Preparing and Washing Cloth Diapers

Just like most cleaning routines, there are a lot of different ways and opinions on how to go about prepping and washing diapers. As I've said before, I'm only giving you basic instructions, the rest is my personal opinion. 

Prepping

When you buy a new diaper you want to prep it for a couple reasons. The first reason being that you want to get all the dust and grime that is on it from being made and packaged. You wash your new clothes and underwear before you wear it, right? The same concept applies to diapers.  The second reason is for maximum absorbency. Most natural fibers become more absorbent the more they are washed and used.  In this process you will be helping it along for better absorbency in your diapers and inserts.

Synthetic Materials

These are the easiest and least time consuming diapers to prep. Most pocket diapers, and covers would fall under this category, microfiber inserts would as well. All you have to do for these is put them through one of your regular wash routines. (I'll talk about routines a little later in this post.) You'll want to dry them in the dryer with heat to seal the PUL (polyurethane laminate). After drying once, you can line dry if you prefer. 

Natural Fibers

These take a little more time to prepare before you use them. Cotton, hemp, and bamboo are considered natural fibers. You will want to do these separate from your synthetic materials. They have oils in them that you are trying to wash off, if you mix them with your synthetic it could cause the oils to stick them and make them not as absorbent. I've heard a couple different ways to prep these. I will share both ways with you. I can't say what has worked for me because I've only bought used natural fiber inserts, so I've never had to do the initial prepping. 

The most common way is to wash and dry them about 5 times. You can wash them fewer times and it wouldn't be harmful. It just wouldn't absorb very well and you may end up disliking them because you haven't experienced their maximum absorbency.

Another method I have heard is boiling them in water on the stove in a large pot. The average I have heard is 30 minutes, and to do it once or twice with no detergent, just water. Then to wash them normally in the washer, and you're done.  

Like I said, I can't tell you which one has worked for me, but I know people that have used both methods and had it work well. As my friend Alicia put it so perfectly " It's kinda like you are trying to pre-age them just enough, mimicking wear and tear that would normally take weeks or months." 

Wash Routines

Now we get to talk about detergents and how to care for your diapers after you do the initial wash. 

You're going to hear a lot of different opinions on what detergent works best, what temperature to wash on, how many rinses to do. You just have to do what works for you. It's a lot of trial and error, unfortunately. The reason there is not one answer is because there are so many variables. If one person has well water, and one has hard water that is chemically treated and both use different types of diapers, they most likely will need different routines.  

There are a few things that should be the same in everyone's routine. 

• Whatever detergent you decide to use, it should not contain softeners or brighteners. It can build up on your diapers and the brightener can be harsh on them. You also won't want to put a dryer sheet in the dryer with them for the same reasons. 
• You only want to use 1-2 Tablespoons of detergent (sometimes more depending on your trial and error). I know, you are thinking there is NO way 1-2 tablespoon of detergent will clean my child's poopy diapers. I thought the same thing, but I promise it does. 
• When you are washing diapers I would only recommend washing 20 or less at a time. Any more and it won't have the room to agitate and clean properly.
• No matter how many diapers you are washing, you should put your water setting on the highest level to make sure it's getting washed and rinsed properly. (I don't have an HE washer, so I'm not sure how that works)
• To ensure you don't get build up, you'll need to rinse your diapers out thoroughly. There are a couple ways to tell if the soap is rinsed out enough. You can look in the washer during the rinse cycle. If there are bubbles, it still has soap in them. How do you tell air bubbles from soap bubbles? If the bubbles pop, it's just air, if they linger it's soap. The method I use is to smell them before putting them in the dryer. If I can strongly smell the detergent I do another rinse. I'm too busy to pay attention to what cycle my washer is on.

Here is where it gets more trial and error in finding what works for you. 

For my wash routine I do a cold rinse, hot wash with detergent, then a cold rinse. I recommend doing a cold rinse before you wash if you don't rinse your pee diapers. The rinse afterward is to get all the soap out. You may need two rinses, it just depends on how long it takes to get all the soap out. This is why you don't need very much detergent. If you use a whole cap full I can't even imagine how long it would take to get all the soap out of the diapers. I like doing a hot wash because I think hot water cleans better than cold. Honestly I can't tell you why I make my rinse after the hot wash cold, but I do. 

As far as detergents go, there are many opinions. I personally use Tide, which to some is a no-no. It works for me and I like it. Don't fix what's not broken, right? I asked a few of my cloth diapering friends what detergents they use and this is what they've told me. 

• All Free and Clear small and mighty
• Charlie's Soap
• Rockin' Green
• A Happy Green Life (Rainbow scent)
• Homemade (borax, washing soda, and oxiclean baby mixture)
• Coconut Rain

As you can see there are many different types of detergent that they are using. What works for one person may not work for you. Just keep in mind what is in the detergent that you are cleaning your diapers with. My homemade detergent that I make for our clothes, I would not use for cloth diapers. I grate up a bar of soap in my detergent and it can cause build up on the diapers making them not as absorbent.

I'm a mom of a 6 month old and a little sleep deprived lately. If something doesn't make sense, just ask me! I love teaching about cloth diapers.