Washing Cloth Diapers the Modern Way

Washing cloth diapers is one of the easiest housekeeping chores I do each week. I know that is hard to believe if you are familiar with old-fashioned diapering methods. Let me tell you about how I easily save my family tons of money with cloth diapers - all in just 18 minutes a week. Eighteen minutes a week is all it takes to keep my daughter's cute cloth diapers clean and fresh. I never have to touch anything gross or play in the toilet. The diaper pail doesn't even make the house smell. The only time I even smell it is if I forget to close the lid. I use a cloth diaper pail liner because I don't want to have to scrub the diaper pail. Seriously, this is so easy I pity my friends who are still having to stand in line to by disposable diapers every week. We ran low on diapers this morning, so I threw in a wash load. My baby is not feeling well and I am so grateful that I can stay in the warm, dry house with her while our washing machine is churning out a fresh load of clean diapers.

After three years of selling cloth diapers, I am used to the predictable response when someone asks me what I do for a living. I almost always get the same response. "Eww, do people even still use those?" The next comment is always, "I could never wash diapers!" They say as if I had just said that I wrestle alligators to entertain tourists.

It is usually a surprise for people when I explain that washing cloth diapers can now be done in a modern Washing machine. No need to pull it down to the river and beat them on the rocks. If you are looking for a hobby.

These days, most mothers are busy all the time. None of us has to lose time, and we do not need something on our to-do list. The thing is, washing cloth diapers I need about 18 minutes per week and that's less time than it would take for me to throw away my money on disposable diapers each week.

That's it. Eighteen minutes!

Here is my canvas>diaper washing routine:

* Use cloth diaper pail liners to carry diapers from both diaper pails to laundry room. Time: 1 minute
* Empty diapers into washer, turn diaper pail liner inside out, drop in washer. Set washer to cold and select soak/rinse cycle. Time: 1 minute
* Play with baby, eat lunch.
* When washer stops, add 2 teaspoons of biodegradable laundry detergent. Set washer to hot wash/cold rinse and select second rinse cycle. Time: 47 seconds
* When cycle ends, transfer clean diapers to dryer. Start dryer. Time elapsed: 2 minutes
* When diapers are dry, dump them into a laundry basket. I don't bother folding or sorting. Carry basket to bedroom and place near changing area. Time: 1 minute 15 seconds.

There you have it. In about 6 minutes of my time, the diapers are all clean and ready to keep my daughter clean and dry for another couple of days. I wash diapers about every third day, but even if I was doing them more often, the benefits far outweigh the few minutes I spend washing diapers. We are saving about $1500 diapering this baby, and since the diapers she outgrows are still in great condition, diapering our second baby will be nearly free.