I have written a lot about cloth diapers – where to start, how to wash and strip the diapers, how to store them, and how much you can save by using them.

But, I have heard “They are expensive to buy!”  It’s true, they are on the expensive side but imagine how many times you will use them.  With one child, you use and reuse HUNDREDS maybe THOUSANDS of times.  The start up cost is more pricey with cloth, but you save so much more in the end.

If you save them for more children, you double the life of that diaper (and they are so well made that yes they do last that long).  I recently passed my prefolds onto my sister, who will use them on her new baby and give them back to me when child #2 comes along (don’t get any ideas).

To save money on cloth diapers, you should try buying used!  Diaper swappers is a great place to start.  You can trade, buy, and talk to other parents out there using cloth or living the Attachment Parenting lifestyle.  Just think, when you are done with the diapers then you can resell them on that site too!

For more ways to spend money and celebrate Frugal Friday, visit Life as Mom.

I have done a cloth diapering series with posts that cover  what kinds of cloth to use, how to wash and strip the diapers, and how to keep them organized when storing them.  Now it’s onto a big reason to use them – to save money and save the landfill from TONS and TONS of diapers.

How much will I save using cloth diapers?

It really depends on what kind you use, if you supplement with disposables, if you have an HE washer,  and if you line dry or not.  But, for comparisons sake let’s just say we compare the cost of using prefolds and covers from newborn to 2 1/2 years of age to the cost of using disposables…….

You will save…..

Approximately….

$2200! Yes, you read that right.  TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!

Statistics and many more were found here.

Will it save the Earth if I use cloth diapers?

This is a heated debate, but according to this site in 1988 (that’s quite awhile ago) over 18 billion disposable diapers were sold and essentially thrown into the Earth.  In a household with a diapered infant who uses disposables, over 50% of their trash is just diapers!  Disposable diapers are the third largest consumer item in landfills – now that’s a lot of poo!

But, when we use cloth we use water to wash them… disposables don’t use water, do they?  According to the same site, the “manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.”  Wow!

This series is not over yet, be sure to check back for another post or two about why I love cloth and how I can help you love the fluff too!

If I haven’t convinced you to use cloth yet, what questions do you still have?

And for more Frugal Friday ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

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?”

Cloth diapering is something that I love to do, and it is easy to me now.  However, when I first started researching it was SO overwhelming to me.  I have been asked quite a few times to share about how I cloth diaper, what to buy, how to wash them so I thought I would share that information here.

First, we’ll start with what cloth diapers to buy.  (This is what I have used and liked.  I make no money from these referrals.)

When Val was a newborn, we used prefolds like these.  They are flat pieces of cloth that you fold by yourself.  I talked a little about how to fold them here.  Once they are folded, they need to be secured.  Luckily, there is a new invention called the snappi so you no longer need to use pins on your little one.

Now you need to put something over the cloth so that it doesn’t leak onto their clothes.  There are covers for that (and they are so much better than the old school rubber pants).  The covers can be used through a few diaper changes, so you don’t need a new one each time you have to change the cloth.

For a newborn, I had 30+ prefolds and 6 small covers and that would get me through 2 days.  Washing on the third morning.  We will cover how to wash in another post.

As Val got older and could roll over to making diapering a little more challenging, we started using the BG 3.0′s.  I love these diapers.  We still use them without any problems.  Now there is a BG 4.0 which I haven’t tried yet, but I am in love with the Flips.

Now, I have 12 BG 3.0′s and 2 Flips to get me through 2 days with washing on the third morning.  I have a few other random diapers and covers that I have as backups in case laundry takes me a little longer.  Who can pass up cute diapers once in awhile?

I hope that is a good starting place for you.  Remember, this is just what as worked for us.  Experiment and find what works for you and please share below.

Be sure to check back to see how to store them when clean/dirty, how to wash, and how to strip them if they get icky.