On cloth diapering

So, I know some of you are interested in how the hemp baby diapers are working out. In my measly two months of experience, I've learned a few things, so here you go.

As soon as I started looking in to cloth diapering I found a whole world of variety and options I didn't know existed. After looking at All-in-Ones, pre-folds, fitteds, and pocket diapers I decided to make fitted diapers to use with Thirsties covers. Fitteds are generally easy to clean and with fitteds you don't have to wash the covers very often, so they remain waterproof much longer.

I originally made 20 fitted diapers made of hemp/cotton fleece (ordered 7 yards from Hemp Basics online) on the outside and two layers of microfiber towels (bought a pack at Sam's Club) on the inside, with velcro closures. I used the sewing pattern from verybaby.com and the only adjustment I made was to cut the corners on the front flap of the diaper, rather than keeping it square. The pattern was great and really easy to use. I also ordered elastic and velcro from verybaby.com The website also has lots of helpful tutorials and tells you how much fabric, velcro, and elastic you need to make diapers.

I didn't try making covers because it is very important that you have good covers. If you have good covers, it doesn't really matter what you put on the inside.

My diaper routine is to shake off or dunk dirty diapers and put them in a nylon bag in a trash can with a lid. My wash routine is pre-wash cold (no detergent), hot wash with detergent, and an extra rinse. I usually hang the diapers to dry and fluff them in the dryer for 10 minutes. If I do dry them in the dryer they take a long cycle to dry.

Recently the diapers have developed an ammonia smell, which is rather disturbing. It's burn your nose hairs off some mornings (after he's been in a diaper all night). The diapers don't smell until they are peed in and then as they sit in the diaper pail, they develop an ammonia smell. Most people seem to have to experiment a bit to figure out what wash routine and detergent work for their diapers. I think pre-folds are the easiest to clean though. In the last couple of days I've been experimenting with washing changes - using Purex Free and Clear instead of Charlie's soap and cutting out vinegar and baking soda.

I've read a lot online and have come to the conclusion that my main problem is the microfiber. The diapers are super absorbent, which is great on one hand, but on the other, this means they absorb all the detergent in the wash too. Microfiber is also mostly polyester and if you've ever played sports in a polyester jersey, you know it retains smells quite badly. So, if you are making cloth diapers, I don't recommend sewing microfiber into the middle. I'd just use hemp in the middle.

You need to make sure that whatever detergent you use is as basic as can be and free from perfumes, enzymes, fabric softener, etc. These all build up on your diapers and make them less absorbent. Here is a great site on which detergents work well and what is in them.

I'm still quite hopeful I can make the hemp/microfiber diapers work and get rid of the ammonia smell. Cloth diapering does not have to be stinky. If it is, something isn't working right.

If you get detergent build-up, the urine can react with that to produce the ammonia. If that is the case, you need to strip your diapers. To do this, wash on hot using a tablespoon of Dawn dish detergent. Rinse until you do not see any suds in the water. This may take a LOT of rinses. Some people never have to do this, others do it about once a month.

Well, that's all rather random, but hopefully helpful. I'll keep you posted.