FAQ

Nope. For some reason, it’s often recommended to new parents to use disposables for the first few weeks as meconium will just ruin their cloth diapers. Funny enough, this is usually advice from parents who haven’t used cloth in the first few days themselves. The truth is that meconium washes out of cloth diapers easily. […]

When I first began cloth diapering a few years ago, I had a very hard time deciding what type of cloth diaper I wanted to invest in. If I’d known then what I know now, fitted diapers would have probably been the biggest part of my budget (instead of pockets), but I just didn’t know […]

Let’s be real, no one wants to touch poop. Yes, cloth diapers are healthier for baby, better for the environment, and cost way less than disposables, but for some, the threat of having to touch poop is a deal breaker. Luckily, there are many cloth diaper accessories available to eliminate the chance you’ll stick your […]

I first heard the word Zorb used by Crystal Burton, the owner of Tree Hugger Cloth Pads, which is my personal favorite brand of cloth pad (if you’re interested, I have written a full review of their pads here). But it wasn’t until writing about fabric choices for this website that I came to realize […]

“Stuffing” is another one of those terms that the first time you hear it, you’re not quite sure what people are talking about. What is stuffing? Stuffing just means that you’re putting the inserts into a pocket diaper. As in, literally stuffing the PUL pocket shell with the absorbent inserts to make it a complete […]

Recently, I’ve been getting some questions on the Cloth Diapers for Beginners Facebook group from moms new to cloth diapers who are interested in switching, but they have a toddler. They are tired of spending so dang much on disposable diapers, having constant blow outs (the term for when poo literally explodes out of disposable […]

Whether it’s a day at the local splash pad, swimming lessons, or a family holiday at the beach, swim diapers get lots of use year–round for most little ones. But what if you don’t have a swim diaper? Can you just use a cloth diaper cover as a makeshift swim diaper? Not really; but maybe. […]

Yes, it can. Vaseline is a brand name of petroleum jelly. According to the Vaseline website, “Vaseline® Jelly is made of 100% pure petroleum Jelly which is a blend of mineral oils and waxes.” While Vaseline’s Original product is made of 100 per cent petroleum jelly, their Jelly Baby product is made of 99.96 per […]

With all the controversy surrounding baby powder over the past few years, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to know if other powders, like cornstarch, are good for your baby or not. To help put an end to the mystery, I took a deep look into whether or not cornstarch powder is safe to use […]

When it comes to vinegar, just like so many other washing topics, the opinions on whether or not it’s safe for cloth diapers are mixed and usually contradict each other. Fed up with the mystery, I decided to look into the chemistry of using vinegar in cloth diaper laundry for myself, and what I discovered […]

It seems like every year or two someone is coming up with a new rule about what detergent you can or can’t use on your cloth diapers. In the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing a lot about how you can’t use free-and-clear detergents, though no one seems to say why. Back when I first […]

If your baby is exclusively breast fed (EBF) you’re in luck! EBF poops are water-soluble and you can just toss those dirty diapers in the wash without even looking at them. Unfortunately, once solids are introduced, poop will no longer break down in water, which may leave you wondering, how do I clean cloth diapers […]

Yes, in general terms cloth diapers can go in the dryer, but on a medium-heat setting or lower. With that said, there are some other considerations to make before you pop that whole cloth diaper load into the machine. More specifically, any cloth diapers and/or wetbags containing waterproofing, elastic, or Velcro (also called hook and […]

It’s probably coincidence, but I’ve had a bunch of people ask about part-time cloth lately, right when I find myself with a daytime-potty-trained toddler and only nighttime bedwetting pants to wash. In both cases (part-time cloth or potty training your youngest/only child) you’ll have very few cloth diapers to wash and probably wonder if can […]

Calgon is a laundry product used to soften water. It’s also marketed as an anti-limescale product, which is attractive because hard water can lead to limescale buildup on the heating element inside of washing machines. Modern day Calgon contains the active ingredients polycarbonate and zeolite (the very original version contained sodium hexametaphosphate, a phosphate). Detergent actually has […]

Cloth diapering is full of weird names, labels, and acronyms, but maybe one of the weirdest is “cloth diaper stew.” If you’re a beginner to cloth diapering and hear this term, you might panic thinking you have to boil your diapers with onions or something crazy. Rest assured that is not the case. I’ve put […]

Why Do my Cloth Diapers Smell? If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, “My cloth diapers stink, how do fix it?” I’d be able to retire early. While there can many root causes, cloth diapers stink because because they are still dirty, and the only way to fix them is […]

Do your cloth diapers leak? They shouldn’t. Cloth diapers are designed to keep messes contained, so if you have a leak, something is going wrong somewhere. So why then are your cloth diapers leaking? Cloth diapers leak when one of seven things go wrong: The diaper doesn’t fit right; Baby needs to be changed more […]

Let me be clear, anyone promoting the use of cloth diapers and helping them out with their cloth journey is aces in my book. While there is disagreement on some topics in the cloth diaper community (the safety of zinc, how often you should strip diapers, China cheepies, and so on), in general intentions are […]

I think a lot of the readers of this website would agree the answer to, “Should Channing Tatum strip?” is always yes. The answer to, “Should I strip my cloth diapers?” is a bit more complicated. I’m going to outline how and when you would strip your cloth diapers here so you don’t fall victim […]

If there’s one thing that causes confusion when using cloth diapers, it’s laundry products. What products are good? Which ones are you supposed to avoid? What is cloth diaper stripping? When and how do you do that? Why is this person saying it’s good, and this person saying it’s bad? It quickly becomes overwhelming. One […]