Laundering...

Last night was diaper washing night in our household, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to share with you what this process entails.

Of course to start with you need to own your own diapers to wash, and I'll go into details about my favorite and not so favorite brands in future posts.  What you should know is you need enough diapers to last you through 2 to 3 days of wear.  You should wash diapers every 3 days, but if this slips a day occasionally it's not the end of the world.  Since our son is a toddler, he uses far less diapers than an infant would.  We wash 15-20 diapers in each load every 2 to 3 days.  

The type of washing machine you own plays a huge roll in your washing routine.  We have a front-loading high-efficiency washing machine which is great for saving water and energy, but not so great for washing diapers.  You see, the most important step of washing diapers comes in the beginning of the process, which requires plenty of water.  We started out just using the "extra water" feature on the washer, but we still had issues with ammonia build up.

The solution it seemed was to soak the diapers in our utility sink for 30 minutes or so in cold water.  Every few washes I add an oxygen bleach to this pre-soak, which requires some time before it can have any effect.  If you have a top loading regular machine, a presoak in the machine before starting your wash cycle would be sufficient. 

After this we wring out the diapers and toss them into the wash.  We have an assortment of diaper covers as well and those just get tossed in along with our wetbag and pail liner.  Everything can be handled the same way.  The pre-soak does add to the usual process, but after that I try to keep everything else as simple as possible.

Next is one additional cold pre-rinse cycle in the machine.  Again I tell the machine to use extra water.  If you're concerned that there isn't enough water being used, you can always trick the machine by adding a pitcher of water on top of the diapers to make them heavier, or by adding a soaking spare towel.  I use the toughest setting for this rinse, the mode for towels.  

Next is the actual wash cycle.  We use a hot wash cold rinse.  We again select extra water and add an extra rinse to the end of the cycle.  

The second most important step to washing diapers is avoiding detergent build-up.  If I still see suds in the window of the machine after the last extra rinse, an additional rinse may be required.  But, rinsing thoroughly isn't enough to avoid build-up.  You really need to start with the right detergent.  Not just any detergent will work, and, contrary to popular belief, just because a detergent is called "free and clear" does not mean it should be used for diapers.  For detergent comparisons, look here.  The thought of having a separate detergent for diapers vs our regular laundry seemed ludicrous.  We went with Charlie's Soap laundry liquid.  What I will say is that we used to use a popular free and clear liquid.  We started to notice a musty odor coming from the machine after a while.  You need to open the detergent drawer and the washer door to let moisture dry, which we assumed contributed to the odor.  In fact, in about a month after we switched to Charlie's the odor has completely disappeared.  There was obvious build up in the machine from the previous detergent, while Charlie's rinses completely clean.  

But back to the routine, I use about half the manufacturer's recommended detergent.  With the extra rinse, this can take upwards of an hour and a half to finish the cycle.  Then I typically just throw everything but the covers and wetbags in the dryer.

I also have a clothesline in the backyard.  The wash day has to correspond with a weekend day where I have the time to hang dry, so this doesn't happen very often.  Hanging diapers in the sun to dry can help sanitize and remove stains.  While I'm not freaked out by diaper stains (have you seen what goes through diapers?) it is nice to give them a little freshen up every now and then.   However, even with a drip dry I will still toss them in the regular dryer for a few minutes to give them some softness.  Hang drying can make things a little crispy!

While I'm sure that this is more than you ever wanted to know about washing diapers, there are many ways to customize the process.  In my opinion that's what makes it so fun!  That and the adorable diapering options there are.  Here are some links to my favorite diapering sites and their washing advice:

http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/care.php
http://www.bummis.com/ca/en/washing-cloth-diapers.php
http://www.diaperjungle.com/washing-cloth-diapers.html