And yet again, one of the magical components is vinegar! Again, I would like to reiterate that I am not a cloth diaper expert (hardly!) and only know what works for me!
But first... all dirty cloth diapers need a place to go! And after trying a diaper pail for a few weeks and not liking having to clean it out, I switched to wet bags. I invested in the Planet Wise bags, and despite one of them ripping at the handle, I couldn't be happier with their quality. I should probably buy a new one! But anyways, back to the bags: they wash up very nicely and contain the smell of a dirty diaper perfectly. And smell containment is essential in cloth diapering.
So once Gabe needs a diaper change I either throw it directly in the wet bag if it's just a wet diaper or take it upstairs, flush out the poop, and then rinse out the diaper and throw said diaper in the wet bag. My family and I live in a really old house; I swear our toilet is about 50 years old so I was unable to invest in a diaper sprayer but I've heard they are the way to go for rinsing out your diapers.
Once our diaper stash is low, I begin the washing process. Now, my diaper stash is fairly small so I wash diapers usually every other day. If you have a bigger allotment you can go longer between washes, although it's not recommended to let the diapers sit for more than 3 days. Ugh, I can't even imagine how gross that would be!
I've perfected the washing process for Gabe's diapers through a lot of trial and error. And erring in diaper washing is not a good thing because you're diapers either retain a horrid smell or begin to repel and not absorb.
A good cloth diaper detergent is essential and there are quite a few out there. Charlie's Soap, Rocking Green and cd brand detergent like Thirsties and BumGenius are highly recommended but after doing lots of research and reading many ingredient lists I've found that Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent is a perfect substitute. It's about $7.00 for a box and I've only used almost 2 boxes in 10 months. The extra nice thing about Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent is that it contains no phosphates and is biodegradable.
So my washing process is this: cold rinse, a long, hot wash followed by a short cold wash and then a final rinse. I know it seems like a lot, and a lot of water use, but really you don't want your diapers to not get clean and smell or not get all the detergent out, and once again smell.
The cold rinse removes any residual bowel movements, so if you have a diaper sprayer or wash them out really well you could skip this step and occasionally I do. The hot wash cleans and disinfects thoroughly while the cold wash is a little less thorough and more of a safe guard. The final rinse is essential to ensure all of the detergent is out of the diaper so the diaper stays absorbent and doesn't irritate baby's soft skin.
And then dry them; I dry in the dryer in the cooler months but plan on line drying in the summer. Did you know that the sun is a natural odor remover? And it's free!
Speaking of odor removers, this is where the vinegar comes in. Vinegar is a spectacular odor remover and I use it to deodorize Gabe's diapers. Usually every other week I put about 1/3 cup of Vinegar (2 splashes) into the last rinse cycle. Don't use it too often or the diapers start to think... I learned that the hard way and started to get worried that something was wrong with Gabe's urine before I realized it could be residuals in the diaper and stripped them.
Stripping diapers is sometimes essential if you're diapers are stinky (which was my problem), become repellent or even look dingy. Stripping the diapers is just washing them in hot water without detergent and then drying them. You only repeat this process 3 - 5 times, but trust me, afterwards the diapers are like new!
It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get into a routine cleaning your diapers, it just becomes second nature.
And believe me, in my opinion, the benefits of cloth diapering far out way any of the negatives. But that is the topic of the last post in our cloth diapering series.
Stay tuned :)
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