Doe anyone just wash their diapers?

[blueRhino]

I am thinking of giving up my diaper service...

I am moving to an apartment building with laundry in the basement and would like to save money by washing diapers myself. But I am a little overwhelmed by all the washing directions, opinions, etc.

My question is, does anyone out there just wash their diapers?

I would be using cotton prefolds exclusively. Generally I do a pretty good job rinsing soiled diapers via swirling them in the toilette. But I don't want to do multiple cycle, wet pail, or anything more labor intensive than going to the basement and putting them in the wash, then a little later putting them in the dryer, probably twice a week.

Is that crazy? Please someone tell me they have had luck with just washing their diapers...

[painefaria]

We just wash and line dry and have for a long time. I do occasionally have to boil them to get rid of the ammonia smell (we are a bleach free family) but other than that we never did a whole lot when it came to diaper care.

[eclipse]

That's all I ever did with my diapers - throw them in the washer, then throw them in the dryer.

[npl]

I did diapers in the laundry room of the apt building we lived in. The hardest part was lugging them down there, but the double stroller made that easy (baby in one seat, diapers or other laundry in the other, toddler walked).
I don't recall the exact washing system, but I seem to remember 2 cycles (because I couldn't do a rinse or soak) and then the dry. I tried to time it so that I was doing clothes at the same time, so I would take the diapers down and get them started, go back with the clothes around the time the first diaper cycle was finished and put the clothes in, then switch everything to the dryers and come back to take it all out again. Depending on kids schedules, moods and other plans, we sometimes spent time down there, and sometimes just came back when it was time to switch cycles, etc.

[Cameron's Mommy]

I just wash mine as well, though my son is still breastfed so his poops aren't too messy yet! But as long as you use a cloth diaper friendly soap and half the recommended amount your good. also I run an extra rinse cycle but its set to my washer and it goes on automatically. laundering cloth diapers is somehting that seems like alot of work but its really not.. you just get used to it and it becomes a routine!

[Xavismom]

We live in a condo, and share a laundry room with the 3 other tennants in our building. I was nervous about washing my dipes in them, because I have seen thread after thread of complicated washing routines, and the washer here has NO options besides hot or cold wash. No option to soak, extra rinse, etc.

Its worked out just fine for me. I do try to time the wash, and if I can, I try to add a bit of vinegar when it gets to the rinse cycle because it seems to help stop the dipes from being smelly. But other than that, I just wash/dry them like any other load of clothes. We are only about 3 months into it, but they wash up great, dont smell, and are still nice and white.

[Adsullata]

After a period of getting caught up in all the laundry additive hoopla, I have simplified tremendously and now do a cold prewash/rinse, hot wash with country save, then hot or warm additional wash. Since I have a frontloader that's as simple as I can get. With a toploader, I would not need that extra wash cycle on the end. Since you're already rinsing your dipes out in the cold toilet water, I don't see why you couldn't just do one wash cycle. Especially with prefolds. I also found it easier to use a detergent that I can also use on my regular laundry, helps in keeping things simpler not having all these different laundry products.

Whichever diapers you end up using, I'd check the manufacturer's laundering instructions. Those are usually easier than the complicated wash routines some of us end up getting into. Also, you don't want to void any manufacturer warranties on your dipes or covers.

[octobermom]

I think most of us just wash our own diapers. Around here there is no diaper service so its just not an option at any cost. I washed I jsut washed hot with detergant and a touch of bleach (we did that after dealing with staph) had the washer set to an extra rinse and dried not a biggie. I had a combo of fitted prefolds and AIOs and covers.

Deanna

[mosesface]

Assuming you're using a top loader and you rinse in the toilet, you can just wash your diapers in one regular cycle. I'd invest in a hand sprayer for your toilet so you don't have to "swirl". You're just doing by hand what others use their machines to do.

Be sure you're using a good cloth diaper friendly soap that rinses clean (use the smallest amount necessary) and you should be fine without any other steps. As maintenance, you may need to strip or possibly bleach every once in a while, but your regular washing should be pretty straight forward and easy.

[littlemizflava]

i am done with cd but i did it with both of my dc. one wash hot and then the machine rinces on cold. the only time i did a second wash was if the diapers came out dirty or baby or someone in the family was sick. i used 5ml of dawn in each load and a few drops of tto and that was it i never had to strip my diapers.

you can use fllece washable liners to reduce need to dunk diapers or the washable disposable kind like kooshies. if you EC and aim to try to catch poops this reduces the need for dealing with poop in diapers. i have used a handheld shower head with the dipaer in the tub to get out some stuck on poop not big peices just some stuck on bits

[mntnmom]

With prefolds you should be fine. You might have to experiment with soap/vinegar etc. to get the best wash, but we just used prefolds with our first 2 kids and washing was very simple.

[junipervt]

for over a year I only washed 1x a week at a laundromat. I had a sprayer at home, so poop went in the toilet before the diapers went in the pail.

I just did 1 hot wash w/ a not too full washer (so there was more water & space for them to move around) & Allen's Naturally Detergent. Then threw them in the dryer.

I didn't have any stink or staining problems (light staining but that's to be expected)

I did have a drying rack at home to dry the ones that didn't dry all the way (I use a mix of fitteds, pfs, pockets & aios). But I never had a problem w/ my pfs not drying in 1 cycle.

[Pinoikoi]

I home washed mine for the past 6 years. My area only RECENTLY got a diaper service.. if I didn't already have a lot of money tied up in my diapers, I might do the service, simply to give them some more business, but alas, I am pretty attached to my dipes.

[hildare]

we live in the middle of nowhere, there is not a diaper service, but I'm not finding the washing very difficult at all. you totally can diy!

[SomethingAnonymous]

I do one cycle with my regular detergent (homemade), then hang up the covers around my apartment to dry. The prefolds and flats I usually just dry in my dryer- it's not even close to be being sunny outside yet.

ETA: Sometimes if there are a lot of poopy diapers, I do one cold wash with detergent, then a quick hot rinse, then dry.

[leavemealone]

I just do a cold rinse cycle followed by a hot wash/cold rinse cycle and then throw them in to the dryer. I don't do anything fancy or use super special detergent (just Charlie's Soap for now).

[justmama]

Every other day I toss our two dry pails(one upstairs and one downstairs for ease) filled with dirty diapers and wipes and wetbags and such into a hot wash with half the recommended amt of regular old boring original tide. A little while later I head downstairs and start the extra rinse(because I have an old machine without fancy dials to add on things other than a simple wash and rinse) and then I trek down again to take the diapers upstairs to hang them on the drying rack. Plain and simple, nothing fancy, no additives. I could go longer between washing and still be okay cleanliness-wise since we use flats and covers but every other day fills my washer to the correct height for a full load so that's what I do. Been doing it this way for more than 5 years and two cloth diapered kids and it's worked well. Can't see any reason it won't work for you. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised to see that it does not have to be a ton of work.

[Carhootel]

we wash with a small amount of soap and use the settings for whites - that's it. we do have a button for extra rinse and I usually hit that but it's really just toss it in the wash, machine beeps, toss in dryer, machine beeps, throw in dresser - diaper child - and repeat

[blueRhino]

Thanks everyone. This has been helpful.

To clarify a bit, a get that most people here aren't using a diaper service. But if I switch to washing them myself, I won't have access to unlimited presoaking/rinsing/temp changing options you have when you use your own washer. So an extra rinse might be simple to you, not so to me. Especially if it doubles the cost of washing at home, it makes the service relatively cheaper...

But it seems like some people have had luck with one hot cycle, so I'm optimistic. (Thanks for pointing out the toilette dunking is essentially a cold rinse!)

Just one more question. What is the difference in a top loader and front loader? It seems like top loaders are seen as better, but I've never seen an industrial washer that isn't a side loader and I'm assuming they are pretty good. (That is what I'd be using.)

Thanks!

[alegna]

I think it depends on a number of factors (some in your control, some not)

Detergent- don't use too much!
Water- is it HOT enough? how hard is it? (hard water makes it more complicated)
Machine- how well does it work, what cycles does it have?

You might need to run an extra hot wash with no detergent once a month or so to strip, but otherwise I think you can make it work.

-Angela