How do I wash my own cloth diapers at home safely, easily, and enviornmentally safely?
vegmomma asked:
We use a cloth diaper service now but I am considering buying and washing them myself to save money. Any good tips?
Thanks!
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May 15th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Oh that’s nasty…..but yeah you can do it. You scrape out what you can and flush it in the toilet, then wash them in hot water with hypoallergenic soap and Clorox.
May 17th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Washing diapers is really very easy.
If you’ve been soaking your diapers, drain off excess solution into the toilet. Empty diapers into washer and turn to the spin cycle to get out extra diaper solution. Continue with washing instructions.
You may wish to run your diapers through a cold presoak cycle, depending on the efficiency of your machine.
Wash only 2 dozen diapers at a time. It’s best to use a detergent with no phosphates and minimal additives and to use less detergent than listed on the box. Do not use natural soap products as they contain oils that will coat your diapers and make them less absorbent. On diaper covers, natural soap will cause your covers to leak. Problem soaps are All Free and Clear, Dr. Bronners Soap, Bio-Kleen liquid and powder, 7th Generation, Dreft and Ivory Snow. Detergents we do recommend are anything cheap (Sunlight, Era, Tide, Cheer, Sams Choice). Just be sure to use 1/2 of the recommended amount. Do not wash too many diapers at once or pilling will occur from the friction in the washer.
Use a hot or warm wash and a cold rinse with the highest water level. If rashes are a problem, you may wish to double rinse or fill a fabric softener ball with 1/4 cup (or less) of vinegar and drop in at the beginning of the wash cycle (it will open automatically for the rinse cycle) or add it to your automatic fabric softener dispenser. You could also add vinegar manually right after the spin cycle. Vinegar helps get rid of detergent/soap residue. When washing diaper covers with diapers, it is best to skip the vinegar rinse.
Do not use fabric softener or chlorine bleach ~ bleach causes premature breaking of the fibers and fabric softener adds a coating to the diapers that make them less absorbent.
Dry on normal heat for about 60 minutes. To make diapers dry faster, add a dry towel to the dryer. Drying in the dryer helps sterilize the diapers, as does drying in direct sunlight.
Diapers will not reach their full absorbency until washed and dried a few times. This is because the cotton fibers need to be “fluffed up” a bit first.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
icky… I’m going to vote for disposable. Is it even possible to get them clean enough??
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Oh my gosh!1 You are like the perfect mommy!!!
I do want to compliment you on you attmpts to be a good/enviro friendly mom. BUt treat yourself to papers at least one week a month. You can still be perfect and there are cons to using coth too.
May 25th, 2009 at 4:18 am
If you have a laundry tub, rince them out there, and wash them. I think there is a detergent… Deft, if I’m not mistaken that would be good to use. Not an endorsement, just thinking that would be a good choice. If you don’t have a laundry tub a large wash tub, would do… then wash them
May 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
in the bath tub this will safe your washer from the stinky ones and than if you want to make sure they are clean wash them in the washer after the tub use liquid fabric softener and hang dry