Laundering Cloth Diapers

I love cloth diapering! What I did when my son was exclusively bfed was wash (rinse) the poops down a sink or the tub in the bathroom, then just put them in a dry diaper. now i just throw the poop in the toilet, and throw into a dry pail. i use charlie's soap, and up until recently i would just do one wash cycle, unless i was stripping them. so not much water waste at all.
good luck,
L.

I used a wet pail with some baking soda in it, only shaking off what would come off on it's own into the tiolet. When it came time to wash, I would dump the total contense of the pail into the washer and put it through a spin cycle to get rid of the dirty water. This will be a stinky job. I would use laundry detergent (I use Sun and Earth) along with a cup or so of white vinegar in the wash cycle. I also found that it would be a cleaner result if I used a slightly larger wash cycle than the amount of diapers in the load. Good luck to you.

I used cloth diapers for all three of my kids and I know it can be confusing. I tried keeping a bucket for soaking which worked pretty well. When the third one came along I went for a diaper service...I had fewer rashes and they had a system that used less water than I could. That is about all I can share.

The double rinses & washes usually aren't needed. Are you using prefolds, AIO or something else? Wool has to be handled with a little more care & some of the new micro-fibers used for diapers may need special care; but assuming you're using some cotton and/or poly-blend typical diapers you really don't need to do much. Use a covered diaper pail (kept safely away from baby of course) you can collect them dry, maybe with a sprinkling of baking soda or you can soak them also with baking soda. Personally I found soaking them worked best. I drain the soak water before washing- but I have a sink in my laundry room so it's not a big deal. If you don't- go ahead & toss the soaking water & the diapers right in the machine. Use hot water for at least the washing cycle, you may find using it for the rinse cycle is a good idea too. No bleach, no fabric softner- bleach eats away at your dipes if you use it every wash & fabric softner makes them non-absorbent; just use a good no-nonsense, inexpensive detergent. I make my own & it's simple, but generics work just as well. If you're paying attention, toss some vinegar in the rinse cycle- if you're busy don't worry about that step but try to do it occasionally. Line drying is imo the way to go with cloths. The sun bleaches out light stains (breastfeeding poop stains comes right out with sun) without destroying the fabric. And the airing keeps them smelling fresh. But when it's not an option machine drying is OK.
I saw someone recommend disposable liners, and those are certainly less waste then disposable diapers (if your reasons for choosing cloth is environment) but they of course cost money (if you're doing it to help your budget). Another option to reduce stains on cloths are cloth "doublers" also called "liners" or "inserts". They're essentially a cloth pad shaped like a basic sanitary pad, that lay inside the diaper extending the absorbency of the dipe & somewhat protecting the diaper from stains. If you have a sewing machine, they're pretty simple to make. If not, a cheap package of wash clothes, folded in thirds will do the same thing. Wash them with the diapers the same way.
HTH

Hi, I'm a mom on the third breastfed, clothe diapered child. What i do is quickly prewash the poopy diapers by scrubbing the poop off with an old tooth brush. Once the poop dries, its harder to remove. You can put the poopy diapers in a small bucket with water. When its wash time, throw it in the prewash or just a spin cycle to get the loose stuff. Then wash all the diapers in warm water with your laundry soap. Another option is to use baking soda instead of laundry soap, but it doesn't get all the smell out. I've done both. Vinegar in the rinse cycle will lighten the stains. Line drying in the sun also lightens stains. But stains happen, and some will not leave, thats just the way it is. When the stains are really bad, I soak them overnight in the washer with the baby oxiclean and wash as usual in the morning. I still use the stained diapers, the baby doesn't care. They'll just poop on them again. Using the faster agitation level may help as well. I also make sure each diaper is open, not folded when i put them in, otherwise they don't get as clean. I see no reason to wash them more than once. Hope this helped. For official directions on washing clothe diapers you can check out kushies website. That's the brand i use.

Hi E.! That's great you're using cloth diapers. I too had trouble figuring out how to best wash our cloth diapers--but here is a system that worked well for us (my daughter is now almost 2 yrs.) For the looser stool of younger babies you could try to clothes-pin the soiled diaper in a cheap, plastic trash bin and use a high pressured shower nozzle (hose-style works best to ensure not spraying all over). Dump the soiled remains in the toilet and disinfect the bin. To store, I ring-out soiled diapers after rinsing and store them in a tight container/diaper pail with pee diapers (dry-method). I sprinkle baking soda in the bin to help with odor. To wash, 1st cycle: cold in either Borax or Baking Soda. 2nd cycle: hot, in dye/frangrance free detergent and I put a bit of vinegar in place of fabric softener for the rinse cycle to ensure all soap residue is out of the diapers. I heard if you hang-dry them, they last a bit longer.

Hope that helps! I tried various methods and that does the trick for us...for 2 yrs now! Happy cloth diapering!

E.,
Kudos to you for going cloth!
Here's the scoop on newborn breastfed poo- it really should come out in the wash without dunking. But you can also try bio-soft liners (I can let you know where to get them, or check where you bought your dipes). The liners go into the diaper, then you just peel and flush them with each change, taking most of the poop with it.

Washing- I use a dry pail, and wash 2-3 times a week. If you wait too long, they stain and stink. If you use too much detergent, they will get buildup. If you use too little, they won't be clean. For a regular load of dipes, use more water (say a medium sized load of dipes on large load setting). Wash on hot, rinse on cold. One wash cycle should be fine. For types of detergent, I use Itsa Greener Clean only. It's soda based- no soap, no residue. What are you currenlty using? Tide and other commercial laundry detergents leave a residue that can build up and cause stinking and repelling. NO fabric softeners, ever. They leave a waterproof layer on your diapers- we want them to absorb! I also found it was harder to wash my dipes in my front-loading machine. I have a top-loader now, and they are cleaner.
If your dipes are still stinky, try vinegar in the rinse, or adding baking soda to the wash, or both. And to get out stains- sprinkle with lemon juice and lay in the sun (or hang in a sunny window).
For more info on washing (and some great folding ideas!), you could buy the "Cloth Diapering Handbook".
Many blessings to you on your diapering journey!
H.

Hi E. I do not use cloth diper but I have heard that there are inserts to put into the diper that is flushable. I'm not sure what they are called but I saw it on living fresh with sara snow.I thought it was a great idea and wanted to share.

Here's what has worked great (and easy!) for us, using fitted cotton diapers and Nikki covers (we don't wash those with the diapers):
Throw diapers (unrinsed, don't worry about breast milk poop) into a dry pail, wash every couple of days. Start with a COLD rinse cycle, then heavy duty wash HOT with soap (we use Allen's Naturally), then an extra rinse. Then, dryer at high heat for 30-60 minutes, then hang dry the rest of the way-- if you can hang them outside, the sun is great for bleaching and sanitizing.
Might sound like a lot of water, but we don't use water until they hit the washer. The extra rinse at the end ensures that there is no detergent left in the diaper.
Since we started our daughter on solids, we still do the same routine, just adding the step of shaking poop into the toilet. We've never bothered with rinsing, soaking, etc. Diapers may be a little stained, but they are certainly clean. If the stains bother you, hang them in the sun and the UV rays get rid of the stains.
Happy cloth diapering!

Hi E., I recommend the following for your cloth diapers: for soaking: fill a pail with water and Shaklee's Nature Bright
for laundering: use Shaklee's detergent and Nature Bright
Shaklee's laundry products are non-toxic and are better for you and the environment. Nature Bright is Shaklee's answer to bleach - it is a powder - I would dissolve about 1/2 scoop in your pail of water and then add the diapers to soak until you are ready to launder them - they can literally soak for days in this - when ready to wash them, add Shaklee's detergent in the proper dispenser for your washing machine (top loader or front loader) then dissolve a scoop of Nature Bright in a cup of water and pour it right on top of the detergent in the dispenser. For softer diapers, add some of Shaklee's Soft Fabric Concentrate in the fabric softener dispenser along with about 1/2 cup of water. Shaklee's products are extremely concentrated to save you money, so products like the fabric softener need to be mixed with water before they touch your clothes. You usually use less of any of Shaklee's non-toxic cleaning products as compared to other products you probably use. Because they are so concentrated, they last much longer and therefore cost less to use. Another huge plus with Shaklee's products is that when the bottles are empty, you are only putting one bottle in the landfill as opposed to many bottles of the store-bought brand. One example is Shaklee's basic H2, our floor-to-ceiling cleaner - if you mixed it with water in a spray bottle and used it ONLY for cleaning windows and mirrors, that bottle of Basic H2 which costs about $12 would be equal to approx. 144 bottles of Windex!!! You do the math! AND that's 1 bottle for the landfill as opposed to 144 with Windex. Anyway, hope this laundry tip helps with your diapers. If you are interested, please go to my website at www.emilytaft.com and/or contact me ###-###-#### or via e-mail ____@____.com Best Wishes, E. Taft

For newborn poops, I just swished them around a bit in the toilet. (Yes, you are getting up-close and personal with the toilet, but I figured I'm dealing with poop, anyway! That's what rubber gloves are for, yes? Not that I ever dipped my hands into the water directly, just swished.) That would get rid of most of it. Then wring them and drop them in the pail.

I never used a wet pail because I washed the diapers every day. I never worried particularly about stains. They are diapers, and only going to get more of that on them, anyway. Remember, a stain is not dirt. It is just a stain. They can be perfectly *clean* and still be stained.

Once in a while I'd toss some chlorine into the machine and bleach the heck out of them, but mostly I ignored the pale yellow or brown smudges...

I never had a problem with the smell, though. I wonder if it's because I washed daily? To prevent the plastic of the pail from absorbing the smell, I would drop an eighth of a cup of chlorine bleach into 2 cups of water and swish it, let it sit for half an hour, then tip it out and let it air-dry. (Oh! There's ammonia in urine, and chlorine mixed with ammonia can be very dangerous. Rinse the pail before you add the bleach!)

There is a great product called "Amaze" which is good for getting rid of these kinds of stains, and it also deodorizes. My aunt (she's only 7 years older than me!) used it in a wet pail for odor.

The other thing that is excellent for cloth diapers, if you can manage it, is to line-dry them. The sun is an effective bleacher and disinfectant. They'll be a little stiff at first (until they get one pee in them!), but they'll be fresh.

You only have to do multiple washes and rinses if your baby's skin is particularly reactive, and in that case, the best thing is to seek a different detergent and/or avoid the bleach.

At first, I used Ivory, but after a few months, I used the same detergent I used on everyone's clothes, and the kids were fine with that.

Wow. This was long! Hope it's helpful.

If you are having a problem with staining I would suggest rinsing/swishing the poop into the toilet. I've never done a wet pail method, so don't know what to say on that front.

Any non soap detergent should B. fine. I prefer a free and clear detergent and have had the best luck with the Sears brand. I only do the massive double washes/rinses on occasion with hot water in order to strip the diapers of any soap residue. For the general wash I do a cycle with a prewash, wash and rinse. A little vinegar in the wash works well too.

I know it can B. overwhelming, and everyone has an idea about the best way to do it. But it is possible. My older daughter was cloth diapered and my infant son is now cloth diapered. I love it.

When our second child was newborn, we discovered that putting diapers in a dry pail and washing them on the "whites" cycle with a second rinse got them clean and stain free. We use a standard detergent (All) and Borax about 1/2 and 1/2. That's worked well for us for nearly 4 years of diapering.

Hi E.-
I am no expert, b/c I am still expecting, but a friend gave me these biodegradeable paper liners- that go inside the diapers- you can flush them b/c they are thin and paper-like. They are supposed to help with the sticky poop removal! I've seen them on line and the the papaya patch in west hartford.
the washing does seem like a lot esp with the old water heater I have! I believe the detergent you use is particular to the diaper- ie if you use the wool covers you need wool wash.....
also, the links from the papaya patch web site have lots of diaper info...
good luck
heidi

The makers of the cloth diapers I use recommend this for washing:

For wet diapers, keep a diaper pail with water and something like 20 Mule Team Borax. Just throw them in and let them sit until laundry day.

For poopy diapers, wipe off or do a quick scrub in the toilet to get the solids off. At this point, the diaper will still look stained, but just try to make sure you're not throwing any globs of poop into your diaper pail. Throw the diaper in with your wet diapers in the diaper pail and leave them till wash day.

For laundering: Wring out diapers and use the pre-wash cycle with hot water and more Borax, if you want. When the pre-wash is done, you can add in any other clothes you want to wash, regular detergent and wash in warm water. Mine recommend not using bleach because after a while it will permanently yellow the diapers and cause them to degrade. For a newborn, you might want to use the 2 rinse cycle if you find she's been sensitive to detergent in her clothing. I also used Dreft for the first few months and then switched to Tide (what I use for the rest of the family), and had no problem.

Hi! Congrats on the birth of your Daughter and good for you using cloth. I have used cloth with my 3 kiddos and it has been super. All the diaper sites I visisted while elarning recommended: first a simple rinse of the diapers, then a quick wash with a bit of deterdent, then a long soak in hot water and long wash with full detergent. Yes, it is a lot of water, but they do not really feel clean other wise. If I have no poopie diapers for some reason I will skip the middle wash. I have never used a wet pail. Newborn poops go right in the pail. As they started on foods I rinsed the best I could (a mess!) then put them in a dry pail. Now that my youngest is 9 months the poos usually shake right into the toilet. As for stains, Oxyclean works nicely in the final wash, though the absolute best for stain removal is laying/hanging them in the sun prior to drying. It is amazing, like magic! I sun bealch them if I have stains, then toss them in the dryer to fluff up a bit.

Good luck!
T.
mom of 3, ages 4, 2.5 and 9 months

First of all, great choice - cloth nappies! (I'm English sorry!) I've used them with both of my children and with only 18mths difference the two at the same time. I put hot water in a bucket/pail (sp?) with a few drops of tea tree oil, as a natural disinfectant and as a new born baby's poo is mainly liquid I would just make sure they don't dry out so add water as you put another one in. Never had any problems with sore bottoms or found the need to load on the cream either as my babies were changed more often and therefore less risk of infection. Good luck

Dads! eeesh.... good luck!

As far as diapers, I did the research when I had to make that choice ten years ago (I am a bit of a green/granola). Believe it or not, my research found that with all the laundry soap, hot water and washing and rinsing that the disposables were actually better for the environment.

Diaper service? Hmmmm.... Triple washing? Whoa. Water... heating the water... dumping the water... soap... gas to P and D (pick up and drop off). Not very green at all - if that is your goal.

So I can't help you with the cleaning thing - except that it sounds like an awful lot more work for you, and not much payback in the green department (not to mention the diaper rash department... A wet cloth diaper just sits there against the skin - and I know you plan to whip that wet diaper off the second it's wet, but eventually you'll be in the car, at the grocery, sleeping at night.... whatever!)

So good luck. With both!

You are better off starting simple and adding steps as you go. I always threw breastfed poopy diapers right in the dry pail. To wash, I would dump the diapers/wipes and liner (keeps pail from getting yucky) right in the washer and do a wash cycle in cold water until it drains. Then I add 2 tablespoons of detergent (I use Itsa Greener Clean www.boobearbuns.com ) and wash in warm or hot water. I also use vinegar in a downy ball to keep the diapers soft. Using a detergent that is suds free will prevent any build up. In the winter I don't fuss over stains (if they get really bad I will add a scoop of oxygen bleach, but the detergent has that right in it anyway). In the summer, I dry out in the sun whenever I have enough extra diapers to wait :) It is amazing how well the sun bleaches out the stains. When baby's poos get solid, you can always use flushable liners (also available at Boo Bear Buns) to help get the poopys out. Or keep an old spatula near the toilet to help scrap off any that won't fall out. Best of luck!

there are alot of great websites that can help you out! my favorite is www.cottonbabies.com. i use the dry pail method, that seems to be the one that is most recommended. while my daughter was only breastfed in the beginning i just put the poopy diaper (which is really just liquid) in the dry pail. i laundered with hot water using charlies soap. www.charliessoap.com. i also always used the extra rinse cycle. in the diaper pail i sprinkled baking soda but didn't think it worked that well. hope this helps!

GOOD FOR YOU for using cloth diapers!!!!! 45 years ago I used them, from a diaper service. They boiled them. They were soft and sterile. I recommend boiling. You could get a diaper boiling pot. You could bring the diaper pot and a pan of water to the toilet, pour water over each into the toilet to rinse them off, and then drop them into the pot. Take them into the kitchen and boil them.
L. C.

I used cloth diapers for the first year on each of my 3 kids.
I think the answer to your problem is put the diapers into a WET (as in submerge them) pail with a little laundry detergent in it. Wash in hot water and bleach with your normal detergent. Be careful if you plan to use fabric softener...some babies can show alergic reactions to them.

These days, you are really not saving much money using cloth diapers. Good luck

dry pail is better than wet pail.... less water use.

i always toss the dirty diaper in dry pail (of course shake the poop off into toliet, if thick chunky got stuck on diaper, i use toliet paper to take it off)

just throw all diapers in washer and PRE wash it (rinse cycle) with COLD water
then wash the heavy duty-regular duty in HOT water with little soap, prefer is natural soap. I use Ecover (i plan order Allen's Naturally or Charlie s soap because those are the best soap for diaper wash). I often put vinegar in ball (the ball for fabric softner).. sometime i would add baking soda.
then i do extra rinse with cold water to make sure there is no soap.

check out www.jilliansdrawers.com washing diaper isnt hard.

pre wash in cold then hot wash then extra rinse in cold. all is simple!

AVIOD bleach because it eat up some fabric (it thin out the fabric) in winter time u can hang up the diaper or lay out the diaper by window where the sun come in. it will remove the stain.

Hi E.;
I am 62 yrs. old and I have 3 grown children. And I never used a disposable diaper. My babies would scream if I did and then when I would change to cloth, they were fine.. hehe I use to dispose most of the poop in the toilet and then put the diapers in a pail with a disinfectant in it to control the smell. Then on wash day, I did my diapers in the washing machine with bleach and soap and they came out just fine. I used a diaper service for a very short period of time. but I never never like getting back gray looking diapers, so from that time on I washed my own. Plus I didn't like not knowing where they were before my house.. thus I did them myself and I was happier with the outcome. Hope this helps..
P. Ferland in NH

I have been using only cloth diapers since my son was born 1.5 years ago. I don't do any fancy double washing or add vinegar or tee tree oil. I just wash them once.

When my son was only having breastmilk I would dump the whole dirty diaper into a dry pail. Then when the pail was full I would wash it in HOT water with a small amount of a basic detergent (usually Tide).

I also occasionally did a second rinse of my diapers just to make sure there wasn't any detergent build up (since that will cause them to stink). If you think this may be the case, just rinse until you no longer see bubbles in the rinse water.

To get out breastmilk poopy stains hang your diapers out in the sun - it will bleach stains right out. In the winter I just left the stains. They eventually came out again then next time it was warm enough to hang them outside. If you are really upset about the stains you could try laying them out in a sunny window.

Good luck. Also you might want to try looking on diaperpin.com or check out the resources at cottonbabies.com - both have additional info on smell and stains.

Hi
I use the pocket style cloth diapers (Bum Genius) and use a dry pail (no water). A friend suggested lining the pail with a shower curtain sewn like a pillow case and just wash it with the diapers. I don't dry it in the dryer though, just hang it and it dries quickly.
The diapers just go into the pail wet or soiled. I also have a breastfed baby and the poops are loose and I find harder to rinse in the toilet than hard ones that come later with solid foods.
I will admit I have stained a couple diapers by waiting too long to wash them, but that is my fault. I think washing every third day works well and I never have a stinky pail.
I use All Free to wash my baby's clothes and diapers, but was just turned on to all-natural detergent I think I and he will prefer.

All I ever did was a pre wash and then a second wash with borax and regular detergent. Or you can use one of the softer detergents or earth friendly (7th generation et al) detergents. Check out Co-op america for detergents that are better for the earth.

I'm not a big fan of bleach b/c of the effects on the environment and it sort of balences out all the good you're doing with cloth diapers.

nursing poo is so easy. And it's really poo from a meat that you have to worry about anyway. Vegitarian feces is practically fertilizer.

Good luck
-J.

I have a 17 month old breastfed baby and have been cloth diapering all along. Some of these washing routines sound high maintenance to me. I have never swooshed or rinsed in the toilet or sink. Before solids everything went right into the the wet bag. Since solids, I shake off the poop into the toilet and then toss the diaper into the bag. I've used diaper liners but I have a septic system and I wasn't comfortable flushing them. They really haven't been necessary.

On wash day (every few days) I dump the bag into the washer, toss the bag in. I wash on cold with a little detergent (charliesoap.com), then do a hot wash and toss all into the drier. Occasionally I will throw some baking soda into the wash if it's particularly stinky urine-smelling. I used to do a cold soak but it's not good for the covers, I think I read so I stopped that. I do have stains sometimes but the diapers are clean so I don't care. In the summer they go in the sun.

I use prefolds, pockets and have a couple AIOs and contours, btw. Washing has not been a big deal at all.

Hi E.,
With cloth dipeys, BORAX is your best friend. Try soaking dipes in a pail with 1/2 cup Borax dissolved in every gallon of tepid water the pail will hold comfortably. I wouldn't let them sit more than 24 hours though, for obvious reasons.(stinkiness!)Empty out excess soaking water before you wash, dump wet , soakied dipes right into the machine. We use Dreft or environmental, scentless detergent according to directions, and add 1/2 to one cup of BORAX per load. Regular cycle and rinse.
Note* Borax is a mineral found in the Western U.S. that works as a natural water softener/deodorizer.
And good luck, hang in there....Daddy may get over getting his freak on....*grin* wake up call to put on his Big Boy Pants and become an adult!

When I did cloth diapers, I rinsed in wet pail of water only, then washed w/Dreft and a dash(not much at all)of chlorine bleach. To get stains out, I hung them in the sun....it bleaches them naturally!

I've used cloth diapers on a little girl I take care of for a year and a half and this is my system: cold water wash with no soap, then a hot/cold wash with baking soda, vinegar, and dye-free detergent, plus an extra rinse cycle. Before solid food put all dirty diapers together. To fight stains look into flushable diaper liners (I think the brand is kushies or kooshies). Honestly, I was planning on using cloth for my son but was put off by ALL THE WASHING! Try g-diapers, they are way easier and still environmentally sound! Good luck!

We used a diaper service. We put them in a pail. Each week the diaper lady picked up the soiled bag of diapers and left clean ones in their place. She said that she triple washed. I don't know if this helps. It cost us about $60 per month.
Good luck!
The diapers were included in the service, but I had to buy the covers.

I used cloth diapers 30 years ago. And I would rinse them in the toilet and flush while holding the diaper and that helped to remove the poo. Then put them in a diaper pail filled with water - sometimes I would add a little bleach in the pail (not much). The diapers would be washed within 2 days and on a normal wash cycle. I used Ivory Snow for the wash. Don't know if its still on the market. Don't use liquid fabric softener that cuts down the absorbency of the diapers, not sure if the dryer sheets would affect the absorbency or not.

I've been using cloth diapers for my son since he's been born.

Here's the trick that seems to work for us:

The trick to poopy diapers is getting a mini shower that you install directly on the toilet. Here's a link to one: http://www.tinytush.com/mini_shower.htm

Simply rinse poopy diapers and keep a bin beside the toilet. All other diapers you can store in another airtight bin. On wash day, run a cold rinse wash (you can even add a soak) and then run a hot wash with the soap you're using (I use Charlie's soap). Bad stains can usually be removed with OxyClean. Simply add it to your cold rinse wash (and soak).

Good luck!

Hello E.! What kind of diapers are you using? Just prefolds with covers? Pockets? All-In-Ones? Did they come with washing instructions? How often are you washing?

Here's what I do as at least a jumping-off point. I use prefolds with covers and pocket diapers. My daughter is still exclusively BF so I don't shake anything off the diapers before putting them in the pail. I use a dry pail with a washable PUL liner (I have two so that I can switch out and wash each without losing the use of the pail during that time). I wash once every 24-48hrs.

When I'm ready to wash (I always do this at night before bed) I take the load down in the linerbag and empty it into the washer. I select a large, cold wash and rinse. If it's a largish load or especially dirty I will leave the lid up so that the machine fills and soaks the diapers overnight. In the morning I close the lid and let it run. If it's a light load I'll let it run through on cold without soaking. In either case I use no detergent.

Next I do a hot wash/cold rinse. I use a *tiny* amount of regular Tide--like a tablespoon's worth--or a little Sensi-Clean (you can find this detergent on-line). It's important to use as little as possible and to make sure that it rinses completely. Residue can made your diapers stinky, irritate the baby, or make them repell (especially if you use pockets with fleece lining). Be sure that you AVOID ALL FABRIC SOFTENERS AND ADDITIVES (bleach etc) that could damage your diapers and/or reduce their ability to absorb liguid.

If I have pocket diapers or any fleece or suede-cloth liners in a wash I run a corner of each under the tap after washing to make sure that it is still wicking instead of repelling. If the water beads and runs off I know it's repelling and I run it back through a hot wash with Sensi-Clean to strip any residue. This is rarely necessary, but I like to be sure! ;)

Drying: I typically dry everything on hot because it "resets" the PUL on covers and pockets. It may take up to 2 drying cycles in my ancient dryer, depending on the size of the load. In better weather (not the dead of winter) I like to hang everything to dry outside. The sun does a great job bleaching out any stains and giving everything that great outdoor smell!

I'm sure that this sounds like a lot, but honestly it's so easy and quick that I don't give it a second thought. It takes minutes to dump things in the washer and dryer and I love how soft and cushy the kids always are in cloth. The trickiest part may just be finding your own best routine, depending on what your water is like. I don't have particularly hard or soft water here, and that probably helps. If you need specific trouble-shooting, DiaperPin.com is a great resource, too.

Good luck cloth diapering! We love it!

If you're just starting out make sure that you wash all your prefolds or hemp in their own HOT washes several times before use. Both these fabrics have natural oils that need to be removed before they become truly soft and absorbant.

Hi E.,
I used to use cloth diapers when my children were younger. What I did was still try to dunk off as much as possible into the toilet and then have a "wet pail" nearby with a small bit of bleach, "free" detergent and warm water in it. I would let them soak for a couple of days, then change out the pail when having the diapers in the wash with hot water and the same procedure of bleach and "free" detergent (my oldest I had to use hypoallergenic detergent and the younger two I was able to get away with using the perfume-type free detergents). As long as the diapers were taken care of asap, there was minimal staining and they always smelt fresh.
Good luck to you. Cloth diapering is coming back and it's not only great for your children, but great for the environment too!

I have not used them, but I understand that you can buy thin disposable liners for cloth diapers. Using the liners may help with the mess. Just a thought. Good luck!