You want to be environmentally friendly and use cloth diapers to reduce the amount of landfill waste, but you are still anxious about the washing procedure. Many of today’s young mothers were raised with disposable diapers and have this same concern. Cleaning cloth diapers is not as hard, or as gross, as you might think.
Gone are the days of soaking, pre-washing, bleaching and air-drying cloth diapers. Indeed, this was somewhat labor-intensive. You can still purchase plain, pre-folded diapers and use them with the soft, washable diaper covers which are now available. Today’s generation of cloth diapers are 100% better than the old style. There are many all-in-one cloth diaper systems to choose from. One such brand is Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers, which are diaper and cover in one piece, with an optional insert. Everything can be washed together, including the “wet bag” which is used to contain the wet diapers until laundry day.
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for cleaning your soft and natural cloth diapers.
Simply drop any solid waste into the toilet bowl and flush it away if baby has had a bowel movement. It is not necessary to swirl or wring the diaper. Store the wet and/or dirty diapers in a diaper pail or your wet bags until laundry time. Just leave them the way they are, there is no need for soaking. When you are ready to launder, first run the diapers through a cool water rinse. The next step is to wash the diapers with detergent in a hot water wash. Using soaps to launder cloth diapers can leave an oily residue reducing the absorbancy of the diaper. You may also want to experiment with the amount of detergent you use, not only for diapers, but for all your laundry. Many manufacturers recommend using more detergent than you actually need. This can leave irritating deposits on the cotton. One way to see if you can use less detergent is to use about half the recommended amount to see if it is effective for you, and adjust the amount from that point. Follow the hot wash with a cold rinse. Most machines these days automatically use a cold rinse, but check your settings to make sure.
If you’re not sure how much detergent is too much, run the diapers through a second rinse. The water should be clear. If you see suds, or any soapy looking remains in the water, it means there was still some residue left on the diapers. While on the subject of residue or deposits, it is recommended to NOT use fabric softeners on your baby’s cloth diapers. Fabric softeners leave a coating on fabrics which reduces the efficacy of the cloth diaper. You will need to change your baby more frequently and risk irritation or diaper rash if your diapers have reduced absorbancy.
You can dry the clean diapers in the dryer or air-dry them. The dryer does provide softness, but the sun has natural bleaching and disinfecting qualities as well. Each brand is different so make sure the check the washing instructions which come with your diaper. Fuzzi Bunz diapers recommends using a low setting on the dryer, while some of the others say to use the hot.
It is possible for you to help preserve the environment by washing those soft natural diapers and keeping the disposables out of the landfills. And don’t forget you can and put the baby in your favorite Ellaroo baby carrier and go enjoy your world naturally as well!