Which detergent is best for cloth diapers?

Which detergent is best for cloth diapers? And what types of diaper detergent are available in Canada?

Newly released, the RDIA (Real Diaper Industry Association) is offering an online search that helps you find the best cloth diaper detergent for your diapers.

Detergent Determinator

I love that this detergent search allows you to search for detergents available in Canada!. You can narrow down your search for the perfect detergent by choosing Standard or High Efficiency and powder or liquid.

Basically, you start by following the washing instructions I included in my last blog post or by checking with your diaper manufacturer to find out what deterent requirements are recommended for the diapers that you own. Enter the characteristics into the Determinator and get customized results.

We love anything that makes washing your diapers even easier.

Have you tried the Detergent Determinator? If so, give us your feedback and let us know if it worked for your search. We can help you locate specific brands if needed.

We also recommend:
Tiny Bubbles Laundry Detergent
Thirsties Diaper Wash

Aimie
http://www.clothdiapermom.com/

Are Cloth Diapers Hard to Wash? How to Wash Cloth Diapers

Are cloth diapers hard to wash?


Umm...... they don't have to be. Cloth diaper laundry can be quite easy to do. Diapers don't require extensive folding so for the most part cloth diaper laundry consists of tossing your baby's diapers in the machine and programming the wash you want.

To start with, and to keep it simple, here are some basic diaper washing steps.

1.)When your baby is ready for a diaper change, shake any loose solids off the diaper or use a diaper sprayer to rinse the diaper, and then toss the diaper into either a diaper pail with a lid or a wet bag. Note that if your baby is breastfed and hasn't started solid food, the baby poop will be water soluble and will rinse away in the wash does not need to be rinsed first.

2.) When it's laundry time, toss your diapers into the wash. Make that if you use pocket diapers, you take the insert out of the pocket before washing. If using pockets or covers with Aplix tabs, fold the tabs back so that your diapers with Velcro will not stick to each other during wash or gather laundry fluff in the wash.

3.) Do a cold wash with the recommend detergent amount to clean the diapers and prevent stains.

4.) Do a hot wash to cleanse the diapers.

5.) Do an extra rinse if required. Diapers should come out of the wash without any odour, including detergent odour.

6.) Line dry or machine dry.

See this link to the Real Diaper Industry Association's Cloth Diaper Washing Instructions for detergent recommendations.

Cloth diaper laundering begins when your new diapers first arrive in your home. As a general rule, it is recommended that most diapers be washed prior to use. Most diapers can just be washed and dried once and are ready to use. Exceptions to this rule include some diapers with a PUL outside and also prefolds. Diapers with PUL will sometimes work better after being dried on HOT once to 'seal' the PUL fabric on your diaper and keep that layer waterproof. Prefold diapers actually start off looking quite flat and thin and after a few washes will poof up and become more thick and absorbent. Prefolds often require 4 - 6 wash and dry cycles before they reach their full absorbency. You can start using the prefolds after just a few washes and then add more initial washes if required.

Should you wash all of your cloth diapers together or separate certain types of diapers? For the most part, different styles and brands of diapers can be washed together AFTER any special first washes have been done. Some types of prefold diapers and hemp products can release oil during the first few washes and should only be washed and dried with the same type of diaper for the first few washes. After that, it is generally safe to wash the diapers together. If you have a large quantity of diapers and are doing multiple loads of diaper laundry, go ahead and sort by diaper type at wash time. Wash all of the inserts in one load and the covers or pockets in another load.

The following info is direct from the washing instruction link that I posted above.

How Much Detergent?

When washing diapers,start by using 1/2 the detergent manufacturer's suggested amount. To determine the right amount, read the label and then carefully measure.

High Efficiency Considerations

Use an HE detergent. Set water levels to high to be sure that diapers are cleaned and rinsed properly. If the weight of the load determines the water level, put a wet towel in with diapers to increase the weight of the load.

Ingredients to Avoid

Natural soaps
Dyes
Perfumes
Enzymes
Softeners
Fabric Enhancers
Optical Brighteners


Will cloth diapers create extra work for you? Using cloth diapers will create a few extra loads of laundry per week but that doesn't mean it has to make your life harder. There are a few tricks and tips you can use to make cloth diaper laundry easier.

1.) Our first tips is to use a pail liner inside your diaper pail or a wet bag. It's not necessary, but diaper pails that do not have a cloth pail liner require frequent washing. We recommend having 2 pail liners or 2 wet bags so you always have a clean on on the go.

2.) Our second diapering tip for laundry is to take inserts of the diaper when putting them into your pail or wet bag versus taking the inserts out when you are washing the diapers. This means you can simple empty your pail liner or wet bag into the wash and then toss in the pail liner or wet bag into the wash too and program the load. The same thing goes for covers and pockets with Aplix. Fold the tabs back when you put the diaper into the pail or wet bag so you can skip this step at laundry time.

3.) Consider getting a diaper sprayer or using reusable cloth liners to make clean up easier.

Happy washing!

Further recommended reading:
Bummis - Residues

Aimie
http://www.clothdiapermom.com

Swim Diapers: Cloth versus Disposable in the Pool

When taking your little one swimming, you will have 2 choices for your swim diaper; a cloth swim diaper or a disposable swim diaper. You may be wondering which swim diaper is the best choice for you and your little swimmer.

When my now 5 year old was in diapers, I didn't have an official cloth swim diaper for her but instead I would use a Happy Heinys Pocket Diaper without an insert. The diaper would be a great fit under my daughter's bathing suit, came in fun colours and patterns for swimming, and worked great. The reason you don't want to use an insert in the diaper is because you will end up absorbing a lot of water into the diaper and this will make the diaper heavier and bulkier. We would simply rinse the diaper afterward and then wash with the rest of our cloth diapers. We didn't experience any colour fading from chlorine but our swimming was sporadic. For anyone swimming on a regular basis, at least once a week, you might want to set aside one diaper for swim class that you aren't worried it, in case colour fading were to occur. Not long after using this brand for swimming, we discovered that Happy Heinys does in fact recommend their diapers for swimming. At the time, we used a sized pocket diaper but now with their one-size diapers you could have a 'swim diaper' that would last from birth through to potty training.

We carry one official swim diaper on our site now - IMSE VIMSE Swim Diapers. Swim Diapers are actually the number one viewed product on our website and generate a lot of intereste. The Imse Vimse diaper is really trim and works under a bathing suit bottom or as a bathing suit bottom. You can even get a tankini top to match. Imse Vimse has adorable swim diaper prints in animal patterns and also flowers. Even older toddlers won't resist putting on this swim diaper. My toddler enjoyed picking out her favourite colour and selecting her own swim diaper and it made vacation easier. Instead of having disposable swim diapers take up valuable luggage space, her swim diaper took up hardly any space and dried quickly between swims.

Now, you may be wondering what happens when your child pees in a swim diaper. Will a swim diaper contain your child's pee? Actually, no. Swim diapers, both cloth and disposable, are designed to contain baby/toddler bowel movements and not baby/toddler urine. Pools are chemically treated to deal with baby pee only. Chances are, you will be holding your baby or toddler outside of the pool and you will not want to be peed on. What we recommend is placing a towel on your lap just in case their are any accidents. It is important when choosing any swim diaper that you have a snug fit so any messes will be contained. The tip is to have a snug fit but not to have any red marks on your babies legs as that will indicate that your fit is too snug.

Are cloth swim diapers allowed at pools and beaches? Overwhelming the answer is YES! Check with your pool or beach if you have any concerns but we have actually heard of more establishments disallowing disposable swim diapers than cloth diapers.

Swim diapers are also great for parents who don't cloth diaper but don't want to continually re-buy disposable swimmers for their baby.

Hopefully this article answered any questions you may have had about swim diapers and next time you hit the pool your baby will be sporting a cute swim diaper. Please let us know if you have any questions at all. Happy swimming!

Thanks,
Aimie
http://www.clothdiapermom.com

Cloth Diapering Cartoon Video from The Natural Baby Company

It's been a little while since we've posted and I promise to blog more soon. In the mean, I have a cute cloth diapering cartoon movie to share from The Natural Baby Company. We have their products arriving soon! The Natural Baby Company at Cloth Diaper Mom.

ClothDiaperDad.com - Coming Soon!

We all know that dads don't necessarily have the same views on diapers that moms do. When I was first looking into cloth diapering my baby-to-be, back in 2003, I'm sure my forays onto the internet in search of endless diaper info and brand searches and how-tos was completely lost on my spouse. Sure he would listen and nod as I tried to explain how cloth diapering would work for our baby and I'm sure he expressed some sticker shock over the price tag for just one diaper, but I know for a fact that he just didn't care as much as I did.

After our baby arrived, and many months went by, I finally placed our first diaper order. A few weeks and probably $80 later, 3 pocket diapers arrived in the mail. I'm sure the conversation went something like this.

Crazed diaper mom: LOOK how cute these are!!!
Not-so-crazed diaper dad: Ah hmm.
Crazed diaper mom: No really! Pink Hawaiian print. SOOOOO cute. Awwww. Do you like them?
Not-so-crazed diaper dad: Those are for *$%*'ing in, right?

At that point, I would have already been excitedly putting the diaper on our baby and he would have walked away.

Fast-forward a few months. People would come over and would notice that we used cloth diapers. The brightly coloured diapers happened to be sitting on a shelf in our living room. WHY did I keep diapers in our living room? It seemed to make sense at the time. Anyhow, people would ask the usual questions and I found my spouse starting to respond to the questions from side of Team Cloth. And at the time, we didn't know a single person who cloth diapered.

Him: 'Yeah, they really aren't that bad. I don't really change any diapers, (lie) but they aren't that bad.'

From then on, he was a cloth diaper convert. It really didn't take much. Little did he know I would eventually fill our entire living room, dining room, and even spare kitchen cupboards with cloth diapers for sale. It kind of took over.

Not every dad shows the same lack of care. At our cloth diapering workshops, we get many fathers-to-be who have done the same type of groundwork that us moms all do. The late night searches onto site after site that leave you wondering how on earth cloth diapers work and how much it is going to cost. They are on the same playing field as us moms.

However, for those fathers-to-be who show the same interest level as my spouse did, resources are on the way. ClothDiaperDad.com is going to be a site where he will answer questions from other dads straight-up. No fluff. This site will also cater to Dad tastes with Dad approved diapers and accessories, and Dad-catered explainations of how each product works and why it's a good thing. I'm sure the site will also carry mostly diapers that are solid black, Ed Hardy design, pirate print, or something more sinister.

Guess how much enthusiasm he had when I told him I registed the domain for him and he could get to work on it? About the same enthusiasm level as he did over our first diaper order. At any rate, I'm exited about it.

Aimie
http://www.clothdiapermom.com/

Special for Our Blog Readers

I wanted to throw out an offer just for our blog readers. For one week, only our blog readers are welcome to the following savings at our website:

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This offer is valid while quantities last.

Our updated contact info

Just in case some people still have our old contact info on record, here is the updated info.

Phone: 204.798.5292
Email: customerservice@clothdiapermom.com
Mailing Address: 103 - 1157 St. Anne's Rd, Winnipeg Manitoba R2N 0B8
Hours of Operation: Subject to change. Please see website for current info.

http://www.clothdiapermom.com/


Thanks,
Aimie