Top Ten Essentials for Cloth Diapering in a Breeze

At first, all the information and options for cloth diapering can be so overwhelming that you can get scared away. I almost was. But wait, don’t run away yet! We’ve got this. Even if you’re freaking out about baby coming and all it will take to get there and raise your little wonder, I have encouragement right now.

Maybe you’re worried about all it takes to raise a baby and this feels like too much. First off, that’s ok. I have moments of that as a first time mom. You are amazing for even simply desiring to care for this little wonder. You are an awesome parent and you can do this. Just go to the store, buy some diapers and wipes – literally anything you find – and your child will make it. Why do I know that? Because you love them enough already to care! <3

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But just so you know, cloth diapering is not much more complicated than using disposable diapers. Dive in and add them to your list or baby registry and I promise that it can become an easy part of your little-wonder-raising routine. Need to know how this whole cloth diapering thing works before you consider essentials? Here’s is a simple step-by-step breakdown of a week of cloth diapering. And here are our…

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Top Ten Essentials for Cloth Diapering

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Plus some added extras and links below to the products I choose and use every day. This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This can help me build up this site of wonder, wouldn’t that be fun?!

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1. 24 Cloth Diapers

Why 24? It allows you to always have a nice stockpile of clean diapers while being able to go a few days until you wash your full load of dirty diapers, which will save more money! Many brands also sell their cloth diapers in sets of 6, 12 and even a full 24.

Overall, my favorite cloth diaper is a pocket style diaper with inserts – bumGenius Original One-Size Pocket-Style Cloth Diaper 5.0 – mainly because they rarely leak, can have extra pads easily added for customizable absorbency, stay soft and durable after many washes and dry quickly. Here are all the deets of why I loved these two diapers even over their Thirsties competitor, which styles of cloth diapers reigned supreme and how you can choose what styles and brands work for you.

When first choosing cloth diapers, I chose to buy a mix of styles from both bumGenius and Thirsties brands. You can go with my favorite, mix it up or explore other brands I have linked at the bottom. Ultimately I trusted another cloth diapering mama when it came to my initial decision and I am glad I did!

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2. Craft Cart for Storage

Cloth diapers take up more room than disposables, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be neat and tidy and easily accessible no matter what room you are in. That’s why I love using a rolling craft cart with wheels for portability from room to room and for storage. I keep diapers on the bottom two shelves and wipes, diaper rash cream, and some muslin cloths on the top. And let me tell you, at this point I take my pile of clean diapers and pads and just pile them in and they still look tidy in there. Woo! Depending on your space, you can also consider using a closet organizer, closet bins, baskets , or drawers.

3. Reusable Washable Wipes

Who wants to juggle a wipe covered in poo aiming for the trash bin while the dirty diaper has to go in another bin and all the while your baby is squirming all over the place?! You will definitely get poo somewhere you don’t want it! Forget the hassle and while you are already washing cloth diapers, you can just roll these reusable washable wipes up in your dirty diaper or toss them in the diaper pail and then wash them along with your dirty diapers. A two for one!

I think Buttons Flannel Baby Reusable Washable Natural Unbleached Wipes – 15 Pack work great. Soft, durable and I actually like that they are lined with a red thread border because it helps me find and separate them easily from the diapers after washing. I have 2 packs of them or 30 wipes and that works for us.

I use a large glass jar I had lying around the house to store my clean wipes in a mixture of Castile soap and water, ready for use. You can use any container you have around to store your wipes in and even a plastic jar. Just use about 1 Tablespoon or so of Castile soap or baby wash for every half gallon of water and you have your wipe mixture.

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4. Cloth-Diaper-Safe Diaper Rash Cream

Babies get a number of diaper rashes the first months of life and here and there through the diaper stage, especially when their poo is more acidic from breastmilk or other foods. I actually didn’t even realize Little Wonder had a horrible diaper rash her second week of life until I took her to the doctor and he informed me. Sorry, baby girl, #firsttimemommistakes.

A number of diaper rash creams will leave a residue on cloth diapers and therefore inhibit absorption and possibly cause odors to be trapped in the diaper. The diaper rash creams I use are:

• Thirsties Booty Love Diaper Ointment
• Organic Diaper Balm by Earth Mama (also good for: bug bites, razor burn, yeast rashes and the like!

Both smaller jars, but they go a long way! This list is a pretty extensive and helpful, too!

5. Large Pail Liner

This 13 gallon reusable and washable pail liner functions as the holder and keeper of your dirty diapers while they await the wash for a few days. It should really be featured on Dirty Jobs – Haha! It fits right into a 13 gallon trash can just as any other trash bag would and holds about 3 days worth of dirty diapers. It also functions as a laundry “basket” that I use to take my clean diapers outside to dry and back inside to Little Wonder’s nursery.

6. Steel Diaper Pail

As with disposable diapers, you will want a diaper pail and many also work with both diapers. You can also choose a 13 gallon trash can with a lid, but I highly suggest a steal one because smells can really seep into plastic, while with steel they clean off. A lid is a must and the smaller the opening the better to keep those smells in … obviously! Disclaimer: These dirty diapers can really smell, but with a tight fitting lid, no need to worry. That’s why I really love the Ubbi Steel Odor Locking Diaper Pail.

I also didn’t realize how important a lockable feature on the lid would be until my 15 month old began finding it very fun to open the lid and pull dirty diapers out – Eek!

7. Cloth Diaper Sprayer

Also known as a bidet sprayer. Wink, wink – who knew going cloth would make you so fancy?! This hose easily attaches to the water supply of your toilet and hooks onto the toilet lid for storage. It comes in handy when your baby begins to eat solids and their poo is no longer able to be washed away in the washer. Yes, you will have to dispose of the poo in the toilet before you can wash the diapers. But don’t worry, it is not that bad, especially when you have a cloth diaper sprayer that you can use to gently spray off poo into the toilet.

8. Travel Size Wet Bag

This is like your reusable pail liner, but smaller and with a zipper. It holds about 5 cloth diapers, but I have stuffed in more in! Surprisingly these things really hold in the odor for what they are. They are good to keep in your diaper bag or car for when you are out and about and on the go. You wash and reuse just like the pail liner and they come in the cutest designs!

9. Cloth-Diaper-Safe Laundry Detergent

Your brand of cloth diapers should have a list of detergents that are safe to use with cloth diapers. While I’ve read that some love Tide and other conventional detergents, something to be mindful of with cloth diapers is that the residues found in many conventional detergents can build up over time on the cloth diaper and cause it to not get fully clean and hang onto odor. At least that is what I read. Up to you — I use Biokleen Natural Laundry Detergent Liquid because it seemed to be really clean, highly rated and very cost effective. It truly lasts forever, as it’s more concentrated than other brands.

10. Drying Rack

Once your cloth diapers are all clean you’ll want to hang them up either outside or inside, weather permitting. Skip the dryer, as it will save you almost half the cost of a load of laundry and will help your diapers not wear as much. (Though, I have used the dryer a few times on low heat setting when I needed a clean, dry diaper in a snap.)

What about those poo stains?! Even when your diapers are clean, there can be big yellow poo stains left behind. Especially in the first year of baby’s life before their poo becomes more solid. What do you do? Put it in the sun and watch a wonder happen. I was semi-obsessed with watching this happen when I first started cloth diapering. I tell you, after a few hours in the sun, those stains DISAPPEAR. I have to do a whole other post on this because it is a wonder in itself. Even when weather outside is bad or cloudy, you can hang your diapers up on the drying rack beside a window and stains will still disappear to some extent! In the winter I often just hang them up in the basement on a a drying rack like this.

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Also helpful:

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Sprayer Splatter Shield

This is like a giant clipboard with a protective shield all around it or a giant tube to spray your dirty diaper like crazy but keep the mess inside the tube. You take a diaper covered in poo, clip the top of it on the “clipboard” inside the shield and use your cloth diaper sprayer like crazy to get that poo off and into the toilet. I found it really helpful with some of the messier diapers because I could spray like crazy and not worry about any water or poo bits flying onto my toilet or walls (which has happened!).

Not essential because you can try to contain it within the toilet and because I only had a brief period of really messy poo’s that I couldn’t just easily flip and toss into the toilet. But it can make cloth diaper life a lot easier, especially depending on your baby and their poo’s. Spray and Shiel are also sold as a combo pack!

Muslin Cloths

I like having a small pile of these soft and absorbent cloths on my diaper cart to help dry off baby’s bottom or be able to quickly grab when she’s running around her nursery with a naked little bum and suddenly looks down in surprise because she is peeing on the floor – Wah! My husband gets really nervous when I let her run around naked, but it is good for her bum to dry out and don’t we all like to feel free!? But a little stack of any towels or cloths you already have works too. I’ve even quick grabbed a onesie in a pinch!

Baby Wash or Baby Castile Soap

I mentioned above that I use baby wash or Castile soap to make my reusable wipes mixture. You will probably already have baby wash on hand, so just put a couple squirts of that into a half gallon of water in your adorable jar and you have your mix to store your wipes in ready to go. Put this on the list if you don’t already have some.

All Purpose Cleaner in Spray Bottle

I keep this handy in a spray bottle on my diaper storage cart because each time I take a bag of dirty diapers out of the diaper pail to wash, I quick spray the inside of the pail with the cleaner and take a cloth and wipe it down. Then I throw the cloth in the bag with the dirty diapers to wash. I also add about a tablespoon of vinegar or rubbing alcohol to my all purpose cleaner to make sure any smells in the diaper pail are eliminated. This cleaner has vinegar in it, but to save on cost you can make your own!

Pack of Extra Cloth Diaper Inserts

Most cloth diapers come with a set of two absorbent inserts or pads – usually a thick insert and a thin insert. So far (16 mo.) that has worked for daytime diapering. But at one point baby girl began to more heavily wet her diapers during the night and I needed to use two thick inserts. Having an extra pack of cloth diaper inserts could be helpful as you won’t run out of inserts as quickly and need to do wash more frequently.

Disposable Diaper Liners

Some people use these and love them! They are a super thin disposable cloth that sits between your cloth diaper and baby’s bottom. That way, when they poo, you can easily take the corner of the cloth and throw it and the poo into the trash. Many are not recommended for flushing down a toilet.

This would eliminate your need of a cloth diaper sprayer, so if you don’t know if you can handle that, go with these. I do not use them because the sprayer worked great for me when I had messy poo’s and most other times I just turn my cloth diaper upside down over the toilet and the poo falls right out easily. Depending on your opinions on environmental health and waste management, you may not want to trash human waste or a liner.

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That’s my Top Ten Essentials for Cloth Diapering!

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Keep Exploring the Wonder of Cloth Diapering!

• How to Save a Ton of Money Using Cloth Diapers
• Your Top Questions About Cloth Diapering Answered
• Which Cloth Diaper is the Best? -.-. bumGenius vs. Thirsties -.-.

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Add these items to the must-have’s of your baby registry and see what other items I registered for to help make your choices a little easier and allow the rest of your pregnancy or time anticipating your little one’s arrival a lot more wonderful.

Click any of the links above or pictures below to easily shop. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This can help me build up this site of wonder! Wouldn’t that be fun?!

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Want to Check Out Other Brands of Cloth Diapers? Go For It!

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