Product Care

Pocket Diapers, Cotton Prefolds and All In One's Washing Instructions:

Most cloth diapering mothers have their own preference for washing diapers.  You can go to some of the cloth diapering forums on the internet to find them.  This is the one I use and my favorite:

1. Make sure all inserts, doublers and liners are seperated from your diapers.

2. Put your washing machine on hot for wash and cold for rinse and on the delicate cycle.

3. Run the diapers through an extra rinse cycle delicate cycle.  If you are finding that your diapers are are not getting clean enough just using this cycle, you can soak them in cold water for 30 minutes and then spinning instead.

4. Wash diapers on a delicate load using 1/2 the amount of laundry detergent you would normally use for this size load (you may use a few drops of dish soap for extra cleaning). I recommend using a few drops of tea tree oil or 1/2 cup of vinegar every three to four loads to kill bacteria and keep your diapers fresh.

5. It is recommended that you air dry your diapers for the longest life possible.  You can run your diapers through an extra spin cycle to reduce drying time.  If you do use the dryer, I recommend drying them on delicate.

Prefold Pre-Use Tips:

How many times do I need to wash my prefolds before I use them?

Cotton Prefolds - An average of four times.  But you may reduce this to one or two if you turn up your water heater to its highest setting or boil some water and put it in the washing machine in the wash cycle. 

Hemp Prefolds:  An average of 6 times, but you can reduce this to about two by turning up your water heater or adding boiling during the wash cycle.

Storage Instructions:

There is no need to "dunk and swirl" your diapers! The excess poop will come off in the washing machine. To get out stains, simply lay them in the sun for a few hours.  Yes, it really works!

I suggest you keep your diapers in a garbage pail with a lid or a hanging diaper pail.  Many parents use a citrus liner in the pail.  You may also use a few drops of tea tree oil or a "Deo Disk" in the bottom of the pail to hide odors.

When its time to wash, just grab the liner or hanging diaper pail and turn it inside out.  All of the diapers will fall into the washing machine and you never have to even touch a dirty diaper!

Getting Rid Of Stains:

NEVER use bleach or whitening agents on your diapers.  They will breakdown the fibers and destroy your diapers.

If your diapers become stained over time, simply hang them in the sun for a few hours and the sun will whiten them up.

Caring For PUL Diaper Covers:

Most diaper covers can be re-used until soiled or smelly.

Simply rinse off any urine or residue and air dry between uses.

Rotate your covers after each change.

Check the care instructions of the label on your covers!

Always close the Aplix closures before washing.

Never use bleaching or whitening agents on your covers.  It will destroy them and they will no longer be waterproof.

Never soak your covers. It will make them less waterproof.

Caring For Hemp Diaper Products:

When washing your hemp products the first few times, do NOT wash with fleece products.  Hemp has natural oils that can coat fleece. 

You must wash most hemp products up to eight times before it obtains its maximum absorbency.  You can reduce this to a few times by turning up your water heater to its highest setting or adding boiling water to the washing machine during the wash cycle. 

After your hemp products have been fully primed, you may wash them with all of your other cloth diapering products. 

Caring For Wool Covers:

Hand wash your wool covers in cold water with like colors.  Hang to dry. You may have a bit of shrinkage after the first washing.  You may re-lanolize as needed.  We recommend using Eucalan wool wash to care for your covers.  It has the right amount of lanolin right in the bottle.  You never need to worry about when to lanolize.  Its done for you each time you wash.

Wash using the following steps:

Once a week or when your wool covers become soiled, hand wash using 1 tablespoon of Eucalan Wool Wash and warm water. 

Dry your wool covers by rolling in a towel.  Another option is to spin dry your wool product in the washing machine.  After, hang to complete the drying time.  Avoid sun exposure as this may discolor your wool. 

Treating with lanolin:

To treat wool diaper covers with lanolin, dissolve 1 teaspoon of lanolin in one cup of hot water.  Add warm water to cool.  Let your cover soak in this solution for 25 minutes.  This treatment restores the water repellng properties to your cover.

Caring For Fleece Covers

Fleece is 100% polyester.  It allows superior air circulation which is why it works so well as a diaper cover.  It is soft to the touch and dries in a flash!

Ok...this just can't be any easier.  Machine wash in warm, cold or hot water.  Tumble dry.

Fleece is a "wonder fabric."  Dryer sheeds can help make it even more water resistant.  In a world full of "diaper washing rules," there is really no wrong way to wash your fleece!

Tip: If you suddenly find your fleece become less waterproof, switch laundry detergents.  You can even wash fleece using a small amount of dish soap instead of laundry detergent.

A Few More Tips:

Always read the tags on your cloth diaper products when you buy them.

NEVER use bleach or whitening agents.

ONLY use dryer sheets on fleece (if needed.)

NEVER use stain guards.

DO NOT use creams and ointments directly on your cloth diapers.  They will form a barrier between wettness and the baby and cause your diapers to leak.  Always use a liner when using ointments and creams.

Be careful when choosing your laundry detergent.  Try to find one that is additive free.  Generic brands are best.

I recommend the following:

Allens Naturally, Charlie's Soap, Sensi-Clean, Country Save, Sun ,Sam's ,Kirkland

Look for detergents made up of mostly sodium carbonate or soda ash.

Signs Of Detergent Residue:

Your diapers are suddenly wicking and leaking.

Your diapers are repelling wetness versus it soaking into your diaper. You can tell because the urine will sit and bead on the diaper.

Your baby has a rash.

Your diapers are turning yellow or gray.

Your diapers have a amonia or strong urine smell even when they are clean.

If you see the above happening to your diapers you may be able to save them by stripping them.    

Stripping Your Diapers

1. Run your covers and diapers through a wash with only hot water.

2. Run a second wash using 1/2 cup of baking soad and 1/2 cup vinegar in the second wash cycle.

3. 1/2 cup vinegar again in the first rinse cycle.

4. Run a second rinse cycle with plain hot water.

Another way to strip them is as follows:

Turn up your water heater on it highest setting or boil some water to add during the wash cycle.

Keep running your diapers through the wash cycle with only the very hot water until you no longer see any bubbles coming out into the laundry tub.