Cloth diaper post #5,832

Ok, that's an exaggeration, but I do feel like I talk about cloth diapers a lot. Like I've said, I've learned so much in the 9ish months I've been cloth diapering, and I'm actually surprised by the interest that others have in it. So, here it goes...

If you recall my very first post about cloth, I was using Sunbaby diapers. They worked great once the girls reached 8 lbs. No leaks, cute, bright colors, easy to use... I really like them and at $5 a diaper, I didn't have a thing to complain about. The more they ate (drank) though, the less awesome those diapers became. Then, when we started solid foods around 7 months, the diapers were virtually useless. I'd have them on for 40 minutes and they'd be leaking all over the place. The insert was soaked and so was everything else. I tried doubling up the inserts, but that just made it more bulky and only a tiny bit more absorbent. By the time I did my second cloth diaper post, I was hardly using them at all. I didn't feel too bad for it either because they were only $5 a diaper and I really did use them a lot until the girls were about 5 months or so. 

Just to give you a visual on the Sunbaby inserts, here's one compared to a Bumgenius insert. 

Both diapers claim to be a one-size-fits-all-diaper that grows with your baby from 8lbs to potty training. I'm pretty sure it doesn't take a genius (or Bumgenius...stupid, stupid joke...) to guess which one holds more.

I then discovered my love for prefolds. Guys, I really do love them. I love that they don't get the microfiber stink or give the microfiber rash that Lillian is prone to. Don't get me wrong, I still love Bumgenius and their microfiber inserts, but most of the time, I use prefolds with Lillian. Her skin is pretty sensitive and prefolds are made of cotton, a natural fiber, whereas microfiber is synthetic and for one reason or another, is a little too harsh on her skin. 

I'm not sure why it took so long for me to get the idea of stuffing prefolds into Sunbabies, but I got an email from a fellow cloth diaperer asking if I had tried using prefolds with them. DUH! Here I am claiming that you can stuff virtually any fabric into your diapers, while complaining that mine don't absorb much, but yet I do nothing about it? Stupid, stupid Brittany. So I put the combination on Sophie (or was it Lillian...) and she went 2 hours without a drop of a leak! She would have been able to go longer since the prefold wasn't completely soaked, but I'm pretty firm on changing them every 2 hours. Sitting in waste kinda freaks me out and I'm sure if feels much better to have a fresh diaper on. Plus, they recommend changing diapers every 2 hours no matter what kind of diaper you use, and that's the schedule we were on at work, so I'm pretty consistent with it. Anyway, to make a long story short...it was awesome besides for one little thing... it was a little too bulky for my taste. Sunbaby diapers are definitely smaller than Bumgenius (which is another reason I doubt their clam to fit until potty training a little bit) so it makes sense that they would need a smaller prefold. I ordered a dozen of them in the infant size this weekend and I can't wait for them to arrive so I can try them out. I'll let you know how it goes! 

Now let's talk detergent. I've been using regular old Original Tide this whole time. About a week before we moved into our new apartment, I ran out. I had heard rumors that Tide revamped their formula and wasn't sure if it was still cloth diaper safe. You see, when you're washing a fabric that needs to absorb a lot, you don't want it to repel the water (well duh....) A lot of mainstream detergents are filled with additives that build up on all laundry. You don't really notice however, because you usually don't need your socks and shirts to absorb water. Trust me though, you notice it after a week or two with cloth diapers. They start to leak a LOT and that's when you have to strip them (ie. use a drop of dawn dish soap in a HOT wash and rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some morcee). I've only had to do that once and it wasn't very much fun. It turns out that you can still use the new Ultra Tide, but you have to use even less because it's more concentrated. I was only using half way up to the first line of the scoop. I think if you use the new Tide, you're only supposed to use a couple of teaspoons, but I'm not sure. Either way, I don't think my diapers would get very clean with just a dab of detergent. It's probably just a mental thing with me, but I don't feel like they would. So, I decided to make my own detergent. 

There are all sorts of recipes online for great homemade detergent like this one. This works great for regular laundry, but the grated soap would cause the diapers to repel, so instead replace the soap with OxiClean Free. Just the regular, unscented powder. I used equal parts of Borax, Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) and OxiClean. I bought all of it at Walmart (yes, I went to Walmart...) and spent about $11. The OxiClean was the most expensive thing, but it should last forever. I used 2 cups of each ingredient, mixed it in a bowl and dumped it all in an old formula can. It's been a slight trial and error to figure out an amount that works for us, but I know I need to use at least 2 Tbs in order for them to get clean. Most of the time I throw in an extra Tbs just in case. I do large loads though...at least 25 diapers (although some are prefolds/covers so it isn't as much as if I only used pockets). From what I've read, if you're diapering one baby and washing every other day (so you have 15is diapers) your probably only need 1-2 Tbs.  

 

It's a super crappy picture, but here's the Borax, Washing Soda, OxiClean and the formula can that I put it all in.

The last thing I've changed is using coconut oil. As mentioned, Lillian has really sensitive skin. If I use microfiber too much with her, she breaks out in a killer rash. I've been using California Baby and Mother Love but I'm running low on both of them. They're a little more on the expensive side, so I thought I'd give coconut oil a try. It works great, smells great and I got a giant thing of it for $7. Plus, we can use it for cooking as another alternative to shortening. I scooped some into an empty California Baby eczema cream container and it works great! I'd recommend it for a cheap, amazing rash cream (even if you use disposables, which if you're still reading this, you probably don't....)

So there you have it. I probably made it sound way more complicated than it needed to be. Basically, I'm going to stuff my Sunbabies with prefolds, I made my own detergent and I'm using coconut oil to prevent and treat any rashes. Hopefully, you didn't mind the long drawn out explanations, but I felt that it would make more sense if I told you why I do what I do. I still love cloth diapering and I love how much I've learned about it. I fully admit that it's a strange thing to get excited about, but I love saving money, I love having diapers that are chemical free and I love not having oodles of trash to take out. The trash factor has been especially nice since we still don't have a city trash can at our new house. I'm {im}patiently awaiting the day they deliver it...

I'm sure this wont be the last time I write about diapers. As you can probably tell, I'm a little obsessed.