Cloth Diaper Laundry

Simple is Better

If you Google “How to wash cloth diapers,” you will be inundated with a myriad of lengthy, complicated, and sometimes ridiculous wash routines. It may even be enough to turn you off of cloth diapering completely. Don’t let it!

Over the course of the last few years we’ve seen some pretty… intense recommendations for washing cloth diapers. In reality, it's no different than washing a load of your bathroom towels. The very best advice we can give (after 11 years in the business!) is to KEEP IT SIMPLE!

The science behind clean diapers is easy. Think ‘SUDS’!

Printable Wash Instructions

S - Simple wash routine.

Be sure to wash your cloth diapers in warm or hot water and with an extra rinse at least every two days. No soaking or watching for bubbles during the rinse cycle. Just throw them in and go play with your kiddo!

U - Use enough detergent.

Use the FULL amount of detergent recommended on your detergent packaging. Eco friendly detergents are great but don't always clean really well. If you go with an eco friendly detergent pick a salt based one (not one with coconut or other plant oils as a main ingredient), and use enough. In fact, you may need to use a bit more than recommended.

D - Duration.

Your cloth diapers must be exposed to the proper concentration of detergent for at least 45 minutes to get fully clean. A 15 minute wash cycle won't cut it in a HE machine! Just use the longest cycle for a non-HE top load washer.

S - Stay away from additives.

Baking soda, Borax, vinegar, boosters, essential oils etc. When used infrequently, these won't harm your cloth diapers, they are not good to use constantly. They can impede your detergent's cleaning ability, can cause rashes, and can ultimately ruin elastic and laminates. If you are adamant about using them, check with the manufacturer of your cloth diaper first.

We hope that you will find this useful if you’re washing cloth diapers for the first time or even the 100th time. It might seem overwhelming with this new chapter of parenthood in your life and all of the new things to learn, but cloth diaper laundry should be the least of your concerns. Just remember the SUDS steps and you’ll have fresh diapers for your little one with very little effort.

Life's just too short to worry about an extra rinse cycle.

*Most of our customers today are laundering diapers in HE washing machines with no agitator. This type of washer is wonderful for keeping fabrics nicer, longer, and most come with long wash cycle options (of about 45 min.) because fully cleaning with no agitator does take longer. If you are using a washer with no long cycle option and are experiencing unclean diapers, increase detergent to compensate and make sure your water level is appropriate for the load size—not too little and not too much.