BOISE CLOTH DIAPERS
Treasure Valley's One Stop Cloth Diaper Shop!
Caring For Cloth Diapers
THE RULES
No Bleach! This will break down the fibers of your diapers and greatly shorten their life span.
No Fabric Softener! Not even dryer sheets! This will coat the cloth with unnecessary chemicals and make your absorbent fabric less absorbent, your waterproof fabric less waterproof, etc. It might also make your diapers smell bad. To keep your cloth diapers (and your laundry) soft, use dryer balls. Dryer balls are a wonderful, reusable alternative to fabric softener & dryer sheets. To purchase dryer balls, click here.
Use Less Soap/Detergent! More is NOT better when it comes to cloth diapers. Detergent can build up in your diapers and on your waterproof coverings causing them to smell and lose their absorbency or waterproofness. You should use no more than half the recommended amount of detergent and do an extra rinse, if possible.
Use detergent that is cloth diaper friendly! Using the wrong detergent can ruin the coatings on your waterproof coverings, cause diaper rash, and cause your diapers to lose absorbency. Here is a chart of cloth diaper friendly detergents......http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm.
THE BASICS
Rinsing Out the Soiled Diaper -Rinsing out a soiled diaper in the toilet is the part of cloth diapering that makes most people decide NOT to use cloth diapers. It is also highly debatable. Diaper services don’t rinse out their diapers, they just let the washing machine do the work for them. Some parents have followed their example and throw the dirty diaper right in the wash. I simply shake the solids into the toilet and then store the diaper in my DRY diaper pail until laundry day. I don't try to get every little bit of poop off the diaper. You can also use liners that can be lifted out of the diaper and easily rinsed. Some brands are even flushable, making this job a breeze. You can find flushable liners in our on-line store. Fleece liners are a good non disposable liner that leaves you just rinsing off the fleece liner rather than the whole diaper. Another helpful tool is a hand-held sprayer attached to your toilet. No more dunking, just hold the diaper over your toilet and spray it out. These sprayers can be found in our on-line store.
The Diaper Pail -You don't have to buy a special diaper pail, any garbage can with a lid will work. If you have any items that require special care (like wool covers), you might find it easier to store these separate from the diapers (rather than dig through a stinky pail on wash day). Wool covers are washed by hand, not with the diapers.
Wet Pail - Do not use a wet pail! A dry pail works just fine and wet pails create a drowning hazard for small children.
Dry Pail - If it's going to be several days before you wash your diapers you can put a few drops of tea tree or lavender oil on a small cloth and hang inside the diaper pail. Bi-O-Kleen's Bac-Out is another great product and helps tremendously with stains and odors. Bac-Out has natural enzymes that start breaking down the waste and the odors rather than simply masking them. You can find Bac-Out in our online store. Just spritz the diaper lightly before throwing in your pail.
Liner - Waterproof liners can be found in a variety of sizes and styles and are used to line your diaper pail. Some offer drawstring closures while others have zipper closures. On laundry day, just throw the liner in with the diapers for laundering. You'll want a second liner for lining your diaper pail while you're washing the dirty one. You'll probably also need a waterproof travel bag for cloth diapers to store the dirty ones in while you're out and about.
Washing the Diapers
My washing routine is simple. I first run the diapers through a rinse cycle. Then I run them through a cold water pre-wash, then wash on hot, and finish off with an extra rinse. It's that easy, really! To avoid detergent build up, I run them through a second hot wash and rinse about every other wash. You could just wait until it's obvious they need stripped but I don't like finding out my diapers need stripped because they start stinking or leaking. I prefer to use preventive laundering techniques:)
Drying the Diapers
You CAN dry your diapers and covers in the dryer but remember, do not use dryer sheets! A good alternative to using fabric softener is to use dryer balls which you can find right here at Boise Cloth Diapers. They bounce around in your dryer and soften your clothes without using chemicals. If you're drying any waterproof covers/wraps or pocket diapers, start your load on low heat and pull any waterproof covers or pocket diapers out after about 15 minutes as they'll already be dry. You can then dry your inserts, doublers, prefolds, and fitteds on high heat.
One of the best ways to dry diapers & covers is on a clothesline in the sun. This will lengthen the life of your diapers, naturally disinfects them, and helps to remove stains and odors naturally. It also lowers your utility bill. Your diapers might feel kind of crunchy after drying outside but a quick tumble in the dryer will soften them up.
Washing Wool Covers
You might think that using wool in a diapering system would be a laundry nightmare, but the extra care you need to give wool is not that bad because you don't have to wash it as often. Wool has special anti-bacterial properties that neutralize the smell. After a cover is used once, just hang it up to air out and you can use it again a few hours later. Some people claim to go a month or more before they need to wash their wool covers! I will put a wool cover in the wash pile (not in the diaper pail!) for one of three reasons: if it gets soiled, if it starts to smell like a wet dog even after being aired out, or if it starts to leak (time for more lanolin).
For best results, follow the washing instructions that came with your cover. If you have no instructions (or you made it yourself), follow this routine. Wash the covers by hand as you would a wool sweater. Fill a bucket or sink with luke-warm water and some gentle soap. You can use Dawn dish soap or shampoo (wool is hair, right?). An excellent choice would be soap made especially for wool, like Sheepish Grins Lanolin Bar Soap, Lana Care Lanolin Soap, or Eucalan Wool Wash. (Most yarn stores will carry wool wash, call your local yarn shop to see if they have some.) These soaps add lanolin to the wool while they clean. If you use a lanolin soap, DO NOT rinse the covers!
Toss the cover(s) in the water to soak for a half hour or so, then swish them around gently and rinse in cool water (unless you are using lanolin soap, then skip the rinsing). Roll up your cover in a towel and gently squeeze to remove water. Or you can gently place your cover in the washing machine and spin out the water (this is easier and more effective).
Your cover now needs lanolin to be waterproof. (If you used a lanolin soap, you can skip this part too, unless you want your cover to be REALLY waterproof.) Lanolin occurs naturally in wool, but it eventually wears away as urine combines with lanolin to chemically create a new product called wool soap. Pretty cool, eh?
There are a few different ways to lanolize your wool:
The Dry Method: Put a small amount of lanolin on your hands and rub to coat your palms evenly. Take your freshly-washed cover and massage the lanolin into the fibers. Repeat with more lanolin until the entire cover is evenly coated. Continue to massage the wool until the lanolin has soaked in as much as possible. Lay the cover flat to dry completely.
The Spray Method: Use a spray-on lanolin, like Creamy Spray Lanolin from Sheepish Grins. After you wash a cover, evenly spray on the lanolin and gently massage it into the fibers. Lay the cover flat to dry completely.
The Soak Method: Mix half a teaspoon of lanolin and a few drops of baby bath or wool wash in about two cups of boiling water. (The soap will break up the lanolin, spreading it evenly through the water.) Stir to combine. (Alternatively you may mix lanolin and boiling water together in a jar with a tight lid. Close the jar and shake vigorously until the water is cloudy.) Add this mixture to a bucket or sink filled with enough warm water to immerse your cover. Soak your cover in the water for at least 15 minutes. You may also let it soak overnight if you wish. Do not rinse the cover after you treat it with lanolin. The more lanolin you add to your wool, the more waterproof the cover will be. Roll up the cover in a towel and gently squeeze to remove excess water, then repeat with second towel to squeeze it as dry as possible. Alternatively, you can gently lay the wet covers in the washing machine and spin the water out. (I've started to do this because I was tired of using every towel in the house when I washed covers! You might not want to spin your hand-knit soakers, but wraps and covers that have already been lightly felted should be just fine.) Lay the covers flat to dry, away from heat and sunlight.
About Lanolin: There are two different types of lanolin: solid & liquid. Liquid lanolin is not sticky because it has had the waxy portion removed. Both will work for lanolizing wool, but the solid lanolin makes it even more waterproof. If you are using liquid lanolin, I would suggest using solid lanolin every once in a while to make your covers more waterproof. Lansinoh is an example of solid lanolin. You can also find liquid lanolin at health & nutrition stores like GNC. The best price I have found for solid lanolin was at iHerb.com. For more information about washing wool covers, read e-bay's comprehensive guide to wool cloth diaper covers or this article from Natural Family Online.
**TROUBLESHOOTING**
Diapers Smell Bad
This is one of the most common problems with cloth diapers, but it is easily solved. First, make sure you are not using too much detergent and that you are not using any fabric softener. Make sure that your diapers are getting properly rinsed. Adding an extra rinse to your wash cycle can help with this. If you can tell that the diapers smell bad after the wash cycle, try running a second wash cycle in hot water, this time with very little or no detergent. If you try all these steps and your diapers still stink, you may need to try a new detergent. If your baby's diaper smells unbearably strong in the morning (after being wet all night), you probably have build-up in your diapers. Strip your diapers (see below) and make some changes to your washing routine (hotter water, extra rinses, switch detergents, etc.) to avoid build-up in the future.
Diapers Aren't Absorbing
Build-up of detergent can cause the diapers to be less absorbent (it can also cause smells and rashes). If you think you have build-up, try stripping the diapers. Most people need to strip their diapers every six months or so. To strip diapers, wash them without detergent in HOT water. Do repeated hot rinses until there are no suds in the water. You might also try adding 1-2TBS of Dawn or Ivory dish soap t0 strip the diapers.
Diaper Rash
Rashes are not a normal part of diapering, they are a problem that should be solved. A rash on a cloth-diapered baby usually results from a problem in the laundry department. If your baby experiences a rash, try the following steps to help it clear: Change your baby often, as soon as he/she is wet.
Use a breathable cover (like wool) or no diaper cover. Strip your diapers thoroughly (see above); detergent build-up is the most common cause of diaper rash. Try changing detergents. Be sure to use one without harmful additives. (See this detergent chart) Pay attention to your child’s diet. Certain foods like citrus and dairy can cause rashes. Some babies are allergic to polyester or other man-made fibers. Try using diapers (or liners) made from all natural fibers. Sometimes the baby wipes or the wipe solution is the culprit. Use cotton washcloths moistened with water.
Diapers are Stained and/or Dingy
Again, the best treatment for stained diapers is some good sunshine; it will bleach out the stains naturally. Soaking your diapers in cold water before washing in hot will also help to lift some the stains. Although bleach is a no-no for diapers, some people like to use a small amount (1/4 cup or less) every once in a while in their wash. This will quickly remove most stains. Bleach shouldn't cause a big problem if you don't use it very often. The best advice I can give for diaper stains is to ignore them. After all, it's just a diaper, and the stained part is usually not visible. Most of my badly stained diapers have eventually come clean after several washings. If your diapers are getting dingy, try using vinegar in the rinse (always paired with a baking soda pre-soak to maintain proper Ph balance). Hard water can also be a problem so look for a detergent specifically designed for hard water.
Diaper Covers have Lost their Waterproofing
If you find that your PUL (waterproof coating) covers are leaking, you may not be washing them correctly or you may be using a detergent that's causing a lot of buildup. First run them through a hot wash and rinse without any detergent. If they're still leaking and as a last resort, get them wet and dry on high heat. While high heat is not good for PUL on a regular basis, used occasionally it can serve to repair leaky PUL. PUL should be washed without baking soda, vinegar, fabric softeners, etc. You can also use Nikwax TX-Direct Wash In. The wash in product will only work on covers; do not use it on pocket diapers or all-in-ones/twos as this will ruin the wicking and absorbing layers of the diapers. Nikwax makes another product called TX Direct Spray On. Try using that for pocket diapers or all-in-ones/twos and spray it only on the outer layer of the diaper. Both of these products can be found at stores like REI or at Sportsman's Warehouse.
If your wool covers are not as waterproof as they used to be, you need to lanolize them. See the section above called washing wool covers for more information.
I Don't Have My Own Washer & Dryer
This is an obstacle that usually sends parents right to the disposable diapers, but washing diapers at a laundromat can be done! Although the cost might seem prohibitive, try weighing out the costs to see how much money you will save. Examine your grocery bill to see how much you are actually spending on disposable diapers and wipes. When using a laundromat to wash diapers, it's a good idea to run two wash cycles. First, run a cold wash with no soap for your preliminary rinse, then run a hot cycle with soap. If you have to haul your diapers to the laundromat, you are probably going there once a week anyway to wash all your other clothes. Some people stock up on a larger supply of diapers so that they only have to wash in the laundromat once a week. Whatever you decide to do, you will most likely save money with cloth diapers, even if you have to wash in the laundromat!
You can also try our diaper service that delivers clean diapers right to your door each and every week until your child is out of diapers! And, you'll still spend less than you would on disposables! Click here for more information on our diaper service.
