Whether you use a chic, modern drying rack or an old-fashioned strung-up clothesline, drying your cloth diapers outside is an excellent way to save money, keep your diapers in tip-top shape, and remove stains all at once. Not only that, but your diapers will smell wonderfully fresh when you bring them back inside.
Sixty percent of your energy usage and cost related to cloth diapering comes from using the dryer. By using a clothesline, you not only save money but you reduce your environmental footprint.
Line-drying is a great way to keep your diapers in great shape, too, especially if you have diapers with elastic or waterproof outers. These diapers are certainly designed to be dried in the dryer, but years of dryer use can degrade the synthetic fabrics. By line drying your fabrics, you will prolong their life and keep them working and looking their best. Sunlight is also great for your diapers. Not only will the UV rays in sunlight bleach out your toughest stains, but they will also brighten your diapers and disinfect them. (Diapers don’t need to be disinfected after being washed, but every once in a while it’s just nice to have the peace of mind knowing they are absolutely clean.) This is also another way to save a few bucks – by utilizing the sunlight, you won’t have to buy laundry additives to remove stains.
And best of all, your diapers will smell wonderfully fresh after a day in the sun. There’s a reason various laundry product manufacturers have given their detergents names reminiscent of fresh air and sunshine – it makes laundry smell great!
So, with all these great reasons to line dry, here are a few tips:
*For the best stain removal, lay the diapers in a place where they’ll have the most sun all day. We’ve found the most effective method for stain removal is to hang your diapers out when they’re wet out of the washer.
*Prefolds can sometimes feel stiff if they’re left out for long periods of time. To prevent this, either take them off the line right when they’ve finished drying or toss them in the dryer on a no-heat setting for ten minutes when you bring them inside.
So, consider hanging out your next few loads of laundry – you’ll brighten your diapers, remove stains, and save money, completely naturally and without any chemicals!
If you have more questions about diaper laundry, post a comment here or consider attending one of our popular Cloth Diaper 101 workshops where you can have your questions answered in person by one of our diapering experts.
NEWS: For families in BC, you can earn $75 from BC hydro by reducing your energy consumption. So beyond the actual savings of line drying, here is your bonus! More details here.
When we ask new parents what they rank number one as the most important feature of a cloth diaper, they almost always say “Easy to use!” or “Convenient”. I believe this comes from the fear rooted in the notion that cloth diapering is hard, not user friendly and terribly inconvenient.
While prefolds do require a bit of learning to get you to the stage of “Hey, that’s not difficult..at all!”, they are really a do-able diaper option. And they have lots of great benefits.
Here is a short list of our top 5:
Organic Cotton - one of the greenest, healthiest choice in textiles from production to end user
Very absorbent
Easy to wash and fast to dry
Simplicity means no technology problems (ie nothing to break on it)
Durable – many many babies can have these diapers grace their bottom and then they can be upcylced to cleaning cloths
So with all this behind us, lets take three minutes to look at Prefold Cloth Diapers in the Learning Series Video above. This is your intro to get you into your prefold zone.
Jumping into the deep end with cloth diapers can be perceived as a difficult thing to do by some. So let’s start in the calm waters of reusable swim diapers and do a simple comparison with two factors:
92 cents per use
Disposable Swim Diapers
1. Cost is almost $1 per use.
2. Garbage generation is equal to 1 diaper per swim – several per day if you are on holiday and coming in and out of the water/pool.
Reusable Swim Diapers
1. Cost is less than $13.50 all in (no per use cost to consider). 2 weeks of holiday and you’ve come out even. Everything after that is gravy.
2. Garbage generation is nil.
Do they do the job? YES!
Are they easy to care for? YES! Just throw them in the wash with the swimsuits after swimming.
To get you started on the right foot, we are going to give away a Swimmi to a family who’s never used one before and give away a Fabulous Wet Bag to a family who currently uses Swmmis.
Here is how you enter:
1. To be entered to win a Swimmi, leave a comment here about how you would convince your friends (non Swimmi or cloth diaper using) to try using a Swimmi for their little one.
2. To be entered to win a Wet Bag, upload a photo to Facebook of your little one wearing their Swimmi Swim Diaper. Make sure that you leave a comment here that the photo’s been posted so we know.
Contest closes Sunday June 13th. Winner announced week of June 14th. Open to Canadian residents only.
For those who cloth diaper with a budget in mind, prefolds are always a lovely addition to your system. But then comes that day when you grab the Snappi to fasten the diaper and can’t quite reach the sides of the prefold around your baby’s waist…
But no need to put those prefolds into storage quite yet! You can extend your savings by putting your outgrown prefolds to use in other diapering capacities.
Here are 4 great ideas:
If you’re someone who uses pocket diapers, consider using your outgrown prefolds to stuff inside your pocket. Prefolds offer substantial absorbency, which is especially welcome as your baby grows (and pees more and more heavily) or for nighttime use. Also, for those wanting to use more natural fibres in your diapering routine, both hemp and organic cotton prefolds add that “natural edge” to your synthetic pockets.
Outgrown prefolds can also be tri-folded and laid in a wrap-style cover to extend their life. This is a GREAT way to save money, as covers and prefolds are a very cost effective way to cloth diaper and it most certainly extends the length of time infant prefolds can be used on your baby.
Another prefold idea is to lay a tri-folded infant-size prefold on top of your larger sized prefolds to work as a booster. This is definitely a super-absorbent option, but it’s rather bulky and will make your child look like the Weeble-Wobble toys of yore, so it’s an option best utilized at nighttime or on road trips, when a trim bottom end is not a priority.
Even once they’re outgrown, having a few infant prefolds on hand as diapering accessories are very handy. They’ll serve you well as change pads on-the-go, big wipes for big messes, or as a protective cover for your boy who tends to pee during diaper changes.
Use your imagination… prefolds have a multitude of uses!
Saving money and being frugal is an art in this day and age – we hope your decision to cloth diaper has helped your family to feel satisfied in knowing you’ve saved significantly through your baby’s diapering years!
As part of our Earth Day 2010 Contest, Rachel M (our winner in the Mom-to-Be category) shares her thoughts on why cloth diapers are right for her family:
Our first baby is due June 25th and we’ve decided to cloth diaper. Both my husband and I are concerned about environmental issues, particularly climate change and the impact of our ’carbon footprints’. We decided that cloth diapering was something we could do that would actually make a difference - start putting our money where our mouth is so to speak (although we are in fact saving money in the long run, BONUS!).
My mum cloth diapered all five of her children but my husband was “disposable” or “single use” diapered. It may sound a bit silly but he wishes he’d had the choice to not pollute landfills with 2-3 years worth of his dirty diapers! And that’s the choice that we are making for our baby, our children are the ones inheriting this planet, I’d like their early years to be as environmentally-consequence free as possible. We can hope they make the right decision later in life…but at least we can make the right ones before they start making them for themselves. Change begins at home, one diaper at a time!
We understand it’s perhaps not going to be as “convenient” to start out with – we live in an apartment with a front loading high efficiency washing machine and of course no clothes line in the backyard, so there will be challenges. But we are committed and I am confident we will get into the swing of things with a system that works for us in no time!
We have met with a bit of opposition in the form of the odd disparaging comment from relatives or colleagues at work. Of course this just makes us more determined! I have found online resources really helpful in looking at various types of diapering as well as getting feedback from other cloth diapering parents! I love the kinds of options that are available to us now – cloth diapering has come a long way from large cotton squares and safety pins! It’s encouraging as a mum-to-be knowing that there is support and advice out there and we’re looking forward to being part of that community!
All the best with meeting your little one Rachel!
*The opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the contest entrant and do not necessarily reflect that of New & Green Baby Co. We wish to thank all of our contest entrants who graciously shared their stories to help further the education and support of families wishing to cloth diaper their children. Read more about our Earth Day 2010 Contest.
So, perhaps you’re new to cloth diapering or even just starting to consider it, or perhaps you’ve been using cloth for years but want some new ideas for your washing routine. Either way, washing isn’t what it used to be – it’s fast, it’s easy, and in most situations you never even have to touch the dirties. (Unlike the grandmother in our picture, who undoubtedly spent hours with her hands in the wash bin to get her diapers clean and white…)
There are just three steps to getting clean, ready-to-use diapers:
First, get yourself a big pail with a lid – you don’t need any specially-designed “diaper pail,” just anything with a lid will do. In many of the New & Green mamas’ homes, all you’ll find is a standard garbage bin with handles that flip up to keep the lid in place. You see, nothing special. Inside that pail, place a waterproof pail liner – this is what makes the process especially easy. Now your diaper pail is set up and waiting.
The second step is the diaper change itself. If there’s only pee on a diaper, there’s no need to do anything special – just toss that diaper in your pail. If there are any solids, simply knock them off into the toilet and then toss the soiled diaper into the pail. Note: Poop from a breastmilk fed baby is not considered “solids” and does not need any special treatment. Just throw it in the pail with the peed on diapers!
After two or three days, it’s laundry day!
Take the liner with all the dirty diapers in it to the washing machine. Dump everything into the machine, followed by the bag, then do a rinse on cold, a wash on hot (with detergent), then toss everything in the dryer or hang them up to dry – and you’re done! There need not be anything more to a regular washing routine than that. And you didn’t have to touch the dirty diapers since the time they were taken off the bum of your wee one!
Beyond routine, the only other considerations when it comes to diaper laundry are detergents and the added cost on your utility bill due to the increased energy usage.
Regarding detergents, there are a few detergents recommended by diaper manufacturers, which you can read more about on our “Diaper Care” page. And while there are a few no-no’s when it comes to which detergents to use, don’t let the decision stress you out. You won’t ruin your diapers by using the “wrong” detergent – the worst that can happen is that residue from some detergents will stay behind on your diapers and cause them to leak. In that case, throw some vinegar in a Downy ball, add it to your next few loads to strip off the residue (the diapers won’t smell like vinegar – we promise), then switch detergents and your diapers should be good as new.
As for the added energy costs, we find that the average for Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is an additional $15 on your utility bill each month if you use both the washer and the dryer for each load, assuming you wash every two days. If you don’t use the dryer, the you’ll drop your cost per month closer to $5-6.
The early days of babyhood are often full of wonderment… and diapers. Newborns can easily go through 10-12 diapers a day, which means you may feel like you’re changing your baby A LOT.
That’s why prefolds are such a great solution for the first few months of life. They are the most inexpensive way to cloth diaper, they don’t have to be pinned or fastened in any fancy way, they ensure natural fibres are up against your baby’s newborn skin, and they’re easy to have ready to go for anytime you need to do a change, including those bleary-eyed, middle-of-the-night changes.
Let’s talk about cost first. Prefolds are a very economical way to cloth diaper, especially in the early days when you go through so many diapers per day and when you don’t typically need lots and lots of absorbency. And even if your baby does pee copiously, prefolds are layered in such a way that they absorb quickly and effectively.
Third, prefolds are the ultimate in flexibility. Because you can fold them in a myriad of ways, they offer great flexibility in putting absorbency where you need it AND they offer great versatility because they fold to fit your baby without a predetermined fit. The preemie size is good for bigger newborns too and fits perfectly in a newborn cover.
Fourth, they have no synthetic fibres as part of the construction of the diaper – no elastic, no snaps, no fleece or velour or microfibre – so they offer the most natural layer next to your baby’s skin. Choosing a wool diaper cover ensures a completely natural experience.
Currently the prefolds we have (and love!) are made from 100% certified organic materials. The most economic prefold choice is an organic cotton prefold but if you are looking for premium absorbency and trimness, check out BabyKicks Organic Hemp Prefolds. If keeping a tight budget is your primary goal, the Bummis Organic Cotton Diaper Kit is a great way to get all the basics you’ll need for a very economical price.
Let’s face it – caring for our babies can get expensive fast! But cloth diapering is one way to save major bucks.
Most babies go through more than 7,200 diaper changes in the first three years of their lives. This adds up to an average of nearly $3,300 in an mid-range disposable diapers over those three years. If you use other diapering systems, specialty disposables, or a cloth diaper service, that amount can easily be even more.
However, if you choose to purchase your own cloth diapers and launder at home, the average cost for three years ranges between $900 – $1,500 – for a savings of about $2,000-2,500!
And if you use your diapers for more than one child, the savings multiply three- or four-fold.
Here’s a quick look at the numbers for different systems:
For a mid-range disposable, considering the addition of wipes and accessories for each age range:
TOTAL of 7200 diaper changes for 3 years = $3290.40
For various cloth diapering options:
Most Economical Set (Prefolds) + Covers + Snappis + Accessories = $393.48
One Size Pocket Diaper (bumGenius) Set + Accessories = $773.62
A perennital favourite and easy to use Diaper Diaper Set (Fuzzi Bunz) + Accessories = $941.35
Beyond paying for the diapers and accessories themselves, the average cost of laundering your diapers every two days, including the cost of running your washer and dryer and buying detergent, is $3.42 per week over those three years. Sixty-one percent of that cost is dryer usage, so if you line dry when you can, your savings will certainly add up!
A great way to start to build your collection of cloth diapers is to create a gift registry and let your friends and family know. And let the practical, useful gift giving begin!
For many urbanites, apartment dwelling involves a shared laundry room, coin operated machines, and designated time slots for using the washers and dryers. Can families really still manage cloth diapering in these circumstances? The answer is a resounding “yes, oh YES!”
Dealing with cloth outside of one’s own suite may seem like a nuisance, not to mention expensive when you’re shelling out coins in hand. In reality, it’s quite easy and the cost is usually comparable, if not less, than paying for the extra energy usage on your monthly utility bill.
Here are four tips for using cloth when you don’t have insuite laundry:
Choose diapers that unfold or come apart to wash easily and dry quickly. Pockets, prefolds, and flats are great options for this. If you use fitteds or all-in-one’s, choose ones that have multiple, separated layers for ease of washing and drying.
Sign up for time slots or make your schedule to allow you to wash every two or three days. If you can’t get three slots a week, try to sign up for two slots that are 3 ½ days apart, such as a Monday evening and a Friday morning.
Consider line drying. Since most laundry-room machines are coin operated, line drying will certainly save you $$$. If you’ve got the room either in your suite or in your building’s laundry room, give it go. Inexpensive drying racks can be found at Ikea or any hardware store or mass merchandiser.
Do a short cold wash cycle first or choose your own rinse. The fact that many coin-op machines can’t do an isolated rinse cycle adds unwanted cost and time to the washing process. If you prefer to avoid this cost, consider two cheaper and faster ways of rinsing your diapers (and of course, as always, it is preferable that you knocked off all solids into the toilet at the time you changed the diaper!):
In the diaper pail – Place the diaper pail in a large laundry sink or bathtub. Fill with cold water and swish with a stick. (This is a great use for an old gDiaper swish stick or consider investing $1-2 in a 1/2”– 3/4” dowel.) Pour out as much water as you can, then dump all the contents into the washer and start your normal hot wash. This method requires a strong back, but ensures that you never have to touch the dirty diapers!
In a laundry sink – Dump the dirty diapers from your pail into a large laundry sink, fill with cold water, and agitate them with a stick or with your hands. Drain the water from the sink, pressing on the diapers as the water empties. Toss the diapers directly from the sink into the washer and wash on hot with detergent. Presto change-o, you’re done!
With a bit of planning and some considerations about how to save even more money with cloth diapers, laundering in a shared laundry or a coin-op laundry is definitely do-able.
Are you are a “no in-suite cloth diapering family”? What is your best strategy for making it work for your family?
Bummis Training Pants are an excellent tool in active toilet training. Like any new skill, children need teaching, guidance and repetition to master it. Using smart tools to help with achieving success will make toilet training a more positive and enjoyable experience.
Here is a bit about the trainers and some tips and ideas for using and washing them:
Bummis Trainers are not meant to replace diapers; they are simply intended to provide an “underwear” experience for the child with the bonus of having some absorbency built in along with a waterproof outer layer. These trainers will hold one to two toddler pees if needed.
Bummis Trainers feature a cotton inner layer and terry absorbent core. The advantage to this is that your toddler will receive immediate feedback when he/she begins to pee. The wetness is a means in which to restore and/or reinforce the association between the feeling and process of peeing with the goal of eventually being able to recognize the feeling of needing to pee with the knowledge of what to do when you have this feeling.
Bummis Trainers have a waterproof outer layer; the same fabric that is used with their industry gold standard diaper covers.
Bummis Trainers are generously cut so may appear poofy but are excellent at supporting the self care aspect of undressing and dressing during toileting. Toddlers will have a greater success if the trainers are not too tight and they are able to pull them down and up without too much strength and motor planning. When wearing the trainers under pants, they compact down nicely, losing the poofy appearance.
Before use, for optimal performance, the trainers should be washed inside out 3-5 times on hot with a additive-free (no extras) detergent. This will help the cotton become absorbent by stripping the natural oils from the fabric and plumping up the fibres. Some examples include:
Nature Clean – available locally at Save on Foods Natural foods section
Nellies Laundry Soda – available at London Drugs
Tide
Sunlight
Cheer
Country Save – in Canada at London Drugs
Washing routine – for wet and soiled trainers, run a cold soak/rinse cycle followed by a hot wash with an approved detergent. If using a conventional detergent, reduce the amount recommended by half. Dry in dryer or line dry. Recommend washing inside out for best results and faster drying time. For wet only trainers, you can skip the rinse cycle.
And lastly, some general info on toilet training. There are a couple of threads of commonality woven throughout today’s common philosophies:
The process of helping your child to learn how to eliminate in the toilet needs to be a positive experience; your child should never be pressured into using the toilet
A parent’s job is to observe their child’s behavioural cues to determine if there are any consistent cues related to when the child wets or has a poop in their diaper
A parent must provide opportunities to try and use the potty/toilet at appropriate times
A child is often more successful with learning to use the potty when he becomes aware of the association of peeing and becoming wet.
Bummis Training Pants are one essential piece of “equipment” that you’ll need to assist your child in this transition. Training pants signal a change from “what babies wear” to “what big kids wear” and also give parents and children easier access/ability to get clothing/underwear off to quickly use the potty.
Enjoy the process. Remember every child is different and it can feel tricky at times but in the end, well worth the effort when your child learns that she has mastered using the toilet!
There seems to be some trends emerging in cloth diapering these days. And it’s making me smile. Why? Well really we are coming back to basics, back to what we know works all with the conveninece and technology of today’s textiles.
What is emerging as the top priorities?
Organic and natural textiles next to baby’s skin. Parents are simply getting bowled over by toxicity in toys (have you seen all the recalls coming out these days) and frankly our heads are starting to spin with all the info about what is safe to feed our children, what is safe to wash our children…and it goes on. And for that reason, parents are opting for what they know is safe – certified organic.
Ease of use. This one never falls off the top three list. Plain and simple. We all need more of that in our lives.
Easy to wash and fast to dry. With energy use also a consideration, families want diapers that are fast to dry.
Where does this leave us? Well the trend is moving us towards a diapering system with a reliable, velcro closure cover and an organic cotton absorbent diaper that is easy to fold and lay inside the cover. A combo that will always win out for absorbency and meeting that top three list.
Amongst our favourite solutions in this category is a Canadian made diaper cover and an organic cotton diaper.
Introducing the Bummis SuperBrite and the Organic Cotton Prefold! With over 20 years in the diaper cover industry, Bummis is a tried and true design. The prefolds are soft, absorbent, easy to wash and fast to dry as they open up and become flat in the dryer. No trying to dry through layers and layers and layers of absorbency!
With the new preemie size prefold and newborn size cover, you have a perfect combo that is easy, organic, Canadian made and will fit your brand new baby!
Whether you use a chic, modern drying rack or an old-fashioned strung-up clothesline, drying your cloth diapers outside is an excellent way to save money, keep your diapers in tip-top shape, and remove stains all at once. Not only that, but your diapers will smell wonderfully fresh when you bring them back inside.
For those who cloth diaper with a budget in mind, 
So, perhaps you’re new to cloth diapering or even just starting to consider it, or perhaps you’ve been using cloth for years but want some new ideas for your washing routine. Either way, washing isn’t what it used to be – it’s fast, it’s easy, and in most situations you never even have to touch the dirties. (Unlike the grandmother in our picture, who undoubtedly spent hours with her hands in the wash bin to get her diapers clean and white…)
The early days of babyhood are often full of wonderment… and diapers. Newborns can easily go through 10-12 diapers a day, which means you may feel like you’re changing your baby A LOT.
