I just bought gDiapers with cloth inserts, I am brand new to cloth diapering but always wanted to try it, so here I go. My dumb question is, when it says to wash the diapers 6 times before using, does this mean washing then drying six times, or just leaving them in the washer and turning it back on six times?? I'm guessing the latter but I'm not sure...
For general washing, do I need to wash g cloths in cold water then hot? The instructions that came with it just said to wash in hot water but I've read about other cloth that it needs a cold rinse first.
Also for the diaper pail I don't have one of those "wet bags" yet because I couldn't find one in the store so I'll have to order it online. For now can I just put them in a plastic bag? Does it need to be covered airtight? I've seen open diaper pails online... do they need to stay wet until you wash them or is the cover/zipper just to keep the stinkiness in?
Thanks in advance!
I do cloth diapers. I also do g-diapers. i used g-diapers and inserts. i did not wash them 6 times. I wash them in normal wash by them selves. My washer has a kids wash so it get very hot to clean. I just use a diaper pail with a cover to put mine in. Till i got a wet bag to put them in i used plastic bags. Good luck
if you are laundring them there really is no need to get a diaper pail. I just used a laundry basket. I put the diapers in the basket and the insert hung on the side till i washed them. If you have a soiled diap rinse it really well to get the muck off and just put in basket.
as for the pre use wash i washed in hot and rinsed in cold for the six or so cycles did not dry till final wash.. its more to soften up the fabric. also i only used soap for the first wash. no need to wast soap on clean items. hope this helps
I have a few g diapers mixed in with my cloth - and the initial washing is just to "purify" them from shipping and handling. You can probably throw them in with your own laundry a few times initially.
For a typical wash - I do a load on large with Hot water and let it fill and agitate - then turn it off and let them soak for awhile. Then I drain that nasty pee/poo water - and start a fresh 2nd load, also on large setting/Hot - and run it normal with about 1/4 of the amount you would use for a typical load of a natural detergent.
It's all pretty much a breeze - once you get into the swing of it!
Check out www.cottonbabies.com for excellent info about starting the cloth diapering journey! I followed all of their advice and found cloth diapering to be very easy & simple. Good luck!
For our pail we use a diaper pail from BabiesR'Us. It's actually the cheap one. It's white and has a lid with a smaller openning on the top to put the diapers in. It keeps the smell in pretty well. The bag we use inside is actually a mesh Laundry bag. That way we just throw it in with the diapers to get a wash each time. Hope that help. Cloth diapers a a little hard to ge used to in the beginning but just keep with it and it will become 2nd nature.
I'm not familiar with gDiapers, but if they are like most cloth diapers, the recommendation is to wash and dry them a few times before you use to to remove any residue from the manufacturing or shipping process, I believe.
I use prefolds, AIOs, fitteds & pockets, and for washing dirty diapers I wash them on cold with soap (Charlies Soap, recommended for diapers, sensitive skin; no additives, brightens, fragrance, etc.), then wash them on hot, then give them one extra rinse.
If they get stinky (or are particularly gross from poops...), I soak them over night with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in the water, then run it through a cold wash cycle (no detergent, just the soda). Then I wash in hot water with detergent, with 1/4 cup vinegar in a Downy ball, and an extra rinse. Again, as I said, I'm not too familiar with gDiapers, so maybe you don't need this extra washing/rinsing....
For a diaper pail, you don't need an official diaper pail--use what works, because we only wash every 3 days, I bought a regular garbage can with a step to open the lid (hands free! LOL!). IMO, a garbage can with a lid will help keep the smell more "contained".
In terms of a wet bag, you can use a regular garbage bag until you get the wet bag. What I did was, using a trash bag that fit the garbage can we use a diaper pail, I just sewed a "fleece" can liner (basically, something that looks like a big open-ended pillow case) and just throw it into the wash with the diapers. If you go this route, you might want to sew two -- a clean one for when the other is in the wash.
Good luck with you're gDiapers.
Hi,
I "prep" my diapers by washing them back to back in a hot cycle without drying.
You can use any diaper pail or wet bag you want. I use a wet bag, but they go in a trash can in the laundry room. It doesn't matter. You don't need anything different than what you have already. There will be some smell if you let them sit too many days b/c the ammonia gets bad! :(
Wanted to add that the smaller wet bags are nice to throw in your diaper bag for outings. You can use plastic bags, but we don't use those, so I never have many around.
But you will want to wash them every 2-3 days to avoid the smell. I leave my wet bag open and hanging off the bed and rarely can I smell them. I have a toddler too though and it's his urine that smells stonger than the baby's.
Congrats on cloth diapering! It's a lot of fun and good for the wallet and environment!
Join the gdiapers yahoo group they will have all the answers to your questions. There are over 6000 people on it all using cloth or some variation of it.
