Those two are great reasons why you might choose to go with reusable diapers. Today we will dive into how you would go about cleaning them.
Cleaning your diapers
We are avoiding disposable diapers for two good reasons. There may be others too, such as not supporting certain companies. The point is that even though disposable diapers are convenient you may have great reasons to avoid them. You should be careful about something, though.
A great advantage that disposable diapers have over reusable ones is cleanliness. If you manage to clean your baby up without making a mess you can just throw them in the trash, nothing more required here. This is great to reduce the risk of infection. After all, this is poop. You will still have to take care of the skin in the same manner you would, but with reusable diapers, you have an added concern. That is, of course, making sure that the diaper is cleaned well enough for re-use.
Diaper specific
Diapers should not be treated as any other regular piece of clothing in this regard. Not only do you not want to mix the two up. You also do not want to give them the same treatment. Let’s go over some of the things that you can do to take care of your diapers.
Diaper Sprayer
You should use a diaper sprayer whenever possible. Those are not available everywhere, though. If you’ve never heard of them we can describe them for you. They are a small hose with a high-power sprayer. They are often by the toilet. They are used to take care of the big stuff inside the diaper. It will enable you to handle the rest of the operation more easily. If you have access to them you will know it for sure. Do not miss out on its use.
Do not use a lot of bleach
Bleach is a great product. It will ensure cleanliness and remove a lot of stains. It is a very strong product though, and it will have a great impact on your clothes. Since diapers are used and washed so often you should avoid bleach. If you expose clothes to bleach too often it will shorten the life of your diapers for a lot. You should use it only when you feel it is needed. Perhaps a very small amount of it.
Pre-rinse
Sometimes you will have to do a rinsing before moving on to the rest of the cleaning. If you must do that we recommend that you do it with clean, cold water. Also, you should not use detergent or any other product. This is to avoid complications after.
Using your washing machine
Machines help us in every way imaginable and more. We do a lot more with them than without them. We’ve had washing machines for a long time and they are surely helpful.
You can use a washing machine to clean your diapers, no problem. Just make sure you take the big stuff out of them first. Also, ensure that you do not put too many diapers on the machine at once. Use it with little water too. This will ensure that your diapers last as much as they can.
Again, be careful not to mix a diaper batch with the rest of your clothes.
Dry overnight
This is important. We just recommended the use of a washing machine. We cannot do the same for drying machines. It is much better to just hang your diapers to dry if possible. It will take longer and you will need the space for it. Those are drawbacks. The advantage is that your diapers will last a lot longer. This makes a big difference in the amount of time you will be able to use your diapers.
Do not use softener
Fabric softener is not a good idea for diapers. It may seem like one, but it isn’t. Perhaps softening the fabric would be good, except the fabric used for diapers is not well-suited for this kind of product. The chemicals in it will shorten your diaper’s lifespan by a lot. They will start to break down much sooner, which is not a great prospect.
Whiten
If your diapers are starting to look yellowish you may want to do something about it. If that is the case you can use half a cup of lemon juice with their next washing to recover some of their whiteness. Try not to use other chemicals to achieve this. Lemon juice will work wonders, you won’t need anything else.
Sunlight
Even though they may be designed for a place where the sun doesn’t shine you should make so that your diapers get exposed to sunlight every once in a while. It will be good to remove stains and odors. It doesn’t need to happen too often. But it is a good thing to do, even if you live in cold weather.
Conclusion
In this day and age, there are a lot of options for us to choose from with anything. You can choose to go about whatever it is that you are doing in several different ways. That includes the way you handle your baby’s poop. There are good reasons for those options though. Disposable diapers are very convenient, but they exert a heavy toll on the environment. This is not to be taken lightly. It is why there is a growing movement to go back to the traditional way of doing things in this regard. Of course, there is the matter of costs too. Disposable diapers can run you thousands of dollars throughout the years that you will need them.