There are a lot of cloth diapering myths floating around these days. I definitely heard more than my fair share of them when I announced that I would be using cloth on my kiddos. That’s why I thought it would be helpful for those considering cloth, to read about a few of the myths, and why they are no longer accurate!
Safety Pins – This is one of the first things you hear in any discussion about cloth diapers! “Don’t pin the baby” or “do you have enough safety pins?”…
It is a huge cloth diaper myth that you are required to use safety pins to cloth diaper…Cloth diapers these days come with handy snaps or velcro, and there is no risk of stabbing your baby with a safety pin.
I’m sure you could still hunt down some pre-folds and pins to use on your baby, but that is certainly not the only option out there these days.
Rinse in the Toilet – Ok, gross! A lot of people think that you have to swish the diaper around in the toilet to pre-wash it, before putting it in a pail for the full washing later on.
While this is certainly an option, it’s not at all neccessary. I cloth diapered both of my children and never had to do this, even once!
Sure, you may have to dump out any solids that are in the diaper, but no swishing it around in the toilet and getting all wet and nasty. That’s just not realistic, and it’s definitely not a regular part of cloth diapering.
Actually, you are technically supposed to dump solids in the toilet when you are using disposables too, it’s just that very few people do.
It’s Gross – Ok, I will give you this one. Cloth diapering can be gross. But in my opinion, it is not any more gross than using disposables.
You are going to become well acquainted with another person’s bodily functions regardless of your diapering choices, I really don’t see either as being more gross than the other. Poo is poo, no matter what type of undergarment conceals it.
It’s Time Consuming – Yes, it does take a bit more time than using disposables, this is true. But if I add up all the time I spend washing, drying and folding diapers in a typical week, it’s less than one hour, and I have two children in cloth diapers!
I wash diapers 2-3 times a week, it takes about 5 minutes to load the washer and put the diapers from the washer to the dryer. Then, it takes me around 10 minutes to fold the diapers and put them away.
Given the choice between 45 minutes of work every week and spending roughly $2,000 on diapers per child, I’ll do the work every time!
When you add up water prices & detergent, you really don’t save money – We pay a grand total of $15 a year for our special cloth diaper detergent (less than a large box of diapers!).
I can’t say from personal experience how much your water cost might increase, since ours is a flat rate with our apartment complex. From the estimates I’ve seen here and elsewhere online, they approximate 34 cents a load or, just over $1 a week.
This means you can expect about $65 a year for washing purposes, which is around what a lot of people pay monthly for disposables.
It’s too Hard to Travel with Cloth – I’ve really never had an issue with this. If you purchase wet/dry bags to use for the dirties it won’t smell up your car during a day trip.
If you are traveling long distances, or going on vacation you could try to get a hotel with a washer/dryer (I’ve done this with no trouble), or just switch back to disposables for the week.
These are the top cloth diapering myths that I heard in all my years using cloth. Have you ever heard of any of these?
If you are considering cloth, I want to be sure you know about about Bluum, a subscription box I’ve recently learned about for moms and babies! They have cloth diapers and cloth diaper gear, delivered straight to your doorstep! Try bluum today!
Have you heard any of these myths? Do you have any other questions or concerns about cloth diapering? I’d love to help if I can! Need more cloth diaper info? Check out other posts I’ve done on the topic like 10 Reasons to consider cloth diapers or click the image below to read a Q & A about cloth that I did answering questions for one of my readers!
We’ve compiled a few of our favorite cloth diaper products here, if you need to stock up!
Lydia @ Not Afraid of the Snow says
Great tips! I am hoping to cloth diaper some day and I am sure that I will hear some of these things. Good to be prepared ahead of time!
Risa says
I appreciate the info. I am thinking about cloth diapering as well.
Hannah @Supermommy!...Or Not says
My mom cloth diapered all 5 of us kids. Being the second oldest, I helped with my younger siblings quite a bit so I know what it’s like to use safety pins and swish diapers in the toilet. For many years, our washer and dryer constantly were broken or on the fritz and so she washed diapers in the bathtub by hand and dried them on the radiators around the house. Despite seeing how hard it was for her, I was originally planning to cloth diaper. But then we started having babies while still renting the downstairs basement of a friend. Since the washing machine is upstairs in her portion of the house and we have to share it with her (and she has restrictions on when we can use it), it’s hard enough for me to manage to get essential laundry done every week, let alone adding cloth diapers on top of that. I did research it before my first baby was born and I can say that this post is spot on :)
Gabrielle says
Excellent info! As another cloth diapering mom, I get these comments & questions all the time! I’m glad you debunked these myths.
Danielle says
thank you! loved this post! Since I’ve been talking about wanting to use cloth diapers once we have kids I’ve heard every single one of these complaints/issues! some of them I’ve wondered about too, but still figured the save money part was worth it! Pinning this !
Leigh Anne says
Great post. I have 3 in diapers and LOVE cloth diapering! It saves so much money- plus the dipaers are super cute. Who doesn’t love a little baby girl in purple or baby boy in blue? I even try to match thier diapers to thier outfits. Haha! Stopping by from Titus 2sdays Link Up.
Malissa says
Great tips! As far as #2 on the list, (no pun intended) the way we handled it was to buy a sprayer like you have for the kitchen sink. We hooked it up to the water supply behind the toilet (I think we may have had to add an adapter to allow two hoses to be hooked up..can’t remember). We had a small hook behind/besidish in the wall behind the toilet tank to discretely hang the sprayer on. Whenever we had a soiled diaper we could hold it over the toilet and just rinse the poop straight into the toilet without touching it and drop the diaper into the pail of (we used vinegar) water until wash time. Then it all just got flushed as usual. Since we had 3 in diapers at once it was a big time saver. It also made the diapers a little “cleaner” as they went into the soak pail, so they weren’t soaking in so much “stuff”. After we stopped cloth diapers we just unscrewed the hose and attachment with no problem.
Becca says
And cloth diapers are so much healthier for the baby! It’s crazy to think of all that is put into disposable diapers. If I ever have kids, I totally want to try cloth diapering!
Btw, point #1… Back when my baby brother was a baby, we used pins. And I did in fact pin him… Can hardly blame me though as I was like 10 years old. ;)
Becca @ The Earthlings Handbook says
Great post! One of the myths I heard a lot was that cloth diapers stink. In fact, we found the opposite was true: The couple of times our baby ran out of diapers at childcare and was sent home in a conventional disposable, the stench was unbelievable!!! Whereas we were able to toss the cloth diapers into a lidded bin lined with a nylon wetbag, and you could not smell them except when the bin was open and you were right next to it. A friend with older kids actually asked what was our “secret” because in his home he’d always noticed the smell of diapers as soon as he came in the door. I have noticed that in other disposable diaper homes, too.
Although my mom is a big supporter of cloth diapers, she told me the myth that you have to soak the diapers in soapy bleach water in the diaper pail and then lug that heavy pail full of liquid to the washing machine. That is completely untrue. We just flushed the poop and tossed the diapers into the bin. Then on laundry day I pulled the bag out of the bin and carried it to the washing machine.
Megs G says
I was happy to stumble upon this article as I and a few friends are in the process of planning a cloth diaper workshop and swap in the hopes of spreading the CD joy. Now I need to check and see if you have any more gems on your blog.
Found you through Sew Much a Do.
Mariah says
I was nervous about trying it, but I love cloth diapering now! Disposable liners have made it SO easy!
Katie says
Hey hopping by from Katherine’s Corner. I love running across posts like these. My daughter is 5 now and has been out of diapers for years, but we loved loved loved having her in cloth. She never had rashes (which she got from disposables as soon as they put them on her at the hospital), she was more comfortable, we saved money, and potty training was a breeze. I have sold some of the ones we used with her, but I did keep some of my favorites in case another kiddo comes along. That’s another important thing to consider too, you can use them for more than one kid, and there are so many different types out there anyone could find one that worked for them.
Bev says
I have to say, a year ago I probably would have thought a lot of these myths were true (to me, cloth diapers were a piece of fabric you had to pin together and were a ton of work). But lo and behold, I found out cloth diapers had changed a lot and were quite easy to work with. I’m actually off to a workshop in a couple hours to learn about all the cloth diaper options (expecting my first in November and planning on using cloth diapers!). There’s actually a diaper lab a five-minute walk from where I live that teaches you everything you need to know about them! Stopping by from SHAREFEST!
Laura @ The Experimental Home says
I cloth diaper my toddler, and it was one of the best choices we have made with him. In my opinion, it is much less gross to put the poo in the toilet where it belongs (even if I do occasionally swish it around a little), than it is to put it in a diaper pail and store it in my little one’s room until I take out the trash.
Trish @ Uncommon Designs says
This all makes perfect sense! Thanks for sharing at Monday Funday this week!
Take care,
Trish
Jennifer says
So many new choices out there for cloth these days, we used “g” diapers with our 2 and found them to be soooo super convenient! It was like the best of both worlds! An outer cover and your choice of flushable/bio-degradaable inserts or super soft fleece/hemp inserts, and they even make a flushable “poo sheet” to make cleaning a bit easier! I try to tell everyone to get the “g” diapers and at least try them out, its kind of a gateway diaper ;) LOL
Susie says
I’m so glad to see this. I used cloth diapers in what I guess to new Moms today is the “olden days”! My first son was allergic to disposables back then, when there were not all of the choices, that is they all had perfumes and such in them, so the Dr. suggested I use cloth. We lived in an rental townhouse (that is it had an upstairs/downstairs but otherwise was like an apartment). We had to find a used washer but there was no hookup for a dryer so I had to hang the diapers on the community laundry line in the backyard. Even in the winter. Since we lived in Denver the diapers would freeze but they would dry!
Later we moved to TX and could afford a dryer which was a blessing since with our next two there were times I had two in diapers. But I stuck with cloth because it was less expensive and frankly I found the process of folding them relaxing. I know that sounds weird but it was one of the few household tasks I didn’t mind at all!
One last thing. In all those years of doing cloth diapers, with pins, I never once stuck a baby with a pin, nor had one come out and stick one of them. I did stick myself a few times tho!
I am all for cloth diapers. I cannot imagine spending all of that money on disposable unless you simply have no washer, or perhaps if you work full time and your childcare requires it.