When I first was interested in using cloth diapers I was a little overwhelmed on how to properly clean the diapers. I thought it would take a lot of work and time to get them clean but I was wrong. Cloth diapers need lots of room to agitate and lots of water to get clean. Only a very small amount of detergent is necessary. Use 2 tablespoons of detergent or for HE washers use less than 1 tablespoon. Fill your washer no more than half-full but run it as a full load. It is EXTREMELY important that all of the detergent is rinsed out of the diapers. If the detergent isn't removed your diapers will retain odor, perform poorly, and in worst case scenarios irritate your baby's bottom. Look in your washer on the final rinse and see if there are any suds. If so you need to run the rinse cycle again. When your diapers come out of the washer, they should smell like water. If they smell unclean, then use a bit more detergent. If they smell like your detergent, use less detergent and rinse more. Choose a detergent with no fabric softener, no optical whiteners or brighteners, and no enzymes. Do not use chlorine bleach, there is one exception to this BumGenius products can be treated once per month with 1/4 cup of bleach in a full load of wash. You need to read the labels of detergents you are considering. The fewer the ingredients, the better! Biodegradable surfactants should be the main ingredient and preferably the only ingredient. I use Eco Nuts natural soap for my cloth diapers.
Cleaning Instructions for Cloth Diapers and Diaper Covers
1. Wash cold cycle - You don't need to use detergent as this cycle is only a presoak.
2. Wash hot cycle with detergent - For HE washers, you might want to run 2 short hot washes instead of 1 long
3. Wash with rinse cycle - Don't add any detergent
4. Dry in drier on medium-high or line-dry.
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