If you read the last post, I shared my diaper routine from "out of the dryer to back in the washer". Here is where I pick up to tell you how I wash them.
I want you to know first off that I spent HOURS researching which detergent I should use to wash my cloth diapers. I was TERRIFIED of messing them up and ruining them forever-- please listen to me when I say that you can RELAX!! I read a blog post once that a bunch of moms had commented on and it was their confessions of all the "NoNo's" they do with their cloth diapers, and guess what they DIDN'T ruin them! Ha!
If you are like me you are going to read this, and then continue to research MANY more opinions for yourself, but I hope this post does save you some time.
Danny and I decided to go with Country Save -- a detergent that is cloth diaper safe, super economical and good for the environment. It is dye/fragrance free/100% phosphate free/100% biodegradable- YAY! I read great things about it, and we have LOVED it. No complaints, my diapers come out white and smelling fresh every time. We bought it in bulk off Amazon. One tub lasted us 3 months (we used it for all of our laundering, not just our diapers).
1. I empty my diapers and diaper pail liner into the washer. We have a front loader (but I have washed them in both my mom's and mother in law's upright washers too).
2. I set the washer to do a rinse only.
3. When it's finished I go back and set it to do an extra heavy load wash in hot water.
4. I pull everything out and into the dryer except for my FLIP diaper covers. I line dry them on a hanger. (This is based on each of my diaper's manufacturing instructions- everything I own can be dried in the dryer except for my FLIP covers).
The only thing you will want to be sure of is that no velcro/hookandloop/aplix (all are different names of velcro) are left open-- they will attach to other diapers, and can damage your diapers. All cloth diapers have a tab or method of folding them down before you wash them. I do this as soon as I put the dirty diaper in the bin, because there is NO WAY I am sorting through all the dirty diapers and doing it as I put them into the washer, YUCK!!
Also-- The sun is a natural bleacher-- seriously. I do not have a clothes line in my back yard, but Danny did hook up a rope on our front porch that I can put up and take down each time I want to use it (...slightly tacky to leave it up all the time!) and I periodically will hang my diapers out (after I take them out of the dryer) if it is a particularly sunny day-- and any lingering tinge of a stain on my nappies is GONE EVERY TIME after a day in the sun. True story.
Later I will edit this post to include how to prep your diapers for their first use-- but not tonight, I am going to watch an episode of Dawson's Creek and go to bed-- Ha!!
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