To those of you who took the survey, oh how I loved reading your answers! I laughed through a good part of them, marvelled at how similar we all are in one way or another, and reaffirmed my belief that mothers truly need community. Some of us had strengths that were others’ weaknesses, and some weaknesses’ that were others’ strengths. No one confessed they had it all together, which to me, is very encouraging. You are not alone, mother, and you are not behind, we are all on the journey to where we want to go.Â
We recently converted to cloth diapers with the birth of our third child. I had always been a little interested, but we moved overseas when my firstborn was 6 weeks old and just didn’t get around to it with our second. After I started crunching numbers I realized we’d probably save a little money cloth diapering, even more if we had another baby or two. Then I read this book and was totally convinced.
My husband was fairly easy to convince, though I have to say that he still wonders if it’s the best choice since there is an extra step or two you don’t come across with disposables. Personally, I love them and am very happy we made the switch! I do not think, however, that it is for everyone. Here are my thoughts for those of you who are considering it.
1.  Saving money… maybe or maybe not.Â
I think if you buy top of the line disposables and do a lot of laundry using hot water already, then converting to cloth diapers will save you money. We bought medium price disposables and only washed in cold water to save energy, so I’m not so sure that we are saving any money. Sure, I think we’ll eventually end up saving, particularly if we have another baby or two that can use the diapers, but I think at most we’ll end up saving only $20-30 a month. Essentially, we’ve added between 10-15 hot water cycles to our electricity bill that were not there previously, and we get our energy bill quarterly so this bill will tell. Having said that, I didn’t switch only to save money so this fact doesn’t distress me. My husband, however, isn’t as laissez-faire about it.
2. Â Consider the laundry routine.Â
If you have a hard time staying on top of laundry then cloth diapers will probably prove quite challenging. I’ve posted some great tips to help solidify a good laundry system, so if you are already on top of laundry then cloth diapering is simply one more step. I use these diapers and there is no soaking required! You simply do one rinse cycle, wash in hot water, do another rinse cycle, and dry.
3. Â More than one child in diapers.Â
I currently have two using the cloth diapers and only purchased around 25. I wash every 2-3 days and we do pretty good. I think we could probably have went ahead and bought another 10 or so, but I was trying to be frugal. We may still add to the stash, but we are doing okay. Another bonus that I love is how cute they are. It’s very hot in the summers where we live and our air conditioning doesn’t do the trick so the little ones are usually in their diapers only. So, for purely aesthetic purposes I am a fan.
4. Â Green and hygienic.Â
Obviously they are more environmentally friendly. As I began to calculate how many diapers our three babe in disposables had gone through, I imagine I could fill up a large room with all our dirty diapers. I like that with cloth diapers you just flush the waste and store them until washing. However, you could always do this with your disposable as well and that’d cut down on the actual human waste going to the landfill. I know it’s biodegradable, but in our hot climate I found that nothing short of immediately taking dirty diapers outside to the trash could keep the smell contained. You do, however, have to handle the waste a tad more with cloth diapers so that is a factor.
5. Â Up to the hype?Â
I believe there is sort of a cloth diaper community out there saying everything short of cloth diapers finding a cure for stupid people. People say children potty train sooner and that diaper rash is less common. I’ve found diaper rash to be even more common than before for us, however. Whether because it’s very hot here and cloth diapers don’t breathe as well, at least the ones we have, so I’ve had to combat diaper rash without the most potent creams since those aren’t cloth diaper safe. Our diapers don’t have a problem leaking and I can’t say they’ve helped with potty training yet because we haven’t got to that stage. However, I do think they are fun, effective, less wasteful and worth the effort.
I would recommend them if you’re on the fence. Though they are a little more effort I don’t find them daunting nor does the extra contact with bodily fluids bother me. They are cute and cozy and I feel just a tad more self-sufficient. If you are on the fence I’d definitely suggest reading the Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert ebook because it’s quick, easy, and honestly will answer everything you would want to know. I’ve referred to it time and again and would consider it a definitive guide.
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We use the same cloth diapers as you (KaWaii), but we buy them through http://www.theluvyourbaby.com/ They are a little more than half as much as the ones on Amazon, and there’s free shipping on orders over $80. My main complaint about the KaWaii diapers is that they are made with a waterproof material called TPU instead of the more common PUL, which means that they can’t be washed in water above 95 degrees, or the hot water will break down the waterproof material. I ruined my first batch by accidentally washing them too hot and had to buy a replacement set. :( I feel like it’s harder to keep them from smelling because I can’t use heat to kill bacteria. The best way I’ve found to keep them from getting too smelly is to use a bit of vinegar in the final rinse cycle.
Since you are also a KaWaii user and don’t seem to have a problem with them smelling, I’d love to hear what detergent (and how much) you use to wash them, and whether there are any other tips you have for keeping away the smell. Mine are usually fine using the above routine, but right now they are rockin’ an ammonia smell. :)
Melissa, Thank you SO MUCH for the thing about the vinegar. My husband complains about the ammonia smell too. I initially I just thought it was because they were wet, but then realized that they have a faint odor, but when they are wet then it is obvious. I should have actually mentioned the smelling in the post because I’ve been battling getting rid of it myself!
My husband minds the wet bag smell worse than dirty diapers :) Our detergent is whatever top loading powder green one they have on sale at the moment usually, but I am not impressed with powder to clean them. How did you know that the hot hot water was ruining the material? Was it obvious? As in, if my washer was too hot would it be obvious the material was going bad?
My first batch of diapers started leaking, but the reason I believed it was from breakdown of the material and not from needing stripped was because of two reasons: 1) stripping didn’t solve the problem, and 2) the leaking was taking place at the site of stitching and buttons, rather than just running off of a non-absorbent surface and spilling out the sides. I started investigating more into the care of these diapers and realized that I’d been washing them way too hot. See, I had assumed that our washing machine’s hottest setting would be the same as our home’s water heater setting (about 118 degrees), which I can wash dishes in without burning my hands, so it seemed safe for diapers. Upon reading my washer’s manual, I discovered that it had its own internal water heater that was heating the water to 150 degrees when I used the “sanitize” setting–yikes! I also discovered from reading the manual that in order to stay below the 95 degree mark and protect my new batch of diapers, that I wouldn’t even be able to use the “hot” setting; I would need to stick with “warm.” Ninety-five degrees isn’t great at killing bacteria, so I have to rely on the power of my soap (I use and really like powdered Country Save for all of our laundry, including diapers) and vinegar. I do dry my microfleece inserts on the “sanitize” setting in my dryer to kill germs in them, but the microfleece on the actual diapers doesn’t get the same germ-killing treatment since they are air-drying, so vinegar is the best I can do at this point. Be warned that the “theluvyourbaby” site says to only use 1 cup of vinegar on the diapers, one time per month (or you void their warranty). I couldn’t find any way to get rid of my diapers’ stink while sticking to this, so I just use a smaller amount in every wash and hope it doesn’t break them down too fast. The problem with almost any disinfecting agent–whether vinegar, lemon juice, sunlight, hot water, BAC-OUT, bleach, etc. is that they WILL break down the diapers to some degree, so there’s really no perfect solution. I think the best solution available is to buy diapers that are less delicate and aren’t so easily damaged by disinfecting methods, which is why I personally will look for a different brand if I need to buy another set for any future children; KaWaii diapers have lots of good things going for them, but they are just a little too easy to ruin. The cloth-prefold-plus-waterproof-cover diapering system seems like it might inherently avoid some of these issues, but it kind of scares me. If I have to buy another set of diapers in the future, I will almost certainly read the ebook you recommended, since cloth diapers are too expensive to ruin, and you don’t want to end up with ones you hate. Sorry this is a novel, but I hope some of it was helpful!
Very helpful. I have to say I shopped around a little, not too much, but basically wanted something as close to all-in-one, one size that I could get. These were affordably comparatively and I liked that they snapped! I am going to try the vinegar, I already told my husband and he is on board. I think it is a bit of trial and error too. Mine leak if the insert is sticking out of the back at all, which I do sometimes when I fasten them tight and forget to check. Otherwise, I haven’t notice them leaking but, mind, our washing machine isn’t new so I doubt it gets to such high temperatures. Which is also why I almost always want to run a few rinse cycles on them.
By the way–I forgot to mention that it took three months of me abusing my diapers at 150-degree temps for them to break down enough to start have lots of leaks. Once I figured out that they were goners, I nervously purchased another set and am happy to say that I have been using them for 10 months without problems. I stopped having success using them as overnight diapers (even the Heavy Wetter line) when my daughter was 7 months old. I think this is mainly due to her being a stomach sleeper, and it’s just too hard for the diapers to fight gravity, so she ends up leaking at her tummy. We decided it was worth the cost of a disposable at nighttime so that she can sleep 12 hours without leaking; let me tell you, that’s a daily 25 cents well-spent!
Funnily enough, my toddler wears them with the two inserts and has no leaks. My baby I put in 3 inserts, though honestly I think I should investigate a bit further because that doesn’t leave a lot of leg mobility. I mean he’s not moving when he’s sleeping, but still. I keep some disposables, though, just in case I need to put one on quick or if it is really hot. I have found that with 95 degree temperature, I need to change them almost every hour or two so that there isn’t enough moisture to start a diaper rash. I had to put them in disposables to give them Sudocrem (which I think is the best diaper rash cream) because it isn’t diaper safe!
Still, with the hassle, I love them :)
Here’s an article I just read on getting the ammonia smell out of diapers: http://www.diaperjunction.com/Help-My-cloth-diapers-smell-like-Ammonia_b_314.html I’m going to implement some of the advice and hopefully will see a difference. We JUST installed a salt-based water softener, so I think that will help. Unfortunately, we have a front-loading washer, so it’s very difficult to get diapers rinsed really well, since front-loaders are really stingy about water usage. Top-loaders are really the ideal solution for cloth diapering. I think I will try soaking them in diluted BAC-OUT before rinsing several times.
I washed them with 1/3 cup of vinegar and it was an improvement but I can’t say that it was totally gone. I’m going to read that now and see if I can get some tips from it. We do have a top loader and there is a lot of water, but I think I need to switch up the detergent we use. I bought a lot at once when it was on sale and it’s almost finished so I am going to be more choosy next time. I don’t mind the ammonia smell as much as I mind the dirty diaper smell (which is long gone) but it still gets to me that it doesn’t feel 100% clean, you know?
I want to start by saying thank you for this post. I think sometimes people (myself included) get so excited about the newest eco-friendly thing and jump in head first before really thinking everything through.
I am no expert but perhaps you are getting so many rashes because you leave baby in the diaper too long? You could also try using some sort of wicking material to lay into the diaper, between the diaper and baby’s bum. They make wool inserts that stay dry next to baby’s bumper but let’s all the moisture through to the diaper.
I bet you are absolutely right!
What an awesome post is it. I really impressed to read the great information that you have shared with us through post. Keep doing the great work up.
Hi, Rachel:
I don’t really deserve to comment here as I am a 66 year old grandmother, but here goes. I keep hearing about how expensive things are for kids and diapers top the list. When I was raising my four 40 years ago we did a combination of cloth and disposable – the latter when we went out. I did all my family washing once per week. The diapers were just rinsed and put in a bucket with light vinegar solution. When I washed them, the diapers went through a hot wash with nothing added, then warm wash with natural soap. I still have some of these 40-year old diapers hanging around for dust cloths. We had a very limited budget and I agree with you that kids do not have to be that expensive. I never bought bottles, formula or baby food. It just wasn’t in our budget.
Of course you should comment and thanks for stopping by and sharing :)