For the love of cloth diapers!

If you have been thinking of making the switch to cloth diapering....do it! Not only do you get the benefits of saving the environment and being cost effective....they are beyond cute and addicting to collect. Yup...I am officially superficial ;). 

Chilling in a swim cloth diaper...

Admiring oneself in a cloth diaper is a must!

We have been cloth diapering since Felix was about 2-3 months old. We tried different brands, and we settled on Applecheeks. They work well for us, are made in Canada, great customer service, easy to use (we use them as a pocket diaper), and they are just so darn cute. :)

If you are worried about cloth diapers being a ton of extra work....don't be! We have a front load washer....the whole washing routine takes about 3 hours (and that is only because I am compulsive obsessive about getting all the suds off of them). We have about 20 size two diapers (I believe they are from 20lbs up to potty training for size two) and they last for 3 days if need be. So if you have enough diapers, you only need to do laundry every 2nd or 3rd day. Pooped in diapers get cleaned off/sprayed and then we put them in their designated soaking bucket that is filled with water and a tiny bit of Rock in Green diaper detergent. Wet diapers we just put into a wet bag. Once laundry day has arrived I literally put all the diapers into the washer (dump the poop diaper bucket in with water and all) I don't have to un-stuff the diapers (I use them as pocket diapers) because the inserts agitate out!!! (awesome product detail for Applecheeks). I put everything on for a 20 minute rinse and spin cycle (without detergent) on cold water. Once that cycle is done, I put the load on for a 6 minute just rinse cycle on cold/warm....no spin...this leaves all the water in the wash. I find, extra water is key for washing diapers in a front load washer....you can even add extra water with a bucket through the detergent compartment. After the load is good and soaked, I put it on a sanitary hot water cycle (my machine has an extra soiled button...which makes the cleaning cycle longer, so I press that as well and add a scoop or scoop and a half (depending on size of load) of Rock in Green detergent to the proper compartment. This usually makes the diapers come out perfectly clean. I sometimes want to make sure that all soap has come off the diaper in the wash, so I usually re-wet them with a rinse cycle (6 minutes) and then put them on another quick regular cycle with warm or cold water (no detergent) for another 40 minutes (or sometimes just the rinse and spin cycle again). 

Voila!!! squeaky clean diapers....I have never had a staining/smell issue! 

After washing them I find it best to hang dry everything....if you are in a rush, just hang dry the covers (they dry super fast) and put the inserts in the dryer. I just find hanging the covers to dry gives them more of a longer life. 

I am actually a little sad that Felix will be potty training soon and we will no longer be using cloth diapers :( 

Have you ever tried cloth diapers? What is your experience with them?

My little helper with stuffing the diapers...

 

Some food for thought....