All about … *gasp* … POOP!

All about … *gasp* … POOP!

I originally going to talk about the different kinds of diapers next, but the issue of washing the diapers was brought up so I will talk about that next.

The first thing people always ask when I tell them I am doing cloth diapering is “Ew, you are actually going to put POOP into your washing machine?!” Ok it doesn’t always come out quite like that, but you get the point. I’ll admit, it is a legitimate question. I will honestly tell you that it was the biggest thing  I had to overcome as well. I had all the misconceptions that most people have who do not cloth diaper. All I could picture was someone putting big clumps of poopy diapers into their washing machine and it bouncing around! Haha, what a sight that would be! But that picture is completely wrong. You put no more poop in your washing machine than you would from just normal baby clothes that get pooped on. Does that make sense?  When a baby wears a disposable diaper they have many many more blowouts (aka poop coming out the sides, top and/or back of the diaper) than babies who cloth diaper. Babies get poop on themselves; it’s a fact of life. So in some way, shape, or form you will be putting “poop” into your washing machine when you have a child.

I have taken pictures to make it easier to show the cleaning/washing process that (I) use. I put that (I) use because not everyone does it the same and there are different factors that come into play. Adelaide is exclusively breast fed (EBF) and not formula fed; that does make a difference. Also, once a baby starts solid food and their poo starts to become more solid as well you typically have to change/alter how you wash your diapers a bit because the poop is different then. A baby that is EBF has very watery/runny poops that are water soluble so they do not require any previous rinsing off, unless you so desire – but I do not. So this is a EBF poopy diaper. Gross I know lol.

This is my wetbag inside of a metal trashcan. This is where all the diapers are kept from the time they are taken off baby until it’s time to wash. They are essential to have! It is just a big plastic bag that typically has a draw sting closure. I also have miniature sized wetbags that I keep in my diaper bag that are cotton on the outside and plastic inside to hold the moisture and smell when I am out and about.

This is my washer and dryer. I have a Whirlpool Duet Sport He frontloader. See the big blue bag on top of the washer – that is the wetbag. The type of washer/dryer you have will also effect how you wash the diapers.

Diapers come in two different types of closures, snaps and velcro. If you use velcro then you have to make sure to put the sticky tabs down properly so that they do not stick to other diapers and mess them up. Obviously you do not have to do anything to the snap diapers.

Velcro diapers will all come with some form of “laundry” tab. This diaper has it in the middle of the back. See the square with the X on it? That is the laundry tap.

Take one velcro tab and put it down

Then take the other tap and put it ontop of the first. This will hold them in place so that they don’t stick to anything during washing.

Because I have an HE washer I have to do a pre-rinse cycle to get the diapers soaking wet. HE washers use less water in their wash cycle so when you stick something that is made to soak up liquid inside it there can be an issue. If you pre-rinse the diapers, and they get completely soaked, then when it comes time to use a wash cycle it will work better. My pre-rinse is 25 min long, with no detergent, on cold.

Once the diapers are all wet then you do a regular wash cycle. I chose to do a heavy duty, hot cycle for mine. It is 71 minutes, bringing my whole wash to just over 90 minutes. Also, I mentioned before that I use mostly all natural household cleaners, that is also true with my laundry detergent. You do not have to use a “special” detergent, although they are out there. Just an ALL or Tide free and clear will work perfectly. Typically just one scoop is enough.

I prefer to line dry my diapers for a couple reasons. 1 – It cuts back on using the electricity of my dryer aka more ecofriendly and cost effective. 2 – The sun is a natural bleacher. Plus I think its kind of fun (strange I know). Obviously you do not have to line dry your diapers; they will be just fine in the dryer. I have also been told that line drying can make your diapers last longer as well because they are not being subject to the high heats over and over.

My diapers are on the line as I type this J As soon as they are done I will try to do a before and after of a couple diapers that had slight yellowish staining from the poop. It never ceases to amaze me how white they all come out after sunning them.

When A is older and starts eating more baby food I will use a diaper sprayer that is attached to my toilet to pre-clean the diapers before they go into the diaper pail. That is where the poop goes that people think you put into the washer – the toilet! After you take the diaper off you will just dump or spray the excess waste into the toilet, flush and then store until ready to wash. That is one of the main differences with EBF poop and baby food poop washing, the extra step of rinsing the diaper off. I can touch on that again in a few months when little A starts eating baby food. But here is a picture of the diaper sprayer that I have. When that time comes I might even do a video demo to show how it works ;)

Hope this didn’t end up being too long, but I wanted it to be detailed so that you can see exactly how the process goes. If you have any other washing questions, just ask!