Cloth Diapering 101 PT 3

[Kenre]

If you already cloth diaper, please read this journal.

Now, for those who are wishing to learn something about cloth diapering, here it is.
For the first part in this "series" go HERE.

Since cloth diapering is a such a wide subject, it needs to be split into separate Journal posts here (be prepared).

The next thing I did after polling CM users (the journal post above), was research everything I could on cloth diapers (the poll will be later brought up one week from now to allow CM users to respond to it). There are numerous sites, and long informational listings. It was a daunting task to sift through the jokes, the false advertising from disposable diapering sites, and the misconceptions about cloth diapering. Finally, I came through it all with just a little water in my lungs. The information is easy to sift through if we ask some more basic questions. (In bold is what has been covered already... moving on!)

• Statistics of Disposable Diapers
• Advantages of Cloth Diapers
• Misconceptions
• Cost of Cloth Diapering
• Types of Cloth Diapers
• What are the basic Cloth Diapering needs
• Laundering and Caring
• Leaking
• Black and Brown spots
• The Smell
• Outings or Long Stays
• Buying used Cloth Diapers
• Baby Wipes
• Diaper Service
• Day Care children
• Toilet Training

What Are The Basic Cloth Diapering Needs

Mostly, cloth diapers... no, I'm kidding. This questions varies from household to household. I say a bucket, pail, or bin for your dirty diapers would probably be a good "investment." Soap to launder the diapers (or something to make your soap out of.) Beyond that it depends on what diapers you're buying or going to be using. Snappi's or pins would be needed if you plan to use prefolds. There are so many things on the market for cloth diapering, that it can seem overwhelming to even search for one item. So, just like some of you might have a changing table, and some might just be using the best surface with a pad or blanket underneath your baby... these are things you felt you needed, but do the same purpose. I'll place a list of things I found that could be taken as NEEDs in the cloth diapering world. I suggest before buying anything, though, you ask yourself if your household needs it. Also check your household for things that could be used instead (just like a baby blanket for a changing pad instead of buying an expensive set.)

My list of Needs for Cloth diapering:

-Cloth wipes: I am just now at a point where I can afford to spend some money on actually made for the reason cloth wipes. Right now, currently, I am using strips I cut and hemmed off old baby blankets. I counted the number I have for you too - 62. You can use just about anything, though, for a cloth wipe as long as it's soft for the baby's butt. Baby hand cloths I have heard work well. So do some other hand towels and washcloths. Some moms just prefer to buy their wipes, and this is alright as well. My DS just had a problem with the chemicals in even the "allergy free" wipes. We use a large old Huggie's Wipe box to hold our wipes. If you want, check into a wipes warmer, but make sure it says it can be used on cloth wipes.

-Diaper Spray Attachment: This is an attachment for your toilet to spray your diapers clean instead of having to dunk and swirl by hand. Some people have a squirt bottle they fill with water to do what this thing does, and that's fine as well. This has come in handy on many occasions for getting things out of training pants and diapers. The best part of it is that my hands don't get wet nor dirty like they did when I would dunk and swish the diapers. Especially helpful in economically less water toilets too.

-Snappi's/Pins: I bought a whole pack of blue colored safety baby pins for when I had my DS in prefolds. Six came in the pack and I thought I was ready for anything. Definitely I was ready, but I found my fingers shaking and sometimes I couldn't push the pins into the diapers themselves (I have a medical problem in my hands.) Playing around looking for cheaper prefolds on the Internet (in my MIL's office) I came across the cloth diapering world I was isolated from (it was the first time for me to be on the Internet in a few years, and I definitely wasn't Googling cloth diapers at 18 years old.) In my new wonder and amazement I didn't need these silly pins! I could use something called Snappi's. In my excitement I did no search on deals or prices... I ordered the first bag of them I saw. I also asked for overnight shipping. I wanted them immediately! The next day I found my Snappi's at the door (and a lot of questions from DH and MIL about them). We changed the baby's diaper right away, even though he probably didn't need it done. They saved us a lot of trouble trying to make sure we didn't pin cushion the wiggly boy while putting on the new diaper. I clipped my baby pins together, and shoved them into a small pocket in my diaper bag (for emergencies.) Some people still prefer to have pins on their diapers.

-Diaper Pail: I touched on this in the opening paragraph for this section. I have an old Fisher Price disposable diaper pail that a friend of mine was getting rid of. I cover the bottom of the pail with baking soda and a dab of some of my scented oils (I used while making scented candles) and my pail smells fresh (well, as fresh as it can with some soiled diapers in it.) I line it with a bag I received when I bought my All-In-Ones in a package. You can buy these separate, though. I know people who use large buckets with a tight lid as well. You don't have to be dishing out the dough to get a good pail. Just look around your house first. If you find something that would work, go for it. If not, look for one at garage sales or second hand stores first. After all, we're here to be cheaper and safer for the environment, right? Making these plastic pails pollute the environment and can be pretty expensive when you're looking for something that is large enough to hold your cloth diapers. I have a second child coming in August. My step-son's and son's cloth trainers and diapers take over the pail I have. Next month starts garage sales here in town. I'll be looking for another pail or bin for my newborns diapers. Better to convert something to my needs, than to spend a lot of money... especially when you'll have three in diapers.

-Pail liners/Wet Bags: Pail Liners are made to (hopefully) not leak when you put a dunked and swished diaper into your dirty diaper bin. They should be washable (I dump the diapers into the laundry, and then throw the pail liner in.) They could be draw string or just a bag with a bit of liner on it. You could even find patterns online on how to use certain materials to line a pillow case to do this job for you (what I'll be doing for my new pail come August.) Just know if your material that is waterproof is also dryer proof. Don't do anything that might harm your dryer, your diapers, or yourself... A Wet Bag is a smaller version of your pail liner. It is used in your baby bag if you're cloth diapering outside of the house as well. Mine came with my pail liner, but you can buy a single one if you'd like. Also, like with the pail liner, you can make your own. Mine has a zipper on it to seal it up and keep the dirty diapers in. I just shove the entire dirty diaper into my Wet Bag, and rinse it when we get home. I don't see any reason in dumping or swishing my diapers in public toilets (or even MIL's, unless we're staying the night there.) My Wet Bag doesn't allow the smell of the dirty diapers to escape through my diaper bag, and I don't think anyone, even in the heat of the day at a zoo, knew I cloth diapered my two munchkins.

-Doublers: Remember that doubling up just means adding extra inserts into the diaper. We use prefolds folded to fit inside the boys' diapers/training pants when we go on long trips that we might not be able to stop for a changing or potty break. For even more extra protection we put a diaper liner over the All-In-One or Training pants. Then we don't have the kids yelling at us that they are leaking. We actually had to do this yesterday, when we took a normally 4 hour trip (with rest stops) and had to extend it due to storms (which also meant we weren't bringing the kids from the car for changing either.) Their seats are dry. Their clothes are dry. They had soaked diapers, though. These doublers, or doubling up, can be used for overnight as well and heavy wetters. Some doublers you can buy (which is just extra material sewn together) or just use your single inserts on top of each other. Don't get paranoid, though, not many cloth diapering mom's have a leaking problem. If you do, check to see that your diapers are on right. Then check to see if they need to be "stripped" (I will get into this during the laundering and caring for part.)

-Laundry Soap: You can use your regular baby laundry soap, or you can make your own (I will cover a good recipe I found online in Laundering and Caring.) Some kids become allergic to laundry soap down in the nether regions but don't show any symptoms on their bodies from their clothes being soaped up. You can also buy baking soda, white vinegar, or buy the specially made for laundry soaps off the Internet for your diapers. Whatever you wish to go with is fine as long as you know you can afford it. We're here to save money, right?

-Some might need to buy fabric, a sewing machine, and some good thread. These are the people who are ready and willing to embark on the journey of making your own diapers. On-line there are numerous sites giving tips, patterns, and even 101's on how to sew your own diapers. I am entering this journey for my next child. I want to see if I can make a fitted diaper for my newborn. Wish me luck.

These are the things I found to be NEEDs. You might find something else that you might want, and if you want to add it to your "collection" of needed items, go ahead. Maybe even shoot me a line about it. I am always looking for ways to make cloth diapering easy.

Laundering and Caring

Now just in my research of what other mom's do on CafeMom, I have found that there are many different laundering and caring ways for cloth diapers. The consesus is that you don't use a full amount of soap during a wash, though. We don't want the soap to be left behind or build up on the diapers (this can cause leaks and rashes.)

When you first get your diapers, I suggest washing them 2 to 4 times before placing them on your baby. This way you know that anything on them from sewing, sitting around in a factory, or just the material themselves, is off of the diapers. Since most company's wash the cloth with a full amount of soap before sending it, it's best to do a stripping wash as well (I'll get to that in a minute.)

Now grab your laundry soap (whether you're going to make it or buy it) and fill the measuring utensil for half of a full load of wash. This is the amount you will use for your diapers. Using too much will make a residue on the diapers. Using too little won't get them clean. I also add in ¼ cup of white distilled vinegar and 1 cup of baking soda during the pre-wash or soak. This disinfects the diapers and makes them smell good. Don't use fabric softener on your diapers, just like you aren't supposed to use it on towels or dish rags, because this will cause the fabric not to absorb any more (if your towels are less than a year old, you have been using fabric softener, and you were wondering why they weren't as absorbent as when you bought them... here's your reason. Also dryer sheets will make them not soft and can also leave a film on the diapers). Yes, it feels oh-so fluffy when they come out of the drier, but I assure you, a properly cleaned cloth diaper will feel soft after a regular wash and dry as well.

Some sites (and moms) do a first wash with cold water to get rid of stains. I soak my diapers in vinegar and baking soda for 10 minutes in cold water. Either way works, or you can skip this step altogether. Some mom's don't do either of these and their diapers are just as good as ours. Don't use Bleach on your diapers to get rid of stains. Bleach is a wonderful tool. If you need to use OxyClean. This works just as well and will not harm the environment.

A hot wash with your soap (and possibly with vinegar and baking soda if you didn't presoak or cold wash first) and an extra rinse will wash your diapers wonderfully. Some moms run their machines again with no soap, or do a stripping run next. I find I cannot afford this if I am using the machines in the building or the laundry-mat, so I don't do this often.

Drying can be done with your dryer, or hanging up in the sun if you can. If you have a stained pair, the sun will "bleach" it for you. If you hang it up, you might want to fluff them in the dryer afterwards... unless it was a beautifully windy day.

Now stipping your diapers is essential if you have used too much soap, have had the diapers for over year without stripping them, or someone decided to be nice and used fabric softener on them at their house (thank you MIL.) To strip your diapers just send them through the washer 2 or 3 times without any soap or additives (like vinegar or baking soda.) If you feel the need to add something (like you're wondering how just running through water could work), then you may add some of the following that mom's swear by to strip their diapers: Bac-Out by Bi-O-Kleen (this is like Oxy-Clean but has less additives), Calgon (this is a water softener), Dawn Dish Soap (just one squirt. It is a degreaser), RLR (just one packet), and as a last resort Bleach (or Color Safe Bleach.) If you do add any of these, then do it to the first stripping load, and then two clear no soaps or additives loads afterwards. These products all need to be rinsed very well from the diapers. Stripping your diapers is for if a smell develops, leaks start to happen from in-absorbancy, or you get stains from using things like diaper rash creams (which aren't recommended during cloth diapering. Baby powder is probably a better suggestion.) I strip my diapers once a month (for money reasons I can't do it every load.)

If you are wondering if you will be spending more money on washing a load of clothing compared to just going without the trouble and buying disposables, I found this nifty equation (as quoted from http://thefamilyhomestead.com/diaperschoices.htm):

--- Then finally to really know the actual cost of cloth diapers you need to know how much you are spending on electricity to dry them and soap to wash them. So I did a little research and math to help you know what you are spending on your dryer and soap. You will have to plug in your own numbers based on your dryer and your cost of electricity and the cost of your laundry soap.

My husband Tobin is great at deciphering the unit cost of just about anything. So I went to him to get some help in knowing what it is costing to run my dryer. He said that most electric dryers have a 5000 watt (also referred to as 5 Kilowatt) element in them (1000 watts equals 1 Kilowatt). Every dryer has a data plate, usually on the inside of the door. This will show you exactly how many watts your dryer is using.

The cost for us per kilowatt hour is 6 cents (you can find out what you are paying by looking at your last electricity bill). You pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour.. so...

5 kilowatt dryer x .06 centers per kilowatt hour = .30 cents.. That is what I would pay to run my dryer for 1 hour.

Now if your electricity is higher in cost than ours, say .08 to .09 cents then you would multiply that by 5 (kilowatts). On the high end of .09 cents the cost would be 45 cents per hour to run. However as my hubby pointed out that would be the maximum cost per hour because a dryer element is like a thermostat in that it cycles on and off and does not run continuously through the whole drying time. So the numbers calculated would be on the highest end.

If you round the cost to 50 cents and hour and a load of diapers takes 1 1/2 hours to dry then the cost would be 75 cents per load to dry. I would think most large capacity dryers would dry a load of diapers in less than 1 1/2 hours.

If you dry 2 loads of diapers a week, that would be $1.50 a week in dryer cost. At this rate it would cost about $6.00 per month for dryer time. Now even if your cost per kilowatt hour was higher than that it still would be way less than what the cost of disposable diapers would be. -----

I also read off a wonderful laundry soap recipe from this same site (and you can buy her recipe from the site as well): http://thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

It costs this mom less than 1 cent of soap to run a load of laundry with this recipe. I am going to see if MIL has a 2 gallon bucket I may have. It definitely will be a wonderful thing to be able to make our own soap, since I will be doing two loads of diapers every three days when my new baby comes.

If you think this sounds too easy, you can always look online for more information about cloth diapering and washing them... or it can really just be that easy.

I want to cover something that came up in a post last week. Now I don't have connection to the outside TV world, but I did read this article given to me:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/19/earlyshow/living/parenting/main4029009.shtml       

This is the quote from the article that caught my attention:

The diaper debate

The popular belief is that cloth diapers are more eco-friendly than disposable diapers, which have all that plastic. And it's true, even when you consider things such as diaper service delivery trucks, bleach, and heavy water use for cloth diapers. But there's also a big convenience factor here - and so the next best thing for the environment is to buy flushable, biodegradable, compost-able diapers, such as "G" diapers. They're just as easy to use as regular disposables, and much more eco-friendly.

This was my reply:

Thank you for posting this. I am going to address this one paragraph in my cloth diapering 101 journals. I have an issue with it as well, and I feel that now many people aren't getting the right message. I will set CM moms straight about this "debate".

Like the fact that you don't use bleach on cloth diapers except in extreme cases. Vinegar and Baking Soda work much better and are environmentally friendly. Diaper Service trucks are actually rare, because most cloth diapering parents in the USA wash their own diapers. And the heavy water use is usually one or two more loads in a washer a week and if you're using the right kind of new washer, there isn't any "wasted" water because it only fills to the compacity of what is needed (have to love technology some days.) Some people even throw their diapers in with the towels or handcloths (like I do since we re-use our towels for the three days it takes to get a load of diapers).

This was written well in some areas, but others need a bit more research. I'm thinking Huggies and Pampers paid of Good Morning America like the rest of the corporations do. Look at the picture. It's a Gerber baby food bottle. How paid off is that!? Make your own baby food is actually "greener" than buying from a shelf, and I think it's easier too.