When I was pregnant with our second child Lincoln, my husband innocently asked one day, “Are we doing cloth diapers again?“
I wanted to love cloth diapers. I really truly did.
When I was pregnant, I toyed with the idea of cloth diapers for a few reasons. I love how they are eco-friendly and natural. Cloth diapers were almost worshiped in some of my Facebook mom groups. They are adorable and come in many cute prints. Not to mention, they save money — a lot of money!
I gave cloth diapers an honest shot.
I bought the best of the best brands (bumGenius diapers), brand new laundry detergent made specifically for cloth diapers, two wet bags, and a fancy diaper sprayer. In case you aren’t familiar with some of these terms, a wet bag is a diaper-hamper (basically a bag for all your dirty diapers), and a diaper sprayer is used to spray solid waste from the diaper. We attached it to our toilet waterline so we could spray off anything solid before it went in the wet bag.
For a while the cloth diapers were OK. So why did I hate them?
I am a working mom, and in my opinion, cloth diapers are incredibly difficult for working moms to keep up with. Many times, I would come home after a long day of teaching, want to spend time with my baby, and completely forget about the wet bag hanging in the laundry room. In case you’re wondering what a forgotten wet bag smells like, it’s bad…very bad. I spent hours upon hours researching how to strip the diapers of build up. I was constantly buying the special detergent, but my diapers smelled like a barnyard. I became increasingly frustrated with the amount of effort going into diapers.
It seemed to be one thing after the other. The diaper sprayer was leaking, the diapers had ammonia buildup, or the wet bag was left in the car. It was almost a never-ending cycle of extra work I had made for myself. At some point, I said enough was enough and bought disposable diapers. Relief washed over me for the first time in a while. From this I learned that it is OK to change your mind, even when you are knee-deep in expensive fancy diapers.
It always makes me sad to see when cloth diapers don’t work well for a family. I hate bumgenius and I’m sorry you were mis- led to think they are the best. There are many better diapers out there, and specialty detergent is not really recommended by anybody besides the companies that sell them. Regular detergent is usually much better! And microfiber inserts that bg sells are absolute trash. They are a ton of work though and as a cloth mom I get overwhelmed and tired of it sometimes and I don’t even work outside the home! Sounds like you gave it your best try, which is more than a lot of people!
Can’t say I had a bad experience. I however didn’t like bumgenius, and only used Tide detergent and never had issues. I have forgotten sometimes the wetbag but it’s a mom thing lol
So sorry you had such a bad experience with cloth. Bum genius definitely aren’t my favorite. I threw out the microfiber inserts and got us hemp insterts made by thirsties.
We also used smart bottoms and lalabye baby.
Would love to try so many more too.
We definitely stayed away from detergent that was. Made for cloth.
I stuck with arm and hammer for prewash and tide for my main wash.
If you ever give it a second chance look into all about cloth diapers.
Yay good for giving it a go..!
I’m surprised you only tried one brand or type of diapers.. Thats like buying the “best of the best” freshly ground coffee and not liking the flavor so all ground coffee must be terriblr too..
As far as bum genuis, I have never used them because I have heard they are on the crappy side.. thought I use quite a few cheap chinese ones as well as some high quality hand made ones. I even stared with the old towelling diapers (they sell them in shops here are n australia.
For inserts ive used microfiber, bamboo and cotton.. Personally I prefer bamboo inserts… I think Bum Genuis uses microfiber.. there is probably a reason microfiber is cheaper.. they dont seem to last as long and if not washed properly can build us a barnyard smell a lot easier than other types of inserts.
I do have quite a few microfiber and personally the only thing i like about them is they dry on the line quicker.
Now as far as detergent, Not sure whatvthe best of the best in your article, but ive used a few things, regular detergent with a bit of vinegar in the rinse cycle (not much just a swig), ive made my own laundry soap, and even used a thing called a laundry mate which uses no detergent at all. All of yhem worked fine.. did you ever check to see if you had hard or soft water?..
Hard or soft water can affect cleanliness of washing and depending on which could also attribute to diapers not getting clean..
Hope you give it anothet go try again with fresh eyes. Just dont put all your eggs in one basket. 😉
I used them with both of my girls, and came to the happy medium of using them at home. We used disposables at night & when we left the house. (Two in diapers at once 👶 👶) I do think it would be different now that I’m back to work. Good job for trying! Also, Tide detergent worked well for us. 😉
I hated them. We couldn’t afford brand new ones so we ended up buying a womans second hand lot…they always ALWAYS leaked by the leg and we did so much laundry that the water waste seemed just as extreme as the amount of garbage we produced with disposables. I feel guilt when I see moms having no problem at all, but also I don’t. My newborn went through a hell of a nursing strike and honestly that contributed to not wanting more challenges ontop of the stress I was already facing.