Blog Post: “Why We Cloth Diaper.”
Benefits:
1. Eco Friendly
2. Hypo-Allergenic
3. No Harmful Materials
4. Reusable
5. Budget Friendly
Types of Cloth Diaper
1. Flats
Large square of single-layered folded in several different ways, one of the cheapest ways to cloth diaper, simply cover with a water-proof cover.
2. Prefolds
Rectangle piece of fabric divided into three sections with the middle section having added layers of absorbent fabric, cover with a water-proof cover, great for Newborns.
3. Fitteds
Shaped like a disposable diaper, closed with Velcro or snaps and made to fit your baby’s body. Cover with a water-proof cover.
4. Hybrids
A cross between a disposable and a cloth diaper, you can use a disposable or washable insert. Cover with a water-proof cover.
5. Pockets
Stuff the diaper with an absorbent insert and you’re done! Very Daddy and babysitter friendly.
6. Sleeve Diapers
Similar to pockets but they have two opens, one in the front and one in
the back. There is no need to remove the insert - simply put it in the washing
machine and the agitation of the machine removes it for you.
7. All-in-twos
Similar to pockets but you snap the inserts to the diaper (one of my
personal favorite types). They are not water-proof so you need to use a cover.
8. All-in-Ones
One piece - no stuffing required - the easiest cloth diaper but often the
most expensive and they take a long time to dry.
Cloth Diaper Safe Laundry Detergent:
·
Arm
and Hammer Baby detergent- Fragrance free
·
Nellie’s
All Natural Laundry Soda
·
Rockin’
Green Unscented Cloth Diaper detergent
·
Seventh
Generation Delicate Care laundry detergent
·
Eco
Nuts Liquid or nuts
DIY Cloth Diaper Laundry Soap
Equal Parts
·
Baking
Soda
·
Washing
Soda
For an extra soaking
add 2 tsps of Borax in you soak cycle after you first rinse.
·
Small
Load : 1 TBLSP
·
Med
Load: 2 TBLSP
·
Large
Load: 2 ½ TBLSP
You can add your favorite essential oil to your laundry if
you want a special scent.
It is not recommended to use dryer sheets with your cloth
diapers, it can affect the absorbency of the diapers.
Try Wool Dryer balls for a natural/organic eco-friendly
alternative.
You can also line dry them - also referred to as “sunning”.
This helps to sanitize and natural bleach your diapers so they stay nice and
white; and they will smell amazing.
I currently wash diapers Tuesday and Saturday. I do not dry
them in the dryer. Sometimes I have to do them a day early or a day later if
the weather is not compatible for me hanging them on the clothes line. (I love
my clothes line btw, total life saver and so budget friendly.)
Here is my current wash routine.
·
Quick
rinse in cold
·
One
soak cycle with 2 tps of borax in hot water
·
One
regular cycle with laundry soap in warm water
·
Two
quick rinses with cold water
I have an apartment size washing machine that has a speedy cycle
that I use for the quick rinses. And make sure you adjust the water level on
your machine, you don’t want to waste water if you don’t need to. I normally
use 3 gals of water for every cycle I do for a total of 15 gals of water per
wash routine and I do that twice a week.
You can easily do the math to see how much it will cost to
wash them. I would highly recommend that you do.
Now the question that I get asked the most: “So why do you
cloth diaper?”
When I was first pregnant with our son Ethan I never gave a
thought to cloth diapering, it was a foreign concept to me. I started seeing
how expensive disposable diapers were and I remember thinking to myself how ridiculous
that was. At that time I knew only one family that cloth diapered. I started
researching cloth diapers and all that entailed and asking tons of questions. I
added some cloth diapers to my baby registry that are similar to the gDiapers
from Babies-R-Us. As a baby shower gift
a dear friend of mine gave me my first newborn stash of cloth diapers. To say
that I was excited would be an understatement
.
We started using cloth diapers off and on until Ethan was 6
months old and now thanks to fleece and wool covers we use cloth 95% of the
time.
We have found that Ethan has very sensitive skin and the
disposable diapers he can wear are the more expensive ones and it’s a lot
cheaper to use cloth diapers. As I prefer to use all natural things to begin
with, it makes sense for me to use cloth diapers.
Did you know that it takes a whole year for a disposable diaper
to decompose in a landfill? Kind of alarming is it not? I would not call myself
a tree hugger or a crunchy Mom but I tend to lean that way in many areas of my
life. I will be blogging about different topics that relate to being crunchy
later on.
Most of the cloth diapers I have are gently used in excellent
condition. The only cloth diapers that I have that I bought new are the pockets
diapers. I love all the prints that they come in. I bought them off of EBay for
no more than $7 each including shipping. We no longer use pockets; we found out
the hard way that Ethan is allergic to Microfiber and all the pockets I have
use the Microfiber inserts, so we switched to Fitteds and All-in-Twos with
water-proof (PUL) covers. I buy my diapers from other moms on cloth diaper Facebook
pages; be careful when doing this, research the diapers that you are interested
in to make sure they are asking a fair price. Do your research and both parties
will benefit from it. I have bought some used diapers off of EBay and for the
most part I haven’t had any issues; the one time I did have a problem I contacted
the seller and got a total refund. Remember you are paying money for them and
if they are not to your satisfaction then you need to communicate that to sell.
I will talk about WAHM products another time.
I hope you found this post helpful and if you have any
questions about cloth diapering please let me know. I am co-admin of a cloth
diapering group on Facebook, if you would like to join please let me know in
the comments or message me on Facebook for an invite. Happy Cloth Diapering!! J
