Before use cloth diapers need to be washed and dried before you use them. This will fluff them up and make them absorbent.
The Scoop on Detergents
We recommend Tide, Sunlight, Cheer, Era, and Clout (Costco brand). These are not made with any of the natural oily substances which leave residue on fleece.
Detergents to avoid:
Natural soaps often contain various oils. These should NOT be used because they will leave a residue on fleece, causing it to repel liquids.
The following detergents will cause a soap build up. Do NOT use them.
• Dr. Bronner’s Soap
• 7th Generation
• Bio-Kleen
• Ivory Snow
• Dreft
• Any ALL free detergents.
• Sport-Wash and Sensi-Clean – These have the potential for detergent burn in babies.
Never use fabric softener of any kind on reusable diapers. Liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets both leave a waxy residue which causes fleece to repel urine and decreases the absorbency of other diapers.
Diaper rash creams can also cause repelling. For best results either place a small wash cloth on top of the fleece or use a liner.
Stripping Diapers:
Build up refers to residue left by detergents, fabric softeners, and other substances used to clean diapers. In rare instances, baking soda will react with certain minerals in water and also cause build up. If you notice a decrease in the absorbency of your diapers, build up may be the culprit.
Stripping is the process of removing residue from your diapers.
To strip diapers:
• Hand wash your diaper with regular dish soap to remove any oils.
• Put a small amount of dish soap on the fleece layer.
• Rub vigorously or use a medium bristle scrubbing brush to scrub the fleece.
• Turn the diaper inside out and repeat.
• Rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear.
You may use this method at any time you notice repelling or as a preventative measure once a week. If you are still having problems, try these special cleaning agents to strip your diapers:
• 2 scoops of Oxyclean in a very hot wash
• 1 ball of RLR (found at Wal-Mart in the laundry aisle hanging on a clip) in a hot wash
Thirsties
Home Laundering is a Snap…
1. Shake “poop” into toilet. Newborn stools will be too loose to shake clean. You can optionally dunk newborn diapers in toilet bowl, use a diaper sprayer, or simply set your washing machine cycle for an extra initial rinse. Our machine has a pre-wash cycle that we love for this reason. If you do not have a pre-wash cycle on your washer, then consider running your diapers through an initial short cycle followed by a heavy cycle.
2. Collect soiled or wet diapers in a lined plastic pail. You can purchase a special made diaper pail, but we have found your basic plastic 52 quart garbage can and lid works just as well, is more affordable, and is available at your local department store.
3. You can optionally add a sprinkle of baking soda to your diapers and pail to help neutralize odors. Once mixed with water in your washer, the baking soda will help to lift stains.
4. For optimum cleanliness, limit the size of your load to no more than 24 diapers. As a general rule, the fewer diapers per load, the cleaner they will be.
5. Then, use WARM or HOT wash and COLD rinse with high water level. Use a mild detergent with no phosphates, and minimal additives. Add only 1/2 the recommended amount of detergent for top-loaders and 1/3 the recommended dose for high efficiency and front-loaders.
Avoid all soaps and all “Free & Clear” and/or popular baby detergents. These detergents will leave a residue on your diapers that will affect the absorbency and may cause ‘stinky’ diapers and/or diaper rash. To learn more about safe detergents for your cloth diapers please visit The Diaper Jungle’s Diaper Detergent Chart. In washing your cloth diapers, there really is no right or wrong way to go about it. But there is a RIGHT detergent to use to avoid ruining your diapers. Please take a moment and find one that will work for you.
6. Dry in dryer or hang to dry. Add a dry towel to the dryer to speed the drying process. Occasionally you may wish to dry in dryer on high heat to help with sterilization and to reseal lamination. Drying in direct sunlight is also an excellent method; it helps to preserve the textiles of your diapers and is great at getting rid of stains. Hang drying will leave your diapers somewhat stiff. So to soften sun-dried dipes, you may choose to use the dryer for the last 15 minutes.
7. Some parents like to add 1/2 cup vinegar to the final rinse to reduce residue of detergent or hard water. Do not use vinegar when washing cloth diapers made from synthetic textiles…this includes most all diaper covers and some brands of cloth diapers, including our Fab Fitteds. Synthetic fibers tend to hang on to the vinegar smell.
8. Even if you follows all the rules above, you still might end up with occasional stinky diapers and less absorbent diapers due to pre-wash, detergent, diaper rash ointment, and/or mineral residue. Simply replace your regular detergent with 1/4 cup Calgon water softener (found at your local grocers). This process is often referred to as diaper stripping. Use Calgon as often as needed, but not at every wash.
9. Finally, if your diapers are in need of a thorough deep cleaning, you can use a bit of Oxyclean Baby in place of your regular detergent. Do this only when needed.
bumGenius! 3.0 One Size
• Shake solids into toilet and store in dry pail
• Remove insert before washing
• Fasten tabs to laundry tabs on inside of diaper.
• Wash warm, hot or cold with 1/4 cup additive free detergent.
• Rinse well with another full wash cycle on hot.
• Tumble dry medium.
• No bleach, no fabric softeners
Washing tip:
Customers have great results washing on cold with detergent first, then two hot or warm washes with no detergent
bumGenius! AIO
Care Instructions for bumGenius 2.0 All-In-One (polyester outer)
• Shake solids into toilet and store in dry pail
• Fasten tabs to laundry tabs on inside of diaper.
• Wash warm, hot or cold with 1/4 cup additive free detergent.
• Rinse well with another full wash cycle on hot.
• Tumble dry medium.
• No bleach, no fabric softeners
Washing tip:
Customers have great results washing on cold with detergent first, then two hot or warm washes with no detergent.
Happy Heiny’s & Stacinator
Store wet and dirty diapers in a dry pail. Older babies’ solid waste can be removed by gently shaking the diaper over a toilet. The fleece will release solids easily – there is no need to rinse them before washing.
Washing instructions for pocket diapers and trainers:
• Remove the inserts
• Cold Soak for 10-20 minutes depending on the level of dirt
• Wash on hot with slightly less than 1/4 cup of detergent
• You can add a downy ball of vinegar to the wash if the diapers have a heavy urine scent. I recommend a downy ball because it releases the vinegar at the right time–no need to wait by the machine.
• Rinse well to ensure all detergent is removed from diapers.
• Dry on high heat. The high heat of the dryer will keep your Happy Heiny functioning like new. We personally dry our PUL products on high heat and although we have had prolonged use with these products we have not noticed any break down of our PUL.
Caring for Hemp Diapers
Your hemp product has been professionally washed and dried once. It will need up to 8 more washings and dries before it is fully absorbent. The first few times you wash hemp products you should NOT wash them with fleece products. Hemp has natural oils in it and the oils can coat your fleece. After your hemp has been fully primed you may wash it with all of your diapering products.
Caring for Heiny Huggers
Wash new diapers before use. You may notice that they produce a bit of lint in the beginning, this is normal for Sherpa.
• Cold rinse
• warm-hot wash
• same detergents as the HH
• No chlorine, no bleach, no fabric softners.
• May be dried on high heat.
Occasionally you may notice that your Sherpa diapers are not as soft after a few months of use as they were when new. All you need to do is rinse the diapers a few times in the washer without detergent. Add vinegar to the rinse cycle. This will help to restore the natural softness to the Sherpa.
Caring for Fleece & So Simple
We all know how much wetness babies produce. Fleece is 100% polyester and allows air to circulate through the cover. This reduces diaper rash caused by prolonged exposure to wetness. In addition, it is soft to the touch, dries in a flash, and can withstand laundry abuse.
Caring for your fleece covers just can’t be any easier:
• Machine wash in hot, cold, or warm water.
• Tumble dry.
Fleece is the wonder fabric of the reusable diapering world. Dryer sheets can help to make it even more water resistant. I do only suggest this as a last resort though if you have some leaking. I normally wash my covers with any old load of laundry as long as it isn’t really soiled and needing special attention. In a world full of diaper washing no no’s….here is some relief. There is almost no wrong way to wash fleece.
Tip: If you suddenly find that your fleece is leaking, simply switch laundry soaps (use Dr.Bronner’s for a change or even mild dish soap). This should solve the problem. If it doesn’t, Nikwax products will come to the rescue.
Caring for Wool
Hand wash your wool cover in cold water with like colors. Hang to dry. You may have a bit of shrinkage after the first washing. You may re-lanolize as needed. We recommend using Eucalan wool wash to care for your covers. It has natural lanolin right in the bottle. You never have to worry about when to lanolize. It is done for you each time you wash.
Note Dark colored wool will bleed. See the note below to fix the dyes.
Tip For bleeding wool:
• mix 3 cups white vinegar with 3 Tbsp salt
• wet wool in lukewarm water
• add to vinegar/salt mixture.
• Microwave for two, 3minute sessions.
• Allow to COMPLETELY cool
• rinse in lukewarm water
• wash
• re-lanolize.
(if you rinse before allowing to completely cool, you may unintentionally felt your garment)
Knickernappies
Simply run a cold rinse to wash off most of the ickies and prevent stains from setting. Then wash on hot with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of detergent*. Then either dry in the dryer or hang dry. (Cotton prints will last longer if they are hung to dry.)
First wash: no special instructions for the first wash, but I highly recommend drying in the dryer the first time and once a month or so afterwards. This does help to seal the PUL nice and tight.
For detergent, the actual amount that is best for you may vary depending on machine and water quality. Most people find that 2 to 3 tablespoons works.
Do not use free & clear detergents. In general, these will cause buildup. In most cases, your regular detergent (we use Tide) will work fine.
Do not use bleach or fabric softener.
How do I dry Knickernappies Disposanot diapers?
You may dry them in the dryer or hang them to dry. Cotton prints will last longer if they are hung, but do dry them once in a while to keep the PUL sealed.
Do I need to prep my 100% hemp inserts?
The hemp has been washed once. If you only buy a couple, then they may be washed right away with your diapers. If you buy more, then they really should be washed separately two more times to wash out the natural oils in the fabric.
I wash mine with regular laundry for those first washings so that I don’t waste washes on just a few inserts. It can take up to 8 washings for hemp to be fully absorbent. You may use the inserts prior to this, just remember that they aren’t fully primed so you may need to change diapers more often.
Do I need to prep my Loopy-Do inserts?
No. The hemp in Loopy-Do inserts has been prewashed so that it won’t leave buildup on the microfiber. These can be washed immediately with the rest of your diaper laundry.
The microfiber has also been prewashed so that any dye residues are washed away.
