A Wash/Dry Routine for Cloth Diapers
Before you place your diapers into the wash, be sure to remove all inserts and dump any loose solids.
Step 1: Pre-Rinse
First rinse the diapers without any detergent. Always pre-rinse on cold, since cold water does the best job at lifting stains. Use a medium to high water setting to give them a good rinse. After running a rinse cycle you will find that most if not every bit of poop has washed away. Hooray for modern washing machines! If you're dealing with peanut-butter consistency poop, try a full cold/cold wash instead of a simple pre-rinse.
Step 2: Hot/Cold Wash
The hot water will sanitize the diapers and your washer. Use 1/4 cup or less of detergent. If you use too much detergent, oily or soapy residues may build up on your diapers over time, interfering with their absorbent abilities. Oil or soap causes liquids to run off the fabric, rather than absorbing into the fibers. Set your washer on a high water setting to give them plenty of room to move about and agitate clean. Never wash more than 24 diapers at a time. Having trouble with stains? Sunning your diapers is the best stain-remover and it's safe and free as well!
Step 3: Check
When your wash is done, take a look at your diapers. If one doesn't look clean, you could try a stain treatment directly on the diaper or hang it in the sun to dry. Smell a few. Really! You should smell nothing. If you detect an odor, you do have a problem. An odor could indicate that bacteria remains, which could irritate baby's skin and cause a rash. This is why detergents with fragrance are a bad idea. They mask odors, preventing this test. Smelly diapers should definitely be washed again.
Step 4: Dry
Now that they're clean, let's get them dry. You can toss everything in the dryer, if you like, on medium setting.
You can also line dry your diapers and reduce your energy usage by 60%! I like to machine dry my hemp and microterry cotton inserts and hang dry the pocket diaper itself. This keeps my diapers looking brand new and cuts down on my energy bill. And since the pocket diaper (being micro-fleece and PUL plastic) is hardly wet anyways, it will dry in 2-3 hours even indoors. For extra credit, dry your pocket diaper outside, white side up. The sun will naturally bleach and sanitize them in no time!
Are your diapers stiff? Drying outdoors in full sun can cause stiffness. Try hanging them out in the early morning or late afternoon, so that they dry slower. You could also hang 2-3 together to slow down the drying time, if you must dry in the middle of the day.
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