In this post, I talked about which cloth I preferred to use. Now I’d like to share how I wash them and strip them.
When dd dirties a diaper, I use these hanging bags to put them in and when we are out and about I use these bags. When she was little and strictly breastfed, I didn’t even have to clean off the poop from a diaper because breastfed baby poop is water soluble and just washes away in the washer. Now, I either dunk them in the toilet or shake the poop off into the toilet before putting them into the bag.
On the third morning, I wash them. There are certain detergents you can and can’t use with diapers because you don’t want build up of suds, fragrance, but you want them clean. Having build up with cause stinky diapers, rashes, and leakage problems.
You can find a list of detergents to use here. I highly recommend Rockin’ Green because it’s made specifically for cloth diapers.
To wash in an HE washer (specificially my washer), I do a cold short wash to rinse them off. Then I do a hot wash with detergent on the heavy cycle with an extra rinse followed by a short hot wash with no detergent. Sometimes I put vinegar in to help with breaking up any build up. But I only use a little bit because goes a long way.
If your baby is getting rashes, the diapers are leaking, or the diapers are getting stinky you can strip them. I wash them normally, then I do a hot long cycle with a drop or two of Dawn original dish soap. Followed by cold rinses until I can no longer see suds in the water.
They can be air dried, line dried (sun is a natural bleach if you have stains), or dried in the dryer.
If you use cloth diapers, what have you found works best as your “washing routine?”
