confessions of a laundry-a-phobe: how I survived the switch to cloth diapers

Laundry. I’m not a fan.

I couldn’t believe the increase of laundry when I got married. You’d think two people would equate to twice as much laundry. But no… make that four times as much.

For starters, my husband’s clothes are much bigger than mine. You could say at least double the mass of clothes. And secondly, my husband sweats much more than I do. More sweat means more dirty clothes. Nothing gets to be worn twice.

I knew that becoming a mom would mean an even bigger laundry assignment, because not only would there be all the baby clothes, there would be the extra towels, the burp clothes, the peed-on sheets, the blankets, etc. So even though I really wanted to be a cloth-diapering mama, I decided to give myself six months of disposable ease before making the switch.

I called it my laundry grace period.

My reasoning for the six-month delay had everything to do with my fear of insurmountable laundry. I figured that six months would give me time to get used to being a mom, the new routines, the increased laundry… and then half a year after giving birth I’d be ready for the next challenge:

…the cloth diaper challenge.

Imagine my surprise when cloth diapering turned out to be so much easier than I had anticipated.

Yes, there is a bit more laundry. Yes, there is some extra time involved with stuffing and folding them and stacking them, but even still it’s not been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

Here’s my cloth diaper routine:

1. I use “nappy liners” inside the cloth diaper. (These look like a dryer sheet but are made for this so have no perfumes or chemicals that would irritate bubby’s skin.) When there’s a poo, the liner (with most of the poo caught in it) goes straight into the rubbish bin. Makes for very easy clean-up!

2. Then I use a cloth wipe (folded and stored in an empty regular disposable wipes container) and a spray bottle to clean baby’s tooshie.

3. The cloth diaper and insert and cloth wipe all go straight into another small bin. (Yes, I have two small bins near the change table, but it’s much less invasive than you’d think and doesn’t look like a garbage processing center.)

4. If it was a massive poo that needs some extra attention, I take it to the toilet and do a quick rinse off with the diaper sprayer that my clever husband made with some plumbing tube and a garden hose gun. (I actually need to use this much less than I originally thought – maybe only once every other week or so.) After the rinse it goes straight into the bin with the others.

5. Once the bin is full I dump it straight into the washing machine. This usually works out to be every-other day.

6. Next I wash the diapers with ½ scoop of chemical free detergent in a cold cycle with an extra rinse. (For cleaning and stain removal.) Even though it is a small load, I use the water on the large load setting since it’s important to make sure there’s plenty of water to remove the detergent residue. (And thankfully I’m from the tropics where there will never, ever be a shortage of water… so water waste is not an issue.)

7. Then I re-wash the diapers with no detergent in a hot cycle with an extra rinse. (For further cleansing and to make sure no soap reside remains – that’s the important part because residue build-up will eventually give bubs a rash if you don't use extra rinses.)

8. After washing I hang them on the line dry. (I have no dryer folks… but even if I did would probably still use the line for diapers! It keeps them fresh and the sun is a natural bleaching agent.)

9. Finally I stuff the inserts into the liners (usually while watching the news!) and stack them in a storage bin under Levi’s change table.

{helping with the laundry??}

Now obviously this is more work than opening a pack of disposables, but to me it’s worth it. We are saving SO much money this way and I love knowing that we’re not contributing to one of the biggest landfill fillers of all time. (Did you know it’s estimated that disposable diapers take 500 years to decompose? Yikes.)

Even our babysitters have said they don’t mind using the cloth – they’re that easy. (We leave them some disposables just in case… but they always use the cloth.)

They also don’t hinder us from being out and about. I just have a small waterproof bag in my purse that the soiled diaper goes in until we get home – it seals in the wetness and smell surprisingly well.

My only regret is that I didn’t start the cloth diapers sooner. Sure, the “laundry grace period” was great (and I may have still waited 2-3 months before starting), but the laundry and process involved isn’t nearly as daunting as I had assumed it would be.

And this is coming from a laundry-a-phobe.

If I can do it, so can you… if cloth diapering is your thing.

Dear friends, do you use cloth diapers? Any tips you’d like to share? Or maybe you are considering making the switch… what’s the biggest appeal to you or the biggest deterrent? 

i'm a survivor,

I decided to jump back on the bandwagon. 
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adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
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