We are a military family stationed overseas, because I don’t work money is pretty tight. I went on eBay and ordered babyland diapers because of the extrememly low price. I love them! They work wonderfully, they fit great, he doesn’t get red marks, and they have snaps so when he’s older he wont be undressing himself!

And to the person who washed her dipes with regular detergent, you’re not supposed to do that. If you go on kellyscloset.com they have a list of recommended detergents. I use Purex Free and Clear, but I think Charlies is the number one recommended.

The wash and care are simple. Once you develop a routine you don’t think twice about it.

Thanks for spotlighting cloth diapers!

My favorite diapers are SmartiPants and GADs. We also love Goodmamas at night!

They were old enough to tell me that the cloth felt better than the paper. When I got pregnant again, they asked that I get some cloth diapers for their new sister. I was given a bag of used cotton cloth diapers after she was about six months old. The rashes ended. Her fussiness ENDED. It was amazing. Then I bought one Fuzzibunz, to use at night. She wore it every night, and every Sunday morning at church for years!!!! It totally paid for itself, over and over and over. It still looks new.

We had used a credit card at Target to buy the disposable diapers. We are in a financial situation- they call every day- can you imagine- and for something that, basically, was like holding up a dollar bill, and burning it. Crazy!

It’s a few thousand dollars, each year, to purchase disposable diapers,and disposable wipes. That money is the amount that could be their college fund, if they weren’t wearing it on their backside.

The studies: a Ms. Crossen, from the Wall Street Journal, analyzed the diaper studies in a book called “Tainted Truth.” The disposable industry calculated, for cloth- the price of fertilizer, and labor and shipping, for cloth from China, then shipped and sewn, and sold, and only used for 160 or so, uses. That means every other day for a year. For disposables, they calculated that the disposable would go to a recycling plant- of which there are none in full operation in the US. And, that you wouldn’t have so many changes. In other words, the studies are crazy slanted.

For example, the diapers we used: The first mother spent $100 on 40 organic cotton diapers from Canada- US organic cotton, canadian stay at home mother sewing– ie not all those pesticides, fertilizers, union dues, shipping costs…..She used them on her two daughters, for a total of five years. Then she gave them to me. I used them on my daughter for two years, until she was potty trained. I just gave them to a new mother, who intends to use them. That’s four kids, and I can’t even count how many uses, since they are still in service. At least 365 times 7 divided by 2to4= ?? Or, costwise- $100 for three little girls, so far. You just can’t beat that.

as for stench- rinse with vinegar- it neutralizes ammonia, then hang in the sun. The UV rays kill any remaining bacteria.

My routine- dump solids in toilet. Stack the damp diapers in a dry pail. Every day or so, dump pail contents into washer. Prerinse, then soak cycle with 5drops of lavendar and five drops of tea tree oil ( anti viral, anti bacterial, anti fungal, smells great) Then wash, using regular detergent. rinse with vinegar, rinse again. Hang to dry, or use dryer.

Home water use is some tiny fraction of all water use. I don’t feel bad using water to wash a reusable product, rather than filling a landfill.

For those looking- just google. The most deservedly popular sites- most useful- most navigable- usually pop up on the first page. “cloth” “soakers” “homemade diapers” any of these phrases bring up useful sites. Good Luck! I wish I’d started earlier!

ari

I use cloth on my baby when at home, and 7th generation when travelling. Cloth is undoubtedly more work, and it can be stinky, but it is totally worth it–makes me feel happy not to be filling up landfills. We had a water shortage for a couple weeks last year so I switched to disposables, and I was dismayed at the amount of waste created. We use prefolds and Bummi wraps, so no pins to deal with, and there’s never been a problem with diaper rash. The person who said the cloth diapers smelled after washing probably didn’t wash them enough–a presoak and an extra rinse is ideal; they come out perfectly clean and sweet. Anyway, I highly recommend cloth. The only thing I would do differently is if I had more money I would go for fitted diapers rather than prefolds–they’re that much more convenient.

I switched to cloth with my 4th child and I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner. The reason I didn’t was the false information I read about how cloth was bad for the environment because you use water to wash them. Turns out a lot of those studies are funded by the disposable diaper companies. Guess what they use a lot of to make disposable diapers: paper, chemicals, fuel and water. So, either way water is being used. You wash your clothes and that takes water. Should you switch to disposable clothes?
Also, for those who say, “I like to just throw the disposables away, not mess with the poop.” Read the package, you are supposed to flush the poop in them too. Most people don’t, so that puts all that poop in the landfills. Is that better than in our sewage system with the rest of the poop?
Cloth diapers are really not that hard and I think the environmental benefits as well as the health benefits is well worth an extra load of laundry every few days.

The environment is just one reason to use cloth diapers. It just doesn’t make sense to put our babies in chemical ridden paper when soft cotton is available.
In addition, there is so much I want to give, show and share with my children. And,in our world today, money plays a big part in the opportunities you have available. I save money using cloth diapers so that I can save money for my children’s future.

In response to the question, what do you do with the soiled diaper when you are out of the house? It’s easy. You get a wetbag!

A wet bag is a zippered bag with a waterproof lining, designed to carry diapers, or any other clothing or apparel items you might find yourself carrying but not wanting to mix with the rest of the contents of your bag. These bags are so stylish and discreet, no one will realize you have anything remotely in need of laundering inside. Just carry home, unzip, dump the contents into the wash, throw the bag in after.

Sure, you could use ziplock or plastic grocery bags, but they are an environmental drain (and the ziplock bags can be a financial drain) but a wet bag is so much cuter and works so well. Old plastic grocery bags can be mistaken for garbage and your valuable cloth diapers can be thrown away. Wetbags are It!

You can find wetbags at thegoodmama.com in scads of prints and designs.

This is creepy! I’ve been wanting to, somehow, tell America that if we all switched to cloth diapers, it would help with the global warming situation, reduce our landfill mass, and save some trees. And here you are, doing a great article on cloth diapers. My wife and her siblings (5) had cloth diapers, and the youngest 2 were twins. No diaper service was available. Same for me as a child. Kudos to those commenting above who use cloth diapers. Thanks for the great post!

I know it’s not for everyone but it’s not nearly as gross as some people may think. There are many great web sites that can give you the in and outs on washing and different styles to fit your budget. We have been happy with prefolds and bummis covers, fuzzi bunz, and kissaluvs. If your are even semi-interested, it’s worth exploring to meet the needs of your family!!!