How should I wash and care for my new diapers?

** The same washing routine or detergents will not work well for everyone. A lot depends on your machine, water quality, etc. Try a few different methods and soon you'll find what works best for your family.

Most of your diapers will come with washing instructions. If one doesn't, you can always check their website.

Brand new diapers will usually need to be washed a few times to reach maximum absorbency, especially prefolds. Just follow your regular wash and dry routine a few times. Sometimes you may want to speed the process up, and you can do this by boiling some kinds of diapers on the stove...such as new prefolds. You wouldn't do this with any AIOs or anything waterproof.

Most of us have a very easy washing routine! Lets start with the diaper change. Just toss your diaper into a dry pail. Yup, no soaking needed! If it's a messy diaper and baby has started eating solids, shake over the toilet and what falls off (or you are daring enough to scrape off) is easily taken care of. (or use a diaper sprayer - see next question or Do It Yourself in the list on he right) Put the diaper and whatever is left (even newborn and breastmilk poops) in the pail. Every 2-3 days dump the pail in the washer, and run a cold rinse with no detergent. When it's done, switch to hot water, add about 2 Tbsp. or so of detergent (see below for what detergent to use), and let it go! Sometimes you may want to do an extra rinse at the end, depending on if the wash/rinse cycle had clear or bubbly/cloudy water. Toss your diapers in the dryer and dry on an auto towel setting or medium - high heat. You can also hang everything to dry, and hanging in the sun naturally gets the stains out! Stubborn stains may need more work, wet the diaper with water and squirt lemon juice on it then sun it out.

*** I like to save an Oxiclean scoop (formula scoops work too) to use with detergents, especially since I have soft water. Iit's just right for clothes laundry. It's the perfect size for diaper laundry too, and you may only need 2 of these scoops with hard water.

You may want to separate covers and AIOs when washing if you have enough diapers. Some believe hot temperatures can break down PUL and cause it to wear out faster, or leak. It's ok to wash these items in warm water and hang dry or tumble dry at a medium heat setting.

HE machines:

After using my HE machine for over 6 months, I realized these machines are much different when washing diapers. Some of these machines wash better than others. (see Consumer Reports for this.. mine was rated "good" the middle rating). I found my previous routine was not getting the diapers as clean as I liked, they smelled funky after the wash and started to get buildup quickly. My new routine with a toddler in diapers which has worked well now for almost 2 months is: Cold/Cold wash on the Cotton/Towels setting, heavy soil, extra rinse, with 1.5 Oxiclean scoops of Tide Pure Essentials with Baking Soda powder. (yes, this is not an HE detergent.. see below) I also turn the water heater all the way up. Second wash is Hot/cold wash on Cotton/Towels setting, Heavy soil, prewash and extra rinse with 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn in the prewash compartment. Third is a Hot/Cold wash, normal setting, normal soil. That sounds like a lot of work, but it's what I found works with my machine. From talking to others, I have found that HE machines are troublesome in getting a diaper routine down. I HIGHLY reccomend a sanitary cycle if you are in the market for a HE machine and use cloth diapers!

Another update: I only have a newborn in diapers now. The Tide was causing rashes for her, so I switched to All Free & Clear HE. Free & Clear detergents are commonly known to cause buildup quickly so I was very skeptical, but something had to work for her sensitive skin. This detergent has been awesome, we do a cold quick cycle with 3/4 measure of the All, then a hot/cold cotton towels setting cycle and that's it. If I get even a tiny bit too much detergent I have to rinse again, so I check the last rinse cycle. I now use Wind Fresh for all other laundry. Someday I might get brave and try it on diapers again (it was our favorite before the HE machine) but I'm afraid to change because this is working well for us now.

Are all detergents ok to use?

No. You'll want to make sure you use a detergent, not a soap. Soap will build up and cause them to repel. To minimize irritation, look for a fragrance free detergent. Some babies are sensitive to enzymes too, so look at the label for those. Some moms find that their babies are sensitive to whitening agents. Some popular detergents are store brands! Tide is ok too, but be sure it's just regular tide, not the kind with Downy added or a free and clear detergent. A very popular, inexpensive brand is Wind Fresh from Sam's Club.

Charlie's Soap, Sensiclean, and Sportswash are commonly marketed for washing cloth diapers. Some use them with no problems, but I've heard too many stories of babies with chemical burns caused by these detergents. If you must use one of them, rinse well and watch closely for a rash that doesn't go away, gets raised bumps, open sores, or looks like a yeast rash.

My choice of using a Non-HE detergent in my HE machine came after many months of using that machine. HE detergents are made to have less suds because of a very low water level in the machine. Too many suds can damage your HE machine. I tried a few different HE detergents, and nothing rinsed well enough for me to be satisfied while also getting clothes and diapers clean enough.

What other things can I use in the wash?

A popular disinfectant is Tea Tree Oil. Add anywhere from 3-8 drops to your wash cycle. You can use Calgon Water Softener (unless you already have soft water!) to keep them smelling nice, and remove any residue left from soaps, fabric softener, or detergent build up. Sports Wash is great to strip diapers too, especially if they have become smelly. But, SportsWash can build up on inner wicking materials such as fleece, suedecloth, and crushed panne making them repel. See below for tips on this. Vinegar is a natural way to strip diapers, soften, and disinfect them too, and is often used in conjunction with Baking Soda to neutralize PH. Baking Soda is great at getting rid of unwanted smells too. Borax is another favorite. It is a natural water softener, and helps keep diapers smelling great and is safe for all diaper materials. Always be sire to rinse well!

What shouldn't I use with my diapers?

Bleach will slowly wear down the fibers and cause irritation and rashes. Be careful when using OxiClean, it will break down any waterproof layer and make covers and AIOs leak! It can be useful for soakers and prefolds though. The main ingredient in OxiClean is very similar to a powdered form of hydrogen peroxide, so don't use Clorox 2 on anything waterproof also. Be careful with Free & Clear detergents, they often build up quickly. Fabric Softener is a big no no, as it is actually just a product that builds up on fabric over time. It will cause diapers to repel wetness and leak everywhere

What is Calgon Water Softener? Where can I find it?

Many moms had never heard of this before. So i've put a picture below to make your shopping easier. I find Calgon at Walmart. Here it's on the bottom shelf of the stain removers section, on the laundry aisle. It's a liquid. It is available as a powder. If you have found it at another store please email me so I can add that store!

Help!! My diapers are repelling!

Repelling is when there is build up on the diapers inner material and it no longer absorbs. You will most often notice this by seeing soaked clothing when you KNOW that diaper should not be leaking. You can also spray a bit of water in the dry diaper and if it beads and rolls around you'll know something is wrong. You can use Borax and OxiClean to fix this, but some materials such as inner microfleece and suedecloth require more work. Use Dawn dish detergent, the plain blue stuff, and put just a drop of it on the inside of the diaper. Use a vegetable brush or similar and scrub scrub scrub! Then just toss it in the wash as usual. Every time you use Dawn or sportswash you may want to check to see if there are bubbles as the final rinse is going. Rinse again until the water is clear. You can use a squirt of Dawn in your diaper laundry every so often to prevent this buildup and scrubbing, or occasional use of Borax will work too. **** PLEASE be careful when using Dawn in your washing machine, this method works great in a regular top loading machine, but depending on how much you use in an HE machine it can be dangerous to the machine, it bubbles up a LOT.

Soft water is a natural stripping agent. The calcium and magnesium in hard water cause build up on fibers, making it neccesary to add extra steps to your washing routine. You may need to strip diapers more often with hard water, or use vinegar more often. But even with soft water, you can get buildup. Just use a little dawn and an extra hot wash every couple of weeks to avoid problems.

You can also use your dishwasher to strip diapers. Since it runs with very hot water and doesn't keep the diapers sitting in it, it's pretty effective at stripping diapers. First, be sure there is no Jet Dry or other kinds of rinse aid. Get it out with a syringe if there is. Lay your diapers on both racks, clothespin them in place if needed, but be sure nothing hangs down into the heating elements, garbage disposal, or spinning wands. Let the dishwasher run on the hottest water setting, and open it mid cycle to see how many bubbles there are. You may have to run it many times to get the diapers clean.