Diaper Washing/Care Instructions

Every order of cloth diapers from For Baby with Love will come with a set of wash & care instructions for you to reference. However, we've also posted them here so you can look them up if need be!

We recommend using a DRY diaper pail with a diaper pail liner to store your dirty cloth diapers between washings. We strongly suggest that you have 2 pail liners so that while one is in the wash, one can be in use. A standard kitchen garbage can with lid works just fine as the pail itself. You do not need to dunk, swish or swirl dirty diapers in the toilet.

Washing cloth diapers has become complicated of late and we want to make using and caring for cloth as simple as possible for you. Here is what we recommend:

Prior to Use
There are a few things you will need to do before using your diapers for the first time.

Pocket diapers and AIO’s should be washed and dried twice. Wash in Hot Water and dry in the drier on HIGH heat. This will seal the seams and around the stitching. After this initial wash/dry be sure to follow the laundering instructions that follow.

Hemp diapers and inserts will need to be washed and dried approximately 8 times prior to use. It is also best to avoid washing them with your other diapers until the initial washes are complete. Hemp contains natural oils that need to be removed, otherwise the hemp will not reach maximum absorbency. After the initial wash, please follow the laundering instructions below. I recommend washing your hemp inserts and diapers with any other laundry you may be doing to save on washing them in a load of their own.

Enjoy Your Diapers!

Laundering Cloth Diapers: Easy as 1-2-3!
1. After removing the dirty diaper from your baby, shake any solids off into the toilet. Rinse or scrape off any solids remaining on the diaper and store your dirty diapers in a dry pail.

2. On wash day, run the diapers through a cold rinse cycle without detergent. Next, run a HOT/WARM or HOT/COLD wash cycle with minimal detergent (about 1/2 the recommended amount). You may run an extra rinse cycle or two as desired to ensure the diapers have rinsed clean.

3. Dry diapers on LOW heat or line dry where convenient. Hang any covers to dry.

Tips & Tricks:
1. You do not need to wash your covers after every use. If your cover is not soiled, let it air dry and alternate with another cover. If soiled, fold Velcro tabs over and place in laundry pail.
2. DO NOT use any bleach products. Bleach is a strong chemical and will break down the fibers in the diapers. To remove stains, hang or lay your diapers in the sun. It works wonders! For those stubborn stains, squirt fresh lemon juice on the diapers before placing in the sun.
3. DO NOT use fabric softeners. They will coat the diapers make them water repellent and they will leak. Be aware that if you use dryer sheets in your laundry for other loads, they can coat your dryer and transfer to your diapers. If you encounter leaks, try line drying instead.
4. HE Machines and Front Loaders, since your machine uses so little water, set your water levels higher to ensure your diapers are cleaned and rinsed properly. You can also increase water levels by adding a wet towel in your wash load to make it heavier. Extra rinses are also recommended.
5. Set your hot water tank to 180˚F. This is as close to boiling as you can get and it will kill the bacteria on your diapers. To be more energy efficient you can set the tank lower, but no lower than 140˚F.
6. DO NOT use a lot of detergent. Use only 1/4 the amount you would normally use.
7. DO NOT use diaper creams without a liner in any cloth diaper. The residue will stick to diapers causing stinky diapers and leaks
8. DO NOT go more than 3 days between washings. The longer they sit in urine the harder they will be to clean and the quicker the fibers of the diapers will wear out.
9. Always follow the manufacturers specified washing instructions depending on the diapers you’re using. Failure to do so could void any warranties offered.

Recommended Detergents:
There is much debate over what detergents are suitable for your cloth diapers, even among manufacturers. We recommend you use what works best for your baby and your water (hard vs. soft). You’ll know your detergent is doing the job when your diapers smell clean and they absorb quickly. You’ll also want to make sure your detergent isn’t causing a rash on baby.

Many detergents contain additives, enzymes and oils that will not rinse clean causing trouble down the road. Look for detergents that are free of phosphates, free of enzymes, bleach-free, free of additives, contains NO optical brighteners, free of dyes and/or fragrances, free of softeners.
When choosing a laundry detergent, you want to make sure it is a detergent and not a soap. Most “natural” products contain soap. Soaps are often too mild and deposit a film on the diapers, which causes repelling and leaking.

Some detergents we recommend are:
Allen’s Naturally
Country Save
Nellie’s Detergent
Seventh Generation Delicate Care
Nature Clean

Other detergents that you can use; but may contain enzymes:
Tide
Sunlight
Cheer
Gain

DO NOT use baby detergents. They contain softeners which will coat your diapers and cause repelling and leaking.


Troubleshooting:
If your diapers leak right through or begin to smell even after they have been washed, it is likely you have detergent build up and will need to “strip” your diapers. To do this, you will need to wash your diapers several times in HOT water without detergent.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, you can also strip your diapers by hand scrubbing them with a drop of DAWN liquid dish washing soap and a nylon scrub brush.

If your diapers smell, but do not leak, you could have ammonia build up. Try stripping the diapers as above. If they still smell, you can try washing your diapers with nothing other than Bio-Clean. If this does not work. Look into Calgon LIQUID water softener and adding a few drops to your wash loads. This will help the detergent rinse cleaner and loosen up the trapped ammonia.


We want you to enjoy your diapers for a long time, please be sure to always follow the care instructions for your diapers!

Diaper manufacturers may have some variations in how to best care for your diapers. We include these instructions with each diaper purchase.