5 Basic Steps to Cloth Diaper Washing

Real Diaper Week
Real Simple. Real Diapers.

The Real Diaper Association (RDA) recently published cloth diaper washing instructions based on the recommendations of scientists and experts in the cloth diaper industry. The instructions are so simple that any parent can get clean diapers with 5 simple steps. If you want to adjust to your specific needs, you can, but you don’t necessarily need to.

The 5 steps to successful cloth diaper washing are:

1. DUMP the solids
2. RINSE on warm
3. WASH on hot with the amount of detergent specified by the detergent manufacturer
4. RINSE on warm again
5. DRY on the line or in the dryer

In addition to the simple instructions, RDA has also published the scientific reasoning behind each step so we know why each step is important. This makes it easy for you to make your own adjustments. For hard water, add additional detergent; for all-cotton diapers, use more water; for all-polyester diapers, be sure to use enough detergent; or for bamboo rayon diapers, don’t use baking soda.

Often when we meet parents who want to cloth diaper but haven’t tried it yet, their first concern is cleaning their cloth diapers. We tell them it’s easy—because it is! Once you go through these five steps a few times, you’ll be in the diapering groove and ready to put your focus elsewhere.

If you want to have the cloth diaper laundry guidelines printed for references, RDA has a PDF available on their website.

Real Diaper Association is a nonprofit charity that trains grassroots cloth diaper educators. They are the organizers of Real Diaper Week and of the Great Cloth Diaper Change this Saturday. To celebrate Real Diaper Week, we are posting about cloth diapers all week. Parents at 262 Great Cloth Diaper Change events around the world will change their babies’ cloth diapers on Saturday at the same time in order to break the world record for the most simultaneous diaper changes. bynature.ca and NaturalNutrition.ca will be co-hosting a fun cloth diaper event in Orillia for up 50 babies and their parents.