Washing cloth diaper is not as complicated as washing was back in our parent's time, but there are still some things that are not intuitive to properly caring for your diapers. For instance, when you first get your cloth diapers, you usually have to wash them multiple times to get them up to peak absorbency. How many times you need to wash it before use is per manufacturer, so check on the manufacturer's website for first time washing instructions.
CAUTION! Many new washing machines come with a
"sanitary" wash setting which they advertise as a setting for washing things like diapers. Unfortunately, the ultra high heat of the sanitary cycle wears down the elastic and waterproofing lining on cloth diapers. The detergent is there to get rid of the bacteria, you don't also need ultra heated water.
Washing cloth diapers
Step 1: Collect dirty diapers in a dry diaper pail, basket, etc. Breastmilk poo can stay on, solids should be dumped in the toilet (you can use a
diaper sprayer attached to your toilet or simply something like a plastic knife to scrape it into the toilet).
Step 2: Pre-wash or do a quick cold wash cycle to pre-rinse diaper and prevent staining. (For hot climates in the summer time it may be necessary to do the cold wash early in the morning so the water is actually cold enough!)
Step 3: Wash with detergent on hot water cycle with a cold rinse. An extra rinse cycle might be necessary for hard water. You'll know they're clean if there is no odor after washing.
Step 4: Dry according to manufacture instructions, generally all types they are fine on high heat in the dryer. Line drying of course is fine for any cloth diaper and the sun provides extra bleaching and sanitizing power (although that does mean any colors on the diaper may fade in the sun, so best to put the inside facing the sun).
Absorption Tip: Don't use fabric softener in the washer or dryer sheets in the dryer as it makes the diapers less absorbent and prone to leaking. You may also have problems with absorption if you use too much fabric softener and/or too many dry sheets in your regular wash loads and it is left over in the washer and/or dryer.
Staining Tip: Try putting some lemon juice on the stain (fresh from the lemon has the strongest stain-removal power) and lay it out in the sun. After trying long soaks in all kinds of stain removers, I was amazed, lemon juice works the best over anything!
Most washers you can add a pre-wash cycle and extra rinse cycle to your wash cycle so you don't have to have to run the washer multiple times to clean your diapers. For example, we set our washer to the "Normal" wash cycle setting, push the "Pre-Wash" button and the "Extra Rinse" button (b/c we have hard water) and it does it all in one wash. I will often throw some essential lavender oil into the fabric softener tray as well for a nice clean scent.
While Temujin was still breastmilk only (it barely smells and only when your nose is directly over it, so we didn't need a lid), we used this
$3.99 laundry basket from Ikea. We liked it because you can push the dirty diapers into the washing machine from the bottom of the bag and not have to touch any dirty diapers--we r smart.
Now that Temujin has started eating enough solids for it to smell we now use a 30 litre
step-on lidded trash can with a washable bag. This trash can is awesome because it easily accommodates the thicker fabric of a washable bag unlike most trash cans that are only designed for thin plastic trash bags. We could have gotten a normal diaper pail but none of them were purty enough.
For traveling we use a
zippered hanging wet bag. And it does keep the smell in! Other possibilities are diaper pails or trash cans that can accommodate a washable liner. Some people also have needed a locking mechanism for curious toddlers.
Washing Machine
We have an LG front-loading washing machine (I think it's this
model) that we love dearly and was worth the splurge for the steam cycle; it de-wrinkles and cleans dry-clean only clothes! Anyhow, I digress...I mention we have an LG front-loader washer because
a) it is highly water and energy efficient and
b) the LG brand was specifically recommended to us by one of the top appliance repairmen in Los Angeles because it has less moving parts (uses an
electro-magnetic motor instead of a belt-driven motor) and therefore breaks down less (and as a bonus is super quiet!).
In other words, if you're in the market for a washing machine and you know you'll be using it heavily (e.g. washing cloth diapers), check out LG washers. There may be other manufacturers now using the same "Direct Drive" motors too.
