Another cloth diaper question

super_grape · Dec 15, 2006

I've been thinking about switching to cloth with the baby for health reasons,
all the chemicals that I am exposing my children too is starting to freak me out a bit

.
I have a couple of questions tho:

Our water in the wash never gets hot - warm - but not hot, we can't figure it out. Is it ok to wash diapers in warm water instead? Will the germs still die?

Can someone reccomend a good and easy pocket diaper that is thinish...I want DH to be able to change a diaper every now and then so would like to eliminate as many steps as possible

.

What soap do you all use? Charlie's soap? Is it good for semi hard water?

Thank you in advance

!!!!!!!!

Holly

SPJ&E · Dec 15, 2006

I used cloth diapers for a while and LOVED Fuzzi Bunz pockets. I stuffed them either with a Mother of Eden or Wonderfulls insert or a microfiber towel for daytime and doubled that at night. They are super easy to wash/dry and stuff and just as easy to use. I used Wonderoos also, but preferred the FB's, hands down!

All you do is wash them, dry them on low (they don't take long at all), stuff them, and use them. They just snap on...so just show DH which snaps to put them on and he shouldn't have any problems!

Here's a few pictures! (yes these are old...he was 15-17 months in these)

It is okay to wash cloth diapers in warm water (I know a lot of people that even wash them in cold water actually). I always did a cold rinse just to get everything rinsed first, then a hot wash/cold rinse, and then another cold rinse (that second cold rinse isn't really necessary).

I used Classic Sun detergent, which is great for washing pocket diapers in. It doesn't leave residue at all and it's cheap! I also added baking soda to the wash and vinegar to the rinse about once a week to keep any odors away (baking soda absorbs odors and vinegar dissolves soap residue).

I hope that helps!

UlrikeDG · Dec 15, 2006

I think most US washers don't get hot enough to kill germs anyway. It's the hot drier or the sun that do it. Some washers will heat water, but very few people in the US own that type.

super_grape · Dec 15, 2006

Thanks Sam! That helps ALOT!

Can you give me an idea about how many diapers and inserts I should start with, my baby is 10 months old and an average pee-er

.

TY!!!
Holly

UlrikeDG · Dec 15, 2006

Oops. Missed a couple of questions there. We use Tide Free, but everyone has their own favorites. If you have hard water, you may want to add Calgon Water Softener when you wash. Most grocery stores carry it near the detergent & fabric softener.

super_grape · Dec 15, 2006

Thanks Ulrilke...that explains it then. Do european washers get hot enuf to kill the germs?
The washer/dryer is in one small machine right? I've noticed on 'Changing Rooms' and 'Coronation Street' that brits tend to have just one machine and it's in the kitchen. I would LOOOOOOVE that! But then I would want 2 to get twice as much done at once

.

didymama · Dec 15, 2006

we use mommy's touch one size pockets with prefolds as inserts for our pockets. i also really like wallypop.net stuff. i've heard that happy heiny's are good to since they velcro. there is also bumgenius-another one size. those are REALLY daddy friendly.

i use dawn dish soap on my pockets (i wash non-pockets separately with biokleen) and it works great. i get repelling issues with anything else. have fun-warning-it's addicting!

Shaunam · Dec 15, 2006

We wash with Dawn dishsoap and it is awesome for washing in cold or warm water. I don't know why. I hated having to wash in hot water all the time, but I could never get away with washing in cold until I switched to dawn. Now I primarily wash in cold, bu every 3rd or 4th time I wash in hot. The dryer kills the germies, so I don't worry about it.

I use the regular non-concentrated Dawn from wal-mart. It's $1 a bottle and you only use like half a tbsp in a small load. One bottle will last months.

I'd start with a dozen diapers to make sure you really like it. One dozen will let you cd full-time if you wash every day. Then you can add more if you want to wash less frequently. The swaddlebees outlet store is selling off their irregulars at a nice discount. I just noticed they are out of discounted inserts. That's too bad because they were only $1 each.

http://swaddlebees.com/outletstore

SPJ&E · Dec 15, 2006

super_grape said:
Thanks Sam! That helps ALOT!

Can you give me an idea about how many diapers and inserts I should start with, my baby is 10 months old and an average pee-er .

TY!!!
Holly

I started cloth diapering when Pacey was about 14 months old and I got 12 diapers for him. He only used about 6 per day, but I liked to wash every other day, so I got double the amount so I would have plenty. When I ordered my FB's, the Mother of Eden inserts came with them, so I had one for each and used those mostly. I also had about 24 (not sure exactly) microfiber towels (you can get them in the automotive department in Wal-Mart) that I tri-folded and used as inserts. They worked really just as well as the MOE inserts...1 during the day, 2 at night.

I got the smaller FB's (Joshua's) gently used for a great price, so inserts didn't come with them. I used the microfiber towels for his (tri-folded and folded down a bit at the front to fit in the pocket).

The Wonderfulls inserts have 2 parts...a bigger insert and a smaller insert that snaps onto it. You can use them together or separately. I used the larger piece in Pacey's and the smaller piece in Joshua's...worked perfectly!

Anyway, the number of diapers you will want to get really depends on how often you want to wash. How many times do you change his diaper daily now? If you plan to wash daily, you will want that amount, plus a few more (just in case), if you want to wash every other day, I would double that. I wouldn't go longer than every other day...you don't want to let any stains or odors set in!

I hope that helps!

LuvBug · Dec 15, 2006

UlrikeDG said:
I think most US washers don't get hot enough to kill germs anyway. It's the hot drier or the sun that do it. Some washers will heat water, but very few people in the US own that type.

yup, unless you turn your water heater all the way up(and given that its highest tempterature really is a hot one) then they really dont get very hot.
We have scold control on our water system and so it stays on the hottest setting but I dont have to worry about getting burnt by the shower or sink. When I wash on hot it is near boiling and steams the whole time. I always shrank every diaper I got, even if it was 'preshrunk'.

Splash · Dec 15, 2006

We don't use detergent at all. I wash every other day with 1/2 cup baking soda and a bit of table salt in the main wash, and vinegar in the rinse (I pour until it reaches the line, don't know how much that is. Cold first wash with warm rinse, hot (our washer actually heats the water) second wash with warm rinse. We use mostly pockets with about 50/50 MF and hemp.
While I LOVE mommy's touch for the fit, and for the AMAZING person who owns it (when Charlie was last in the hospital, she heard about him and sent me 12 diapers gratis. This was when they were first starting out), I would not recommend them for the ocassional changer. There are a LOT of snaps! Velcro is definitely easiest! And FB or swaddlebees are probably the trimmest.
I would recommend getting mostly MF for you, or all MF. That's because it is MUCH easier to get clean than hemp is. We're phasing the hemp out I think, really mostly for overnight that I use it now.

Dillipop · Dec 16, 2006

I just got some swaddlebees pockets from the outlet and they are definitely trim. And I can't tell where the irregularities are, even though that's why they are so cheap. I also have a couple fuzzibunz that I got used and they are great too.

With my 4 month old, we go through 6-8 diapers a day. I wash every third day because I wash at my mom's house. I use purex free and clear, up to the lowest line for a full wash and I sometimes add oxy-clean to my prefolds and inserts. I rinse all my soiled dipes at home, since my mom does not want poop in her washer. On wash day, I do a hot wash followed by 2 cold rinses. Then dry on low for 20-25 minutes, remove my wetbag and then dry everything else on high for 20-25 minutes. Sometimes I dry it all on low because I forget to switch it over.

tchrgrrl · Dec 16, 2006

We tried a bunch of stuff at first but we are now a strictly Fuzzi Bunz family. We wash every other day and have about 16-18 diapers per kid (that gives us enough that if we don't get them in the dryer right away we still have clean diapers).

We use Costco automotive microfiber towels trifolded (very inexpensive 24 for $9.99) and a thin hemp insert for day and two MF towels and a hemp at night - my kids are pretty heavy wetters. The MF towels soak fast and the hemp holds a lot.

Our water gets pretty hot - it is steamy when it is cold in the garage (where the washer is). Our wash routine:
cold rinse with a couple of drops of tea tree oil
hot/cold wash cycle with a teeny bit of tide and oxy clean
cold risne
everything in the dryer

skaterbabs · Dec 16, 2006

I would recommend Happy Heinies pockets for your DH to use, because rather than snaps like Fuzzi Bunz have, HH uses velcro. So you prestuff the pocket and it goes on just like a 'sposie.
I use Purex detergent, with a few drops of tea tree oil in the wash every so often. I do a cold wash/cold rinse with just a couple of tbsps of detergent, then a hot wash/warm rinse with nothing.

super_grape · Dec 16, 2006

WOW!!!! Thanks everyone, all this info has been super helpful!

I'm leaning towards the Swaddlebees now because the price is so good
and I think they'll work well for us...I'll have to check out the MF towels at Costco/Walmart too.

Thanks again!

Holly

tchrgrrl · Dec 16, 2006

I have heard a lot of people who like Swaddlebees but for some kids they are too narrow - I didn't even try them because of that - my kids pee too much, too fast LOL! Also, and someone correct me if I am wrong, because of the really narrow fit you might not be able to use Costco or Walmart MF towels - although WM towels are MUCH smaller than Costco's, so maybe they would work?

Dillipop · Dec 16, 2006

Re: Another cloth diaper question-swaddlebees

I just tried our target microfiber towels in my new swaddlebees. I can fit one (16x16) in if I four fold the towel instead of trifolding it. I can even fit 2 folded together in fourths. These really are trim through the crotch, but worth it to order a couple to try. If you like them, great. If not, you're really not out all that much money and could get back what you paid by selling them

chaoticoctopus · Dec 17, 2006

FuzziBunz and microfiber cloth inserts would be very trim. As for washing, I rarely use hot or even warm. Mostly just cold. I wash with a small squirt of Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap (lavender), a few drops of tea tree oil for disinfecting and the fresh scent, and sometimes a bit of baking soda for odors or vinegar in the rinse to cut through any possible soap buildup. I can tell they need the vinegar when they come out of the dryer smelling fine, but once the child wets in them they smell stinky. Maybe once every couple of weeks.

I do a cold rinse (or prewash) cycle, a full heavy wash/rinse cycle, and an extra rinse cycle (must be started manually). Then I dry them on medium.

HTH!

UlrikeDG · Dec 19, 2006

super_grape said:
Thanks Ulrilke...that explains it then. Do european washers get hot enuf to kill the germs?
The washer/dryer is in one small machine right?

Many European machines (and some US machines) have a built in water heater for the "whites cycle". It gets the water much hotter than the water from your pipes, and yes, it's hot enough to kill germs.

Washer/dryer combo machines are something else.

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