Welcome to the Added Resources page, the companion to the Cloth Diapers for Beginners Wash & Care Handbook where you’ll find lots of additional links, videos, and other resources to help you with your cloth diaper wash and care.
To find what you’re looking for, click on the chapter you’re working through below. It will take you to the additional resources mentioned in that chapter.
Please note that some links in this post are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a qualifying purchase through one of those links (at no additional cost to you).
Read the full disclosure.
Tools & Equipment
Accessories
1. Washable Liners
Cloth diaper liners are thin fabric strips, usually made of fleece, cotton, or minky, that are laid on top of the cloth diaper to sit against baby’s skin. Liners protect the diaper from solids, and can be lifted out at diaper changes to make dumping solids in the toilet easier.
You can make your own liners from a piece of fabric very easily and inexpensively (we’re talking a few bucks and a pair of scissors), or you can purchase pre-made liners, which are made from fleece to have a “stay-dry” feel. Finding washable liners premade can be challenging, and at the time of writing I couldn’t find them at the big stores like Walmart, Target or Amazon, but you can find them in local cloth diaper shops. For a list of local cloth diaper shops near you, click here.
2. Disposible Liners
Disposable liners are made of a thin mesh, usually viscose, that can be tossed right along with the waste at diaper changes. Disposable liners take a lot of the work out of diaper changes, but some liners are prone to bunching, which can make them less effective.
Disposable liners are also a continuing cost as you’ll need to keep buying more. Most disposable liners, like the Bumkins Biodegradable Cloth Diaper Liners or the Wegreeco Diaper Liners, (I’ll put links to their Amazon pages below so you can have a look at them) are fairly inexpensive and come in packages of about 100, which would only last a few weeks if you were using a new one at every diaper change.
Luckily, most babies get into a pattern and you should get to know when your baby is likely to poop, and can add one only at those times of day.
3. Scraping
Using a rubber spatula, like this inexpensive one from Target, to scrape solids off the diaper is also an option. Scraping the waste off the diaper can be inconvenient as it can push the waste into the fabric (especially with loose stools), and you will have to clean the spatula itself afterward.
4. Peri Bottle Sprayer
Often used as a good travel cloth diaper sprayer, that perineal bottle the hospital sent you home with can be used to get the poop off our diapers. Unlike dunking and swooshing, a peri bottle gives you a small, controlled stream you can use to lift solids from the diaper and into the toilet. The biggest downside of using a small peri bottle is that you’ll need to fill it multiple times, or have multiple peri bottles at the ready, to get a messy poop clean enough to be put in the hamper.
5. Diaper Sprayers
A diaper sprayer is a hose with a spray nozzle that’s hooked up to your toilet’s fresh water supply at the back of the toilet. A diaper sprayer sprays the waste off a diaper quickly as it allows you to control the pressure of the stream of water. Diaper sprayers are the easiest way to use water to clean off diapers as it of course doesn’t need any refilling and won’t saturate the diaper to the point where it can’t be put in the laundry right away.
Good quality, but economical diaper sprayers like the ones I recommend in my cloth diaper spraying buyer guide, install quickly, and offer controllable water pressure so no mess has a chance of sticking onto the diaper.
One downside is that if you are using a high-pressure stream to get out a particularly nasty poop, some water can bounce off the diaper and onto your toilet and surrounding area.
A Spray Pal cloth diaper sprayer splatter shield, a Diaper Dawgs splatter shield (again, Amazon links below), or a homemade version of the same can help eliminate this problem and help you hold the diaper for completely hands-off cleaning.
Storage
Storage Options
As I mention in the handbook, you have a few options including an airtight pail (usually for disposable diapers, but made good for cloth diapers with a reusable liner), a trash can and a pail liner, and a hanging wet bag or diaper pail. I have a few tips and links to my favorite storage options below for you.
Diaper Pail (and Liner)
Best:
Dekor Plus Pail and Cloth Diaper Liners
This is the one recommendation that I haven’t actually owned myself. I did, however, recommend the Dekor diaper pail to a friend after hearing such good reviews from the moms on the Cloth Diapers for Beginners Facebook page, and after getting the chance to play with it and hearing her feedback, it is definitely on my list of things to get for my next baby (if there is one).
The Dekor Plus model is definitely the way to go because it’s nice and big and will hold as many diapers as you’d need it to before washing ( I recommend three days max between washings). It comes in a bunch of colours to match any nursery, and it not only fits its own cloth diaper pail liners (check those out on Amazon here), but it will also fit an AppleCheeks size 2 storage sac (you can check those out here).
CHECK OUT THE DEKOR PLUS AT TARGET
CHECK OUT THE DEKOR PLUS ON AMAZON
Hanging Wet Bag
If you don’t have space for a cloth diaper pail and liner, if you plan on having several changing stations in your home or if you have other kids running around that might mean getting the dirty diapers off the floor is necessary, a hanging wet bag might be the best solution for your dirty diaper storage.
In another post about the best wet bags I have tried and recommend, which you can read here, I outline what I look for in a hanging wet bag and why. In short, quality PUL and a large enough zipper to both empty the contents in the washer and prevent the bag from holding water through a spin cycle are my must-haves. Both of these must-haves are REALLY difficult to find in one bag, but there is one that checks both boxes and is easy to find, the Smart Bottoms Wet Bag.
GO TO THE SMART BOTTOMS WET BAG ON AMAZON NOW
Travel Wet bag
Best:
Thirsties Wet Dry Bag
Wet bags are also essential for traveling with cloth diapers. They keep your clean diapers clean, and your dirty diapers contained until you get home. The best travel wet bags have two pockets so they can do both, and carry your wipes, and other changing items too.
Quality PUL is also important for a travel wet bag, as it’s likely going to be crunched and munched inside your diaper bag or stroller while you’re running about.
You can read more about why I like the Thirsties Wet Dry bag best here, but suffice it to say it has some of the highest quality PUL, and a second dry pocket in the front (it’s mesh, which is just fine since you only need the dirty compartment to contain leaks).
Here’s a cute video showing you how to make the DIY bucket washer I speak about in the book.
If you’ve got a kiddo on your lap and video doesn’t work, there’s also a good written tutorial here.
Ingredients
Water
As mentioned in the handbook, if you can’t get out to a store, and you’re either not on city water, or your city doesn’t have a hardness reading for you, you can still test your water at home with simple test strips for very little cost.
You can get simple, and easy-to-read strips like these on Amazon here or even Walmart here.
Recipes
Wool
Finding a good wool wash detergent is not an easy task, but many local cloth diaper shops can recommend one for you. If you’re looking online, you can also find one or two on Amazon like Outback Gold, which is great, linked here:
For lanolizing, there are a few good diaper lanolin products out there, but you do have to search for them as well, one is Delish Naturals Lanolin Balm, which you can find at local cloth diaper retailers like Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot (Canadian retailer, but does ship to US).
Used Diapers
In the handbook, I say that there are two products I recommend for deep-cleaning / stripping diapers. They are RLR and
If you want to learn more about RLR, you can read my interview with the maker here. Unfortunately, neither RLR nor
Troubleshooting
Rashes
Good Creams that are Zinc and Petroleum-Free
Since the results of the experiment are still to come, what are some diaper creams we know to be safe because they were created with cloth in mind and no zinc or petroleum ingredients? Here’s a short list, with my absolute favorite three listed on top (these are the tested and true ones both I and the Cloth Diapers for Beginners community love):
Top Three Best Cloth Diaper Safe Diaper Creams:
#1   | #2   | #3  |
| Organic Diaper Balm by Earth Mama | Burt’s Bees Baby Multipurpose Ointment | LIVE CLEAN Non-Petroleum Jelly |
| See Price & Details on Amazon See Price and Details on Earth Mama Website | See Price & Details on Amazon | See Price & Details on Amazon |
Other Cloth Safe Diaper Creams Available:
- Thirsties Booty Love Diaper Ointment
- Delish Yum Bum Butter
- Baby Bottom Better Diapering Salve
- California Baby Calendula Moisturizing Cream
- CJ’s BUTTer
- GroVia Magic Stick
Fleece Liners Information and DIY Tutorials
For a DIY tutorial on how to make reusable fleece liners, click here.
Leaks
PUL Issues
In the handbook, I touch on possible issues with the PUL and show you some photos of cracking and delimitation. Since it was important to me to keep the book black and white for people to print, I’ve put the color phots here, as they help illustrate what delamination and cracking look like a little bit better, have a look:
Leak CheckList
As mentioned, I have a handy-dandy Leak Checklist for you, which will help you identify the most likely causes of each of the most common cloth diaper leaks. Here it is:
