Cloth Diaper Question - Fort Lauderdale,FL

Like most, we did not use a wet pail. We hung a wetbag near the changing table. Washed every few days. If you're breasfeeding, you don't even really have to worry about the poop...just fold it up and throw it all in. If that grosses you out, dump the poop, rinse the diaper, and throw it in wet. Pee diapers can go in as is. It *will* smell after a few days so you can drop in a few drops of essential oils, or just wash more frequently :). Oh, and then wet bag just goes into the laundry with the diapers as well.

As for washing, you've got it right. Cold, then hot, and then an extra rinse. Lots of opinions out there for "best" detergent...find what works for you. I wanted something I could pick up at the store and ok for sensitive skin so we used the Arm and Hammer Free. Use a small amount. No dryer sheets. Sun drying is awesome for getting out stains.

good luck!

I love Grovia, and they do not recommend a wet pail, soaking will degrade the diapers. We just used a plastic garbage can with a waterproof wet bag as the liner. I would wash the bag with the diapers. I washed them exactly as MarahBelle describes below, and found that Tiny Bubbles detergent was my favorite.

Oh, Gamma G...your hatred of cloth diapers is so documented here. Can I ask when the last time you actually cloth diapered was? How many years ago? I'm so curious. Cloth is drastically different then years ago. Different make, fabrics, materials, design, etc. Even my own mother (who is not yet 50) was amazed at how incredibly different they were. First of all, you don't wash poop, so there is no way for those "bits" to get in the washing machine. Second, you didn't even bother to answer her questions.

D., cloth diapering is quite simple. (And please don't even worry about your kid smelling like poop.) I never used a wet pail, and manufactures caution against that. It can break down the fibers of the diaper, and it's just never a good idea to have fabrics sitting around in water. I used a dry pail with a lid, and a "wet bag" inside. You couldn't smell a thing. I suggest you invest in a diaper sprayer. That sprays all the poop out of the diaper into the toilet. We loved having one, as it was convenient and handy. It took about 5 minutes to install, and was incredibly simple. You want to use a cloth diaper friendly detergent. All the major online retailers have lists of detergents and which are the best and worst for cloth diapers. I put my do a cold rinse, hot wash, and an extra cold rinse. If you can sun dry your diapers, that is so helpful. It helps the life of the diaper, and the sun is a natural bleach, Every so often, I would "strip" my diapers, to prevent detergent and hard water build up. There are many ways of doing this, but I sued the hot wash method. I would turn up the heat on my water heater, and wash the diapers several times on hot with some calgon water softener, and sun dry them (you can get calgon on the laundry detergent aisle.)

My son (3) is now potty trained, but we used cloth from birth. I was not entirely sold on cloth, until I started using them. I found them to be awesome, and saved us a ton of money. (We also used cloth wipes and washed those with the diapers.) Our water bill went up a matter of cents per month. Now that we are not cloth diapering, our bill is on average, about a whole whopping .75 less.

Each diaper company recommends a way of washing the diapers. I LOVED cloth diapering. I have read through some post and see that some people recommended bleach, DO NOT use bleach. That will destroy the diaper and make it smell. I used Charlie's Soap which I ordered online through Amazon.com. I would 1) Store my diapers in a dry bucket 2) Wash them once for a whole cold cycle to remove the yuckies 3) Wash a 2nd time on hot with one small cap full of soap 3) Rinse one last time on a cold cycle. I also would hang dry my covers in the laundry room on one of those folding dry racks and then dry my liners or fillers in the dryer. My diapers were in great condition after 3 years of use on 2 kiddos...so much so that I was able to sell them all on craigslist. I would also wait until your kiddos is born to decide which diapers to buy, different diapers fit kids differently.

Go to Jillians Drawers.com. They sell cloth diapers and have tons of info there. They also have a cloth diaper trial program that is really awesome. For $10 they will send you 5 or 6 different kinds. You have 30 days to try them. If you want to buy them you can, or you can return them. Its totally worthwhile... especially if you are thinking about the GroVia. I thought they were a great idea, but in practice... not so much. Plus they are very expensive. A lot of it depends on the shape of your child's legs. We used Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz will varying success. And be aware that you might want to wait until your baby is past the first month or so and gets through that meconium stage. There are cloth diapers for newborns, but usually you need to buy new ones once they are a little older.

On that site they have waterproof diaper bag liners. I stored them in there as is, until laundry time. (Rinsed out the non-pee diapers and stored them wet.) The liner worked really well. But the truth is you can't really let these things sit around for more than a day or so, because they become really "fragrant."

Good luck!

I used a diaper service. They picked up twice a week. We just stored them in a dry bucket.

Have you checked into a diaper service? That's what I used, it was easy and surprisingly affordable (certainly cheaper than disposables.) You may like that better than buying and washing!

I use bumGenius with velcro...in hind sight I would have chosen snaps, but I thought velcro would be easier to adjust than snaps. I have just a basic flip top garbage can in the nursery, with a cloth diaper pail liner in it. I have two liners, so when I wash one full can of diapers, I put the clean liner in. For pee diapers, I take the inserts out, spray them with either bumGenius odor remover or bioKleen Bac Out to help with the smell, then drop them in the pail. If it's poop, I have a diaper sprayer attached to my toilet that I use to spray the poop off, then remove the inserts, spray with odor remover, and drop in the pail. There is nothing in my pail besides diapers...no water, or anything. When the pail is full, I do a load of laundry...usually about 15 diapers at a time. Here's my wash routine: Hot soak in the washer for 30-60 min, no detergent. Drain water, add two tblsp of Rockin Green detergent, wash regular on cold. Remove all diaper shells/pail liners/wet bags from washer, add white vinegar to the softner dispenser in the washer, and run a hot wash. The vinegar helps with the smell, and keeping bacteria away, but it's not good for anything with a waterproof lining, as it will eventually break down the lining. Then, if it's sunny out, I hang everything out to dry on the line outside...the sun is excellent for bleaching stains & disinfecting, too. If it's rainy, I run the inserts only through the drier twice on the hottest setting...anything with a waterproof lining must be hung up to dry, as the heat from the dryer will eventually break down the linings. I also use cloth wipes (just flannel squares) with a little bit of soapy water & throw the wipes in with the diapers to wash.

There are two systems for storing soiled diapers- dry pail and wet pail. I use a dry pail, and most of the diaper manufacturers recommend that method.

My washing routine is a cold soak with no detergent, then spin that out, then a hot wash with a teaspoon of detergent, then two cold rinses. I line dry my diapers most of the time primarily to save energy, but it also helps my diapers hold up better.

I used cloth diapers for my third child. BUT only for 2 months. I was home all day and laundry was a daily thing. I never had a pile of diapers, I washed them daily because I didnt have that many. I did use disposibles for when I went out. but for the most part I enjoyed using the cloth ones.
Try a small amount to begin, if it works for you them purchase more as needed. It just seems like a huge expense if your not sure you'll stick o it.

When my son, now 40, was a baby we soon learned he was allergic to disposables. What a delicate behind! We used a diaper service and we also bought several dozens. Once soiled or peed, I would hand rinse and wring, keep in a plastic bag inside a covered pail till wash day (about every other day).
Regular detergent, cold water wash and rinse.

I used the dry storage method also. Then I used a cold rinse with a little Borax or with vinegar (varied it). Then the hot wash with a little detergent (the poster below is right about too much detergent, it will cause a loss of absorbency). You can add an extra rinse cycle if you want but I generally didn't need it.

I've done cloth and disposable. I can honestly say that cloth is not for me in any way. The added laundry expense and having to wash and rewash stuff over and over to get the stench out is expensive.

I know there are lots of moms out there that do cloth and I know some of them don't stink when you sit next to them but I can almost always smell a mom that does cloth diapers just by sitting next to her. I do have sensitive smell.

After washing the diapers at least once in hot water and a ton of bleach just to get the pee and pooh smell gone you have to sanitize the washer again by running another load of hot soapy extra bleach water. Otherwise you just can't know how bad you smell of pee and pooh. One lady I used to sit next to in church always had a pooh smell about her. I figured she just didn't have good hygiene. Turns out when her kids got out of diapers she smelled differently and did not have a pooh smell on her clothing.

So, even if YOU think your clothes don't come out of the dryer with that after smell from the diapers being washed I suggest you consider that there are still pieces of pooh on the inside of the drum and those little pieces will make your water for your own clothing have particles of pooh on them at all times until you stop using washing diapers.

I used both of those brands on my girls. I stored them in a wet bag (essentially a bag made of PUL) that hung on a hook next to the changing table. You just dump the solids out into the toilet and drop the diaper in the bag. Every couple of days I'd dump the whole thing into the washer. Do a cold rinse, wash on hot (do not use the sanitary cycle - it's really bad for the elastic), do an extra rinse cycle, dry on med/low or line dry. Don't use fabric softener. Regular Tide detergent seemed to clean them the best for me, but it will differ depending on the type of water you have. Also, get the flushable liners. They are a life saver with poopy diapers.

So this answer is a little off topic, but still related. A good friend of mine used cloth diapers with all three of her girls and she has been helping me navigate the whole cloth diaper business too. She told me to use disposables for the first couple weeks until the umbilical cord falls off and to wait until after the baby is born to buy a few different brands of cloth diapers. Apparently most cloth diaper companies offer 30-day refund guarantees if you don't like the diaper (they all have slightly different fit, etc). If you buy them before the baby comes then the guarantee will run out before you have a chance to use them and see which brand you like the best.

I use a dry bucket. Cold rinse, hot wash, extra cold rinse. With that said, when they start on solids, I do take seriously dirty diapers down to my laundry room and rinse them there.

One word of warning: use a tiny, tiny amount of detergent. Detergent build-up is a serious problem. You know you have this problem when your child pees and you get an awful smell.

I always put mine in the dryer. My BG made it through my first two kids, and I still have a few that may last through my third kid.

I use a dry bucket (small garbage can with lid) and wash every other day. All I do is toss the diaper in the bucket without rinsing it or anything. On wash days, I toss them in and do a short cycle on cold with no detergent to rinse. Then, hot with small amount detergent. One more rinse on cold. I hang mine to dry and just do a quick fluff to soften if needed.

Well, I probably used them more years ago than anyone on here, maybe. I had nothing but cloth with my first two, no disposables then or IF they were available too expensive. I hated them but did it as that's what you had. I used a pail with water, washed them in HOT water with clorox and hung them out to dry on a clothes line. They were still white many years later when used as rags. I hated going places with them and having to rinse them is other places in the stool. I also tried a diaper service until I read how gross that is really. No way would I do that again. When disposables came out I got them and never would have gone back. Sorry but you all can have your cloth. No matter what generation, era, time, etc. it is. :-)

I like the cloth diapers because of the nostalgic reasoning, the environment and for economic reasons. When I become a G., I will keep cloth diapers at my home for the same reasons.