Are you done building your cloth diaper stash? Now that you've got your stash, I'm going to tell you how to prep cloth diapers.
So, you've got your new diapers... now what?
Let's talk about how to prep cloth diapers.
It's important to prep your new diapers before their first use for a few reasons:
First, these diapers are going up right against your baby's super sensitive skin. You'll want to remove any manufacturer's funk before putting the diaper on your babe.
Secondly, natural fiber diapers may arrive to you large and stiff (think prefolds and flats here). You'll want to prep them to shrink them down to their predestined size and soften them up.
And, most importantly, you'll want to get them to their state of maximum absorbency. Natural fibers like cotton, hemp, and even bamboo have natural oils on them which need to be removed in order for them to be fully absorbent.
How to prep cloth diapers:
Most manufacturers will have directions on their packaging explaining the optimum prep procedure. If your diapers have instructions, by all means follow them. But if they don't we'll go through the different types of diapers and their prep methods below.
Let's talk about the easy stuff first.
Microfiber//Microfleece/Micro-chamois/Suedecloth/Polyester: These are the materials that make up the linings and inserts of many of the popular brands of pockets, AIO and AI2 diapers. Examples of these would include bumGenius 4.0's & Freetimes, Rumparooz, Fuzzibunz, Alva, Thirsties to name just a few.
Diapers made out of these materials need to be washed just once to remove any dust or debris. Wash them as you would any of your other diapers. If this is your first time with diaper laundry, that means just running them through a hot wash cycle with your CD friendly detergent with an extra rinse cycle at the end.
Normally you'll want to pull out your pocket shells or covers (anything with PUL or TPU) and hang them to dry, but on the first wash I like to throw them into the dryer for 20-30 minutes on medium or high to seal the PUL since they may contain tiny holes from sewing done by the manufacturer that may allow moisture wicking.
Now, onto the harder ones.
Diapers with waterproof outers but natural fiber inners: These are typically pockets, AIO, or AI2s that have a PUL or TPU waterproof outer but the linings and/or soakers are made of cotton, hemp, or bamboo. Some examples of these would be bumGenius Elementals, Grovia AIOs, Swaddlebees, itti bitti tuttos, etc.
With these diapers you'll need to treat them a little differently. You need to wash them on hot with detergent and tumble dry between 3-7 times before use to strip them of their natural oils. Also, you need to wash them separately from your other diapers the first few times because you don't want those natural oils to coat your other diapers and cause repelling issues. Natural fibers will continue to gain absorbency as you wash them.
Sidenote: I'm too impatient to wash anything 6 times before I use it, so I usually wash it a couple of times and then start using it knowing I may need to change my little one a little sooner.
Last but not least... how to prep cloth diapers of the most basic form.
Prefolds, Flats, and some fitteds: Pretty self explanatory. Also in this category would be cotton, hemp or bamboo inserts or doublers.
These diapers will need to be washed with detergent and dried between 5-10 times before they reach maximum absorbency. Essentially you are "stripping" them of their natural oils. This will use up a lot of time, energy (yours and your home's), and water.
An easier way to strip them of their oils is to boil them. To do this:
1.) Fill a large stock pot with water and a small squirt (seriously, a little goes a long way - use less than a teaspoon) of blue Dawn and bring it to a boil.
2.) Add your prefolds or flats (or hemp inserts, etc) a few at a time - depending on the size of your pot you may be able to add more - and boil them for 30 minutes.
3.) Transfer the boiled prefolds into a large bowl/pot/bucket using tongs. You'll notice the water has a dingy tint to it - that would be the natural oils that you've just stripped from your diapers.
4.) Drain the dingy water then repeat until all of your diapers have been boiled.
5.) Once they're all done transfer the boiled diapers into the washing machine (probably not more than 18-24 diapers at a time depending on their size. Wash them on HOT. Do not add detergent. If you have any suds you'll need to repeat the rinse cycle until they're gone.
6.) Dry them on medium or hot in the dryer.
A note on boiling: a lot of companies and stores do not recommend this method because it's kind of dangerous to be handling scalding hot diapers and large pots of boiling water. Be careful if you choose this method. There are a lot of helpful tutorials and videos about this online.
Also: DO NOT boil anything with SNAPS, ELASTIC, or PUL/TPU.
Once prepped, the prefolds will have shrunken a bit (up to about 25% or so), will have "quilted up" and will be nice and soft.
I hope you found this guide about how to prep cloth diapers helpful!
Check out our other cloth diapering posts:
What are the different types of cloth diapers
How many cloth diapers do I need?
All prefolds are not created equal - a comparison of prefolds
Ashley says
This may be a dumb question but if you don't receive washing instructions how do you know what the inserts are made of? I'm not much of a fabric buff.
Ruth V. says
Hi Ashley! Is there a tag on the insert itself? Or there may be a tag inside of the pocket of the diaper that has what the diapers and inserts are made of and washing instructions. Otherwise you could probably do a quick google search and figure them out. Microfiber feels sort of like a very soft towel (or like those chamois you dry your car with). Or, just post the brand of your diapers
Ruth V. says
Hi! Once the natural fibers have been washed a few times you can go ahead and wash them all together. You just don't want to prep them together 🙂
Bekah Kuczenski says
I have to admit that after using cloth for over 7 months I definitely do not prep my diapers correctly. I'm usually too impatient 🙁
Beth R says
That is so important to prep them separately. I learned the hard way and then to strip everything again! I love my natural fiber inserts though
Caitlin Myers says
Thank you for this! 🙂 I will be using it once I get all the diapers for my baby girl. 🙂
ChristelLovesBeauty says
Wow! I feel overwhelmed now. Hahaha. I will for sure be needing this info and I should probably start washing and prepping now!
Melissa Gilbertsen says
I have never used the boiling method. I have always done the multiple washes, which yes, wastes time and energy. I read on one CD site not to boil, but it just seems to make so much more sense!
nataliehamp says
Thanks for all of the info! Does anyone have any tips on how to keep diapers soft without using liquid fabric softener if you don't put them in the dryer. I don't have a dryer and I hang them to dry, but they are always a little bit rougher than I would like.
Lfulks516 says
Thanks for this info! The dryer balls look like they would really help, too!
Kristi C. says
Thank you so much for this post. I am brand new to cloth diapering, my first little one is due in 3 weeks and 2 days--to be exact ;)-- and I have recently been ordering my fluff so I am excited to get them in the mail but honestly had no idea what to do when they arrived! I've now read over this post AND saved it for later when they get here so I'll be able to refer back to it know what to do! Wish me luck! 🙂 Thanks again for this helpful post!!!
Keara B. says
This was a great post! I've had a hard time finding comprehensive info about how to prep my diapers/inserts/etc., especially in regards to boiling things! Thank so much for sharing. 🙂
Ruth V. says
I've gotten lazy about it too 🙂 I usually just throw them in with towels or something and just change more frequently for the first few uses.
Zuel O'malley says
I hope you don't mind, but I'm making a cd packet as part of a shower gift to my cousin who wants to try CDing but hasn't done much research. I'm listing a bunch of blogs (in hopes she'll start reading up on her own) and I'd love to include this article in it. She's getting the packet, a pail liner I made, a few newborn pockets & a pack of wipes I've made along with some pre-folds, detergent, CD safe rash creme, a few snappis and a couple of covers. I just have to decide what covers to get her now!
Ruth V. says
So glad you're spreading the cloth diaper love to your cousin! The gift you've put together sounds wonderful. She's lucky to have you 🙂 Sure, you can include my article. Please send her my way if she has any questions. I'd recommend Thirsties covers - I love the double gussets, and they were awarded the #1 cover from this year's Padded Tush Stats Awards.
Desiree Tatro says
I have learned so much from your blog! I tried cloth for 7 months with my first child. SO many things went wrong and I couldn't figure out how to stop leaks. It seemed as though I would change her every 20 minutes. Not to mention the fact I only had 18 diapers. How I made it 7 months is beyond me. On top of it I was pregnant when she was just 12 weeks old. Now I have 3 kids, my youngest is 4 months and I want so bad to try again.
rachel says
Thank you for tutorial on stripping the diapers. I have a three week old and am venturing into the cloth diaper world now that I'm not quite so sleep deprived and have a little more energy. I'm also sending this blog post to a friend who is due at the end of February, who also wants to cloth diaper!
Gina Hodges says
I am new to CD and am still trying to figure out the best way to prep them as I receive them. I followed the instructions for must, but I have a brand that I do not seem to like or the prep did not go as expected I am unsure still experimenting a bit!
Stacie says
Do you really need to seal anything made of PUL? I never did that with any of my covers, so far nothing has leaked.
Ruth V. says
I don't know if it's 100% necessary but have heard some manufactures and WAHMs recommend it so I usually do. Babyville Boutique (makes materials to make your own CDs) also recommends it.
Michelle Lee says
Thanks for writing these articles! I'm an old hand at this stuff myself, but it's SO nice to have some "easy reference" pages to pass along to my new mama friends who are considering cloth diapering. 🙂
Beach Bum :) says
So helpful!! Now I will know what to do when I start using CD in May 🙂
~Christine Savela
Charity says
Thanks for the great info. I am glad to know I should prep diapers separately because I plan to try various brands/types in the beginning to see what I like.
Sarah Hall says
This is a great little tutorial! Short and to the point. Now when my first diapers arrive I can prep them with confidence. I am so excited to have some beautiful soft diapers for dear son's bottom.
I just wish I had more money or skill to provide him with more. It can be so frustrating not to be able to provide him with everything I want.
Ashleigh Swerdfeger says
This is so helpful! It will make prepping my diapers so much easier now that I know how. This is a great reference guide. I didn't know you could boil inserts either.
Marnie A. says
I'm so excited to be starting my cloth diapering journey on our adorably chunky 4 month old! I've done a ton of research, and thought I had it all together... BUT today in an excited and sleepy stupor, I threw my new microchamois pocket diaper in to prep with a bamboo AIO... Ugh!!! Every time I google it to try and figure out just how stupid that was, all I get are a hundred different tutorials saying not to do that. Wellllll... I did it. Now what?!?!? Help, Mommies!
Ruth V. says
I doubt that one AIO is going to "ruin" your pocket - the natural fibers release oils and can coat whatever they're washed with, but I don't think it's that significant for one diaper. I'd just wash it a few times (separately of course) and you'll probably be good to go. If for some reason you have some repelling you may need to "strip it" but just see how it goes 🙂