With the environmentally-friendly green movement in full swing, everyone is looking for ways to recycle and reuse. This can occasionally mean going back to the older ways of living, such as the cloth diaper. The cloth diaper was used up to and through the disposable diaper era. The cloth diaper is a great alternative to disposables because it is reusable and can grow with the baby. The downside is that it needs to be cleaned and washed after each use. Disposable diapers are faster to put on the baby and do not need to be cleaned. However, they are slow to biodegrade and can pollute the Earth longer than your baby uses the diaper.

Is the efficiency worth the costs of cloth diapers?

By turning to cloth diapers, one can find a healthy and green way to diaper their baby without much difficulty. It is important to keep the cloth diapers in good repair as a diaper with a hole in it is bound to leak.

When using cloth diapers, one should change the diaper more frequently than with disposable diapers. This is because cloth diapers are made from cloth, not plastic, and therefore are more prone to leaking if left wet. When changing the diaper, leave the dirty diaper open rather than tightly wrapping it. By leaving the diaper open, the fecal matter and urine remain where it is, rather than being spread all over the diaper.

Cleaning cloth diapers

Once the new diaper is securely attached to the baby, release the baby and begin to clean the old diaper. The first thing to do is to remove any solid matter from the diaper. This can be done by scraping the fecal matter off the diaper with a flat item. Many cloth diapers come with a scraper for this purpose. It is often best to scrape the fecal matter into a compost pile or a specialized bag for the fecal matter. This will help to eliminate some of the odors.

Once the fecal matter is off the diaper, rinsing the diaper can help to limit the stains. After the diaper has been rinsed, it should be thrown into its own hamper so that the diapers may be washed together. The diapers should be washed in hot water with bleach to limit the chances of bacterial surviving on the diaper during the wash cycle. The cleaned diapers can be tumble dried. 

If all of this seems a little too much, another easy idea for handling cloth diapers includes a diaper service. This service takes and cleans the diapers for you, although it does require a service payment and can be difficult to find nearby. Do some research in your area and see what you can find.