Wash Chinese Prefolds
The easy way – How to wash Chinese prefolds
Washing cloth diapers is so easy to do. It takes me about 18 minutes a week to wash my daughter’s diapers. No mess, no fuss, just clean Chinese prefolds wrapping her in softness and saving us money while we save trees. Contrary to popular belief, washing cloth diapers is pretty easy when you have great cloth diapers and a washing machine. Come see how easy it can be to wash Chinese prefolds.
The basics of washing cloth diapers are very simple. Most people use a routine something like this:
Cloth Diaper Pail Liners
* Put wet Chinese prefolds directly into a dry cloth diaper pail. Shake any solids into the toilet before placing diaper in pail. For breastfed babies, there is no reason to rinse diapers first. I promise, it will come out in the wash. Formula fed babies might need their diapers rinsed with a cloth diaper sprayer or you can use flushable cloth diaper liners. Most cloth diaper makers suggest a dry pail since a wet pail (soaking) can cause diapers to break down faster. Additionally, a pail full of stinky water is a drowning hazard for toddlers – and a potential mess if the bucket tips!
Trust me, a properly cared for cloth diaper pail does not smell anywhere near as bad as several days worth of plastic-encased disposable diapers coming out of one of those Diaper Genie things. Ugh! When I was a nanny I had to empty far too many of those things and that wretched smell is worse than anything I’ve encountered in 2 1/2 years of cloth diapering my little girl.
On wash day, dump the used diapers into the washing machine to start to wash Chinese prefolds. Before each step I include the amount of time it typically takes me to do this step, before I go off to do other things or play with my daughter.
* 1 minute: Run a cold rinse cycle to rinse the diapers out.
* 1 minute: Next, do a hot wash with 1/2 the amount of cloth diaper detergent recommended on the label. There are endless debates about which detergent should be used for cloth diapers. While almost any detergent has been known to work for some people, there are certain things that cause problems for lots of cloth diaper users. Basically, you want a detergent that is free of dyes, optical brighteners, fragrances, and enzymes. Our favorite cloth diaper detergent is Allen’s Naturally. Thirsties Superwash, BumGenius cloth diaper detergent, and Country Save are also good options.
* 1 minute: Rinse the diapers a second time if your baby has sensitive skin or if you have hard water. This will help to remove any detergent residue. Don’t worry, while this sounds like a lot of water, it is comparable to an adult flushing the toilet throughout the day. If you wash diapers every 3 days, you’ll use about as much water for washing diapers as a potty-trained child would have used in the same amount of time.
* 1-10 minutes: Line dry or tumble dry. Line dry the diapers for the best energy savings and to lengthen their useful life (dryers are bad for clothes!). If they are stiff coming off the line, toss them in the dryer for 10 minutes. Cloth diaper covers will last longer if they are air dried as well – check the manufacturer’s instructions for details.
See, that is much easier than most people think it is going to be. It takes me about 6 minutes to wash a load of diapers – totally 18 minutes per week. That is about the same amount of time I would have to spend emptying nasty-smelling disposable diaper pails and taking their contents out of the house.
See, you now know how to wash Chinese prefolds!
