FAQ's

Cloth Diapering Basics and FAQ’s

How do I use a prefold?
You can see picture of using prefolds here
We prefer to fold the excess length down in the back and then fold and fasten the diaper around our children as we find it less bulky under clothing. Snappi’s are easy to use, but you will get longer use out of the size of the prefold if you use pins- Snappi’s will require more material to prevent the snappi from pulling too tightly or possibly rubbing your child’s skin, Pins allow you to fasten diaper that just barely meet around your little one. Pins go through our Indian prefolds very easily. You can get pins through any prefold even easier by rubbing the tip with a bar of soap or running through your hair- this will lubricate the pin and allow it to go through easier. I find that keeping the pins in a bar of soap makes them easy to find and use, however, most bars of soap do break with this. Tightly wrapping the bar of soap in a face cloth or a small cloth bag helps with this soap-breakage mess.

Another option is something called tri-folding – you fold the diaper in 3 length-wise, lay in a wrap-style cover (like the Bummis wraps or the Proraps classic) and fasten the cover. It may allow some soiling of the cover if your child has a bowel movement, but many parents find the convenience outweighs this. If you do tri-fold exclusively you may want a few additional covers.

You will need to change the prefold about every 2-3 hours depending on how heavy your child wets and if they are soiled. You will need to cover the prefold with a cover as it is not waterproof. Make sure all parts of the diaper are tucked into the cover before covering with clothing. You can do this by running a finger under the legs and back of the cover.

How do I use a fitted diaper?
These are easier. Open diaper, lay baby on it and fasten. They do need a cover for waterproofness. Please make sure all parts of the diaper are under the cover to prevent leaks.
These do need to be washed and dried 3-4 times on hot/high heat as they do shrink as well as for absorbency.

What do I do with the soiled diapers?
The easiest thing to do with a newborn diaper which is exclusively breast-fed is to place the whole diaper in your diaper pail – no rinsing, dunking or otherwise required. Do a quick cold rinse in the washer first followed by a hot wash with 2 warm rinses.
If you are cloth diapering an older child who is on some solid food you will want to dispose of the waste. There are several ways of accomplishing this: one is to use a fleece liner in the diaper, take it to the toilet when soiled and shake the bulk of the poop into the water. Another is to take the ends of the diaper and swish it in the toilet until the majority of the poop is in the water. Another way is to install a diaper or mini-shower to your water supply hose of the toilet – you use it to spray the poop off the diaper into the water.
No matter what you do you will need to get the diaper back into the diaper pail when done. You can take the pail with you to the bathroom with the diaper or as I prefer – to have a small container to carry the diaper or liner back to the diaper pail. Some also keep a separate diaper pail in their bathroom, as space permits.

What about the covers?
Covers do not need to be changed as often as the diapers. Generally you can re-use them until they are soiled or smell. Hang the damp cover over the side of your changing table to allow to dry between changing. Most covers dry very quickly. Remember to toss them in the wash when you do diaper laundry. 5-6 covers is generally adequate for 1 child in diapers when diapers are washed every other day. Sometimes it is helpful to hand wash a few in between washes if needed. You can wash your covers with your diapers, but it is recommended to line dry the PUL or nylon covers such as the Bummis, Proraps, Dappi, and Stacinator so simple. If you choose to dry these in the dryer, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations- most allow for drying on low, but please check the labels for specifics. Stacinator wool covers, being wool should be hand-washed only and only line dried.

What do I do with a microfleece liner?
This is something that is an optional step, but is handy to have a few around. You lay this between your child’s skin and the prefold or pocket diaper. It allows for easier disposal of the solid waste and gives the prefold a “stay-dry” layer as the fleece is not an absorbent material so the liquids pass through to the prefold and are not in direct contact with the skin.

Detailed Washing Instructions For Cloth Diapers

WASHING INSTRUCTIONS
*******NEW DIAPERS*********
Wash and dry new cloth diapers 5 to 10 times to remove chemicals. This will also increase the absorbancy of your cloth diapers. We recommend drying at least between every 2 wash cycles in this initial washing process to promote full absorbency. Use detergent the first wash cycle or 2, then plain water the following 4 washes or so. If you have heavily chlorinated city water, 3 washes will probably be adequate. Diapers will continue to increase in absorbance with the next several washes.
Do not worry if you notice that your cloth diapers "quilt up" during this process. This is normal.
To extend the life of our cloth diaper covers, we hang them dry. It is especially important to do this with AIO's and diaper covers to preserve their waterproofing ability.
The washing instructions are for a full load of cloth diapers. You may include nylon and polyester diapers covers in this load. Handwash all wool covers.

Overnight Soak Method
Pre-Wash. (can be skipped if you use the wet pail method.) Place all cloth diapers in the washer, and run a prewash in cold water. This will remove most of the loose particles from the cloth diapers.
Overnight Soak. Refill the washer with cold water and 1/2 cup of baking soda. Let it agitate for a minute or two, then turn off the machine and let the cloth diapers soak several hours or overnight. Drain the water (I run a pre-wash to do this.) Baking soda is a base and neutralizes the urine in the cloth diapers. This is very effective in whitening and removing the smell from the cloth diapers.
Hot Wash. Empty the bin and run the wash with hot water, and detergent.
Double Rinse. Add about 1/2 cup of vinegar during the first rinse. If you have a washer with a fabric softener compartment pour the vinegar there when starting the hot wash. Otherwise you can throw in a Downy ball filled with vinegar.

No Soak Method
If you prefer not to soak your diapers or if you only have access to a coin operated machine follow this method:
Cold Wash. Place all your soiled cloth diapers in the machine with baking soda for a cold water wash.
Hot Wash. Add your wet cloth diapers to load, add detergent and baking soda and wash in hot water.
Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water and vinegar.
2nd Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water.

SUPER SIMPLE METHOD – what we use here
Hot wash. With about 1/2 the manufacturer’s recommended amount of detergent. Add baking soda if desired. You can also choose to add water softener additive in this cycle if you have hard water. You can find some in the laundry isle in most local grocery stores under the brand name Calgon (different from the bubble bath stuff!)
Warm rinse. You may need to switch the dials on your washer between the wash and rinse cycle to accomplish this. This is the cycle to add vinegar if desired. Avoid vinegar if you have hard water, it contributes to odor problems.
2nd rinse. A second rinse of either warm or cold water

If your diapers do not smell clean and fresh when you take them out of the drier, try using more detergent. If they have an overwhelming ammonia smell with urination, try using less detergent.

CAN YOU RECOMMEND A RECIPE FOR CLOTH WIPES?
There are several recipes you can use for cloth wipes. Here is one:
2 or 3 drops of tea tree oil. This can be found in the band-aid isle of most pharmacies.
1 tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's soap or baby wash
water.
To hold your wipes you can use an empty disposable wipes container or a wipe warmer. You can store wipes dry and spray or squirt them as you need to as well. Do not store wipes wet for more than a few days as you may find mold growing!

WHAT DETERGENTS OR CLEANING AGENTS SHOULD I USE TO CLEAN MY CLOTH DIAPERS?
Stick with enzyme free detergents. Generally you should use ½ of the manufacturer’s recommended amount. More than this amount can promote detergent build up which leads to odor problems in diapers and sometimes wicking problems in covers. Borax and bleach are not recommended, especially bleach on PUL covers.

WET PAIL AND DRY PAIL METHODS
There are 3 basic methods for storing wet and soiled cloth diapers, wet pail, dry pail and wet/dry pail.
Dry pail. All cloth diapers are placed in a covered pail. Sprinkle baking soda to control the odors.
Wet pail. All cloth diapers are placed in a pail half filled with water. Make sure this pail is covered to prevent infant drowing.
Our preferred method is the dry pail method. We used to use the wet pail system (for dirty diapers only), but it was messy and unwieldy. Now we simply dunk dirty diapers (and swish if necessary) or spray with minishower into the toilet bowl before tossing in the dry pail. We keep our diaper pail in the bathroom. Much easier!