How to Be Awesome at Cloth Diapers: Part 3

I've already covered the basic reason to use cloth diapers and the supplies you will need in Part One of this series, and the step-by-step instructions for using and washing them in Part Two.  Now it's time for the frequently asked questions.

1)  What is stripping the diapers?

Stripping your diapers means washing them more intensely to get rid of any buildup, either from soaps and detergents, creams, or just normal use.  It is not something you do every day.

How often you do it depends on your washer, your detergent, your baby, and what creams you use.  If your diapers start to get a bad smell, if your baby has rashes, or if the diapers aren't absorbing well, it's time to strip them.

I have to strip them about every other month, probably because Cricket has to use Aquaphor for eczema.  It's not really cloth diaper safe, and the only reason I get away with it is because the plain cotton prefolds are a lot more forgiving than the microfiber or whatever else they use to make the nicer diapers.

There are lots of ways to strip diapers.  Some people boil them in water with lemon.  Some use Dawn dishwashing detergent.  I don't.  I use OxyClean in the washer.   It works really well, and it's not bad as using bleach, which can be really hard on your diapers.  Sunning them to dry also helps deep clean them, and we've also used vinegar and tea tree oil in the wash as an alternative.

2)  What happens if she gets a diaper rash?

The good news is, babies get far fewer rashes with cloth than with disposables because they aren't exposed to the chemicals, the diapers are more breathable, and they have to be changed more frequently.  However, most babies do get at least one rash.  How do you treat it when you use cloth diapers?

Well, depending on what kind of rash it is (and there are several different kinds) you can either use a cloth diaper-safe cream or you can put her in disposables for a few days so you can use another kind of cream.  You should also strip your diapers to make sure there isn't any buildup that is causing the rash.  When we switched to Tide, Cricket stopped having rashes.  Apparently, that was the problem.

3)  Will she still fit in her clothes?

Most baby and toddler clothing now is made with disposable diapers in mind.  They are much smaller than cloth diapers, so some people worry that their child's clothes won't fit anymore.

I haven't really had many problems with Cricket not fitting in her clothes because of her diapers, but she's not  a huge baby.  Some kids have more trouble with that than others.  I did notice for a while that I had to buy the next size up in pants before going up a size in anything else, but now, she is 15 months, and it's just starting to look like her 12 month clothes are getting too small.

There are a few companies that make clothing specifically designed for cloth diaper babies, but of course they are more expensive and you usually have to order them online.  I would say don't sweat it, and just buy the next size up.  Also, baby legwarmers are really popular with the cloth diaper community (for boys and girls) because it keeps the babies warm and you cut out the problem of pants fitting over the diaper.  Plus they are super cute.  Take a look at some of them!

4)  Where do I go for help?

When I mention "The Cloth Diaper Community," I'm not just saying things.  There is a large and very supportive community of people out there who are ALL ABOUT some cloth diapers.  If you have a friend who uses cloth, chances are they have already talked to you about it.  It's a weird kind of hobby that pulls you in until all of a sudden, you know all the color names of your favorite brand by heart and you can tell the difference between an Flip and a Fuzzibunz at a glance!  

There are some great Facebook groups full of people who will answer any and every question you could possibly imagine about cloth diapering.  They are a great resource. They can also be a good resource for buying, selling, or trading things related to cloth diapering.

There are also tons of great books and websites.  I read the book Changing Diapers when I first started, and it was such a great resource.  It made me feel like I finally understood the lingo and the terms that everyone kept throwing around.  It's a small book and it's not expensive.  Well worth it.

As far as websites with information, try this one and this one, just for starters.  There are lots more out there, but those are two of the biggest, and they are highly trusted.

5)  What happens when I'm finished?

One of the great things about cloth diapers is that they hold their value very well.  There are tons of people online waiting to snatch up any diapers that are in good condition and priced just a little below the retail price.  Consignment sales are great places to sell them, as well as cloth diaper forums and mommy swap forums online.  

If you use prefolds like I do, you have the added option of re-purposing your prefolds when you are finished with them.  They make great dust cloths, and they are great for washing or buffing the car, polishing cloths, burp cloths, or cleaning rags.

6)  I have lots more questions!

I know I can't possibly answer all of your questions in just a few posts, but I hope that I have helped make some sense of all the information out there.  You are welcome to leave comments and questions and I will respond as best I can.  It really is awesome, even fun, and once you get into it, it feels so easy you'll wonder why you ever hesitated.

Don't forget that if you are interested in ordering some Imagine diapers for a flat rate shipping fee of $4, contact my friend Lane Weichman on facebook.  She can help you figure out what you need.  Also, you can use the sidebar to see some helpful things on Amazon if you'd rather order from there.

I hope this has helped and I hope you enjoy cloth diapering.  It is a great way to save money, it's great for your baby, and it's great for the environment.  Awesome all around!

Click here for Part 1 of this series, which covers reasons for cloth diapering and basic supplies you will need.

Click here for Part 2 of this series, which covers basic daily routines, wash routines, and other "how" questions.

How to Be Awesome at Cloth Diapers: Part 2

In Part One of my cloth diapering posts, I talked about the way that I do cloth diapers and the supplies you need to do it that way.  Now, let's talk about the how's.

1)  How do you start?

First you have to prepare your diapers.  If you buy them new, you will need to wash and dry them three or four times before you use them.  This helps fluff them up, gets rid of chemicals and oils, and makes them absorbent.

This is what the prefold diapers look like when you first get them.

They are very big and very flat.  However, after you wash and dry them about four times...

...they are much smaller and much thicker.  It's pretty fun.  I'm always amazed at the difference.

2)  How do you do it?

Here's a break down of what our day looks like.

She sleeps in a fitted diaper with a cover over it.  She wears prefolds and covers the rest of the day.  When we change her diaper, if she was just wet, the prefold goes into the diaper pail, and the cover she was wearing is hung on a 3M hook we stuck to the side of her changing table.  The cover that was on the hook is now the one she will wear, along with a new prefold.  If one of her covers gets dirty, it goes in the pail too, but usually, they don't.

If she was dirty, I take the diaper to my bathroom, put on my rubber gloves, and use my diaper sprayer to clean it off.  I put the now very wet diaper on my old dustpan that I keep in there for just this reason, and take it back to the diaper pail.  This is my least favorite part of cloth diapering, but I just remind myself that it takes no more than 90 seconds to do the whole thing.

At the end of the day, we put her back into a fitted diaper with a cover.

3)  How do you wash them?

(NOTE:  I have a regular top-loading machine.  Front-loaders have different instructions.)

The covers from that day are put into the pail (except for the one she is sleeping in) with all the diapers, and we pull out the pail liner.  We take this bag full of dirty diapers to the washing machine, dump them in, and then put in the bag itself.

I set the washer for a rinse cycle with warm water.

Before bed, Brian goes down and puts detergent in the washer.  We use regular, plain Tide powder.  It works great.  (We were using my homemade detergent, and it worked for a while, but as she has gotten older, we needed to switch to something a little stronger.)  We use one heaping Tablespoon.
He sets the washer to a hot wash with an extra rinse cycle.

In the morning, before he leaves for work, Brian goes down and hangs the clean diapers on the drying rack to dry for a day.  (We used to just put them in the dryer, but we are trying to save money and energy by hanging them dry first.)  He puts the dry diapers that were on the rack from the previous day in the dryer for a ten minute fluff cycle.

Sometime during the day, I get the fluffy diapers out of the dryer, fold them, and put them away.

Sometimes, if they get a stain on them, I will bring the drying rack outside and sun my diapers.  By the end of the day, they are good as new!

See, it's not that hard!  We don't even think about it anymore!  Each of those steps takes about 1-3 minutes. No more time than it would take if you added up all the trips to the store, emptying the Diaper Genie, and restocking disposable diapers.

So those are the how's.  That's really all there is to it.  After a week or two of doing it, it becomes second nature just like anything else.  If you have any questions about this stuff, feel free to post comments and I will answer to the best of my abilities.

Don't forget that my friend My friend Lane Weichman is an Imagine Diapers advocate, so y'all can get some good deals and a flat shipping rate of $4!  Plus, you are supporting her as a work-at-home-mom, and I will get a small percentage of the sales.

Click here to go to Lane's Facebook page where you can get more information, and she can help you find what you are looking for.  Make sure to tell her you came from my blog!

Or you can order from Amazon.  I put up a box on the sidebar with some of the items I use.

Click here for Part 1 of this series, where we talk about basic supplies you need and reasons for cloth diapering.

Click here for Part 3, where we will finish talking about cloth diapers with some FAQ's.

How to Be Awesome at Cloth Diapers: Part 1

I've had lots of people ask lots of questions about cloth diapering, so I decided to dedicate a week here on the blog to going through the basics.  If you aren't interested in cloth diapering, check back in a week.  We'll be doing Christmas in July, and everyone likes Christmas.

Cloth diapering is such a huge subject that I've been hesitant to blog about it.  There is so much information out there, it's already overwhelming, so I don't want to add to the confusion.

Instead, I would like to cut through all the information and give just the basics on how I do it.  This is by no means how everyone does it, or even how most people do it.  There are books, blogs, websites, parties, consultants, and stores all dedicated to the different ways that you can use cloth diapers.  I'm just me, and this is what I do.

1)  Decide Why.

First of all, it is important to think about why you are going to use cloth diapers.  Is it to save money?  Is it for environmental reasons?  Because they're cute?  Because your baby has sensitive skin or you're worried about chemical exposure?  Those are just a few of the reasons people choose cloth.

It's very important that you know what your reason or reasons are going into it.  This will determine what kind of diapers you get, how you use them, how often, and even how you wash them.

For me, it was all about money.  I've mentioned before that we use cloth diapers to save money.  The estimate is that the average child costs around $1,000 a year on diapers alone, so over $2,000 from birth to potty training.  Wow.

Needless to say, that wasn't an option for us, so we looked into cloth.  Now, there are some people who say they are using cloth to save money, but I swear they've spent about $2,000 on all their diapers!  That is not me.  We are doing it because we actually don't have that much money to spend, so I don't get "just one more diaper because it's so cute" or because "it matches her new outfit" or whatever.  I don't have a huge stash that I can show off on a clothesline.  I have exactly as many as we need to keep her in diapers, and that's it.  For me, it really is about the money.

2)  Chose a Style.

Because money was the reason, I knew I needed to use the most economical diapers I could find.  I wanted the best quality and durability for the lowest price.  That meant no all-in-ones or other fancy diapers that cost $20-$30 (or more!) per diaper.  I know there are some companies that sell really, really cheap pocket or all-in-one diapers, but in my experience, they are not well-made and they leak a ton, which is not cool.  Going through two or three outfits a day is one of the things I hate about disposables.  I didn't want to deal with it in cloth, too.

I decided to use prefold diapers with covers.  This is pretty old-school, but it's gotten a few upgrades that make it a lot easier than when our parents were using them.

First, the prefolds themselves are pretty cool.

They are made from unbleached Indian cotton or bamboo, so they are super absorbent and just buttery-soft!

Second, say goodbye to diaper pins!  This is called a Snappi, and it is awesome.

It works on the same principle as the little metal piece that you use with an ace bandage.  It has tiny teeth that grip the diaper on each side and then at the bottom, forming a Y that holds it in place!  No stabbing yourself!

And finally, the old rubber pants are a thing of the past.  They have made way for the amazing joys of PUL fabric.  It is a waterproof fabric that feels like thin plastic on one side and cotton on the other.  This is the cover that you put over the prefold diaper to keep it from leaking.

You can get them with snaps or Velcro, but I prefer snaps because they last longer and don't get caught on everything in the laundry.

These covers are very adjustable, made to fit babies from pretty much newborn through toddler.  Again, this was the most economical option for us.  They do make sized versions, but then of course, you have to buy more of them when your child outgrows it.

3)  Chose a Brand.

I use two brands of covers:  Flips and Imagines.  I like them both.  The Flips are what I have the most of, and I just recently started using Imagine products.  I especially love the Imagine fitted bamboo diapers for nighttime, because they are more absorbent and we haven't had a single leak since she started sleeping in them!

**Update:  After using Flips for 17 months with my first, I found I was disappointed that they did not hold up better.  The elastic became very lose on them, to the point where I do not think I would be able to use them on a baby again.  Maybe they would still work for a toddler, but since one of the selling points of cloth diapers is being able to use them for several children, this was disappointing.  For my second, I have switched to Imagines and Nicki's covers, which both have double gusset leg elastic and seem to hold up better.

4)  Get What You Need.

Ok, so say that, like me, you are wanting to cloth diaper to save the most money possible, and you want to wash every night, but you are unsure where to start.  Basically, you will need three days worth of diapers.  On any one day, you'll have one batch that you're using, one batch that's being washed and dried, and one batch that you're folding and putting away for tomorrow.  You also have a few stashed in the diaper bag.

Remember, you might need more or less than I do, depending on how many diapers your baby goes through in a day (we go through 6-8) and how often you wash.

I wash mine every night because it helps prevent staining and because I think it's kind of gross to leave them sitting for days at a time. Also, I'm terrified my house will start to smell bad.  The more often you wash, the fewer diapers you have to have.

So if you do it like I do, here's what you need:

18-24 Unbleached Indian Cotton Prefold Diapers

These come in different sizes, so check the weight guidelines.  This is the one thing I have had to buy more of as she's gotten older, because she outgrew the infant sized prefolds.  Imagine sells my absolute favorite prefolds.  They are so soft and fluffy, and their dimensions are great!

6-9 Diaper Covers

When Cricket was little, she went through several covers a day because...well...babies are messier when they're younger.  Now that she is older and eating solids, we usually just use two a day.  I alternate between two so that one can air out a little between uses.  As long as there is no waste on it, it is fine to reuse the covers.  At the end of the day, we wash everything we used that day.

I mostly use Flip covers, but I recently got an Imagine cover and I really like it, too.

1 Diaper Pail

I went to the store and got the cheapest trashcan I could find that had a locking lid.  Just a kitchen sized one is fine.

2-3 Pail Liners

This is basically a reusable trashbag made of the same PUL fabric as the diaper covers.  At the end of the day, you take the whole thing to your washer and dump out the diapers into the washer along with the bag itself.  They don't do well in the dryer though, which is why I recommend getting 3.  It takes a while for them to hang dry, and we found that just alternating between two meant that they were never completely dry.

Imagine sells pail liners that are the perfect size and come in cute colors, or you can get Planet Wise bags on Amazon.

2-3 Wet Bags

These are smaller versions of the pail liners that you keep in your diaper bag to put used diapers in while you are away from home.  I recommend a fairly large one, because I got a "medium" one once, and it holds exactly 1.5 diapers.  They also double as waterproof bags for things like swimsuits once you are finished with the diapering stage.

Imagine carries these as well, and they come in some really cute patterns!  They also have some that have more than one pocket, so you can carry clean diapers in one pocket and dirty ones in the other!  Genius!

Optional Extras:

These things are not necessary, but might make your life a little easier if you can spare the cash.

Diaper Sprayer

A diaper sprayer is just like the sprayer in your kitchen sink, but it attaches to the back of your toilet so that you can spray (clean) water on your diapers to rinse them when they are dirty.  This is important because once your child starts eating solid food or formula, you cannot put solid waste in the washing machine or your machine will die.  The cloth diapering community is pretty much split down the middle on whether or not diaper sprayers are worth having, but I will tell you that from my experience, they are awesome.  Yes, there are some drawbacks.  (You have to be careful or the spray can ricochet and make a mess.)  Still, it's awesome.

Diaper Liners

You can get disposable or reusable liners, and you put them on top of the prefold to catch the solid waste, making it easier to clean up.  Since we have a septic system, I've never found these particularly wonderful because we can't flush them, but if we were on sewer, I would be all about them.  I don't see the purpose of the reusable ones though, except to keep diaper cream off the prefolds.

Reusable Wipes

I used to make my own reusable wipes.  I just cut up an old flannel sheet and zigzagged the edges.  I put some in a wipes box and poured a homemade mixture of water, olive oil, tea tree oil, lavender, and baby shampoo over them.  It worked really well, but you can also use disposable wipes.  It's just annoying to remember to put them in the trash and put the diapers in the pail.

Diaper Cream

You can't use just any diaper cream with cloth diapers, because a lot of them leave residue behind that can ruin your diapers.  There are lots of cloth diaper safe creams you can get online, but I usually use California Babies because you can get it at Target.  Also, you can always switch to disposables for a few days if you need to use another kind of cream.

5)  Start Simple

I started using cloth diapers when Cricket was about a month old.  I just used them around the house at first, and I would switch to disposables when we went out.  We also used disposables at night because they are more absorbent.  When I started getting annoyed at switching back and forth, I finally just started doing cloth all day.  She still used disposables at night for a while, and then one day, I forgot to take off her cloth diaper before bed, and she did fine, so then we were full time.

Some people like to jump in all at once, but for me, I needed to do it gradually.  Everything seems so overwhelming when you have a new baby, so it was just too much for me to process all at one time.  Plus, it took a while to build up all the supplies we needed because they do cost money.  Yes, they save money, but you have to have some to spend up front.  We would just buy one or two things here or there, whenever we saw a sale or someone gave us a gift card.

If you are interested in cloth diapering, you can start any time!  Even if your little one is a toddler, it's worth it because most toddlers who are in cloth diapers potty train sooner!  I've seen cloth on newborns in the hospital and on two-year-olds running around!

You can order from Amazon.  I put up a box on the sidebar with some of the items I use.  You can use that box to create a wishlist of your own, or to order the things you need!

I hope this helps you get your head around the basics of cloth diapering.

Click here to read Part 2, where I cover our daily routines and our wash routine.

Click here to read Part 3, where I answer some FAQ's.