How to wash cloth diapers

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Welcome back to my series on cloth diapering. Today, I’m excited to dive in on the part of reusable diapers that tends to intimidate people the most: how to wash cloth diapers. And let’s be honest, it also tends to be the yuckiest part too. But don’t worry, I’ll help eliminate some of the trial and error for you today. 

There are three major major factors that contribute to how to wash cloth diapers. 

The type of diaper you’re using

In my experience with cloth so far, microfiber and synthetic fibers require a higher amount of water and deep cleaning power in order to get them fully ready for the next time they’re used. Natural fibers like cotton, bamboo, and hemp, in my experience, have come clean with less detergent and work well in HE machines. Which leads to my next point.

The type of washing machine you’re utilizing

Washing cloth diapers requires a lot of water and detergent. HE machines make this a bit more complicated because they purposefully utilize less water to save resources and money. The way the diapers are cleaned varies depending on if you have an HE or not. 

The type of detergent you prefer

There tend to be two routes when it comes to detergent. Either people use Tide, Oxiclean, or other name brand detergents OR experiment with natural detergents. Knowing what I know about detergent ingredients, I couldn’t bring myself to use Tide, so I’ll share a bit about my journey of trial and error with natural detergents here too. 

Our Wash Routine 

First wash

1. Put all of the soiled diapers in the washing machine.
2. Set the machine to “Normal” with warm water and high soiled level.
3. Put half of the amount of recommended detergent in the wash.

Second Wash

1. Add rags and hand towels to the washing machine until the machine is as close to ¾ full as possible. This will “trick” the machine into adding more water to the load, especially if you have an HE machine.
2. Make sure the cloth diapers are not stuck to the sides of the machine
3. Add a full amount of recommended detergent to the machine
4. Set the machine to “Heavy” setting, on hot water, high soil level.
5. Depending on how soiled the diapers are, sometimes I add an extra rinse at the end. 

Drying

If you have inserts or prefolds, these can be dried in your dryer no problem. Covers, pocket diapers, etc. that have elastics do better with air or sun drying to avoid stretching out the diapers. 

Detergent Experiment

We’ve tried quite a few detergents in the last 2 years. I googled, researched, and asked a lot of questions in the process. Initially, I joined a Fluff Love University Facebook page and used their website for reference. I found it to be a great resource, but I don’t follow it as gospel like some cloth diapering families do. That being said, they do have a detergent index that I found as a great starting point. 

All that being said, we’ve tried the following brands:

• Attitude
• EverSpring
• Biokleen Premium Plus Powder
• Biokleen Laundry Liquid
• Seventh Generation Ultra Power Plus

So far, my favorite has been Biokleen Premium Plus powder detergent, but all have worked decently well considering they are either plant based or more naturally minded. With natural detergent, I’ve found that every few months, I need to strip the cloth diapers. Fluff Love University states that if you’re washing the diapers correctly, you shouldn’t need to strip them. While that may be true, I’ve just accepted the fact that natural detergent doesn’t clean as deeply and that extra steps are sometimes needed. 

What Things Help Avoid Stripping Cloth Diapers

Knowing the type of water your city has

You’ll need to adjust your washing routine based on if your city’s water is hard, neutral, or soft. Denver’s water tends to be slightly hard which means that there are more minerals and deposits in the water that can block the detergent from working as effectively. Two products that have helped add a little extra counteractive cleaning power to our routine have been Biokleen’s Bac-Out and Arm&Hammer’s Washing Soda. I add a bit to the second cycle to help provide a boost of stain removal. 

How to strip cloth diapers 

There are varying opinions on how to best accomplish this but I alternate between a few methods depending on how much cleaning assistance the cloth diapers need.

The first method I utilize is usually washing the diapers in multiple detergent-free hot water cycles. When we lived in a condo, I couldn’t dry them in the sun, but now we have a patio, so I try to utilize sunshine when I can. Sunshine is a natural disinfectant and bleaching agent which can be incredibly helpful in this situation. 

The second method I turn to, both when I get used diapers and when I need to strip diapers, is completing a bleach soak. I modified Fluff Love’s suggestions. First, I fill our bathtub up halfway with cold water. Then I add a ½ cup of bleach and soak the diapers in there for 30 minutes. I follow up the soak with multiple detergent free hot cycles until they no longer smell of bleach. 

Have questions?? Please comment below and I’ll be happy to help!

If you missed parts 1 and 2 of the cloth diapering series, you can catch up by clicking here and here.