Cloth diapering decoded

Cloth diapering guru and mom of three, Jaimee Gleisner, made a series of seven videos explaining  how to cloth diaper your baby. Below, she also shares tips on how to strip your diapers to rid them of any odors and keep them stain free.
Here are her first three videos.



For more cloth diapering videos, visit Jaimee Gleisner’s YouTube channel.
Gleisner offers these tips on how to fix diaper odor, random leaks and persistent diaper rash:
1. Strip you diapers (see below)
2. Sun your diapers (see below)
3. Experiment with detergents until you find one that consistently works
Check out pinstripesandpolkadots.com for detergent reviews
4. If you have an HE washer, experiment with your wash routine to ensure all suds rinse out after each wash. This may require many more rinses than you have been doing previously, washing fewer diapers at one time, and washing on the heavy cycle.
5. Don’t use diaper rash creams that contain petroleum, petrolatum or fish oil.
There are many brands available that do not contain these products. Even when using “safe” cream, line your diapers well.
6. Periodically wash your diapers with original (blue) Dawn dishwashing liquid (no more than 2 tsp), thoroughly rinse.
7.  Experiment with vinegar in your post-wash rinse cycle (this will help the detergent rinse out).
8.  If you suspect you have hard water, which is leading to build up, experiment with Calgon water softener.
Strip your diapers. You can do any or all of the following until they smell clean and rinse clear:

• Wash in Dawn (no more than 2 tsp) and rinse, rinse, rinse until you no longer see suds in the agitation cycle.
• Wash with an oxygen bleach (like BioKleen) and rinse, rinse, rinse.
• If you are not able to get all the suds out, put your clean diapers in the top rack of your dishwasher (cover the rinse agent/jet dry compartment with plastic wrap) and run the cycle. Open to check for suds.
• If you’ve already used questionable cream products (especially if you’re experiencing diaper rash and/or leaking), scrub your diapers with Dawn and a grout brush then rinse, rinse, rinse.
• If you’ve done everything and your diapers still have an odor follow these instructions: hot wash with 1 Tbs Dawn dish soap and ¼ C bleach, and finally a hot wash with nothing.

Sun your diapers. Do all of the following to rid them of stains, bacteria, and fungus:

• Place your clean diapers out to dry in the sun for about 2 hours
• Sprinkle lemon juice on the particularly tough stains
• Turn any prefolds, wipes, doublers, and inserts after about an hour
• Rewash

I know this looks like an all day affair, and truthfully, it is. However, it’s really worth it to get those diapers clean and to keep the problem from returning.
Good luck!