luke when he was smaller but they didn't hold up so well... so I gave up. I may have to try these for baby #2. Are they one size fits all or do you have to buy different sizes?

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  3. Sarah - I did the exact same thing with a few homemade flannel wipes. They all frayed, and I haven't fixed them yet. I use Charlie's Soap and love it! I tried Thirsties liquid soap, but I didn't think it was as good.

    Lindsey - I use Thirsties covers (they come in sizes 1 & 2) Then I just use normal Chinese prefolds as the inserts. They both work wonderfully!

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