How I Wash Cloth Diapers (Clean, Simple & Non-Toxic) + extra info

No intense wash routines - Non toxic laundry detergent - Not unnecessarily overcomplicated

Please don't let all the elaborate wash routines you see online put you off cloth diapering - I am here to share that I tried all the recommendations, and it did not work for us!

Cloth diapering does not need overly complicated intense wash routines or harsh detergents most of us don't want to use.

I've heard so many moms speak about how they've ruined beautiful high quality cloth diapers with intense washing routines they were told to follow in the name of "cleaning" them (I've been there). And probably even more moms speak of using harsh detergents they would never ordinarily want in their home because "I read that is the only way to clean them".

P.S. I am 100% not putting tide on my cloth diapers or anything that touches my baby's body.

I am going to share how I keep my diapers looking good, being clean and free from detergent ingredients I don't want.

Why take my recommendation on how to wash cloth diapers over more fancy cloth diaper experts?

Because I am a 2nd time full time cloth diaper mom who followed the "fancy expert" recommendations and found it was ruining my diapers, and also rather intense to do... very off putting.

Oh and I tried like 40 different detergents*... still all natural, because I refused to listen to the whole thing where you need super strong full of not good ingredient detergents.

*40 is maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I do think I tried all the natural ones I could get my hands on.

P.s. I cloth diaper because it is less wasteful and it is more cost effective, but probably my number 1 reason is - it is better for my baby to have natural fiber cloth diapers. Given that I do it for health reasons - I am most definitely not going to use detergents that contain a whole bunch of ingredients I don't want touching my baby.

Back to why to listen to me - I read those recommendations, I followed them, I experimented a lot with my first baby, I used so many different types of diapers, detergents and wash routines. And then I realized I really can just trust my own knowledge and experience - even as a first time mom (maybe you can relate to the vulnerability of it and then thinking "what do I know"). I stopped listening to the "expert" advise and I did what I thought was best. I mean I didn't have much to lose - I didn't find all those elaborate wash routines super amazing anyway and I could see my beautiful diapers deteriorating so fast!

The actual wash routine is coming - or skip ahead if you need it ASAP. But before I get there a word about types of diapers.

The type of cloth diaper matters

Like I tried all the wash routines and detergents - I also tried all the different types of diapers. I had flats, fitted, all-in-ones and pocket style (I just didn't have prefolds, but they are like flats but prefolded).

Flats wash the easiest and the best

Flats are just a flat piece of fabric that is folded into a diaper and closed with a snap. I used them during the newborn stage with my 1st baby. My 2nd baby was a little different and even though I made amazing organic terry cotton flats - I didn't really use them with him because he took a few weeks to be okay through diaper changes.

Given they are just a piece of fabric - they are the easiest to wash and they dry the fastest. Flats take a little more effort to fold into a diaper and then close, but if you want less effort with washing or live in a place where you need to keep water use down or don't have a dryer in winter months - I recommend flats.

The more convenient the diaper the less convenient washing it is

Diapers that include all the parts in one are typically the hardest to clean. This is because they have a PUL layer (the waterproof part) and then usually more than one layer of absorbent fabric. PUL or other waterproofing material (usually wool) should be washed differently to preserve it. This is why I prefer to use fitted with the covers as separate parts.

Using separate covers

A diaper can only be used once. But covers can be used more before washing.

PUL covers

If the cover and diaper are attached then you have to wash the cover each use (which is not good for the PUL). If your covers are separate and made of PUL (typical waterproof fabric feel) - then you can rotate 3 covers throughout the day and leave a cover open to "dry" between uses. Then wash those 3 after one day of use and rotation.

Wool cover I made with a thrifted wool blanket

Wool Covers

If you're using wool - you can use it a lot more than 1 day. Up to a few weeks. Just let it air out properly. Wash when the waterproofing isn't working anymore so you can re-lanolize it (re-oil it essentially) or if it has an odour or if poop gets on it.

Wool I recommend this wool wash and then a pure lanolin to lanolize it.

Night nappies

If using a PUL cover over a night nappy I always wash it. If using wool I let that cover air the whole day.

Back to nappies

Back to more convenient means harder to clean. I love Esembly cloth diapers. They are my 2nd favourite after the ones I make. They are 100% organic cotton and they come in two sizes. The fit is good. The absorbency is decent to hold one wee (not more). But diapers like Esembly and others where the "boosters" are attached to the diaper do not wash as well as diapers where you manually add the booster. Hence me saying the more convenient a diaper the less convenient washing.

I have many Esembly diapers. They get an ammonia build up faster than my other diapers. And so will any diaper where the additional absorbency layers are sewn into the diaper - like night nappies. Night nappies typically also get an ammonia build up faster and require more intense washing (I will share how I sort of do this - and do what works for us).

P.S. I am working on the pattern for the night nappies for my son. Check back to see if it's available and/or sign up to my website.

For the night nappies I am creating I will sewn in additional absorbency layers into the diaper and it will mean a build up faster, but I will take it for night nappies because I do not enjoy a night leak and I do not like disrupting sleep to change diapers (yes, even as an Elimination Communication mom - if my son is bothered by his wet diaper at night I change and offer potty, but I don't wake him up).

But outside of night time I prefer diapers where the booster is not sewn into the diaper. I lie it flat on top of the diaper (against baby). Someone on my IG said that they actually unpicked their Esembly diaper boosters to be more flappy to make it better to clean them.

Drying them

Aside from cleaning, bulkier nappies are also harder to dry. And diapers where the cover is part of the diaper is also not great to dry. I line dry my covers to preserve the PUL. I most definitely line dry wool other wise it will felt. I do felt wool, but then I do so intentionally - see my Youtube video.

When the PUL cover and the diaper are together I would feel inclined to line dry them - which would be frustrating for me and also made them feel hard. I use a dryer for my diapers (the inner part) because it is faster, but also because it softens them without fabric softener.

When diapers have the boosters sewn into them, they take longer to dry. In our home that means they need to go on longer in the dryer than anything else and this is part of our routine that I will share.

Hook & Loop vs Snaps

If you've seen my cloth diaper review videos you know - I prefer hook & loop on diapers. This is one of the reasons I like Esembly, but I prefer to have other diapers in my stash (Esembly uses snaps). Doing Elimination Communication I need to be able to get diapers off quickly and easily (one handed) and also put them on easily - for me that is hook & loop.

BUT the more convenient the diaper - the less convenient to clean (trademark carmen - jks)- hook & loop does not hold up as well as snaps and it requires an additional step in the cleaning process. You need to close it to prevent it sticking to things in the washer or dryer. And usually place it in a sock bag too. But I only put the covers in a sock bag, not the diapers.

I recommend getting cotton or organic sock bags for your diapers - I didn't and I am trying to convince my husband I need to replace ours ASAP.

See the two squares of hook & loop on the arm of the diaper on the image below - that is to close it before washing it.

If closed properly they shouldn't stick to things and then they wash better not being in a bag. The covers go in a bag because they don't need to be rubbed against in the machine to help cleaning.

My recommendation for type of diaper

I like flats (if you don't mind folding and your baby happily lies through changes) for the newborn stage and fitted with a separate cover.

After newborn stage I recommend fitted and try get ones with the boosters seperate. Decide between snaps and hook & loop for your preference.

I always recommend organic cotton for diapers - because that is best for their body compared to polyester blends, cotton that isn't organic, etc.

I don't use fleece or bamboo liners.

I use a both PUL covers and wool covers in my stash - mostly because I have PUL covers from when I started cloth diapering. If I was starting over maybe I would do only wool. Maybe I will replace my PUL ones with only wool - I'll see.

Wool covers - I make once that put on similarly to the diaper and not like pants (those I find are only nice when baby is older).

Remember you can make your own! It is easy and affordable! - Get my patterns here on my website or on ETSY. MY patterns are very affordable :) - thank you for supporting me!

Moving on to - detergents

What detergent to use

If you're cloth diapering - maybe you're also a naturally inclined mom (or dad, but I think more moms read blogs?) - which means you probably want to use a natural detergent.

Because of my husband's skin issues and cloth diapering I have tried SO MANY natural detergents. We settled on Molly Suds, until... (I will get to this in a moment). Molly Suds is good. If you want to buy one - it is good. Good ingredients and works.

BUT like most natural detergents I felt it was overpriced for the ingredients. The ingredients are so basic that I looked into making my own laundry detergent. And turns out it is easy and I like mine better.

Boerseep / Farmer's soap / Homesteader Soap

I love "Boerseep" and have for many years - it is traditional tallow soap. I had a hard time finding it in Canada - so I made it and it is available on my website. It is amazing for body and clothes. I have used it for years as stain remover - I grated it and added it to hot water in a spray bottle. Which is why of course when I decided to make laundry detergent I wanted a tallow soap based one.

My DIY laundry detergent that works recipe

I have gotten great feedback from my laundry detergent DIY recipe! And we love it. We are going on many months of using it and 4 month of using it for cloth diapers, and still loving it. My husband is happy (he is fussy when it comes to laundry) and he even made a batch of it for us - that is how easy it is (jks - my husband is good at following recipes).

For us naturally inclined parents - it is great to DIY in a way that is easy and also reduces spending! One batch makes a lot so you don't need to do it often. It will be faster than driving to the shop.

You do not need harsh detergents to clean your diapers. Please remember that and share it with the parents washing their diapers in harsh detergents.

Why don't you need harsh detergents?

They aren't good for us or our babies. I don't bleach my diapers either BTW - I use Nellies Oxygen Brightener every now and then, but I don't use bleach.

Do harsh detergents and bleach help clean diapers? Probably, but I am not going to use them.

The DIY laundry detergent I shared works well. Use warm (sometimes hot) water not cold. And use nature - the sun to bleach diapers.

And then when needed strip them - here is how I do that.

Diapers will get an ammonia build up from urine. You are not doing anything wrong (I thought I was when mine did and I wash washing them super intensely to the point it was ruining them). If they get a buildup - strip them. But don't ruin your diapers or use detergents you aren't comfortable with to avoid a buildup. Just strip them and when you can lay them in the sun (in summer).

Infections

I do not have personal experience with yeast infections and cloth diapering. I do know some people bleach when this happens. I think I would just strip the diapers and lay them in the sun. But again - no personal experience.

Rashes

Most rashes with cloth diapering is wet rashes. You don't need diaper creams with cloth diapers. I recommend you do not use any creams unless you baby's skin is very dry and needs it. Creams will impact the cleaning because it will make the diapers oily - so then use hot or warm water to get the oil out.

For wet rashes I do a lot of diaper free time (I do this irrespective of rashes) - I don't like my babies wearing diapers for long periods of time. I do a long diaper free session first thing in the morning while I get ready for the day after night nappy. And then again in the afternoon. I also do some kind of powder if needed - corn starch, arrowroot or tapioca. I put it in a jar and apply a bit with my finger making sure none of it goes in baby's lungs.

Other rashes - I do not have much experience with any other rashes. I aim for the most natural unscented detergents, natural fiber diapers, stripping them naturally, using the sun when I can, diaper free time, a little tallow when needed for dry skin and some powder when needed.

And now for our wash routine!

Our wash routine

This is how we wash our cloth diapers and it works!

The morning - start

Night nappy comes off.

All diapers that haven't been washed go in the washer on a quick wash cycle with low spin (this is to "rinse them" because I don't hand rinse diapers. No detergent added. Usually a warm cycle.

Covers do not go in the quick wash cycle - they only go in with the rest of the clothing and they go into bags to stop them from sticking to things.

Wool covers are done on a wool wash that is completely separate from any other cycle - usually once a month.

When the quick wash cycle is done, I add in all our other clothes and towels and bedding.

Diapers need other things to clean them. They need to rub against other things. You can use agitators, but I just use our other laundry.

This then goes on a "normal" cycle - 1 hour. Warm. With some detergent (not too much otherwise there will be a soap build up - more detergent is not better). If I feel it necessary I do a prewash cycle as well and I add oxygen brightener to that.

When that is done, I place the dryer clothes in the dryer - with the diapers. I hang dry the covers.

During the day I add used diapers to a small laundry bin type thing and just leave the covers lying around open to air. I do not use diaper bags or closed bins. Just small open container. Or the laundry baskets from IKEA with holes in.

Poop diaper - thankfully I do not have a lot of experience with this thanks to Elimination Communication. Seriously - I rarely change a poop diaper. It is awesome. But if I do need to, I typically rinse it off right away. Breastfed baby poop just rinses way. You can just hand rinse it or put it in machine on a rince cycle (I do the latter).

I do not have experience with cleaning solid poop out of diapers - again thanks to EC I did not once clean a solid poop off a diaper. But we do have handheld bidets attached to all our toilets. So I would just spray it off.

*Poop at night - I only start using night nappies when my babies are done pooping at night. So night nappies are only wee.

Rest of the drying

The diapers go in the dryer on medium to low heat setting. We find that the diapers do not dry when everything else is dry and it isn't good for things to be dried a lot. So instead of putting it on again - we take out everything that is dry and leave in the diapers that need a bit more drying. We do a 20 minute timed dry on low heat. This is usually enough.

This is probably the only annoying thing about our routine, but we have invested in natural fiber clothing, bedding and towel - so I want to preserve our things and not over dry them.

End of the day

I round up all the used diapers (including poop rinsed ones - it is probably in the machine). I put them in the machine on a quick wash with low spin. I leave that in the machine over night and these diapers will get rinsed with the morning stash again before being washed.

I don't leave wee diapers with wee in which is why they get this rinse at night.

In Summer & stripping

I strip my diapers and hang them in the sun in summer. It removes any stains from them and I do this for diapers I plan to sell or pack away for potential future baby.

I do strip in winter, but then I don't have the sun. I typically strip my diapers every 3 to 4 months.

Since we move to reusable trainers around 12 months at home - I don't end up doing cloth diapers for very long. We still use them outside the house and night nappies though until whenever we feel it is time to go without (see my EC videos for that).

And that is our cloth diaper cleaning routine - it works! Let me know in the comments if you have questions or comments! I hope this is helpful!

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