On our recent article “Cloth Diaper Recommendations for a Complete Novice,” one of our readers asked if it would be worth investing in cloth diapers if she lived in an apartment with coin-operated laundry.  In my opinion, based on number-crunching rather than personal experience, it would be worth a try.  Even if you have to pay to run the washer and dryer, you will save money using cloth diapers.  As long as your washer and dryer work reasonably well and you don’t have to keep feeding it quarters to make them properly wash and dry your diapers, it should be a better choice for the environment, too.

Our reader pays $1 to run the washer and another $1 to run the dryer.  Obviously she could save money and carbon emissions by hanging diapers to dry, but that not may be practical in her apartment or climate.  I wash diapers every four days, or ninety times a year.  If she can get away with running just one cycle per load (i.e., she does not use extra rinses or run the washer twice to get the diapers clean), she’ll pay $90 a year to wash the diapers.  I know some apartment dryers barely work, but let’s assume that $1 will adequately dry her diapers, so she’ll pay $90 for drying, too.  If she uses Biokleen Laundry detergent (see our posts on eco-friendly detergents here and here), she’ll spend $.139/load, or $12.51/year on detergent for her diaper loads.  Total washing and drying costs (for one year): $192.51.

I spent just $129.50 on one year of diaper supplies, which is on the cheap side.  I estimated in my Cloth vs. Disposable Cost Comparison post that, depending on the diaper system, you could spend anywhere from $120 to about $600 on start-up costs.  Total start-up costs: $120-$600.

Keep in mind that even if you do start cloth diapering and give up, you can usually sell back your diapers and get as much as half your money back.  Consumer Reports estimates that disposable diapers will cost $600-$800 a year-and obviously there is no resale value on a used disposable diaper!  With these factors  in mind, I’d say it’s definitely worth giving cloth diapering a try.  Even in the first year, you could spend about half the cost of disposables.

Now for the practical side of washing cloth diapers in an apartment.  Will you want to lug a stinky diaper pail down to the public laundry facilities?  Will your fellow apartment-dwellers be grossed out by diapers swishing in their laundry machines?  These are factors to consider, too.  Perhaps some of our readers can weigh in with personal experience.  Has anyone tried using cloth diapers with public washing machines?  How did it go?  Please help our pregnant reader solve her diapering dilemma!

We love getting email here at the Green Baby Guide.  One of our readers is planning to switch over to cloth diapers and wrote in with the following questions:

I really want to switch to cloth diapers and have been doing a lot of research on the different kinds out there and it is really overwhelming!  I think I am leaning towards prefolds and/or flats with a Dappi cover for the most inexpensive option.  What kinds do you gals use?  Any specific brands of diapers and covers that you like?  Any helpful tips for someone just starting out??  Thanks for your time, I know you are busy mommies! -Amber

I wrote back to tell her about my experience.

Hi Amber,

Both Joy and I use prefolds with covers, although we have tried other types, too.  You are right that they are the least expensive option.  Starting out, I bought three dozen prefolds (the small size with green stitching) and about five newborn sized covers.  I have tried Proraps, Imse Vimse, and Diaperaps covers and they all work well.  You could get a couple different types, and then when it’s time to buy the next size up, you will know what types work for you and your baby.  I have actually gotten away with just one set of prefolds for over two years (my daughter is very small), so my cloth diaper supplies have cost me about $100 total!

Check out Sunshine Diapers for a Prefold Tutorial

So, all you cloth diapering parents out there–what would you recommend?  Does anyone have any experience with flat diapers?  I have never tried them myself, as they seem to require intricate folding and pinning.  With a prefold I can just fold a diaper in thirds and place on the diaper cover that has Velcro or snap closures (pictured).  Then I put it on as I would a disposable.

Thanks for writing in, Amber.  And thanks in advance to everyone who responds with tips, recommendations, or anti-recommendations for a first-time cloth diaper user!

Our old clunker of a washing machine came with our house.  A typical top-loader from the 1970s or ‘80s, it probably used about forty gallons of water per load.  Another downside of this appliance is that it did not even get the clothes clean.  Dark clothes (i.e., all my clothes) came out with streaks of lint, clumps of detergent, and the dirt and grime they had before “washing” them.

A positive pregnancy test motivated me to replace my washing machine.  I wanted to try cloth diapers and figured pre-baby was the ideal time to switch.  I knew a good front loader used just ten gallons of water per load, but I was disappointed that they cost so much more than top-loaders.  The cheapest one I saw advertised was $800.  Knowing I could save hundreds of gallons of water, not to mention all the energy used to heat the water, I convinced myself it would be worth it.

Then a weird thing happened: we got the washer for far less than we’d budgeted.  First, we just so happened to show up on a store-wide 10% discount day.  Also, the washer in question turned out to be on sale.  And, we got a tax credit and some sort of energy credit.  Ask around–someone may want to pay you for selecting an energy-conscious option.  To top it all off, the store offered a rebate on the delivery charge.  The strangest thing was, we did not ask about any of this stuff–the guy at Sears just kept handing us forms and coupons.  Our Kenmore washer–listed at $800 in the Sunday paper–cost us just $350 including delivery!  That’s about the same price as a standard water-guzzling top-loader.

I love my front-loading machine.  All of my clothes come out clean and fresh-smelling and take less time to dry due to the extra-fast spin cycle.  This machine has made cloth-diapering much more efficient.  I wash diapers every four days on the heavy cycle–no extra rinses and no wet pail.  This means I am able to use just 900 gallons of water a year washing cloth diapers.  I also use a third of the detergent I’d use with a top-loader.  Compare that to someone who uses a top-loader every four days: they’ll use 3600 gallons a year!  Add in extra rinse cycles, more frequent washes, and wet pails and they could be wasting as much as 10,000 gallons of water a year on their cloth diaper laundry alone.

My washer has already paid for itself and will continue to save water and energy years after my daughter is out of diapers.  If you are in the market for a new machine, hunt around for special discounts and tax credits.  You may find, as I did, that a new high efficiency machine is well within your reach.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Like some cloth diaper users, I assumed that disposables were the best option for nights, but felt conflicted about chucking them into the trash just to buy us a bit of rest.  I posted about the battle between my exhaustion and my eco-guilt here.

A few weeks ago Roscoe solved the problem himself by wetting through his disposables two nights in a row.  Erin, Wendy, and Alissa all submitted comments to my “Nighttime Diaper Dilemma” post that recommended using a pocket diaper with extra inserts.  In sleepy desperation we gave it a try.  The result was blissful slumber and a clear conscience!

Although I was originally a staunch supporter of prefolds with covers, I have come to love our pocket diapers for their convenience and aesthetic appeal. A pocket diaper consists of a diaper cover lined in a moisture wicking layer.  There is a pocket between the outer cover and the liner where you insert a long terry cloth pad to soak up moisture.  Since you insert the pads while you’re folding the laundry, it makes for a more convenient diaper change than prefolds. 

The only downside is that you have to wash the entire diaper every time.  With prefolds you can often just rinse the cover so that it can be used again.  Since we’re trying to lighten the laundry loads we do around here, we use prefolds during the day and save our pocket diapers for nighttime use.

We use three main brands of pocket diapers, all of which I love for varying reasons.

Fuzzibunz: These are legendary among cloth diaper users and have gained increasing popularity in recent years.  My favorite features of Fuzzibunz diapers are their snaps.  Roscoe can’t pull them open himself and they adjust for a variety of waist sizes.  These are a hot item at resale shops and can earn up to half their retail price when sold used.

Happy Heiny’s:  This innovative diaper design adjusts with snaps in the front so that it fits baby for a variety of ages.  You can use the same diaper for babies from eight to thirty pounds and the Velcro is tough enough to prevent my son from being able to take off his own diaper. Happy Heiny’s pocket diaper in cow print is beyond cute!

Bum Genius:  These diapers also adjust for babies from 8-30 pounds and use Velcro for the waistband.  They are great quality and would have a high resale value. They come with two inserts: one for daytime and thicker one for nighttime use.

There are many, many more pocket diapers out there but these three are the only ones I’ve tried so far.  I’ve been impressed with their effectiveness, but mainly I’m just happy to be getting a bit more sleep and feeling a bit less guilt.  We’d love to hear about your nighttime cloth diaper victories!

Right around when Joy wrote her post about diaper-friendly detergent I was in the process of phasing out my conventional laundry soap. I hadn’t switched over to an eco-friendly brand because I kept getting hung up on the price. Imagine my shock when I discovered that eco-friendly detergent can be cheaper than conventional detergent! I no longer have any reason to use a mainstream brand.

Laundry Detergent–from cheapest to most expensive

T.J.’s powder  / $5.49 / 40 loads / $.137 per load

Biokleen powder  / $13.99 / 100 loads / $.139 per load  BEST DEAL

T.J.’s liquid HE  / $8.99 / 64 loads / $.14 per load

All (not eco-friendly)  / $14.00 / 96 loads / $.145 per load

Biokleen liquid  / $9.49 / 64 loads /$.148 per load

T.J.’s powder  / $10.00 / 64 loads / $.156 per load

Biokleen powder / $8.29 / 50 loads / $.165 per load

Planet  / $10.00 / 32 loads /  $.31 per load

Ecover  / $9.00 / 20 loads / $.45 per load

7^th Generation  / $8.00 / 16 loads / $.50 per load

Some Notes on the Eco-friendly Detergents

• Even though T.J.’s 40-load box is cheaper than Biokleen’s 100-load box, Biokleen gets the “Best Deal” award because it uses less packaging.
• Trader Joe’s larger box of detergent (64 loads) is a worse deal than their small box (40 loads).
• Biokleen is often on sale. I got my ten-pound box for $11.99 (.119 per load). Trader Joe’s prices stay constant.
• If you read the text on the Biokleen box, it says you’ll get 100 loads by using three-quarters of the scoop provided. With a high efficiency machine, the box recommends using just half a scoop. That means I’ll actually get 160 loads out of my Biokleen box. The actual price per load on my $11.99 sale box will be just $.074. That’s half the price of many other eco-friendly brands and the cheap conventional brand.
• The Ecover and 7^th Generation are bad deals. Not only do they cost a lot, they also come in plastic bottles that would have to be replaced frequently. (1 box of Biokleen = 10 plastic bottles of 7^th Generation!)

Some Notes on the Conventional Detergent

I wanted to see how eco-friendly brands compared to the cheapest conventional brand and was pleased to find that Biokleen powder is actually cheaper than All. Now, I’m sure you can find cheaper detergent at a big warehouse store, but I was looking only in the stores within walking distance of my house. One huge plastic container of All costs $14 ($.145/load). That’s almost twice as expensive as the Biokleen.

My frugal friend (we’ll call him Thrifty Bob) told me that he’d just found a container of All on sale for $9 ($.093/load). Not bad, Thrifty Bob! However, if you read the fine print on the container, it says you’ll get 96 loads if you fill the cup half-way full. If you have a top-loader, you may be filling the cup to the top, so you’d actually get just 48 loads out of the container. Thrifty Bob has a front-loader and admitted that he often filled the cup more than halfway full. Not only does this waste detergent, it may ruin a front-loading machine. The guy who delivered our front-loader warned me to never, ever, ever use more than a third-cup of detergent.

I will admit that before I found Biokleen, I was using All detergent, too. Now I’m kicking myself, because not only was I paying more, I was polluting the Earth with toxins and adding a huge hunk of plastic to the recycling bin. Even worse, I had to throw away three non-recyclable plastic parts of the container: the plastic cup, spout, and cap.

Another big advantage to green detergent is that it doesn’t contain chemicals that can cling to skin or petroleum-based oils that coat diapers and cause unpleasant smells. Thanks to Biokleen, I’ll be saving money, keeping toxins away from our bodies, and helping the planet.

I’d always heard that diapers needed to be washed in the hottest water possible.  After two years of washing diapers in hot water, a post on Treehugging Family made me think about whether I could wash diapers in cold.  Peggy writes about saving 72 pounds of carbon dioxide in one month just by washing four out of five loads in cold water.  Keep that up for an entire year and you’ll save $60-100 on your energy bill. 

But doesn’t washing in hot water kill germs and bacteria?  Everything I read said no–unless your washer has a built-in heater, the hot water in your machine does not get hot enough to kill anything.  Most water heaters are set to 120 degrees.  You’d need a temperature of 160 to kill anything and 212 to actually sanitize your laundry.  Jennifer (Peggy’s co-blogger on Treehugging Family) pointed out that the dryer does get hot enough to kill bacteria.

Armed with all this information, I figured it was worth a try.  I loaded the diapers in the machine and set the knob to “cold.”  At the last minute, I almost turned the knob back to hot.  After years of believing the hot water I was using was beneficial–no, necessary–to the cloth diapering process, it was hard to make the change, even for investigative purposes.  Then, in one of the most daring moves of my cloth-diapering career, I pressed the start button and let the cold water gush into the machine.

Now that you are all on the edges of your seats, I’ll break this amazing news: the diapers came out of the dryer white, clean, and fresh-smelling.  Now, if anyone has some scientific evidence in favor of the hot-wash, please post a comment.  Until I hear advice to the contrary, I am going to wash diapers in cold water.  I just wish I’d had the gumption to take the plunge years ago!

Because I have a small house and harbor illusions of leading a “minimalist lifestyle,” I wanted to limit the amount of baby gear I bought. When I was pregnant, I kept wondering if I really needed all this stuff: a wipes warmer, a bouncy seat, a swing, a white noise machine, a mobile, an arsenal of how-to-raise-your-baby books, a travel crib, a baby monitor? (The list goes on, but you get the point.) How was I supposed to know? Every time I’d consider not getting something, the consumerist girl scout in me would decide that I just wouldn’t be prepared without it.

After fretting over each purchase or non-purchase for a good three or four months, I had a breakthrough: Yes, I can live without (fill in baby doodad of choice here). And if I can’t, I can always get it later. That’s right! Contrary to popular belief and the aforementioned girl scout motto, you do not need to “be prepared” for every possible baby emergency. Not sure you need a bouncy seat? Don’t get one until you do. You may find, as I did, that you can indeed live without it.

Every parent’s list will be different, but here’s a list of gizmos I never had. My daughter is over two now and hasn’t suffered from deprivation. (She can always sort it out later in therapy, if need be!)

Bouncy seat. My baby slept in a Moses basket for the first six months of her life, so if I needed to set her down, I put her in there.

Baby monitors. Because our house is so small, there is no way I wouldn’t hear her if she cried.

Wipe warmers. We use cloth wipes dampened with a squirt of water from a squeeze bottle. Our baby never seemed to care that the wipes weren’t warm.

Swing. We actually broke down and bought a swing after a week or two of sleepless nights (and days). Unfortunately, the swing didn’t help at all, so it went right back to the store. Joy and her husband made the same sleep-deprived decision, with the same result!

Exersaucer. I knew I didn’t want this huge plastic contraption in my house . . . so I didn’t get one.

Glider. First of all, I find this piece of furniture hideously ugly. Second, I have at least two chairs with a rocking motion. I never missed having a gliding rocking chair.

You may be tempted to register for as much as possible so generous friends and family can pay for it. Remember you can always ask for gift cards if you find the need to stock up later. I didn’t feel like I was scrimping by not buying every item on the Babies-R-Us registry list-I felt resourceful, and my house remained blissfully clutter-free.

One side effect of going green is an enlarged sense of moral superiority.  I have to admit that I fall prey to this every time I pull out my fabric grocery bags at the supermarket.  The other shoppers stare with envy at my grungy canvas sacks, wishing that they had the wherewithal to save the planet while buying cottage cheese, breakfast cereal, and a few dozen eggs.  O.K.—the truth is, they don’t even notice, but I’m so busy basking in the glory of a fulfilled Earth Day resolution that I like to imagine the admiration of my shopping peers.

In reality the only person who is impressed by my canvas bags is me and that’s how resolutions really should work.  If we can find solutions to our green dilemmas the shift will end up ultimately making us happier than anyone else.  In the year to come, I’m going to pick just a few goals and then go from there.  I want to actually set reasonable expectations for myself so that I can accomplish them in the midst of parenting, working, writing and enjoying this very full life.

#1 Potty Train Roscoe Using Cloth Pull-Ups:  Of course, Roscoe may or may not approve of this one, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with all the great washable potty-training products on the market.  Although cloth diapers are decidedly better than disposables, all diapers have a huge planetary impact so I’m looking forward to a diaper-free future.  Did I mention how excited I am about avoiding all those extra loads of laundry?

#2  Find a good grocery solution:  Do I shop at the employee-owned big-box grocery store with rock bottom prices or the elite supermarket with fancy lighting and seventeen brands of goat cheese?  One has more organic options but they come with extreme expense. Perhaps I should rotate between the two or supplement by going to farmer’s markets or picking my own produce. I may end up joining a community farm and getting organic fruits and veggies delivered to my door each week.  This year I vow to find a system that works for my green conscience and my budget!

#3 Switch almost all the bulbs in my home to compact fluorescents:  The research I’ve done on compact fluorescents shows that the cost and energy savings are quite substantial.  Some of the fixtures in my home use small decorative bulbs, but I did find some smaller bulbs that come as compact fluorescents for sale on the Web.  Also, check out Ikea’s selection of economical compact fluorescents. 

#4 Find a creative solution for fuel efficiency:  We are planning on replacing a truck with another vehicle this year.  I have considered a vintage diesel car that runs on vegetable oil or a small fuel-efficient vehicle, but we do lots of remodeling/landscaping and need something that can be loaded with stuff.  Is there any such thing as a turbo, Biodiesel van that’s safe, dependable and economical?  If so, I shall find it!

Although my list is short, I seem to find that small changes always cause momentum that spills over into other areas of my life.  I’ll start small and keep you posted on my successes (and failures!).  

I remember the day we made our first eco-friendly Trader Joe’s detergent purchase. We loved the smell of our fresh laundry and basked in the green glow of our new standby.  While the large plastic container was an environmental downside, the price was reasonable and the lavender essential oils gave it a crisp, clean scent.

 Roscoe helps with the laundry

We wanted to switch to a greener detergent for our family’s health and the environment. Green brands don’t contain optical brighteners, chemicals which bond to the skin with traditional detergents. We also liked the fact that scents are often plant-based rather than petroleum-based, which tends to cause less skin irritation. As if that weren’t enough to convince us, natural detergents biodegrade easily in water and don’t contain phosphates, which are very harmful to aquatic wildlife.

Overall, we were utterly thrilled with ourselves for our ethical and thrifty laundry detergent decision.  But that was until we noticed the smell. Even when Roscoe had wet diapers, they reeked of rotten garbage.  At first we thought he had been sneaking asparagus in at snack-time, but then our daycare provider noticed as well.  She recommended stripping our diapers by washing them in several loads of hot water without laundry soap to remove the residue causing the foul odor.

After further research, I found that eco-friendly detergents with essential oils or mainstream brands with petroleum-based scents can coat cloth diapers, making them non-absorbent and causing them to smell, even when wet.  There are several suggested remedies for this stinky conundrum, including using vinegar in the rinse cycle, adding baking soda to the laundry soap, and doing an additional hot rinse after each load.

The problem with all of these options is that they require more time and/or effort from our already busy family.  Instead, we’ve looked into switching to a diaper-friendly detergent and saving the rest of our Trader Joe’s stuff for our non-diaper laundry.  The list below includes some recommended choices. 

I’ve heard that Charlie’s Soap is the ideal diaper laundering product. According to the company, each load of laundry requires just one tablespoon of soap and leaves no deposits on clothes.  Many cloth diaper aficionados have informed me that there is no stripping required with Charlie’s Soap and you can buy it at some natural baby stores, such as Mother Nature’s in Portland, Oregon. 

Since Portland is two vast hours away and I’m too swamped to order Charlie’s Soap online, I opted for Biokleen’s Free and Clear Laundry Powder.  There’s no plastic container, it’s safe for high efficiency washers, it’s fragrance-free, and it’s available at my local grocery store, a mere five minutes from home. 

It’s amazing how something as simple as laundry soap can be such a challenge for a busy family trying to go green.  Then again, solving that dilemma has been a huge triumph and relief.  We’ll keep you posted as we set our eyes on future eco-friendly hurdles.  They may not be overcome with grace, but we’ll keep stumbling greenward!  For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, go to the blog carnival at rocksinmydryer.com. 

In real life, it’s often hard–or even impossible–to find cloth diaper supplies.  Big box stores like Target or Babys-R-Us sell a few cloth diapers, but these are generally the flimsy varieties that are better used as burp cloths.  If you want to get started with cloth diapers, your best bet is to find a brick and mortar store in your town.  Here in Portland, I’ve had good luck at Mother Nature’s (for new supplies) and The Children’s Exchange (for used supplies).  Joy purchased all her cloth supplies at Bambini’s in Eugene, which carries both new and used items.  In your local shop, it’s possible to look at the diapers, ask the shopkeepers questions, and avoid shipping costs.  Many stores will offer starter kits so you can get everything you need for less than buying everything piecemeal. 

If you don’t have a shop nearby, you will probably turn to the Internet for help.  So where do you begin?

Diaper Companies

The companies below sell their own diapers.  Their websites are also great places to find tips on washing diapers, weigh-ins on the environmental debate, and disposable vs. cloth cost-comparison analyses.

Diaperaps offers basic diaper covers to go over prefolds.  You can also get diaper liners through this company.

Cottonbabies is the company that brings BumGenius diapers, which are adjustable diapers that can fit your baby from birth to potty-training.  Cottonbabies also sells prefolds and an all-in-one.

Happy Heinys also has adjustable pocket diapers with great prints.

Fuzzibunz is a very popular pocket diaper.

Mother-ease has a leak-free system and offers one adjustable diaper style which can be paired with a waterproof cover.

Online Stores

You can go through the brands directly, using the links above, or go with an online store.  Here are a few online diaper stores to check out:

Baby Bunz & Co.

Baby Naturale

Better for Babies

Cottontail Baby

Diaper Junction

Eco Baby

Green Mountain Diapers

My Baby First

Diaper Tips and Cost Comparisons

Check out the Cloth Diaper Blog for tips on using your cloth diapers.  It’s your “all-in-one cloth diaper resource.”

Consumer Reports has an article about average diaper costs.

This site shows how Fuzzibunz end up cheaper than disposables.

Here is a detailed cost comparison chart of all the different cloth diapers compared to disposables.

And of course, The Green Baby Guide wrote an excellent cost comparison article.  Here’s where you can read all of our diaper posts. 

Greener Disposables

G-diapers are a hybrid diaper, available at many supermarkets.

Tushies offer a gel-free disposable and can be found at Whole Foods.

Moltex aren’t available in the U.S. (as far as we know), but are compostable.

Seventh Generation make widely available chlorine-free disposables.

If you have your own recommendations–or anti-recommendations–for online diaper resources, let us know by posting a comment or emailing us at greenbabyguide@gmail.com.  You’ll save yourself hours of Internet browsing by visiting a local diaper shop, but sometimes that isn’t an option.  The links above should give you a head start on the great eco-diaper hunt.