Wednesday, January 4, 2012

But...What About the Poop?

This is usually the first question people ask me after getting over the shock that I have gone cloth. It is simple. Newborns or babies who are solely breastfed or formula fed have poop that is water soluble. So you can throw it straight into the washing machine. Poop and all (stay posted for how to wash). When babies begin eating solids, the poop will need to be disposed of prior to going into the wash. There are a couple of different options when you get to this point:

*There is always the well-known plunging of diapers in the toilet (rubber gloves make this dirty job not quite so dirty).

*You can attach a diaper sprayer, similar to a kitchen sink sprayer, to the plumbing in your toilet and spray off the waste right into the toilet.

*You can use a biodegradable flushable liner that lays in the diaper, and then after it is soiled, it is dumped into the toilet and flushed prior to washing the diaper.

*Or you can use a combination of the above.

I know some may think it is gross to be washing dirty diapers in the same machine that you wash your other clothes in, but ask yourself this...what do you do when your child is potty training and has an accident in their clothing, it is thrown into the same washing machine that your other clothes go in, isn't it? Same thing goes for clothing or linens that have been vomited on, or bedding that has been wet on. It really is no different.

And there ya go.

3 comments:

  1. I can't wait to have babies so i can cloth diaper!

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  2. Please share all of your tips!! I've been thinking about this option (from a very far distance) due to incredibly sensitive skin for Phin. But I have a hard enough time staying on top of other "critical" laundry, that I'm afraid I'd find myself with no clean diapers more often than not. What is your cleaning schedule like? Thanks!

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  3. Hi Heidi! I will be trying to get all the basics into posts in the next couple of days, but for now I will tell you that it really is not difficult at all. I don't even look at laundering my diapers as part of laundry. I usually do them at night after the kids are in bed and just stay consistent with that time being my "diaper laundry time." I wash every other day. Do you have a front loader or top loading washing machine? Basically the wash routine you would want to start with and then feel free to tweak to your needs is this:

    Cold/Cold Soak and/or prewash
    Hot/Cold Heavy duty wash with about 2 Tbsp of detergent.
    Extra Cold/Cold rinse.

    Then you can throw them all in the dryer or hang dry your covers (that is what I do to keep them nice longer) or you can even hang them in the sun to dry. The sun works wonders in removing stains and/or any odors that may be lingering. I will post a wash routine tomorrow :) Good Luck!

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