More Information on Cloth Diapering

My mom and my sister-in-law both cringed at the fact that I wash out Rayleigh's poopie diapers in our kitchen sink! So, this post is to clarify a few things. First of all, Rayleigh is breastfed. Breastmilk is more easily digested than formula so her poop is a lot more like liquid. If you are formula-feeding your baby you can most often just shake off the poop into your toilet as it is more solid. Alternatively, you can rinse the poopie cloth diapers in your shower or washroom sink if you have one. And, people, I obviously clean my sink after using the spray nozzle on the cloth diapers! Below is the washing instructions information from the form that Green Bambino provides:

 "Every manufacturer has their own recommended instructions for washing diapers, but Green Bambino believes it's important to keep the wash routine simple. Here are our instructions:

Prewash your diapers before the first use. Natural fibers such as cotton and hemp should be washed separately from synthetic fibers at least 3-4 times in hot water. Synthetic fibers can be prewashed once in warm water. Once diapers have been prewashed properly, all diapers except wool can be washed and dried together.

Regular wash routine: Using as much water as possible, run a quick cold wash or prewash with a very small amount of detergent. Then run a hot wash (not a sanitize cycle) with the recommended amount of residue free detergent or 1/2 the recommended amount of other detergents (1/4 the recommended amount if you use a HE front loader). Bleach can void warranties, but if you must use it, 1/8 cup is plenty. Either hand your diapers to dry in the sun or dry them in the dryer on a low to medium setting.

Tips: Don't use anything with additives such as softeners, dyes, perfumes, or enzymes. These can decrease the absorbency of diapers. Don't overfill your washer with diapers. Diapers need plenty of room to swish around in so use plenty of water. If you still see detergent suds during the rinse cycle, rinse again. If your diapers still smell stinky after washing, wash them again (some babies produce stinkier diapers than others). Stripping your diapers is rarely necessary, but we can tell you how to do it."

Back of Flip cloth diaper starter box

One of the ladies at Green Bambino told me that she does not need to rinse her poopie diapers very often, only does so when they are full of poop. She just throws them in her diaper pail (such as a Diaper Genie or Diaper Champ) and washes them all at the end of the day. Everyone is different. Me, personally? I like to rinse them off in hot water and then set them in the sun before washing at the end of the day. I think it helps them come out cleaner and so far mine have never smelled coming out of the dryer!

I use the organic inserts that you have to fold yourself and the stay-dry inserts that are in the pictures below. The stay-dry inserts just need to be folded to length. For girls put the folded part in the back and put the folded part in the front for boys for absorbency reasons!