Thanks so much for writing this all here. I am going to CD too and I feel like there isn’t a good central website to explain “how” to do it. Love your recommendations and “how to”.

Glad everything is going so well for you!

Sharon

I think I will definitely try the pocket diapers. I don’t know about the other two, simply b/c I can’t imagine that I would stick to CDing if I have to do that much extra washing – seems like just as much of a waste too me. My reasons for CDing are more economical than ecological, although I do have ecological reasons, too! (Plus, I’ve also read that CDing helps with potty-training later!)

Again, thank you, Juliana, for your response, and thank you Gjertsens for posting about this in the first place and for posting Juliana’s response!

God bless!

The main issue is that front load washers decide for themselves how much water your load needs — but cloth diapers absorb much more water than the thickest item the designers assume you might launder, so the washer won’t add enough water to get the diapers well cleaned. I therefore end up with ammonia build-up from residual urine in the diapers, which smells vile. The poop washes out just fine, because that is mostly a surface issue, and front loaders are great with that kind of cleaning.

I use prefolds (from Green Mountain Diapers), and I love them both because I strongly prefer natural fibers against my baby’s bum, and because they are a frugal choice. We use Snappis instead of pins & mostly Thirsties covers.

In retrospect, however, I should have either gone with a tradional washing machine when we recently bought our new washer, or I should have gone with pocket diapers (giving up on my desire for natural fibers) like those the Gjertsens are using. I have talked to a couple of friends who have front loaders and have successfully CD’ed with pocket diapers, because the inserts are thinner than prefolds are. This makes them less absorbent, meaning that a front load washer is more able to clean them effectively. It also means if you have a kid like mine you need two or three inserts at a time, but they work just fine that way.

With my prefolds, I add a few buckets of water to every load of diapers after the cycle starts. I wash them a total of 3-4 cycles, the latter two without any soap (so it is really for extra rinsing). This cuts the ammonia smell to a reasonable level, although it still seems worse than with our old washer. I have also read that adding a heavy towel or two may do the trick with some brands of washers. I have a Samsung, and I have gotten absolutely nowhere with their customer service when I have tried to inquire about how to get the washer to add more water.

The one benefit of front loaders is that they get the diapers much drier in the spin cycle, so it is quicker to dry the diapers once they are clean.

So in a nutshell – you will probably be fine CDing with a front loader if you use a pocket diaper system (no all-in-ones or prefolds), but you will have to experiment with your washer to figure out how to make it work best for your CDs. You might want to stick to microfiber inserts (not hemp or cotton), but you could certainly experiment with all 3. Go for it!

I also wanted to say that I have been following your blog since the Cake Wrecks post about James’ cake…the faith that the two of you have exhibited over the years is encouraging to me. And of course, Valor is adorable!!

Is Valor excited for Christmas? I know so many people whose babies are having their first Christmases, so I’m pretty much undergoing cuteness overload at the moment!

Glad to see the younger generations have made some changes to the cd world.

Peace be the journey

Paja