I've been cloth diapering since Lathan was a baby, and he is 3 now! I started with a few Bum Genius, a couple thirsties and quite a bit of the dappi pull on covers with prefolds. Luna uses a few of those same diapers and, of course, her girly ones i ordered on ebay.
My washing routine has changed throughout the years, but I have now settled on one that seems to be working really well. Cloth diapering does take more work than using disposables, but it's worth it. Not only is it a great money saver, they are super cute too.
So, what i do first is:
Rinse any poopy diapers ASAP. If Luna poops in a diaoer i will rinse it clean in the tub or the outside faucet before throwing it in my pail. Some people don't. I prefer to. I find it cuts down on odors and staining.
On wash day i throw all of the diapers into the washer. I usually wash every other day and have about 10-14 diapers. That includes the covers and the inserts (2/dipe). I do a rinse using cold water. This further removes some of the urine and any poop i didn't get fully get rinsed prior to washing.
After the rinse is done I remove the diapers. I fill the washer with HOT water and a scoop and a half of oxy clean. I use oxy clean because i find that it works well in a pinch. I live in the Bahamas and getting cloth diaper detergents is pretty hard. I could order online, but that will cost more money than i'd like to spend clearing it. So, I use oxy clean, I'm sure there are way better detergents...i'm thinking of switching to borax when I am done with this jar. So, okay, a scoop and a half dissovled in the hot water. I then add the diapers back and wash on heavy, which should be about 10-15 mins.
I do an extra rinse to make sure the water is clear and I am done. The oxy clean amount i use seems to be my perfect amount fory diapers. The water is always clear after rinsing and my diapers smell clean. Keep rinsing until the water is clear!
I dry my clothes on the clothes line. I don't have a dryer anyways! If it is raining out, or I wash them late at night I just dry inside and they are dried by the morning.
So there ya have it. How I wash my cloth diapers :)
