Calling All Cloth Diaper Mommas....

Welcome to the wonderful world of cloth diapering! Sounds like you got a AWESOME deal too!

A) I have two wet bags I use to store diapers in. One has a zip top and one is a hanging pail that has a small opening at the top. Both have a piece of fabric sewn into the interior that I add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to. That takes care of the smell. I got the zip top bag here: http://www.clothdiapersuperstore.com/category_s/170.htm
And the hanging pail here:
http://www.squishytushy.com/pail-liners-hanging-pails-c-1...

B) I use All Free & Clear 3x. Some people experience detergent build up with AF&C but I've never had an issue. Here's my wash routine:

Cold wash with 1/2 recommended amount of detergent.
Hot/cold wash/rinse
Warm/cold wash/rinse

Tumble dry low or line dry.

If you get stains the best thing I've found to do is to sun the diapers. Just lay the diapers in a nice sunny spot for a few hours and the stains will fade away! No bleach necessary!

If you do get residue build up in diapers it will cause them to stop absorbing wetness. If you start getting leaks check for residue build up by placing the diapers under a slow trickle of water. If the water runs off the diaper instead of absorbing it means you have residue build up. To fix this you'll need to strip the diapers.
If the diapers are already dirty run them through 1 wash cycle with detergent. Then do a hot wash with 1-2 TBL of regular blue Dawn (not the concentrate. Well, I guess you could use the concentrate but only use a small amount.) Run the diapers through extra hot wash cycles until no suds appear.
Strip your diapers as often as needed, but not at every wash as it is a bit harsh for your diapers and your baby’s skin.

C)There are creams you can use that won't affect the diapers. Or you can use a liner to create a barrier so rash creams won't get onto the diaper. There are washable liners and disposable liners available for this. The cheapest is to buy a piece of non piling fleece and cut your own. Personally, since using cloth my daughter hasn't been getting rashes. She only gets a rash now if I put her in PUL overnight. I've ordered some wool covers for overnight and I'm waiting for them to arrive. Until they get here we are using disposables for overnight.

Here are some helpful links for you:
www.diaperswappers.com
http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp

Tips:
I put everything in the wash together. Wet bags, covers, diapers, wipes, etc. After the first wash cycle I take out the wet bags though. I don't know why but if I leave them in for the hot and warm washes it causes the diapers and covers to stink.
When we have a poopy diaper to deal with I just knock the poo off in the toilet. If the poo won't knock off I give it a little swish in the toilet instead of using a diaper sprayer.

Good luck to you! Feel free to contact me if you need clarification on anything or have anymore questions! :))

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Good for you Mama!
We use a diaper pail or large wetbags to store soiled diapers in. I think we have whammies bag for the pail, we use a 13 gallon trash can w/ the step open lid- it keeps smells in. I prefer the large wetbags w/ zippers since I have one on each floor- my daughters diapers are little yet so I can squeeze 2 days worth or so in them.
here's a good site for tips on washing. we use planet or mountain green 1 cold rinse, hot wash/cold rinse & xtra water since we have HE
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/
there are cloth diaper approved creams (we like northern essence better butter cream) as an option for the rash. or you can continue w/ desitin (or whatever works) and use a liner to protect the diaper.
feel free to contact me w/ more questions!
good luck....i love using cloth!

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I don't have much advice on CDing but do belong to a great website (I joined for PLing advice) where you could probably find answers to any questions. It's www.diaperswappers.com

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WOOHOO for cloth!!!!!! I love it! It's actually very bitter-sweet that my 2 yr. old son is starting to potty train so much!

We've always used a dry pail method. You can get a wetbag/pail liner for under $20 a lot of the time & just use a regular trash can as a diaper pail. You might be able to even use the one you already have.

When wash day comes, you just dump the dirty dipes & wipes into the wash w/ your wetbag & wash everything.

I do a cold/cold wash w/ Allens Natural or O-Nature-L (VERY cheap Maine-family-made detergent that's all natural!!!!) & then a hot/cold wash w/ NO detergent but some white vinegar & a little TTO (tea tree oil). Then I hang dry any PUL covers, etc... & machine dry the rest.

You can get flushable liners (Biosoft or Imse Vimse) as a barrier & use cloth-safe creams for the rash (ie: California Baby, Burts Bees, Earths Best, Jason, etc...) & put a thin layer on the rash, or of course, good ol' breastmilk (as long as it's not a yeast rash!!!).

Hope that helps some!
A.

1 mom found this helpful

I cloth diapered my 4 yr old son from 15 months until almost 3 yrs. We took them on vacation, friends houses, etc. We had no problems.

1) We stored ours in our Diaper Champ w/ a regular kitchen trash bag. Not very "green" but we were doing it for allergy reasons. Doing it that way, the diapers smelled less than disposables stored the same way. With my son now, I bought an extra large wet bag from cottonbabies.com and I just drop them in that and pull the string. When I have 2 or 3 diapers left, I wash them. That can sometimes be a week or so since we're not as religious about using cloth (meaning I use them, hubby doesn't) Still, no smell. I highly recommend the wet bags. We have a small one that we use when we are out and have a dirty diaper.

2) We used all free and clear as well. But this is the way we wash our diapers -- which worked in both our old top load washer and our new front load. Do a wash of cold water, a tiny bit of detergent, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and about 1/4 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle. When that is done, we do a wash of hot water repeating the 1/4 cup of baking soda and vinegar. Then everything goes in a light dryer. Normally that is enough to get all the goo and smells out.

3) We used all types of diaper creams with our cloth diapers. I didn't find out about that being a no-no until after we had been doing it for awhile. They sell rice paper liners that look like dryer sheets that you put in the diapers. Since these go next to the baby's bottom, I guess the creams don't touch the diapers as much. These things are awsome! They catch most of the poop and then are flushed down the toilet -- my 20 month old love saying bye-bye to the poopy and then close the toilet lid : )

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
Good luck and enjoy,
T.

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Hi there S.,

I use cloth exclusively and I love it. I hope you will too. I don't wet store my diapers either. I do have a diaper sprayer that I love, it hooks up to the plumbing of your toilet and it sprays off any of the poop on the diapers and that honestly seems to help a lot. Then I just throw them in the diaper pail, mine is like a trash can with a charcoal filter in the top. I also wash diapers every three days and that reduces the smell. As for a washing routine, my diapers recommended one short wash on cold with 1/4 the detergent, then 1 wash on hot with 1/4 the detergent, and no fabric softeners ever, this reduces the absorbency. I also use All Free Clear. Check with the manufacturer of your diapers to see if they have specific instructions. Another good reference for cloth diaper questions is www.diaperpin.com. My personal favorite site for cloth diaper products is www.cottonbabies.com, they also sell the magic stick which is a safe treatment for diaper rash with cloth diapers but honestly I think the reason your child may be getting a rash is that the diapers you have are not getting all the ammonia out with just one wash. My son only gets diaper rash when he has to be in disposables for part time day care. you can also do a search for Pittsburgh Cloth Diapers, there is a store in Swickley. If you have any other questions just let me know. I hope you enjoy your adventures in cloth diapering.

Jess

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Dear S.,
Good for you, your family, your baby and the earth!

My cloth experience thus far: I "dry-pail" method store the diapers until wash day. I use a lidded metal foot operated trash can with a cloth laundry bag inside. I keep it in our bathroom but when my babies were younger, it was in their bedroom. (I always dumped any solids into the toilet before storing). Occassionally, I would spray lavendar room mist if I smelled urine in the room. On wash day, I pull the bag and diapers and throw it all in the wash. I pre-rinse, wash with any "free & clear" detergent that is NOT all natural (all natural detergents leave too many surfactants on the cloth and decrease the absorbancy), I put an extra rinse cycle on the end and an extra spin cycle. I also throw in a downy ball filled with white vinegar to rebalance the ph in the cloth from the amonia in the urine (baking soda thrown in during the rinse cycle works too but I have a front loader so I don't have the option to throw in from the top). I then hang ALL the covers to dry and put all the diapers and any inserts into the hottest setting of the dryer. I pre-stuff all my AIOs so I can grab and go and I prefold my diapers and keep them in a diaper holder. I spray a bleach/ water mix inside the plastic pail of the trash can and let that air dry before putting any new laundry bags and diapers inside the pail.

I used creams on rashes. Yes, it stains the diapers and the AIOs but it did wash out eventually. The redness might be from the changed PH if you haven't been doing a vinegar or baking soda rinse.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the world of cloth!

Fondly,
ann m.

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I have one more bit of information that has not been shared. Using any detergents with "optical brighteners" on the ingredients list will BREAK THE WATER RETENTIVE SEAL and they will leak. I use Tide and my dd has VERY sensitive skin, but with a second rinse, she has been fine! Make sure you check the ingredients on the label!

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Congratulations! We use cloth too. Really I just find the only minimal inconvenience is the extra laundry....but cloth is SUCH a huge cost savings over disposables....

Anyway a few thoughts/responses to your questions above....

- I have found these websites very helpful:
http://www.diaperjunction.com/
http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php

- Grandma El's diaper rash cream is okay to use with cloth dipes

- We have bum genius diapers and follow the washing instructions on their website: http://www.bumgenius.com/help.php

- We use Planet detergent. We have ordered it on Amazon and also I know a small local natural/holistic store will order it for us.

- I was VERY concerned about the diaper pail. I researched tons about it & even posted a question on Mamasource about diaper pails for cloth diapers (you could look in the archives? I posted it either late 2008 or early 2009) ... ultimately what all the input made me decide to get was a basic plastic white garbage pail with a flip lid and the smell is very minimal if non existent. Occasionally I need to spray something "nice" in the pail if I am not planning to wash diapers that day.

Hope that helps! Email me with any questions!

- Jessica

a) I have a planet wise wet/dry bag and I love it. I got mine from www.nickisdiapers.com I also have one for the diaper bag.

b) I use my regular powder detergent (windfresh from Sams club) but use only about 1/4 c. I put in another 1/4 to 1/2c of baking soda. Here's a chart to compare http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

c)I just go ahead and use the balmex becuase my kids very rarely get diaper rash and so I can just wash it out before I throw it in. Other times I havent bothered with no bad affects yet. I do a power rinses on my diapers every few months to strip them.

Brave WOMAN! Kudos!!!

Dear S.:
You are a busy mom.
I always rinsed the dirty diapers, put them in a large plastic bag and sent them off to the diaper service who provided the container. However, they also provided the diapers. If this is not an option, then make sure that you rinse and brush(off diry diapers) before putting into the plastic bag.
Your toddler needs to know that stinky diapers are bad so that he doesn't get into them....or do something imaginative in order to make him understand that they are "off limits".
As far as any rashes are concerned, (provided you have 100$ cotton diapers) the laundry detergent is the problem. I only used Basic L by Shaklee because the entire family used it and it was safe for my infants.
I hope that you find something that works for you.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
E.

a) I dont know anyone who still uses a wet pail these days. All you really need is a medium sized trash can to toss the diapers in until wash day, you could also buy a 'wet bag' which is just a bag designed to keep wetness in-they are available in the camping section at places like Target and Walmart. Put the bag inside the trash can and use that. I've never had any smell issues.

b) For washing, I used to use All F&C but it did cause a small rash when not rinsed properly. I now use Crunchy Clean detergent, its available online. I do one cold rinse, hot wash/warm rinse with detergent and one more cold rinse.

c) There are many creams that you can use with cloth. One is Lil Outlaws or Grandma Els both available online. Or you can use regular rash creams and put a layer of cut up pieces of cloth, like fleece, against his skin next to the cream so it doesn't touch the diapers-wash those with the regular wash so the diapers don't absorb the cream causing them to repel moisture.

I've been cloth diapering for almost two years and I haven't really had many problems yet. Its great! I hope some of this info can help. Good Luck!

Welcome to the club :-)

a) I use a tidy cat large container for the dirty diapers. No need to use a "wet" storage. That was back in the day.

b) I do three loads, one with a recommended detergent (http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html). Cold. Next is oxyclean on hot and 3rd load is baking powder and vinegar on cold. Then i usually just do a spin cycle to get the excess water out. This works the best.

c) Be careful about the free and clear. My DS would break out in a nasty rash when i used it. Often time the residue is issue. You can use the liners ontop of the diapers with creams. I never really had a problem with that - and yes letting the little one have some air time is ALWAYS good.

I would recommend that you get the sprayer as already stated by another mom. It was hte best purchase. Also helps when you are potty training the little one later on.

Best of Luck
Jess

I use a dog treat pail as my dry pail. Or a cat litter pail. Odours are practically non-existent (until you OPEN the container of course!!). DO NOT let them sit for more than a few days. I put them through a hot cycle with the lid open so they soak for a couple hours. Then I do a second short cycle with just vinegar. You will be shocked at how much suds are in the water after the first cycle is done. Diapers really retain teh soapy residue and that can lead to irritation. Stripping them (repeated rinse cycles with vinegar for a few times every couple months) might help if he's red. If he is really red, I would buy a package of disposables and let him wear one with cream overnight until it is cleared. Good luck!

Hi! I store my dirty diapers in a tall kitchen trash can w/lid that I got at walmart for $15. I line it with a diaper pail bag. (you can buy this on almost any cloth diaper site. Its a water proof bag that you can wash with your diapers). I keep the can in my living room and have no odor problems. I do also use a few drops of tea tree oil in the bag each time. (You can buy this at GNC, it lasts a long time). This helps with reducing the odor when you open the lid. Also, you need to shake off/rinse out poopy diapers before storing them. And you should plan to wash diapers about every 3 or 4 days. I find if I store them longer than that then the ammonia smell from the pee gets to be obnoxious.

I have pocket diapers, but I wash the outer pieces with the inner pieces, so its similar to washing AIO. I do a hot wash with half a cap of detergent & sometimes some oxy clean (to get rid of stains). THen I do a second rinse. I wash & do the extra rinse on my heavy duty cycle. Then I dry the diapers in the dryer. If you can hang dry them, that is the better option. The sun not only dries the diapers it also removes stains & disinfects as well.

Your son's redness may be due to a few different reasons. The leg redness may be due to the tightness in the leg of the diaper. All the redness may be due to his skin getting used to being wetter than he was in disposable diapers. I have occassionally used baby powder with out any problems. It could also be irritation due to detergent being left in the diapers. I recommend doing an extra rinse to get all the detergent out (if you think this might be a cause). Finally, if you need to use some kind of cream you could either use disposables while using the cream or I have seen this recommended before (though never tried it myself) you could line the diaper with some toilet paper.
Good luck.