Dirty diaper storage

This is one topic that I have not devoted a post to yet that I think is fairly important.  So just where do you put all of those smelly dirty diapers?  Well you will need a waterproof bag of some sort to hold the diapers, and a trashcan.  This doesn't have to be an expensive ordeal, but think about what room the dirty diapers will be stored in.  I put ours in the kids bathroom.  The reason being, is that if a diaper has poo, I spray out the diaper into the toilet and I want to put the diaper in the pail as quickly as possible.  But if you have a new born who is breastfeed it is possible to keep your pail in the baby's room, because these poopy diapers do not need to be sprayed out unless you want to.  If your baby starts formula or on solids you will definitely want to spray out their poo in the toilet. 

There are 2 types of home diaper storage solutions that I will tell you about today.  One is the hanging bag.  The hanging bag will hang on a door handle somewhere, thus there is not a need for a trash can.  Here is the one that Planetwise offers for $29.99.  This is a pricey bag but they offer cute patterns that you could match to your child's nursery.  The second type of dirty diaper storage is using a pail liner inside a trash can with a lid.  This is what I use.  I found a trash can with a lid at the grocery store for $7 and my pail liner by a company called Bummis for $16.  I have heard wonderful things about Planetwise's pail liner and theirs is $16.50. 


So think about where you are going to place your dirty diapers, and what solution will work best for your house.

Now there are some smells that can escape from your dirty diapers occasionally.  A good way to knock out those smells is to use an additive to your pail, like Rockin Green's pail freshener.  I have heard wonderful things about this product.  I have not tried it yet though.  Right now I add 1/2 cup of baking soda to my pail, and that works wonderfully.  I buy a huge bag, 13.5 lbs, from Costco for cheep cheep, that lasts us for a very long time.

Our pail with the Bummis liner full of dirty diapers

The Bummis bag has a draw string.  This is the size Large bag for $16

Striping your Diapers

Now what do you do when you have finished washing your diaper and they are coming out of the wash still smelling, or the moment your baby pee's there is an overwhelming smell of ammonia, or worse yet, your child gets a horrible rash? Then you might to use more rinse cycles. Or your problem could be build up. If you are not using a detergent made for cloth diapers you might have to strip your diapers.  Striping your diapers refers to washing/soaking your diapers to remove build up left from detergents or water minerals. Some detergents work better than others, which is why I chose Rockin Green.  Rockin Green gives you the choice of 3 different formulas.  The formulas are designed for either hard, soft or regular water.  In San Antonio we have hard water so I use the Hard Rock formula.

If you decide to purchase Rockin Green then you will probably want to strip your diapers right away. You could purchase Rockin Green's new product formulated especially for striping out that amonia called Funk Rock. This will ensure that your diapers are free of any detergent or ammonia build up. I have not had any ammonia issues since I purchased my first bag back in May (2010). Before Rockin Green I was striping my diapers once a month. So what you will do if you dont have Funk Rock, you can use your Rockin Green detergent to strip your diapers, what the company likes to call Rockin a Soak. Here you can either use your washer if it is a regular washer, or your bath tub if you have an HE washer. In your regular top loader add 3 table spoons of detergent and put your CLEAN diapers in, and fill your washer up with hot water and let that sit for 3-6 hours. Then wash your diapers like normal with out using any soap. Then do a cold rinse. And dry your diapers like normal.

If you do not have any Rockin Green you can buy samples for $.75-.80 which has 4 table spoons in each bag, with $1.00 shipping.

Things to remember:

• Do not use fabric softners in the washer, or drier sheets in the drier
• You can use a dryer ball
• Do not use a diaper rash cream, or medicated ointments with out a barrier like a flushable liner, Kushies, IMSE liners, Grovia
• Or if you do use a diaper rash cream make sure it is for cloth diapers like this one Magic Stick
• Wash your diapers every 2-3 days.  Any longer than this you will have build up issues.