Cloth Diapers: A Greener, Cheaper Alternative

Any new parent knows that aside from giving their new born food and affection, your baby needs diapers—tons and tons of diapers. So many diapers in fact that parents are forced to buy in bulk or make frequent trips to and from the department store. According to experts, newborns can use as much as 10 diapers per day. This can do major damage to both your purse strings and the environment—the more diapers your baby goes through the more diapers you end up throwing away in the trash which are sent to the landfill. And while yes disposable diapers made from recycled materials are available, a more economical and greener alternative is to invest in cloth diapers.

What are Cloth Diapers? Like the name suggests, cloth diapers are diapers, well, made from cloth. But before you reject the idea, these aren't the same cloth diapers your great grandparents used in the early 40's—these new and improved (and extremely stylish cloth diapers) are made with special eco-friendly fabrics and liners that are gentle on babies' skin and come in an assortment of colors; they also use velcro or snaps as opposed to the traditional "safety pin" to hold the diaper together, like the ones offered by GAD Baby.
How do you clean them? While some diapers give you the option of purchasing biodegradable liners that you can switch out with each change, true blue cloth diapers require you to do laundry quite frequently. This route might be a little difficult for those who get nauseous with just looking at their baby's soiled diapers, but dealing with dirty diapers is part of the parent gig and will get easier over time.

How many should you get? With that said, the amount of wash loads a parent will do will depend on how many cloth diapers he or she purchases. It's recommended that parents invest in about 18 to 20 cloth diapers for newborns—the amount you need will reduce as your child gets older. But with newborns, this ballpark figure will give parents the opportunity to wash just every two days as opposed to everyday. Whatever you do, you do not want a soiled diaper to go unwashed for more than 3 days—this is the fastest way to smell up the house and stain the cloth diapers. And if you plan on having other children, you don't want to ruin the cloth diapers that you have because you can always reuse them. However, because you will be washing so frequently it's equally important that you make smart choices when it comes to conserving energy and other resources when washing. An easy way to save on detergent costs and ensure that no harsh chemicals are being used to wash the cloth diapers is to make you own liquid detergent. This traditional liquid detergent recipe has many variants, but all contain the two main dirt fight-agents: washing soda and borax.

Ingredients:

1 bar of soap, grated into flakes
1 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of borax
5 cups of boiling Water
3 gallons of hot water
Rubber gloves
Tub or trash can
1 Gallon Milk jugs, washed and empty

Directions:

Stir in flakes of grated soap in a saucepan filled with boiling water. Bring liquid back to a boil. Remove from heat. In a tub or clean trash can, add 3 gallons of hot water. Add on gloves. Using a spoon add cooled soapy mixture to the hot water. Then add washing soda and borax, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Let cool. Pour into empty milk jugs for safe keeping. Store in a cool place. For each laundry load, use about a half of a cup of the detergent. Skip the dryer and line-dry to save energy. That said, if you are still unsure if whether cloth diapers are right for you and your baby, you should at least attempt to try a couple and see how it goes. Remember that you can also use cloth diapers only part time and still save money and help the environment.

Guest post by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online schools. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.