Cloth diapering tips and advice?

Okay, tomorrow I will be starting to cloth diaper full time. I have an array of different diapers I will be using to see what I like and what works for us. I have some Bum genius AIO's, some Fuzzi Bunz Pocket diapers, several different types of inserts I decided to try out, and then thirsties covers with Indian Prefolds.


(Did wash all the diapers and inserts, and am in the process of drying the prefolds for the third wash and dry.)





Any tips on care of any of these diapers. I know I can't bleach, use dryer sheets, fabric sheets, nor regular detergent.





What do you wash your cloth diapers in?


How often do you need to strip them, what do you do to strip them?





And about wipes, I am just using old baby washcloth's and keeping them in the wipes warmer. What do you wet your wipes with? Just water, or any recipes for wipe solution would anyone like to share?





Any advice or tips you learned along the way would be great. I am pretty new to all this, so I am grateful for anyone's experiences!Cloth diapering tips and advice?
As far as washing here is what I do:





Washing Step-By-Step





1. Dump everything into the washing machine. Just turn the pail liner inside out, so you don鈥檛 have to touch anything. Then throw the liner in with the load.





2. Run a short COLD rinse cycle on the highest water setting. Mine doesn鈥檛 have a setting for this, so I just put it on the middle of a regular cycle. Don鈥檛 put any detergent in! This rinse cycle is to get the yuckies rinsed out of your dipes. You can add a 陆 cup or so of baking soda if you want, but if you put any in your pail liner than you can skip adding it here. When you open the lid, the poop will have magically disappeared!





3. Run a long HOT cycle on your highest water setting. Add in just a tiny amount about 1/2 or 1/4 of the usual amount (I use 2 TABLESPOONS) of Arm %26amp; Hammer Free (for sensitive skin). Yes, that鈥檚 enough soap. I promise. There are other soaps that you can try, but make sure you do your research first.





4. You can also run them through another long HOT cycle (or two) after wards, to make sure all the soap is rinsed out. I tend to do this every couple of washes for maintenance purposes.





5. Put everything (liners, diapers, inserts) into the dryer and dry on HOT or WARM until dry.





And the other questions- stripping. As long as you have your wash routine down, and aren't using too much soap you shouldn't have to ever strip. If you notice your diapers smelling weird or repelling, then you need to strip. Which just means that you will rinse them alot (like 8-10 times to get any soap buildup out of your diapers)





Your cloth wipe routine sounds good- I use a foaming wipe solution like pumpkin booty just because it's easier for us. You just spray a little on their bottom and wipe with a dry cloth. And then we keep a little bottle in the diaper bag to use cloth wipes when we are out and about as well.





Hope that helps! I run a cloth diaper website, so if you have any more questions just ask.Cloth diapering tips and advice?
Good luck, I bet you'll love it.





We use Fuzzi Bunz, and we wash them with either Charlie's Soap or Allen's Naturally. Fuzzi Bunz recommends stripping as a routine, but they don't say how often to do it. I've done it several times. They have directions on their website, but it's basically a round of intense washings and rinsings. www.fuzzibunz.com





I don't generally use cloth wipes, so I can't help you there.
I'll leave the washing chemical to those who live in your country- mine is only available in Australia.


You strip them when they start to stink- follow the manufacturers instructions, the nappies come with stripping instructions.


Cloth wipes, popular solutions are water with a couple of drops baby shampoo, water with a couple of drops sorbolene, and pure chamomile tea.


When used in a cold solution chamomile tea is great for nappy rash!


you must make up the solutions daily though, they go stale and start to stink fairly quick.
Being overseas from you, I call them nappies, so for the sake of ease, i'll do that for this message.


For wipes, I use water and tea tree oil (just a drop). I have never needed to use anything else, although I have heard that cold chamomile tea is the best.


As for tips - line your bucket with tea tree oil, it will keep the smell in. You don't actually have to soak the nappies, you can use a dry pail, but some prefer to anyway. If you haven't already, purchase one or 2 waterproof drawstring liners for when you're out and about. I won't say which products I use as it won't help you - it's all ones I know you don't get. If you dry your nappies in the sun, it helps prevent staining. There are loads of other uses for prefolds - they're great for nappy off time to make sure your carpet doesn't get it! They make brilliant household rags when you're done with them (my husband swears by them in the garage - I think he cleans his motorbike with them, i'm not all that sure...) And they also make good spit cloths. If you're breastfeeding and still leaking through the night, cut up a prefold into squares and use them as breast pads - these were the ONLY way I could guarantee a dry nightie in the morning, I leaked through all my proper breast pads every night. I'll probably think of more at some point...