Going cloth?

How are they in relation to disposables? What is your washing method? Detergent? Storage of used diapers? How many should i get started with. Currently i blow through 4 tranquility atn per day. About two heavy wettings maxs those out for me. I appreciate your advice and help as I explore the possibilities. Expected start up costs would be helpful.

The major difference is you have to keep the dirties around to wash rather than throwing them away. I use my HE (LG) washer and dryer to run them by themselves. I chuckle each time I pick the "BABYWEAR" cycle. I bump the spin speed up to maximum to get most water out (important if you have all-in-ones). Regular HE detergent and a cap full of oxyclean and a cap full of Febreeze.

Diapers come in different thickness. The heaviest (which wil be quite bulky while dry) will handle the same as the ATN. THe slimmer ones do less obviously.

If you buy straight diapers, you'll also need plastic pants.

If you have a sewing machine, you can by the raw diaper fabric and make your own diapers for next to nothing. After I cornered the market on birdseye diaper fabric from a number of the fabric stores in the area, my wife made me a bunch of prefolds.

After trying whichever all-in-one and pocket diapers I found that said they'd fit me, I found a winner for me. I'm fond of Dependeco diapers (an all-in-one but they also have pocket diapers and diapers without pul) and am slowly purchasing one every time I buy disposable diapers so I can use disposables less. I have 4 now, but want enough to be able to wear 4 per day for a week, plus a day or two extra. They have 4 velcors (2 per side) which lets me get a better fit, in my opinion, than most of the velcro or snap ones, and they have inner liners that aren't just white which I feel stain less than white ones. I store the used ones in a large wet-dry bag from Planetwise. I just make sure the velcros are where they're supposed to be for washing (the Dependecos have special tabs just for that) and toss them in with my normal wash cycle. They're fine in the dryer, but I generally take them out of the load before drying because otherwise the soaker pads inside them means that everything stays just slightly damp. Once the rest of my clothes are dry I'll toss them into the dryer to get mostly dry and finish drying hanging up in my room. It costs me as much to buy a single diaper from Dependeco as it does to buy a bag of disposables, and there's shipping costs on top of that. If I were able to purchase more at once, I'd save a lot of money on shipping.

flipside said:

After trying whichever all-in-one and pocket diapers I found that said they'd fit me, I found a winner for me. I'm fond of Dependeco diapers (an all-in-one but they also have pocket diapers and diapers without pul) and am slowly purchasing one every time I buy disposable diapers so I can use disposables less. I have 4 now, but want enough to be able to wear 4 per day for a week, plus a day or two extra. They have 4 velcors (2 per side) which lets me get a better fit, in my opinion, than most of the velcro or snap ones, and they have inner liners that aren't just white which I feel stain less than white ones. I store the used ones in a large wet-dry bag from Planetwise. I just make sure the velcros are where they're supposed to be for washing (the Dependecos have special tabs just for that) and toss them in with my normal wash cycle. They're fine in the dryer, but I generally take them out of the load before drying because otherwise the soaker pads inside them means that everything stays just slightly damp. Once the rest of my clothes are dry I'll toss them into the dryer to get mostly dry and finish drying hanging up in my room. It costs me as much to buy a single diaper from Dependeco as it does to buy a bag of disposables, and there's shipping costs on top of that. If I were able to purchase more at once, I'd save a lot of money on shipping.

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I'm just wondering...do you really want to have the used diapers lying around for a week? Wouldn't it be better to wash more often? That way you'd also need less diapers in total. Also, you might have problems with fitting 28 (4x7) AIO diapers into one washing mashine load plus your regular laundry.

As for myself, I'm fond of cloth diapers, but I'm a bit of a special case since I don't use the diapers, just wear them and I sew my own, so I'm not actually any help on that front^^"
Though I can recomment waffle plique fabric for softness! Gauze is easier to handle and dries quicker, but needs many layers and tends to bunch up on me.
I like flats, but I know many people think they're a hassle (and, fair enough, but they do have a certain charme imo). I don't have any prefolds, that is something that I would probably purchase rather than sew (many many layers of fabric required, that'll get expensive), but they do look interesting...

In case you don't mind touching your urine, I just wash them by hand, without any soap at all (I just put them in the washing machine with soap when they smell, but it doesn't happen quite often, only when I haven't washed it enough). Just soak with water and wring the cloth until the water that gets out is transparent.

As far as I understand, soap is to clean up oily/greasy stuff or to get rid of a smell. So this method should be valid for #1, if you do #2 ofc you can't use it.

You shouldn't do that with plastic/elastics though, as wringing will break it.

I use Dreft, detergent, its meant for baby diapers and they get very clean

I just started venturing into cloth reusable myself. So far I’ve tried 2 different products from HappyEndings a snap on closure and a hook and loop closure. I’ve found them bothto be very comfortable. I’ve used them each 3 times now and have found the hook and loop version to be a bit easier to deal with. Neither has leaked on me yet, but I haven't pushed it either.

With the single microfiber insert provided with each, they’ve been good for about 4 hours or 3 or 4 wettings. For clean I put them In on the gentle cycle with regular Tide detergent. No issues other than the inserts take awhile to dry. I used the hook and loop diaper with disposable inserts. 4 Abena Abri LetMax held up for a full 8 hrs of sleep. After use, they go in a open plastic grocery bag in the bathroom closet. So far, I’ve been washing them within about 24 hours.

This week Im away from home. I decided to bring only disposables for the trip because I’m familiar with them, but I can’t wait to get home and continue with the cloth. I think they have some comfort advantages. Also, I’ll have a new pair I ordered from ecoables waiting for me when I get home. They are 3 part and a bit larger.

trouble63 said:

I just started venturing into cloth reusable myself. So far I’ve tried 2 different products from HappyEndings a snap on closure and a hook and loop closure. I’ve found them bothto be very comfortable. I’ve used them each 3 times now and have found the hook and loop version to be a bit easier to deal with. Neither has leaked on me yet, but I haven't pushed it either.

With the single microfiber insert provided with each, they’ve been good for about 4 hours or 3 or 4 wettings. For clean I put them In on the gentle cycle with regular Tide detergent. No issues other than the inserts take awhile to dry. I used the hook and loop diaper with disposable inserts. 4 Abena Abri LetMax held up for a full 8 hrs of sleep. After use, they go in a open plastic grocery bag in the bathroom closet. So far, I’ve been washing them within about 24 hours.

This week Im away from home. I decided to bring only disposables for the trip because I’m familiar with them, but I can’t wait to get home and continue with the cloth. I think they have some comfort advantages. Also, I’ll have a new pair I ordered from ecoables waiting for me when I get home. They are 3 part and a bit larger.

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I just got my EcoAble with the rounded tabs love them I felt so little in them.
Going to buy more in time
They fit me as they should fun print also they are a diaper wrap style being I just got the cover only
I'm going to try the one with the incerts next.

I rinse my cloth diapers in the shower when I'm taking my morning shower. Then I hang them on the line in my basement to dry. When I accumulate a sufficient number, I run them in the washing machine and then the dryer. I wear

Schwanensee said:

I'm just wondering...do you really want to have the used diapers lying around for a week? Wouldn't it be better to wash more often? That way you'd also need less diapers in total. Also, you might have problems with fitting 28 (4x7) AIO diapers into one washing mashine load plus your regular laundry.

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I take the bus to and from work, so I'm generally gone from the house for 11 to 12 hours a day, or more, once factoring in how much longer it takes to get around. I live in a house with two people who don't know I'm incontinent (they're just leasing rooms from me, I've no interest in telling them, nor any pressing need to as they're not people who are important in my life) and don't want to start a load of wash and leave it in the washer or dryer to be discovered if I fall asleep earlier than expected after a long day at work and don't have time to take care of them in the morning. And while I might not actually use all the diapers before they're washed, I'd rather have extras on hand if something happened and I went through more in one week, or I was sick and didn't get to them when I wanted to.

As for fitting them all in one load with my other clothes, I don't have a problem doing multiple loads of wash, I do that now, even. Right now, with just the few diapers, diapers and work uniforms go first. Then other darks that didn't fit with the diapers and uniforms (they're dark), other colors, and other lights, in some order. Sometimes I wait a week or two or three between anything but diapers and work uniforms because they'll make close enough to a full load but the others I wait until I have a load to wash.

So no, I don't mind waiting a week to wash the diapers even if it means multiple loads and increased costs, so long as it means I'm not risking people finding them.

I get my diapers from amazon. just look under adult cloth diaper & you'll find several options. personally I enjoy the large (44 X 44) heavy weights for the outer & the large light weights folded up as soakers that way I can go quite awhile without a change. I'm old school & use pins. I've found the 3" regular safty pins seem to do the trick. some plastic pants & I'm good to go. happy wetting.