1)
Choose the right detergent for you as well as your diaper!
It’s common
knowledge you need to choose a detergent that will not create a buildup on your
diapers so they do not leak. What about
the other factors? My children have very fair and sensitive skin to the extreme
so detergent choosing took some planning and trial and error. What type of
water do you have, hard, city, or soft? Different types of detergent can work
better than others depending on what water you have. With hard water you may
require a specially designed detergent for your needs or add a water softener
to your wash routine. Also I’ve noticed unscented doesn’t always mean I like
their “essence”. Everyone uses different balances of ingredients to create
their detergent. A few I have found have a “scentless” smell I did not like,
but when I settled on Rockin Green I found it smells more pure and fresh less
factory like. Ask yourself how truly important the price of your detergent is?
When I first tried cloth it was all about how low can I go? Then when other
important things came into play like sensitivities, water conditions, among
other things price didn’t matter when the cheaper products didn’t work or
failed miserably. You’re not saving if
what you use isn’t what you want. My
biggest mistake of all was buying a stash of diapers and not learning more
about detergent! They leaked, didn’t smell good, required tons of overstuffing (I
didn’t know about build up), worst of all I had ruined all the PUL on my entire
stash after about a year, because I didn’t research my detergent! Ask me more
about it if you need help! I know better now.
2)
How big should my stash be?
This all depends on
how many kids you want it to go through? How late in the game are you starting?
It’s never too late but it does change how many you will need. The more you
have in rotation the less worn out your diapers will get.
If you have one pair of underwear and use it
every day how long would you expect it to last? Yet a set of about 25-35 for
full time all year round use will give you a much longer life span than working
that one until the elastic is all that’s left. Also consider will you be using
a one sized system, or will you be purchasing sizes as baby grows? With one
size consider about 25-35 diapers maybe a little more to ensure good conditions
for the next baby, if you are starting from birth to potty training. Decrease
how many you need if you start later in the game. Larger sets also help keep
their resale value higher since they have been used less. Sized diapers can be
a more expensive and trickier to gauge how many you will need, but helps get a
better fit for hard to size babies.
With sizes you will not be using them for as
long of a period of time so you may be able to get away with a smaller set per
size. Newborn/small think about you will in all likelihood be changing about 12+
diapers a day, plus you need extras to make sure you have enough while the
others are washing and drying. An abundance is ok to me in this size they aren’t
used long so they tend to hold up their resale value. Caring for a new baby is
hard so having wiggle room to fall a little behind on diaper washing may be
needed. Also if you go on any kind of extended trip you may want two or three days’
worth in order to wait until you get home to wash them. In this case 20-35 may
be best for you.
Mediums typically are the size you stay in the
longest sometimes if your child is petite you may never require a large. My
children at this point started to slow down in how many diapers they went
through a day. Bowels became more mature, they were introduced to eating baby
foods so less wetting, or longer lengths between soiled diapers. Now they were
more into the 8-12 diapers a day stage depending on what/ how much they ate and
drank. With this stage you can make do
with a lesser amount and wash every evening but a few hiccups have occurred for
us when a smaller stash is used. If you want to go out for the night and leave
the baby with auntie you have to plan it out to make sure you have enough
diapers for the sitter. If you plan a weekend to the beach washing may become
trickier than at home but doable. 15-25 diapers could be an acceptable number.
At this point in the game you may be more efficient in your schedules of
assuring diapers are washed in a timely manner so you can get away with a
lesser amount.
Large is basically the same principles by now
you have a feel for how many your child uses in a day, and whether or not you
typically run into issues where you need extra diapers for trips or outings.
Maybe little one is spending more time in daycare or at relative’s house so
extras for their home may be appreciated. Sadly this is your last size, potty
training is practically upon you. It’s so sad you know? Babyhood ending, having
to retire your adorably awesome diapers you spent countless hours acquiring and
researching only to wash them, dry them and, box them for the next baby or the
consignment shelf. If your child is small wasted some parents when potty
training can set the diaper to the largest setting and, have enough room for
their child to use it as if it were a pull up. Some parents have chunky little
monkeys like mine and will require cloth trainers. Be sure you research those
too! About 15-20 or less may be all you need depending on all the factors
mentioned above.
3)
Hard Core Wash Routines! Beware!
Avoid vinegar,
bleach, oxiclean, commercial stain removers, and high temp pro-longed drying
times. These all will chew up a diaper in no time if used regularly or
excessively. Every once in a blue moon is ok as long as you thoroughly rinse
them out so baby skin doesn’t get irritated or cause build up leaking. Trust me
sunning them and the regular cold rinse hot wash cold rinse with safe detergent
is just fine! When you sun them make sure the inner fabric is facing up or
toward the sun not the PUL side it’s much more effective at removing the stain.
Also if your child was ill or had a particularly bad poopie diaper and it comes
out stained just sun it and use it as normal you’ll notice after a few more
uses and washes if your wash routine is right the stain will resolve itself. I
have had my current stash for nine months and have only stripped them once we
ran out of our detergent and tried using a readily available kind to get us by
bad idea! Mistakes are there so we can learn from it and warn others right! We
wash them and use a drying rack with the microsuede facing up works
beautifully. In winter the rack is placed by our sliding glass door in our
kitchen it’s the room that gets the best air circulation and most of the
sunlight.
4)
Be sure you change them often enough!
Disposables have SAP
(super absorbent polymer) that gel junk that gets on babies bum when they
become to full. It’s what makes the diaper super absorbent. Don’t be fooled that’s
not always best though. Just because you wet your pants and it’s gone down your
leg but hey it didn’t leak into my shoe I guess it’ll be ok to keep wearing
these pants it’s such a hassle to change! Sounds like an extreme example but it’s
the best way I know how to explain. Just because that diaper can hold more doesn’t
mean your baby wants to wear it even if they don’t say so. It’s uncomfortable,
you get a rash and rubbed raw not to fun. Diapers regardless of cloth or
disposable need to be changed every two hours or sooner if needed. If you are consistently
changing more often for soiled diapers consider asking your pediatrician if
your child is getting more liquids than necessary, or if you need more
absorbency, or a repelling issue from your wash routine. What never made sense
to me is that disposable and cloth alike recommend you change every 2-3 hours
but when you put your child to bed in a disposable it’s the same absorbency as
the one you use for day time but with cloth you add layers to make sure it
lasts through the night. Why is it ok to use the same absorbency for
disposables for every occasion? That just seems off, do you think so?
5)
Wash often enough
I understand our
worlds are full of busy, busy, busy, but washing every night to three days is
highly recommended. If your pails are particularly stinky consider that you may
need to wash more often. Yes they do get smelly but if it’s overwhelmingly
awful time to kick it up a notch in wash days. I have had stories of gross
pails, stubborn stains, to maggots! Yes I said it maggots really bad, it
happens to the best of us learn, fix, move on right? The sooner you get to that
yucky diaper the better for your fibers, and your nose. If you have all natural
fibers it’s especially important you wash them more since they break down and
wear out more easily than synthetics. Take extra care in what you use in your
wash routine with all naturals like bamboo, hemp etc…
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