Washing Cloth Diapers: The Complete Guide

updated on February 28, 2021September 30, 201939 Comments

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Below, I am going to tell you everything you need to know about washing cloth diapers in a complete comprehensive guide.

So you’ve chosen to cloth diaper your baby. So the first question you ask yourself is, how to do you wash your beautiful, fluffy, adorable, cute diapers that you invested in to keep them looking like they did when you first bought them.

DISCLAIMER: In full transparency, please be advised that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through my links here will grant a small commission to me at no extra cost to you.

The number one reason why parents want RUN far away from cloth diapers, is because of the idea of WASHING them. I get it, I mean, who the heck wants to have to deal with any more poop when changing diapers than they have to, right?

But the fact is, washing cloth diapers is actually just a part of cloth diapering! The ENTIRE reason you are using cloth diapers, is to be able to REUSE them. So it goes without saying, you need to wash them if you chose to use cloth diapers.

Decisions Decsions! You want to cloth diaper ONLY because you are 100% okay with washing them.

GUYS! With 9 years of cloth diapering experience, washing cloth diapers is super EASY with a capital E!

It is so simple and you never have to touch what you think you have to touch.

I am going to discuss all of the basics you need to know about washing cloth diapers for you:
1. Supplies you need to wash cloth diapers
2. What to do with your soiled/wet diapers after changing
3. The actual wash routine
4. How to dry them
5. If you have hard or soft water
6. Washing machines
7. Stripping
8. My personal routine for Southern Comfort Fitteds

If washing cloth diapers scares you away, just HANG ON! Don’t run yet! Let me explain to you why this really NO BIG DEAL!

But First…

Table of Contents

Now I know everyone will have their own personal touch of how they want to wash diapers.

*DISCLAIMER* I do not claim to be an expert but my comprehensive research comes from credited sites and companies. This post is just the condensed version of it all.

So you can curate your own method based on this skeleton model below. This routine is just for you to take off and go by.

By NO means do you HAVE to wash your cloth diapers this exact way.

But having this list below will make you feel better knowing that it was written by a professional cloth diaper designer with authority in the niche you can trust!

To make it even EASIER, I have a free printable below in a list form for you to hang up in your laundry area as a guide for washing cloth diapers. This will come in handy for the dads too. Just opt-in with your email address, look for the email and print it out. Hang it up in the laundry area if you want!

This cloth diaper washing routine is good for ANY type or brand of diaper, but I do not take responsibility for anything that goes wrong during your wash routine.

Supplies needed for washing cloth diapers

A tall plastic or stainless steel 13-gallon trash can with a lid (i prefer the sliding in and out lids like THIS ONE). Steel cans will keep the odor down much more effectively.
2-3 large wet bags. These are my absolute favorites, the Wegreeco. I’ve had several so I can attest for them. They come in a 2 pack for under 20 bucks, Last FOREVER wash after wash. Come in ADORABLE prints. AND Can hold a SHIT ton (no pun intended) of dirty diapers.
Cloth diaper safe detergent. The majority of “green and natural” detergents are DEFINITELY NOT strong enough to clean your diapers thoroughly. And it is simply not true that you have to use a SPECIAL cloth diaper detergent. Absolutely do NOT use fabric softeners. This will adhere a layer to your cloth diaper that prevents them from doing their job, ABSORBING. So make sure when choosing a detergent that it does NOT have added softeners. Here is a list of STORE brand recommendations:
1. Tide original (highly recommended, liquid or powder)
2. DIY detergent (it is recommended to use a detergent, not a soap)
3. All Free and Clear (best bang for your buck)
4. Sun Free and Clear
5. Tide Free and Gentle
6. Method
7. Biokleen
8. Seventh Generation
9. Kirkland Environmentally Responsible
10. Pyrex Naturals
Cloth diaper safe detergent list of I DO NOT RECOMMEND from user experience (do not use these!)
1. Rock n Green
2. Bum Genius
3. Charlies Soap
4. Ecos
5. Ecos Nuts
6. Soap Berries
7. Soap Nuts
8. Charlies
9. Allens Naturally
10. Crunchy Clean
A diaper sprayer, like this one. It is affordable and serves its purpose. Investment well made. (or if your toilet is near the shower and you have a showerhead you don’t need one)
Bac-Out to spray dirty diapers. This spray not only keeps the stains away, but it eats up any bacteria

How to store the dirty diapers

If the diaper is just wet, take the diaper apart by all of its pieces. If you absolutely do NOT want to touch these parts, you can always use these inexpensive, reusable rubber gloves. Even toss those puppies in with the diaper laundry. Separate each part. Spray the diaper down with Bac-Out. Toss inside your diaper pail and shut the lid.
If the diaper is dirty, take it to the toilet and shake, dump the solids into the toilet. Flush. If the soiled diaper will not dump out, grab your diaper sprayer or shower head and spray it down into the toilet until all solids are sprayed off. Flush. Spray the diaper down with Bac-Out and toss it inside the diaper pail.
If you also use cloth wipes, you will wash and store dirty wipes along with your cloth diapers.

When to wash dirty diapers

This all depends on how many cloth diapers you have and how often you are changing your baby. As well as how many babies you are cloth diapering at the time.

If your stash is minimal, you might need to wash every other day.

If you have enough cloth diapers to last you about 3 days, then you can wash every 2-3 days. You do not need to stress yourself over hurrying to wash the diapers after sitting there for 24 hours. It is perfectly fine just to grab them when you can.

Here is a chart you can go by for amount of diapers you would need per baby and how often to wash:

You also want to make sure you aren’t letting them sit any longer than 5 days. You don’t want to end up smelling the diaper pail or letting the bacteria build-up that long.

Lets Discuss Machines for a Sec

HE (high efficiency) machines are perfectly fine to wash your diapers. You just want to make sure you have enough in there for the diapers to agitate against each other.

Depending on your machine size, you only want to fill it about ½ to ⅔ full. You want plenty of water in there to agitate and a good amount of it to get your load clean.

Front loader machines work completely fine for washing cloth diapers. You may need to tweak the settings based on your brand, wash load, settings, etc.

Top loaders do seem to work better because there is the center agitator to swish the diapers around inside a pool of water. But don’t let cloth diapers be the reason you buy a specific machine.

Both front and top loaders work just fine for washing cloth diapers.

NOW! On to the washing method!

Once it is time to wash your cloth diapers, this is the easy part. You have already done the hard part of prepping them to wash when you threw them into the pail using the steps above.

Step 1: Open your trash can, grab your liner and pull the drawstring together. Carry the bag to the laundry area.

Step 2: Take your bag and DUMP the cloth diapers into the washing machine. Then throw the wet bag in on top right after, push your hand through the bottom of it and flip it inside out.

*SIDE NOTE* I recommend washing cloth diapers FIRST THING in the morning, so they can hang in the sun for the entire day. Try to choose a day to wash on a dry, warm sunny day so you can hang up your diapers to dry in the sun all during the day. If not, drying your diapers in the dryer or inside the house on a line will work just fine too.

Washing Method:

Do a cold rinse first. Add a cup of vinegar to this rinse to balance out the ammonia.
Sometimes I do another cold rinse
Add your cloth diaper safe detergent and wash on HOT on a heavy-duty setting. If you have a sanitize mode that works great too. You can also add a cap full of bleach. This amount is not enough to damage your diapers, just enough to kill the bacteria.
Do another cold rinse
They are DONE!

Drying Method:

Either OR
1. Either: Hang each piece up to dry either in the sun or in a room in the house where the sun will come in through the window on a drying rack or wherever you can. The sun will continue to kill any bacteria and naturally removes any further staining. I like to leave mine hanging for the entire day. Or:
2. Throw them all in the dryer, but hang up any diapers that have PUL. It is NOT recommended to put PUL diapers into the dryer. This could potentially melt or ruin that kind of fabric. PUL is not meant for a dryer.
3. BONUS: throw in some homemade dryer balls or THESE for a faster dryer time. Dryer balls separate the diaper parts bouncing them around allowing a faster dry time. You can add lavender essential oils to homemade dryer balls to give your diapers a fresh clean scent. Dryer balls are only optional, not required.

At this point, your diapers are clean and DRY!

Just toss all clean diapers into a laundry basket and fold them how you like them. Put them away for ready to use!

Don’t forget to restock the diaper bag!

Soft Water v. Hard Water

Do you have hard water? If so, this can cause a mineral build-up on your diapers, preventing them from getting completely clean. In the same sentence, really soft water can cause your water to over sud and get too frothy. If you have hard water, you can use an additive like borax or Calgon to soften it up a bit.

The key is to get your water somewhere in the middle of hard and soft.

Don’t try to over-analyze what kind of water you have. You will be able to tell when you feel like your diapers just are not getting as clean as you like.

If you really want to know, you can use these test strips to test your water.

Getting your diapers as clean as you want them may take some tweaking in your wash routine if you have hard or soft water. Over time you will figure out exactly what you need to do after some trial and error.

Stripping and What is it?

If your diapers have a potent ammonia smell even after washing them, it is time to strip them. Personally I’ve only ever stripped my diaper stash ONE time in all of my cloth diapering years.

Sometimes you can strip just to give your diapers a reset.

You can also choose to strip cloth diapers that you buy used from another person for sanitary safety.

How to Strip:

Fill up the bathtub, sink or a large tote with HOT water and 2-4 teaspoons ( i jus do a few squirts until i feel it’s enough) of Dawn (ultra original) dishwashing detergent and half a cup of bleach. Or you can add a packet of RLR. (a natural laundry powder that whitens, brightens and freshens cloth diapers, YAY!)
Put your clean WET cloth diapers that you just washed from the washing machine into the above solution. You do NOT need to put the shells in (mainly PUL shells). Only the absorbent layers normally need to be stripped. If you strongly feel the shells need to be stripped, just throw the ones in there that you think need to go in too.
Lay them all inside, and swirl them around. Let them sit for a few hours or overnight (make sure to keep some diapers out for changing baby until these are done, you can do strip in batches.)
Drain the tub, squeeze them out. Carry them back to the washing machine and do another cold rinse.
After the rinse is over, choose one of the drying methods above.

At this point, your diapers should be clean as a whistle. You shouldn’t have to strip your diapers more than once or twice in your cloth diapering phases.

And now here is my personal routine for washing Southern Comfort Fitteds

These instructions are recommended by the Real Diaper Association (RDA) and Southern Comfort Fitteds. For special circumstances or personalized advice, please contact us at mak@southerncomfortfittds.com

1. CHANGE Change baby into a clean, dry diaper as soon as the diaper they are wearing is soiled or feels damp to the touch. It is recommended to use your diapers in 10+ diaper stash rotation.

2. REMOVE SOLIDS Unsnap and separate all parts of the diaper for a more thorough cleaning. Dump, scrape or spray solid waste into toilet and flush. Store wet/soiled diapers in a dry pail lined with a cloth diaper wet bag/liner with a lid that closes.

3. RINSE Once your diaper laundry is full and ready to wash, put all diapers together in the washing machine and do a cold, regular rinse with no detergent. Make sure there is enough room for the machine to agitate freely.

4. WASH When the rinse cycle is over, add a cloth diaper safe detergent best for your family, and wash on heavy-duty with warm/hot water. Do not use fabric softeners. Use as much detergent as you would use on a regular load of laundry. If you have hard water, you may need to use additional detergent or a water softener.

5. RINSE AGAIN Once the wash cycle is complete, set the machine to another rinse cycle, no detergent, in warm water.

6. DRY Dry your diapers by hanging in the natural sunlight or in your dryer on med/high. Sun -drying is great for saving energy and will help remove any unwanted stains directly from your diapers. If you choose to use your dryer, do not use dryer sheets. Fabric softeners create a build-up will cause the natural fibers to lose its absorbency.

Opt in below to get your free printable to hang in your laundry area to remind you of the washing routine steps.

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Makayla Kane

I am a work at home mom of 4 running a full time small business in my home studio as a blogger and seamstress. I run on caffeine and Jesus to get me through my days. I'm married to my best friend and living my best life!