Im not sure why it took me so long to figure it out, but we decided to cloth daiper with our final baby. Actually I wanted to with baby number 3, but then our well pipe froze up. After a winter of no running water, all I wanted was convenience. But when I started searching the cost of cloth diapers I thought holy cow! What a hefty investment for a few daipers. I saw prices ranging from $55-$90 for six daipers and their inserts! As a seamstress I thought, I could easily make these for cheaper.
I made a trip to the fabric store and again was surprised at the cost of the project. The waterproof fabric ran about $15 a yard, while the lining was about $8 a yard, plus the Velcro and elastic I would need put my material cost at about $70! Luckily JoAnn’s fabric is always sending coupons to their email list. Once I got hold of a 50% off entire purchase coupon, the game was on. I was able to make 10 daipers for approximately $35. Obviously ten daipers isn’t going to go a long way so I have a routine that allows for available cloth daipers all day.
Now if you’re not a fan of hand washing daipers on the daily you can use this routine for a short period until you can accumulate the daipers you need. Especially if you’re not a DIYer and have to buy premade daipers.
Wether you make or buy them, be sure they’re pocket style with removable inserts. Get two or three times more inserts than daipers. The inserts take longer to dry.
A wash tub or two, sometimes the blow outs need an extra soak or rinse, scrub brush, borax, and some soap is all you need. I try to do batches of two or three. Scoop a bit of borax onto the dirty daipers and then pour boiling water over them and let soak until cool enough to work with.
I heat with wood so it is easy to keep hot water on hand, otherwise you can use a tea kettle to boil water as needed or boil a big stock pot worth to use throughout the day. The soap I use is simply our homemade bar soap. Nothing fancy
After washing, we hang to dry. I have only ten daipers and have never run out. Now, she’s only four months old and hasn’t had a case of the runs either😂. I’m a stay at home mom who doesn’t mind washing daipers on the regular. I do keep disposables on hand for convenience when we go out to run errands and for over night use since she sleeps through the night.
I hope this helps you in your decision on wether or not to cloth daiper, don’t let the initial up front cost dampen your hopes. You can make it work with just a small batch or build up your stock pile as the funds become available.
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