Washing Cloth

Let’s talk about the reason why most people do not want to use cloth diapers…you have to WASH them! Oh my goodness, stop the presses!

Today I’m going to give you a how-to guide on washing and drying and tell you why it’s really not that bad.


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The first thing is you need to have a dry pail to store the dirty diapers in. All you do is store the dirty diapers in a covered pail (or uncovered, if you want) until you are ready to wash.   We love Planetwise pail liners and storage totes.   Make sure to separate the inserts from the diaper before storing them. I know what you are thinking, “Well, how do you keep the smell down until time to wash?” You can sprinkle baking soda in the pail. Also, most pail liners have a small piece of fabric sewn in that you can apply a small amount of essential oil (tea tree or lavender oil) to help with those really stinky messes. We do not recommend using the wet pail method.


The next thing you want to do is to put the diapers in the washer and run a cold soak or a pre-wash cycle. This rinses out the initial mess. Then wash the diapers on a hot cycle with a double rinse.  Do not use bleach, fabric softener, fabric sheets or Dreft on your diapers. Each of these things will damage your diapers and inserts in some way.

You have a couple of options when drying your diapers. A lot of people like to hang them out on a clothesline. You save electricity that way. The sun is a natural disinfectant and it bleaches out the stains. You can also put them in the dryer if you are in a hurry for a diaper. Dry the diapers on low heat. You can usually dry the soakers on high heat.

You have to do laundry anyway, so an extra load of laundry every other day is really not that big a deal.

As far as poop goes, you can always use a biodegradable liner that goes around the soaker. That way there isn’t a lot of poop to clean up and you can flush those. If you don’t want to use a liner, you can also get a toilet attachment to rinse the diapers off before putting them in your pail.

At the end of the day, you are doing what is best for your child and the earth, so why not?

Have a great day!