Cloth diaper questions « Back to Group Discussions

[greatgatsby]

I am sure many of you have some experience with cloth diapers, or are planning to use them when the baby comes.  I never used them with my son for a variety of reasons.  I understand that they are better for the environment, so I would like to use them for that reason.  We used nature's baby care disposable diapers for DS, and really liked them.  They seemed to be the most earth-friendly disposable. 

So for those of you who have more experience with cloth than me maybe you could address these concerns:

They are expensive!  I don't see how they are any cheaper than disposables.  After looking online it looks like it would be up to $20 for one diaper! 

Cleaning:  First of all are you supposed to pre-clean the diapers before putting them in the machine?  What about the ones with the liquidy newborn poop?  Do you use a special detergent, or the same detergent that you use for your clothes. Also, I don't have my own washing machine.  So that is going to obviously complicate things.  I'm just concerned about washing poopy diapers in a public machine.  Also the logistics of transporting them, and having the additional laundry while taking care of two kids. And then the extra cost of washing them. Sorry if any of these seem super basic.  I know people do it, so just would love to hear how!

[Carson]

Loaded question 'round these parts! :)  I am sure many have an opinion, it takes some figuring what works best for your lifestyle and your baby. 

I would say your biggest concern would be transporting them to wash - I think most public machines are high-efficiencies, and I usually have to do 2 or 3 cycles to get mine clean in my HE machine.  I do take my diapers to my mom's sometimes, and they're relatively portable, it's just another bag.

I never pre-cleaned EBF baby poop.  It's heavenly!  When they are eating solids you can use little flushable liners that you can plop into the toilet, or you can scrape/rinse. 

For buying diapers, I carefully bought most of mine used.  I liked sized diapers better than one size because I got a better fit.  Plus I was buying them with intent for using on 2 kids, so it's really cost effective the 2nd time around.  I was never set on a particular style of diaper, in all sizes I used (in order of expense) prefolds, fitteds, and all-in-ones.  I never got into pockets much but tried them.  I liked prefolds/fitteds because they did the job and were cheaper, but had some all-in-ones for DH to use and to use while out and about.

[domermommy]

There are brands that you can supposedly use from birth to potty learning for under $100 - Econobum by BumGenius, I believe? You can make cloth diapering as expensive or inexpensive as you want, I think. We've been CDing since DS was two days' old, and we started out in prefolds/covers and then moved into pockets.  As for detergent - depending on what kind you use for your clothing, you may be able to use the same type on your diapers, just about 1/4 of the amount. 

Just as Carson mentioned above, your biggest issue may be the cost of washing diapers at a laundromat (which is what I'm assuming you do.) Maybe if you do some presoaking at home you could get away with only one cycle at the laundromat rather than the two it normally takes? 

Hope this helps! Definitely feel free to ask more questions, basic or not! :)

[Carlin]

:lol: I'll bite. I love, love, love cloth. I used disposables on DD for one weekend and hated them with a passion. I even took our cloth to Cuba for two weeks, and while handwashing diapers is not my favourite way to spend my time it was still better than carting around 2 weeks worth of leaky disposables.

So, to address your questions:

Cost: We went mostly with fitteds, specifically Mother-Ease Sandy's which cost about $12 per diaper. If I was looking to go cheap I would have gone with prefolds but as I'd never cloth diapered before I was a bit intimidated by them. In hind sight they would have been just fine at least until DD got mobile. Now, I suspect I could have diapered DD cheaper with disposables (although probably not with any of the more natural options) but the big advantage of cloth is that they can be used so often. My newborn diapers (which we used to about 4 months) have also been used by my best friend x2 and my SIL. So by the time I use them for number 2 they will have been used for 5 babies and they are still in excellent condition. Price wise, I don't think disposables can touch that.

If you were to do the same with prefolds or even flats you could diaper multiple kids for not much more than $100 I think. As Carson pointed out, there's a huge second hand market too and you can save a lot of money going that route.

Cleaning: Exclusively breastfed poop just goes straight into the machine. No need to pre-wash or pre-clean. Once DD was on solids I'd dump the poop out into the toilet but didn't get too paranoid about it.

I do think it's important to use a mild detergent without enzymes, optical brightners, scents or other nasty chemicals but rather than using a different detergent I just switched completely over to the same detergent I use on the diapers. It actually works out super cheap as the stuff I use is pretty concentrated and while it's around $30 for a bucket I've only used 2.5 buckets since DD was born - 33 months ago. Oh, and it's really important not to use fabric softeners as they reduce your diapers' absorbancy.

I'd say using public laundry is probably your biggest barrier. I generally had 18 or 24 diapers and was washing every 2 or 3 days. If I was using public laundry, I might consider going with prefolds or flats, buying about 36 of them and then you shouldn't have to wash more than once a week. In that situation I'd definitely avoid going with all-in-ones. They are a little more challenging to get really clean and you'd need to be running long wash cycles. 

For transportation, I have wet bags that work awesome. I've camped with them, taken them to Cuba etc and they'd be perfect in your case as you just throw the dirty diapers in the bag, than carry the whole bag with you to the laundry, dump the diapers in the washing machine, throw the wet bag in with them then use the same bag to carry them home.

I honestly can't tell you if it would be worth the extra time, but I know some people do it and it works for them. If you're already doing laundry for a family of 4, it may not really be that much extra. You can wash them by hand and hang them to dry if you really want to but I can imagine how much appeal that probably holds.

The diapering forum here on Mothering is really awesome. I found it was a great place to find answers to all my newby questions before DD was born.

I hope that helps a little!

[greatgatsby]

Thanks for the information!  I just don't think I can commit to spending so much time or energy on laundry. If I had my own machine I think I would try it, but since I don't it would just be too much work. 

[Carlin]

I don't blame you for that at all. Another possibility is a diaper service. They aren't usually too expensive and it can be a nice thing to ask for for a baby shower gift if you want to go that route. Otherwise, I think if you're generally happy with how you diapered your DS, it's not something worth stressing over.

[Carson]

Nope, I don't blame you either.  I think it would be challenging even if you had free laundry in your building or something - just having to use a shared machine and schlepping them around, etc...

One other alternative is hybrid diapers with disposable liners (eg Flip or Gdiapers).  You can wash the shell by hand and flush or compost (not for food) the liners.  I don't know how they compare in cost to greener disposables though.

[crystal_buffaloe]

I LOVE my cloth diapers, and (with the generosity of a few people for shower gifts) only spent $215 for a really awesome stash, plus wetbags, and they're all in great shape and I'll be able to use them with this bean, too. I am not sure that I would have made the plunge if I were going to be using a laundromat, though. That seems very inconvenient to me, though we travelled with cloth and everything. DD was only in disposibles the first month and then another month when she was around 14 months old and had a wicked yeast rash -- and during that time DH was all "I'll be really glad when she can go back in her regular diapers!" I said he must have been the only dad in the history of diapers to prefer cloth

Maybe some other mamas who have CDed with public laundry facilities will chime in.

[cryswilkins]

We do cloth.  :)

I did sposies with DD and when DS was two weeks we switched over.  I work at a CD store so I have tried everything.  I really love the simplicity of Flats and covers though.  I have some pockets for babysitters, but we mostly use the Flats.  You can make cloth diapering economical or expensive.  If you were to do flats and covers you could do it very inexpensively.  There are some one-size covers that may fit the average NB well, but I prefer NB covers and then going to one size when they are a little bigger.

We have vacationed with cloth and I have hand washed when camping and it wasn't terrible.  I also lugged them to the public laundry when I was at Disney for 10 days and it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Since we use flats they are really easy to wash and my routine is really simple.  For public laundry I just make sure that I pre-rinse the poopy diapers really well before I wash them.  We use the same detergent for everything, but it is a cloth friendly one.  Its also made locally so it works really well with our water.  I like http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm for a good detergent reference.

[Faliciagayle]

We committed to cloth before any babies... but I always figured we would use a diaper service (my parents did).  We only fell into washing out own when there was no other option.  

Cloth is really awesome.  Seriously.  If you can't find a service look into G-Diapers if you are committed to the environmentally of the issue.  Those are diaper covers with flushable inserts.  THOSE are expensive, however.  I believe Mothering just did an article on the cost of cloth vs. disposables.  The thing to remember is that the bulk of money spent on cloth is spent at the very beginning, building your stash.  This can be as economic or luxurious as you want.  Then once you have your stash, you are basically set.  WIth minor variations (figuring out what worked best for each stage, for our lifestyle, what I liked to sew), we have been using the same diaper stash for 5 years.  And I inherited my initial newborn kissaluvs.  Which I still have.  <3

[Ava's Mama]

I think that you have gotten alot of your answers already...but here I go:

I CD with my DD and it was great.  I used bumgenius and bought them online for $11/diaper used.  There are also alot of used lots on ebay and a website called diaperswapper.com.  I used country save detergent. 

An alternative is using G Diapers (I used these in the diaper bag and for traveling when laundry was not as easy to access).  They have a reusable cover which can be used many times before washing (unless you have a poop-plotion or an extra wet pee) and you can use either washable inserts OR biodegradable disposable inserts.  Anyways, just an alternative to consider, good luck!

[MissE]

I have a question for you cloth diaper geniuses :). A friend of mine told me I can have her stack of pockets (PUL outer,fleece inner) and she's giving them away for FREE (SCOOORE) BUT only because she put diaper cream on her girls butt when she used the cloth diapers. SHe then started complaining that the dipes started leaking. Now I haven't seen the diapers yet but I'm wondering how and if I can actually get diaper cream out of dipers? What might work? I can't reallly get all harsh on them because of the PUL. Might Dawn work? If I turn the diaper inside out and then put dawn on the stains, do you tihnk that might work? Any other options?

[judybean]

I'd try Dawn for sure because most conventional diaper creams to have petroleum-based ingredients and Dawn should help to get that out.  Washing them in the hottest water possible is also a good idea (it really shouldn't hurt the PUL... but then again, I'm not ever *that* careful about how I treat my diapers... I always wash on hot and if it's winter, I dry them in the dryer on hot as well). 

[Carlin]

Definitely try Dawn. I'm not sure I'd actually spot treat the stains first though. That would be a lot of Dawn and you could have major sudsing problems in your washer. Usually you just use a very tiny amount of Dawn and hot, hot water, then rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse. lol

[cryswilkins]

I would scrub the stains with a tooth brush and down then rinse then in the sunk to get most of the dawn out. It might take some major scrubbing depending on what kind of cream she used.

[Ava's Mama]

You can "strip" the diapers by putting a drop or two of dawn in the washer instead of detergent.  Washer on hot and then rinse until you do not see anymore suds.  this should do the trick and is good for overallt maintenance of cloth diapers.

[MissE]

thank you all for your help. i will most likely get the diapers tomorrow and then i'll see how bad the stains are.

[Monkey Keeper]

Originally Posted by cryswilkins 

I would scrub the stains with a tooth brush and down then rinse then in the sunk to get most of the dawn out. It might take some major scrubbing depending on what kind of cream she used.

Yup. BTDT. Got most of it out but not all. *Some* staining is not going to cause you a lot of grief, but a good coating definitely will cause leaks.

If all else fails, since they are free, I think I'd try cutting out the inner close to the seams and just using it as a cover for a prefold/fitted!

[MissE]

I'll see what I can do. She didn't show up at the kids's school today since her little girl is sick, so I might see her on Thursday.

[MissE]

So the verdict is in :). It's only one diaper with the stains, the others are pretty much unused. I don't think any baby has ever pooped in them. I will try to treat the stains with dawn and a toothbrush, that should do the trick. Other than that, they are perfect and I'm in pink momma heaven.