Did I mention we LOVE THEM?!
For the record, cloth diapering is not any more gross than using diapers that you throw away. In fact, many moms that have used both say that disposables are MORE gross, because blow outs (poo up the back and out of the diaper) happen much more frequently than in cloth... if it even happens at all. We are talking about the same amount of dirty diapers. You still have to wipe their bums. Still have to transport the diaper into a wet pail or diaper can to "get rid" of it in some fashion or another. Just so you know, I have NEVER touched (or dunked, or sprayed) any baby poop. In all honesty, picking up my dog's poop is way more disgusting (and "hands on") than this. By a lot.
Here is how we wash our diapers. I have had a ton of questions.
So Norah has a dirty OR wet diaper. Since she is exclusively breastfeeding, we treat them the same. Breastfed poo is the only type of poo that is 100% water soluble without any fuss in the washing machine. Once she is eating solids, our diapering situation will look a bit different. More on that later. Look at all of our types of cloth diapers on our diaper stash video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826MRdRYRsk .
She could be wearing a pocket diaper (absorbent insert stuffs inside the waterproof "pocket" exterior -- as easy as disposables),
or a fitted, super absorbent inner layer, with a waterproof cover to go on over it.
There are MANY options that exist for cloth diapering (all-in-ones, all-in-twos, flats, prefolds, pockets, fitteds, hybrids, contours, etc). What we picked works for us. We mostly use cloth wipes, especially at home because it is simply easier than using disposable wipes. Trust me, you want to put your dirty wipe with your dirty diaper. It SUCKS having to look for a TRASHCAN when you don't need one to cloth diaper. You can save money and make your own wipe solution, but I got a great deal on these wipe solution cubes... it makes 1,000 wipes. We dilute it so they will last longer, and it works great and smells lovely! We spray each wipe as it's time to use it.
Okay, so dirty diaper, dirty wipe. Everything gets tossed into our wet pail (although we technically use a "dry pail" system, no nasty water is sitting in it. Gross). Simple and easy! This is the "hard" part y'all... If she was wearing a pocket diaper, pull the edge of the insert until it comes out of the pocket. No mess is touched. Drop them both into the pail. You're done.
But Dana. What about the SMELL?
What smell?
In our step lid trashcan (from Target), I put just one white trashbag in to line it. This is basically just insurance in case our totally awesome diaper pail liner fails to work for some reason. We have the PlanetWise pail liners. They ROCK. No smell, leaks, issues, whatever. I mean, if you stick your face deep into the pail when it's open, yeah... you'll smell dirty diapers. Duh. I wash diapers every 2-3 days. That's not long enough for the stank to get intense.
Time to wash! I take the entire pail liner with the ickies straight to the washer.
Start a cold pre-soak cycle with just water as I flip the bag upside down and dump everything in. Everything. Even the bag. Notice that I can do this entire process with one hand... not difficult, people. :)
We have an awesome old fashioned washer.
Cloth diapers are picky. If you want them to last for years, they need more love than normal clothes:
Water at medium level
COLD PRE-SOAK
COLD PRE-WASH (still just water)
HOT EXTRA HEAVY WASH
add 2 Tablespoons of our cloth diaper detergent (no additives)
WARM RINSE
done.
You can throw everything into the dryer, or hang dry the waterproof things (covers, pockets, pail liner bag) to help them last longer. Your choice. We choose to hang dry those things.
TA-DA! Clean, yummy smelling, soft, fluffy diapers! :)
