Cloth Diapering Questions

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pensmama87

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Hi all,

I remember there used to be a pretty active cloth diaper thread on CAF, but it looks like it hasn’t been for a while so I figured I’d possibly start a new one, or at least see if I can get my questions answered. 😉

I was having some problems with smelly diapers. I used to use Funk Rock in my wash, but it was way too expensive and I was using it a lot, which to me meant that there was something wrong with my wash routine. I came across a website that suggested using a vinegar and borax soak, so I tried that and voila - it worked!

A few months later, however…and all my PUL covers are leaking - turns out vinegar can do that (I wash all my diapers and covers together). I took the vinegar out and am just using the borax, which works fine for smell (wish I’d known that earlier), but is there anything at all I can do with the covers, or do I just replace them all?

I’m also curious about what to do re: stains. I rinse all my diapers off with a sprayer, and wash every other day. The borax helps a bit with this too, but every dirty diaper has a yellow stain coming out of the dryer. I do sun bleach, but this gets hard in the winter time and I know using regular bleach in the wash can destroy the fiber of the diapers.

You’d think I’d have this figured out now that I’m CDing kiddo #2…but nope! Any advice welcome. 🙂
 
For your second question, the sun bleaching with some lemon juice is the best. I don’t have an outdoor rack so I just lay them in a window- even on cloudy days. It does fade the stains. It shouldn’t matter what the weather is like outside.

Not sure why the PUL is leaking, but can you identify where it is leaking from? Is it at the seams? This can usually be fixed with a run through a hot dryer. If the leaking is at the legs then there may just be too much wetness to hold everything in, or perhaps a problem with the elastic being too loose?
 
I hadn’t tried with lemon juice! I may do that. I do notice that they fade even on cloudy days, but it seems to take a heck of a lot longer, and I run out of diapers before the stains are gone. 😊

It’s mostly at the legs and top (is that what you mean by seams?). They get soaked with every wet diaper even if the diaper is not very wet (DS absolutely hates hates hates being wet, so if there’s even a drop, he cries for a change.) I wish I could find again the page that I found that explained how vinegar could degrade the quality of the PUL, based on acidity, but I must not be searching using the same terms I used before. I use Thirsties covers and they have been awesome up until now. My newer ones are having the same problems as the older ones I used for my first child. I just put up with the expense of the “funk” treatments for my first because we had more income and since we did elimination communication, he went through a lot fewer diapers than my second (somehow I don’t have the time to potty this one as often. ;)) I didn’t know about borax then and was going on the recommendation of the company I bought most of my diapering supplies from…and they sold the “funk” treatment I used. 😛
 
Sounds like you might just need new covers. By “seams” I meant where the stitching is. For example, if you replace the Velcro yourself you need to throw them in a hot dryer to tighten it up after the sewing.

What kind of diapers are you using? Cotton pre folds or a synthetic fitted? Cotton pre folds rarely repel but synthetics will which could explain the leakage and soaked cover.
 
The only stitching is on the outside, that’s why I was confused. :o I only use covers with snaps since the velcro wears out so fast (in my experience.)

I use cotton prefolds.
 
Have you tried bleach? That has always helped me with smell. Do you have hard water? We do and I know a lot of locals that have trouble with smell. I’ve found Tide helps as well. Of course, bleach and Tide might irritate skin if your baby is sensitive (mine aren’t very sensitive so I’ve been lucky).

Not sure about PUL leaking. What kind of diapers? Are they saturated when leaking?

For stains, I haven’t ever been able to avoid ebf yellow stains. I used to sun in the summer time but I’m too lazy to bother anymore.
 
pensmama87 said:
The only stitching is on the outside, that’s why I was confused. :o I only use covers with snaps since the velcro wears out so fast (in my experience.)

I use cotton prefolds.
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But the stitching can still come in contact with liquid (hence why one would need to shrink them up after sewing).

I would try throwing them in the dryer and if that doesn’t help then it might be the vinegar problem and you’ll need new ones.

Honestly, I’m tough on my covers. I wash them with the diapers and then throw them all in the dryer with the diapers every time. The only time I ever had a liquid leak is when the diaper is totally soaked through. I use Charlie’s Soap for washing.
 
PhiloMed said:
But the stitching can still come in contact with liquid (hence why one would need to shrink them up after sewing).

I would try throwing them in the dryer and if that doesn’t help then it might be the vinegar problem and you’ll need new ones.

Honestly, I’m tough on my covers. I wash them with the diapers and then throw them all in the dryer with the diapers every time. The only time I ever had a liquid leak is when the diaper is totally soaked through. I use Charlie’s Soap for washing.
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I use a locally made detergent formulated for cloth diapers, but other than that it’s the same. My covers have always gone in the dryer. 🤷 They never leaked with DS1, and didn’t until after I had been using vinegar with DS2’s diapers. Newer and older covers, all started leaking at the same time.

Well, I guess my suspicion was right about the culprit. Is there anything useful I can do with them now or do they just go in the trash?
 
My youngest is 34 and I still have a few diapers left over from him and the other 3 that I use as really good rags. I used bleach all the time (none were sensitive regarding that). I used a diaper pail with 1/4 cup of bleach and about 4 inches of water. When I washed them, I dumped the whole lot into the washing machine, rinsed and spun them, then washed with hot water, soap or detergent, and bleach. That kept away germs, smell, and stains. It didn’t seem to harm the fabric, since I used basically the same ones for all 4 kids. Just thought a blast from the past might be useful.😛
 
I don’t have any advice because kiddo #1 isn’t due 'til March, but I’ll be watching this thread with interest! We’re planning on using Bum Genius AIOs–easier for DH–and it’ll be interesting to see what more experienced moms have to say about cloth diapering, especially since I don’t know anyone IRL who actually does it! Thanks for starting the thread, OP! 🙂
 
My husband thought prefolds would be too hard but they are his favorites now. I don’t know how the BumGenius AIOs are, but we had horrible luck with the pockets. Leak and stink city. We use Swaddlebees simplex AIOs for nighttime and they are great. Pricey, but there are sales every now and then.👍
 
katy said:
My youngest is 34 and I still have a few diapers left over from him and the other 3 that I use as really good rags. I used bleach all the time (none were sensitive regarding that). I used a diaper pail with 1/4 cup of bleach and about 4 inches of water. When I washed them, I dumped the whole lot into the washing machine, rinsed and spun them, then washed with hot water, soap or detergent, and bleach. That kept away germs, smell, and stains. It didn’t seem to harm the fabric, since I used basically the same ones for all 4 kids. Just thought a blast from the past might be useful.😛
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This!My kids are all in their thirties as well.I always used bleach,diapers were always white!
Also back in the day,we didn’t have the nice Velcro covers,just plastic over pants,Iwas always replacing those as the had a tendency to harden and crack over time.😛
As an aside,I heard recently that cloth diapers also help with toilet training as the kiddos don’t like the feeling of wet/dirty diapers,as opposed to the more absorbent paper diapers
This explains why they now have disposables going all the way up to size five!:eek:
 
UbiCaritas said:
I don’t have any advice because kiddo #1 isn’t due 'til March, but I’ll be watching this thread with interest! We’re planning on using Bum Genius AIOs–easier for DH–and it’ll be interesting to see what more experienced moms have to say about cloth diapering, especially since I don’t know anyone IRL who actually does it! Thanks for starting the thread, OP! 🙂
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I’ve used BG free time aios as well as the elemental (I think that’s what they call them now). Both work well for us. They might not fit well until the baby is about 10 lbs or so depending on your baby.
 
katy said:
My youngest is 34 and I still have a few diapers left over from him and the other 3 that I use as really good rags. I used bleach all the time (none were sensitive regarding that). I used a diaper pail with 1/4 cup of bleach and about 4 inches of water. When I washed them, I dumped the whole lot into the washing machine, rinsed and spun them, then washed with hot water, soap or detergent, and bleach. That kept away germs, smell, and stains. It didn’t seem to harm the fabric, since I used basically the same ones for all 4 kids. Just thought a blast from the past might be useful.😛
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Count me in as another who uses bleach to get rid of smells.

We’ve been cloth diapering for almost 2 years now.
I used Sunbaby diapers at first and I totally ruined the entire stash because I had no idea what I was doing when it came to washing them.

I tried vinegar and baking soda and I tried different types of detergent.
I was also naughty and used regular diaper rash cream and dryer sheets at first before realizing that is the kiss of death for most cloth diapers.
We had major issues with smell and liquid repellant (the inserts stopped absorbing and poor DD would leak through them all).

I tried to salvage by using less detergent and also stripping them using boiling water and Dawn.
It worked on some of them but not all and it was only a temporary fix. I ended up trashing my original stash and buying new diapers

We now use a combo of Sunbaby pockets with inserts and Bum Genius AIOs. I really like Bum Genius. But they are expensive.

This new stash has lasted us over a year with zero issues. I pay more attention to how I wash my diapers and not what I use.
I always do a pre-wash on cold to fight stains. Then I do a hot wash and two cold rinses. I use regular liquid Tide (just less then what I’d use for regular laundry) and I bleach them once every couple of weeks using about a quarter cup. I do a third rinse when I bleach them.

I then line dry the shells and tumble dry the inserts. Hubby rigged parachute cord in the basement so I could line dry year round.

I always wash diapers every other day.

Further…we’ve stopped using diaper rash creams. DD never got rashes anyway but I used it as a barrier to prevent rashes from developing.
On the rare occasions she does get a rash I only use California Baby rash cream (expensive but I HIGHLY recommend it).
I also use disposables on my daughter for the overnights. I don’t have the energy or time to experiment with multiple diapers and inserts to see what works for her without having to change her and bed sheets every night until we get it right.

We have new daughter now. She is in disposables for the first month or so before we switch her to cloth.
 
We have 8 kids and have tried them all. AIO’s are a PIA. They are algal sot all synthetic. they are hard to get clean, don’t last as long and we had one who was allergic. We now use only 100% prefolds from green mountain diapers. We wash all prefolds on sanitize in a European washer that can heat up to 160F water (Bosch). We never use bleach.

Always wash covers separately. The polyurethane lining is sensitive to temperature and chemicals. We use true soap for diapers (Zum) almost never have buildup problems. Very hot washes will take care of most soap and bodily fluids.

Never put covers in the dryer if possible. Most dryers heat air to 140f or higher. This will damage the up las well. We sometimes use 100% wool covers. They are the best, but they cost a lot.

Skip the poly all in ones and start out right with cotton prefolds and nice covers that have snaps. That will give you the best bang for the buck and the long service.

Good Luck!
 
I use mainly flats. I bleach them. We do have other diapers, but my flats are my favorites. I’ve used these diapers for 8 kids over 20 yrs and as cleaning rags as well. They were about $6 for 12 diapers when my oldest was born and still going strong! I have replaced covers over the years because they do wear out quickly. I usually sew my own covers–just little pull on pants out os PUL, shower curtains, vinyl table cloths, or even old wool sweaters from goodwill–to save money. I never bleach the covers, and depending in the material I don’t put them in the dryer either. My dryer likes to melt them.

One of my sons is allergic to bleach, so I would wash his in borax. If they got too stinky I would bleach and then rewash twice. He never reacted to the bleach if I did that. I always figured the smell meant it had too many germs so the bleach would kill the germs and get rid of the smell. Plus bleach has kept my diapers white and stain free for 20 years now.
 
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