Cloth Diaper FAQ

Good Morning, friends!

Today I have a post all about Cloth Diapers! I've been writing this post for months, but never published it.  Procrastination at its finest.  A few of you have asked me about cloth and so I compiled a list of questions that seem to be popular and I hope it'll help you with deciding to cloth diaper your babe!  I love it and plan on doing it with all my future babies.  

Cloth Diapers FAQ:

How many do you need?  When i first started out cloth diapering, I actually bought a lot of diapers online and they were used.  USED?  Yep.  I got thirty diapers for less than 8 dollars a piece.  Retail price, they are 15-18 dollars a piece. I got the diapers, inserts, a diaper sprayer, some diaper liners, and a couple wet bags all for one price.  I wasn't sure which brand I would like and this lot had 3-4 different kinds so I felt it was the best thing for me at the time, to try out different kinds to see what I liked.  Turns out, I liked all but one brand. I still have them, and am thinking about selling them soon.  As far as how many you need?  It's really personal preference.  Some people have enough to last them 2 days. some have enough to last them 3.  Also, once you find the brands you love, it's hard to not want alllll the prints and colors!  It's really a hobby for me now. I love it.  And I can justify it because Winslow needs them, right?  ;)  If you want to have enough to last you two days, you'll need 12-14, if you want to do laundry every three days, you'll need 20-25.  Now if you are planning on starting out cloth diapering when your baby is a newborn, you'll need 10-15 a day for the first couple months because they use the bathroom so so much.   Oh yeah, back to the question of how many do you need?  For a conservative stash,  i would say 20-25.  

I have around 50.  :)  That's by choice. 

 
What brands are best?  This is all personal preference.  I chose not to get cheap diapers that will fall apart after a year because I want to use them with future kiddos.  You can get cheap diapers from china for 4-5 dollars a piece, but I love supporting small business and local USA companies.  The majority of my stash is bumgenius, happy heinys, rumparooz, soft bums, tots bots (which is a UK company) and my all time favorite, Moraki.  All of these brands have a great warranty.  Moraki has an EIGHTEEN MONTH WARRANTY. That's a long time and I love the owner.  She still top stitches every diaper before it gets sent out and makes sure they last a long long time.  Just do some research beforehand and see what the warranty is, how much they cost, etc. 



What is the difference between all in ones, all in twos, pockets?  Most of my diapers are pocket diapers.  This mean, you have an insert that you stick inside the pocket and when you wash, you removed the insert and wash them all together in the washing machine.  All in one diapers have built in inserts inside that don't require any stuffing or pre prep work.  All in two diapers act as a pocket diaper meaning you can stuff an insert inside the pocket or you can lay an insert on the outside of the pocket and use it as a cover.  When baby tinkles, you just replace the insert and use the cover again. So there are two ways to wear them.  I have a mix of all of them, and I prefer pockets because they are easier, but I also use them as all in twos if I really love the print and want to use it again after just one use. :)

(Just an FYI, most diapers come with microfiber inserts that you stuff in the pocket of the diaper. Like Bumgenius, Rumparooz or Happy Heinys. These cannot be placed against the skin because the microfiber will dry it out quickly and cause burning/rashes.  Other brands such as softbums, Moraki and a couple others, make their diapers with hemp or bamboo blends and because they are natural fibers, they can be placed against the skin.) 

What is the difference between one size and sized? One size diapers are supposed to fit babies from 7 or 8 pounds all the way to potty training..or 35-40 pounds.  All of my diapers are one size.  I started using cloth when babe was two months old and they fit him fine.  However, I have heard that smaller babes can't really fit in one size diapers in the really beginning.   Sized diapers are usually covers that you use with pre-folds or flats inside.  I have not tried sized diapers so I have no tips or advice on those.







 

 
What is your wash routine?  This is the thing that most people ask me about.  How do you wash them? What kind of detergent?  How often?  My wash routine is what works for us and may be different for each person.  I used regular Tide detergent to wash my diapers as the "cloth diaper safe" options didn't get my diapers clean that well.  I had a little bit of smell so I joined a couple cloth diaper groups on facebook and they helped me immensely.  There are a couple groups that will help you with any questions you have about cloth diapers.  The Cloth DiaperSupport Group on facebook is a great resource, as well as Cloth DiaperSwap. That's where I bought my first cloth diapers from. 

 So I wash every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  I usually have around 12-18 diapers each time I wash.  I also have natural fabric softener called ECOver that I put in sometimes to make them soft.  You cannot use detergent with real fabric softeners in them because it will make your diapers repel.  Also, you cannot used regular diaper rash cream like Desitin.  I use a product called CJ's BUTTer and it's AWESOME. You can use that without a liner.  

I do a pre-rinse first (about 12 minutes) with cold water. This gets all yuckys out and rinsed away.  Then I do a long warm/hot wash that is about an hour and ten minutes long.  I have a front loading washing machine and I use the heavy duty extra rinse cycle.  Then when that is done, I do another quick rinse to make sure all the suds are out.  

 What do you do with poop? People always want to know this...well here's the answer:  You put it where every other human puts it, in the toilet!  This is where a handy dandy diaper sprayer comes in handy.  You attach it to your toilet and use it to spray off the diaper into the toilet.  If your babe is breastfed, you don't even have to spray the diaper.  The poo is water soluble and will wash right out in the machine.  And no, it's not gross.  The machine gets rid of all the poo. Since Winslow is eating solids 3X a day, we just rinse the poo off with the sprayer and throw it in the pail.  Oh yeah, a Spray Pal has been a LIFESAVER.  I wish I could meet the maker of this sucker: I'd hug her neck.  It basically keeps all the water contained while spraying and doesn't splatter all the nastiness everywhere.  

Why do you do it?  There are many reasons why people use cloth.  I chose to do so to save money, but now that I have become obsessed with it, I'm not sure it really does that.  Don't tell hubby, shhh! (After 2-3 kids in cloth, it will for sure)I also love how cute they look in cloth and I am not filling up landfills with diapers that will never ever disintegrate.  It also is great because Winslow has NEVER had a diaper rash and his bum never is red.  I also hate how disposables smell. 

Where can you get them? If you have a local cloth diaper store around, you can save on time and shipping but the closest one to me is around 40 minutes away.  I used Kellyscloset.com for most of my cloth diapering needs and I LOVE their customer service and they also have coupons every single time where if you spend a certain amount, you can get a free diaper. I've gotten three free diapers from them so far!  Love their website.

Any more questions?  Feel free to email me at khjones528 {at} gmail {dot} com or leave a comment!