Cloth Diapers - Page 5 « Back to Group Discussions

[LilyTiger]

I'm in the process of trying to make a few wool covers for our cloth dipes.  Wool is awesome because it just needs to be dried out between wearings (not washed) and only washed when soiled.  But, the covers are pretty darned expensive.  I found a few cute knitting patterns online and I made a quick one last night, but I don't really have time to knit a ton of these.  It turns out you can make them really really easily from old sweaters.  Who knew?  Here's a link to the super easy pattern.  And now back to desperately hoping this baby decides to arrive sooner than later...

http://sewingdork.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-make-wool-diaper-cover-from-wool.html

[LeAnn A Doula]

Lily - I think I have to add learning to knit to my to do list. I love wool covers but at almost $50 a pop they're an investment. I just can't get over how cute they can be. I have to keep myself away from Etsy! :)

VV & Tizzy- I have the same strategy, keep it simple! After reading about all the stink issues, special detergents, etc you can run into w synthetics and fancy AIO's, I opted for cotton prefolds and my mom is making all of our covers to begin w. I'm hoping the system works well for us. She's making a few pockets to try too. We'll see what we like best. We're starting w 8 covers, 4 pockets & 24 GMD prefolds. I'm also making some cloth wipes and doublers. The covers are so dang cute! I'll have to post a pic to show off Grandma's hard work. :)

I have a detergent question. BTDT & FT mamas, what are you using w your colth dipes and PUL covers? I discovered my free&clear has brighteners, which is a bad thing. So I figured I'd see what everyone likes to use/works well. I'm thinking I should avoid detergents w enzymes and brighteners. I haven't prepped yet, so I figured I'd just avoid the possible issues and start clean. Do you use a "clean rinsing" detergent? Or just a basic mainstream detergent? What about a disinfectant (Borax, oxygen cleaner, bleach)? What about vineagar? Oy...they make it hard to keep it simple!

[NewMumJoy]

Lily - those covers are so cute!!I  I can't knit at all, but I think I might be able to pull off sewing a wool cover from a sweater, like in that link....

LeAnn - after tons of confusion on which detergent to use (yes, trying to avoid the perfumes, brighteners and enzymes!), I ended up buying Rocking Green laundry detergent, formulated for cloth diapers:

http://well.ca/products/rockin-green-detergent-classic_38149.html

..... It's pretty expensive (although you only need a tablespoon per load), so once we get settled into our next home this fall I plan to make my own detergent (Lily - I think you had a recipe for this?)

I plan to make my own bum spray to use w/cloth wipes.... Lily - you mentioned recently that you made some yourself?  Can you share the "recipe"?  And did you make some bottom cream too?

[Veritas Vitae]

If anyone has a frontloading h/e washer, can you use powder detergents with them?  I've been holding off on washing my dipes because I'm not sure what to use/how to wash them.

[NewMumJoy]

VV - yes you can use powder in front loading HE washers!  From what I've read you should use about half as much powder.  So far the Rocking Green that I bought works fine and doesn't gunk up... (once you decide on which brand to use I'd google reviews to see if anyone has complaints like that).

Ohh, but one thing I did read about was that HE washers often don't use enough water to effectively soak/rinse the diapers - so you have to run an extra cycle just to get the diaper load saturated enough for proper cleaning/rinsing.  Or add a wet towel to the load to "trick" the machine into adding more water.  Not happy to hear this, as ultimately you'd end up using more water and time/energy - losing some points on my overall CD'ing scorecard....

[LeAnn A Doula]

VV - I've also read that many people have to manually add water (w a bucket through the tray) to get enough in the front load washers. One thing to keep in mind is powder works better w warm/hot water, liquid is best w cold.

Newmum -I have the how-to booklet from GMD. It has tons of good info specific to cotton diapers and covers (not synthetics). They caution against Rocking Green for cotton but I've read its great for poly/microfiber that can be trickier and need a bit more oomph. I was hoping to find something that I can use for all my laundry rather than having to get a specialty detergent. I plan to make my own as well but I'm looking for a recipe that isn't too heavy on the Borax (can be tough to rinse if there's a lot of it and not reccomended w hemp).

So far, I think I'll take my list to the store and see if I can find any of the clean-rinsing detergents and some borax for a disinfectant. See how that works.

[LilyTiger]

NewMumJoy, I did indeed make everything myself and it was really easy and very cheap. 

For cloth diaper detergent I used this recipe: http://www.elisaloves.com/2011/09/homemade-cloth-diaper-laundry-detergent.html

For cloth wipe spray I used a recipe from the Frugally Sustainable website.  It's 1 cup water, 1 tsp baby castile soap, and a few drops tea tree or lavender (or your choice) essential oils.  A lot of BTDT moms I spoke to on the cloth diaper forum I'm on just use water, so that's an option.  Some women also replace the water in this recipe with chamomile tea, which has soothing properties.  I went with the easiest recipe.  I found a little aluminum spray bottle at a local store.

For cloth diaper bum cream I just used Dr. Bronner's coconut oil (or any high quality coconut oil) and added lavender essential oil.  You don't need much on the bum, but coconut oil doesn't build up on cloth diapers and has some anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties so it's great for diaper rash (again, according to BTDT moms... I don't have a baby yet (ARGH!), so I can't say).

I like that all of these recipes are things I would have on hand anyway (though the essential oil is a bit of an initial investment). 

[LilyTiger]

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to point out a few sales.  The Disana wool diaper cover sale is only through today I think.  It's a really great deal though.  I've heard wonderful things about wool covers, but they are so freaking expensive.  The second link is for Flip covers, buy two get one free. 

http://www.overthemoondiapers.com/Disana-Woollen-Overpants_p_21.html

http://www.thanksmama.com/flip_stay_dry_cloth_diaper_p/bmg-037.htm

We're finally ready to start cloth diapering full time.  Right now she's in a newborn prefold with econobum cover.  I have some pockets too, but the ease of laundering prefolds will probably make them my number one choice right now.  Anyone else in cloth?  How's it going so far? 

[Tizzy]

We're in cloth 75% of the time, it's mostly for DH's sake that I like to have ONE kind of diaper on the go at a time so he doesn't have to stop and think about which insert works with which cover etc.  So we were using the Alva's since DD is in them part-time (just the cover, I'm using them as a trainer type thing) but I kept running short so G. would end up in sposies (blech!!).

Anyway, I brought the rest of my Bummis SWW's and prefolds out and they fit him great! He's 9lbs.  Back to basics and it's nice, plus they're a little easier to wash than the Alva's in my new-to-me front load, I think because they're heavier when wet.

[NewMumJoy]

Late last week I started putting William in cloth diapers (newborn prefold + bummis lite cover) during the day.  So far it's working out great!  He was starting to get a little diaper rash on his bottom in the 'sposies and so far, his skin is doing well in the cloth!  I've also tried out the Charlie Banana adjustable sized AIO's on him but so far I like the simplicity of the prefolds + covers.  They're not as bulky and I've been able to use the same cover throughout the day (no blowouts, yet!).  We're still using 'sposies overnight, but I look forward to putting that first cloth diaper on him in the morning!

I'm still a little nervous about throwing in day-old diapers caked w/poop into the laundry so I've been kinda giving the really messy ones a quick rinse before putting them in the diaper pail.  I just can't see how my HE washer would be able to get ALL that gunk out!  How are you guys handling the really messy diapers - do you give them a quick rinse/scrape, or just toss them in the wash as-is?  I'm nervous about how bad they'll get once he's on solid foods - ack!

[eleuthia]

thanks for the heads up on the disana covers! i just ordered a couple (1 xs, 1 s) since the price was so good. we are still using disposables over here - waiting for my sister to send the covers she's making (+ half dozen fitteds; we have 30 prefolds too) and for calder's butt to get big enough for them since we skipped the nb size. i'm hoping we'll have fewer leaks once we're in cloth, though i think operator error is the main issue (and hopefully that will get better once we're not panicking to finish because the baby's freaking out). 

[Veritas Vitae]

I'm jealous of everyone starting cloth.  I didn't buy any NB size prefolds as I had NB covers from my sister, which I thought I'd use the flats with. The flats are huge on Q and she also has super skinny little legs, so they leak any time she dirties them, poo or pee. I don't know if it would make sense to invest in some NB size prefolds at this point, or to just wait it out.  We ended up with 1 pack of each size diaper (NB, 1, 2, and 3) from baby showers, so we thought we'd just use those to start and then for traveling (with the bigger sizes), but we used up all of the NB and tried to switch to the size 1, but all the pee leaks out the leg holes of the size 1 'sposies as well.

Joy, I have a front load HE and we got a diaper sprayer which works so well (based on when we were using the cloth). Of course, it was on sale when I bought it, this one seems a little pricey.

[Tizzy]

VV - I think infant sized prefolds (and a couple Snappi's) are well worth it since my babies tend to stay in that size for a few months before switching to the regular size prefolds.

I find the best fit is the twist, lay them flat then bring it up and do one twist between their legs before pinning/putting the snappi on. I don't know if that's doable with flats too? It makes this tidy little pocket around their bum and reduces the overall size.

Having said that, I like to have a TON of the Bummis covers with newborns so I just plan on using them once then wash, they hold any leaks in really well and don't wick around the binding.

[mtngirl81]

We've been using fuzzibunz with lil Miss K since she was born and she has skinny legs.  it seems to work for us. Only time we've had leaks is when she has a MASSIVE diaper explosion lol. (twice so far.. and they've held up well!)  We do use 'spoises at night as she seems to wake up more if she's even a bit wet in cloth (we value our sleep in a HUGE way)... only wakes up once in the night to feed and get her bum changed. 

[Sol_y_Paz]

Same here Veritas all my cloth I stocked up on for a stash are too big so we are using NB sposies.