why cloth diapers

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

why cloth diapers

Let's do a simple calculation, you change your baby 6-8 times in a 24 hour period, and each disposable diaper cost you approximately RM 0.50.

RM0.50 x 8 = RM 4.00/Day
RM4.00 x 365 = RM1,460.00 / Year

Averagely a child will only be fully potty train by age of 3.

RM1460 x 3 = RM 4,380

If you have 3 kids , just your diaper usage will cost you RM13,140!

The cost of cloth diapers may seem expensive in the beginning. However, let's begin our simple calculation again :

You will need about 6-8 cloth diaper a day, and keep another 2-3 as spare.

RM 79.00 x 12 = RM 948.00

And that’s it! You can continue to use these diapers till she is fully potty trained. These diapers are also durable enough to pass on to the next sibling. This is a big saving especially now that we have not with the increase in petrol prices. We have seen an increase of almost 20% in the cost of most things lately.

Being a mom, we are not only passionate about raising our kids, but we can also passionate about being frugal and getting the best value for our hard earned money!

The DONTs

  1. Never use fabric softerner on your cloth diapers. Fabric softerner will create a wax layer on the diaper, hence making the diaper water resistant and may cause leaking.
  2. Never use chlorine bleach too. It is too harsh for the fabric as well as your baby's skin
  3. If you have to use diaper cream, make sure you put a diaper liner on the diaper. Diaper cream will make the diaper water resistant and cause leaking.

THE DOs

  1. Pre-wash your diaper 3-5 times before use. Cloth diaper will become more absorbent after each wash.
  2. Use detergent that is free from softerner, chlorine bleach, brightening agent and enzyme.

How To Wash Your Cloth Diaper

  1. Store your dirty diapers in a dry pail, soaking is not necessary.
  2. When you are ready to do your laundry, just put all the used diapers together with your regular laundrey into washing machine, and let the machine do the job for you. Extra rinse cycle is recomended to avoid detergent build up.
  3. We recomended diapers to be dried under direct sunlight or in the dryer for disinfection purposes.
  4. That's it! Wahsing your cloth diaper is just as easy as your regular laundry. Moms, there is no reason to use disposable diapers anymore :)

How To Clean Baby's Poo

Don't panic when your baby poo on the cloth diaper. Your diaper will be alright :)

  1. Rinse the diaper under runing water, poo will roll out from the fleece layer by itself, no scrubing needed.
  2. There might be some stain on it after rinsing, no worries, just put the diaper into your washing machine. When the washing cycle done, your diaper should look clean. Sometimes some stuborn stain may remain, just put the diaper under direct sun light; sun light is the best natural stain remover.

What type of Detergent Should I Use?

You should use the detergent that is free from Softerner, Brighterning Agent, Enzyme and Chlorine Bleach. Personally, I am using Pureen HAD. I can't said this the best detergent as I have not tried any others, but I have been using it since day I started on cloth diapers. After the washing, my diaper always come out smelling clean and fresh, and it doesn't give me detergent build up problem. For each washing I only use half cap of it, and a pack of 800gm has lasted me for more than a year!

Why My Diaper Leaking or Is Not As Aborbent As Before?

Do a simple test on your diaper, drip a few drops of water on it. If the water is rolling on the fabric and is not absorbed into the fabric directly, it means that there is detergent buildup. Soak your diaper in very hot water for at least 1 hour. Hot water helps dissolves the wax layer resulting from the detergent buildup. After that, just wash your diaper in your normal laundy cycle without any detergent. Repeat the process one more time for better results. Best to avoid the detergent that cause the detergent build up in the first place.

My Diaper Smell Bad!

IF your diaper has an ammonia smell, it means there is bacteria growth in the diaper due to the detergent buildup. Soak the diaper into hot water at least 1 hour, wash it without any detergent and dry it under direct sunlight or in a dryer. Repeat the process at least 3 times. Your diaper should smell fresh after this.

Baking Soda and Distilled White Vinegar

Once a while, you may add some baking soda into the washing cycle and some distilled white vinerar duirng rinsing cycle, this will give a very good cleaning result.

0 comments:

fAmILy jOurNeY Copyright © 2009 Designed by Ipietoon Blogger Template for Bie Blogger Template Vector by DaPino