My Methods: Washing Cloth Diapers

I honestly love doing cloth diapers. I feel so good taking out a clean batch of diapers from the dryer, folding/stuffing them, and putting them in the drawer. There is just something so satisfying about taking care of my baby in this way.

On that note- washing diapers can be tricky. Only certain ones can be put in the dryer while others need to be line dried. Detergent build up can happen if using too much or the wrong kind, and stink happens when not using enough detergent.

Washing Covers, Liners, and Pocket Diapers
First off, all pieced of the diaper system needs to be disassembled. If you're using g's take off the plastic shell and close all Velcro. Unsnap all snaps so that nothing gets left in the creases and take out liners.

Next, do a cold rinse. If I have a lot of poopy diapers in my load i'll throw in a little detergent. If you don't have a rinse cycle (like me) then do a quick wash.

Once that is done it's time for sanitizing. Put the washer on hot and put in the right amount of detergent (see chart below). Too much and you'll get build up, but too little is worse (ammonia issues, stink, rash from dirty diapers).

Now this is important-after the hot wash is over I take out all my clean diapers but leave in my absorbing liners. Their job is to soak and a lot of times they soak up the detergent too well and need another rinse. I don't want left over detergent against my baby's skin. (I found this is be particularly necessary with charcoal inserts). If you can still see bubbles on the insert, rinse again (and perhaps use a tiny bit less detergent).

Detergent
There are a ton of different resources to find the right detergent for you. Basically anything that doesn't have fabric softeners, phosphates, dyes, enzymes, brighteners, and other harsh chemicals. You can use Tide (Original, Ultra, or Free & Gentle), Gain, Purex (Origonal or Free & Clear). You can use this website to help you decide or to see other options (How To Cloth Diaper)

Also on that website, I found a chart that breaks down the amount of detergent that should be used for each load size. Diaperjunction.com

1 load = 10 - 12 complete diapers, a wet bag and/or a pail liner, and cloth wipes. 
This should fill your machine about 1/3 full.

2 loads = 12 - 15 complete diapers, 2 wet bags and/or pail liner, and cloth wipes. 
This should fill your machine 1/2 to 2/3 full.

3 loads = 15 - 18 complete diapers, 3 wet bags and/or pail liner, and cloth wipes. 
This should fill your machine 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Detergent	Machine Type	Load Size	Amount
Mainstream detergent (Tide, Tide Free & Gentle, Gain, etc.)	HE or conventional	1 load	up to #1 on provided scoop or cap
Mainstream detergent (Tide, Tide Free & Gentle, Gain, etc.)	HE or conventional	2 loads	up to #2 on provided scoop or cap
Mainstream detergent (Tide, Tide Free & Gentle, Gain, etc.)	HE or conventional	3 loads	up to #3 on provided scoop or cap

Diapers should be washed everyother day!

All plastic covers and pockets with waterproofed lining need to be line dried. This helps to preserve your diapers and keeps the waterproof parts working. G's can be dried on low but I remove the plastic shells and air dry them. 

Stains

All bleached pre-folds (you can buy un-bleached kinds) can be washed separate with 1T of bleach to remove stains. 

For organic unbleached pre-folds, diaper covers, and pockets just open them flat in the sun and the UV rays will bleach them white again.