Washing cloth diapers

Washing cloth diapers is pretty simple as long as you know what you can and can't use on your diapers. It is important that you use a cloth diaper friendly detergent, free of enzymes, brighteners, fabric softeners, scents, and dyes. I've tried 3 different detergents (Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda, Rockin' Green Hard Rock, and Carlie's Soap). Charlie's Soap is my favorite and I use it now on all my laundry, not just the diapers. Some people have had problems with Charlie's Soap causing rashes on their baby's bottom. If you use the product correctly though you should not have that problem. What you need to do to prevent rashes is just add a disinfectant to your wash. I add Borax. I have never had an issue with rashes and my diapers come out smelling completely clean, unlike the other detergents I tried. My diapers still smelled a little when I used Nellie's and I had to rinse 3 or 4 times with Rockin' Green to get all the detergent out. The effectiveness of your detergent depends on your water quality so it is important to know if you have hard water. I thought I had hard water because that is what the water report from Kentcky American Water said. However, when I bought a home test kit I realized I actually had pretty normal, if not soft, water. I know Charlie's Soap isn't the best product to use if you have hard water.

My wash routine:
1. Cold water rinse.
2. Hot water wash on longest wash setting, highest water setting, and extra rinse cycle. 1 scoop of Charlie's Soap with 2 scoops of Borax in the wash.
3. Machine dry prefolds, inserts, and cloth wipes. Line dry covers and pocket diapers. Put stained diapers in the sun if possible.
4. Fold and put away.

It really is that easy!