How Often Should You Wash Cloth?

Did you know Smartipants Diapers recommends washing your diapers every 3 days? 3 days should be 

the maximum you go without laundering your cloth. After 3 days your diapers can become a breeding 

ground for bacteria.

Warmer days are approaching, which means higher temps inside those diaper pails. Bacteria thrive in 

warm, moist areas.  This is especially important in humid climates. Humid climates are more at risk of 

their diapers growing mold if not laundered correctly.  Along with the bacteria and mold risk, going 

longer than 3 days between washes can increase the chances of your diapers developing a stink [a 

stink that remains after being washed, no one wants that!]. This is because of the bacteria inside your 

diapers.  

If you do happen to go longer than 3 days between a wash, or find your diapers develop a stink, I 

recommend disinfecting them. 

How to Disinfect Your Diapers

To disinfect cloth diapers, I suggest doing a few hot washes [as hot as your washer will allow- check your water heater to see if you can turn it up] with as much water as possible in the washer. Only the first 

wash will need detergent included. The rest can be plain water, or any additives recommended by the 

link below.  In my opinion the best bacteria killer is the sun. Sun dry those diapers to sanitize them.  If 

you decide to use the dryer, be sure that after the cycle is done that those diapers are completely dry. 

Do not let them sit damp as this increases your chance of mold/mildew growing.

If sunning isn’t an option or if you’re dealing with mildew/mold stains, please refer to this site for help. 

They provide many options for killing mildew and bacteria safely on cloth and removing the nasty stains 

they leave behind.

Also, please be aware that more humid climates may need to do more frequent washes. Watch your 

pail and be the judge of if 3 days is ok or if more frequent washes are needed.  Wet pails are also not 

recommended since in warm temperatures it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.

Contributed by: Alex

The Benefits of Sunning Your Cloth Diapers

You may not even realize it, but the sun can be a very valuable (and free) tool for your

precious cloth diapers. Now that we are entering the spring and summer seasons here in

New England, not only am I excited for the warmer weather, but also because I can put my

cloth diapers outside.

There are many benefits to “sunning” your cloth diapers. Here are just a few:

1. They just smell good after being outside in the fresh air.
2. It is FREE to sun your diapers outside.
3. It decreases the use of your dryer, decreasing your electricity bill.
4. The sun helps to remove stains.
5. The sun also adds an antimicrobial/antibacterial property (the heat and UV rays). In a way sanitizing your diapers.

Some Warnings about Sunning:

1. You may become addicted and like being outside way too much.
2. Your neighbors may think you're “the crazy lady” hanging diapers in your
yard.
3. Bring them in before it rains, unless you like your diapers sopping wet and then
have to re-dry them.
4. Watch out for bugs!!!! I had a bad experience with a spider in one of my diapers.
5. Wind can take your diapers flying all over the yard.
6. Be careful in extreme heat/sun with your PUL and TPU diapers as high
temperatures can cause delamination.

Most of the warnings are just little things that I have experienced while sunning my

diapers. Don’t let it deter you from using the sun as it can be an all natural and powerful

agent in drying your cloth diapers.

Do you sun your cloth diapers?

What is the best way that works for you?

Contributed by: Julie

The Dangers of Cloth Diapering

Cloth diapering was my first step into the world of GREEN. I am going to come out and warn you that
cloth diapering is the green gate way “drug”. I came across cloth diapering when I was pregnant with my
first baby. I’m the type of person that read a snippet on cloth and thought it completely made sense and
was something I wanted to do. I’ll be honest and say I was not the most earth conscience person on the
planet. I didn’t know, or really care =/, about being green. BUT cloth diapering made sense…I was on a
budget and needed to save money where I could.

So, we started cloth diapering. Since then we’ve adopted many more green concepts into our home.
After cloth diapers, we quickly adopted cloth wipes into our diapering routines. Made more sense right?
If I’m washing my diapers, I don’t want to be picking out dirty wipes. We quickly found we love how
versatile they are. They’re great to have on hand for runny noses, dirty hands, and cleaning up messes.
Soon after cloth diapering we needed to find more ways to save money, and turns out when we want to
save money our options are usually greener. We started making our own laundry detergent. This saves
us a ton of money, and cuts down on our plastic waste! No detergent bottles to throw away! Soon after
making our own detergent, we found recipes for deodorant! Much healthier for our bodies and also cuts
down on plastic!

It wasn’t long after my first baby and liking all the cloth diaper pages and blogs, that I discovered mama
cloth. Maybe I really have an open mind but it was a no brainer for me there too. I sewed up my own
stash of mama cloth and have never thought about going back! So much more comfortable and better
for my body!

Once we started researching chemicals in detergents and deodorants, we quickly realized we needed to
reevaluate the food we are putting into our body. We are definitely not perfect and we’re starting slow,
but week by week we’re trying harder to cut out processed foods and put more raw, fresh produce into
our bodies.

We’re now looking into possibly switching into family cloth. Just saying that sentence makes me laugh.
3 years ago, there is no way I would have ever even considered something so green.

Smartiparents, you have been warned: Side effects of becoming a cloth diaper addict may include
considering and/or adopting green lifestyle changes.


Contributed by: Alex

How does Cloth diapering make Pollyanna green??

Cloth diapering our children, as you all may know, is better for the environment. Anything in general if reusing instead of disposing of it is being green.  Reusing cloth diapers over and over is avoiding us adding on more waste to landfills. It’s pretty amazing to know that if using disposable diapers from birth to potty training each baby will need about 6,000 diaper changes each diaper will need 250-500 years to decompose. Is that crazy or what?

We only have one earth; we need to take care of it. I mean there is only so many landfills. I’m sure we don’t want to live near waste landfills.  Cloth diapering my son’s is helping the earth be a bit greener. While some may say the investment is too much, you can get some good deals on new and used cloth diapers! Plus in the long run you will be saving yourself a lot of money, the environment, and the well being of your baby(s).  Not only do I use cloth diapers on my son but also use cloth wipes. Cloth wipes very simple to use. They're the same as using regular wipes except you're not throwing them away! They also don’t have harsh chemicals and will not irritate your baby's bum. There is many other ways to being green, but cloth diapering is just one way I help out the environment. We also use cloth napkins in our home, as we do not buy hand napkins. I will be cloth diapering two baby boys very soon as well. I want the very best for them and I will do everything in my power to accomplish that. I want to be able to change the world a little bit at a time.

How has cloth diapering your little ones made you greener???

How Cloth Diapering Made Nicole "Green"

Cloth diapering ended up taking over a lot of my life after I started in.  When I first started, I decided to start researching on why disposable diapers were being put down so much in the cloth diapering world.  What I found was HORRIBLE news to me.  The statistics of how long it might take for just one disposable diaper to decompose and realizing how many of those I put into the world is stunning!  That is when I started to research everything.

I found out how long it took for trash bags to decompose first.  And that is when we bought a hose.  Now we just put all the trash in the trash can, throw it out, clean out the trash can outside and repeat.  No trash bags for us which means that our trash decomposes MUCH faster than what it used to.  Not only that, now we only throw out about a total of 1 1/2 trash cans a week...which is awesome for a 4 person family!

We also decided to go to cloth wipes.  When we did that, of course the cloth wipe solution came with it...which meant that everything we were using for the babies bottom was now all natural.  So we just assumed that we should do the same thing for all of our showing/bathing soaps and shampoos.  Also our detergent.  We were buying natural detergent for the diapers anyways, so it just made sense to switch over to all Eco Sprout.

We also use unpaper towels and napkins and NEVER use disposable plates or cups...what a waist of money all that was as well!!!

I think cloth diapering has just really opened up mine and my families life on how easy it is to live a bit more naturally and a bit "greener".  Not to mention, I would LOVE for my planet to be safe for my great great great grandchildren to be living in instead of them all living on top of our trash!  Think about it :-)

Contributed by: Nicole

Cloth Diaper: Gateway to All Things Green?

I started my cloth diaper journey as a necessity. In order for me to stay at home with my son
most days, our family decided that we needed to cut back on expenses here and there. When
I found out about cloth diapers, I saw this as a HUGE way to decrease monthly baby expenses.
But as I learned more and more about the added benefits to using cloth diapers, besides saving
money, I began to have a “greener” outlook on life. Let me explain…

Not only are cloth diapers more environmentally friendly than disposables, but they make you
think about all of the chemicals that would have gone on your little one’s bum. The chemicals
found in disposables are not present in cloth diapers, thus your baby is not being exposed
nearly 24 hours a day to chemicals. This got me wondering…what other chemicals is my family
being exposed to that I never really thought about… detergents, fabric softeners, food, and
cleaners just to name a few. I quickly realized that these harmful chemicals were all around me.

Slowly over time my thoughts and attitudes about these harmful chemicals started to change.
I no longer wanted my son or my family to be as exposed to them. I started to do research
and discovered that there were little things I could change that wouldn’t break the bank. For
instance:

1) We grow our own garden, this saves us from having to buy organic produce during the
spring and summer seasons. When there is extra money in the budget, we try to splurge
on fruit and meats without added hormones, pesticides, etc.

2) I make my own cleaning solutions. Many with vinegar and other all natural ingredients
found around the house.

3) I make my own powdered dishwashing detergent.

4) I use Wool Dryer balls instead of fabric softener or dryer sheets.

5) I try to recycle as often as possible…either putting items in the recycling bin, or re-using
glass jars or containers.

So are cloth diapers really a gateway to going “greener.” For my family and I, the answer to that
question is yes. It was not a huge change all at once, but more so a gradual realization of what
was surrounding my family’s immediate environment.

What about you? Do you think cloth diapers are a gateway to other “green” lifestyle changes
in your families’ life?

6 Reasons Why I Love Smartipants Pocket Diapers

6 Reasons Why I Love Smartipants Pocket Diapers

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there seems like no better way to celebrate my love of

Smartipants than to list the reasons why I love their diapers! So in no particular order, the 6 Reasons I

love Smartipants.

Bright Colors - Smartipants carries a big selection of bright and bold colors. From pink to red

and even black they are sleek and stylish. In addition they have really cute names such as Hot

Chocolate and Think Pink.

One Size – Smartipants makes their diapers with snaps in the front to adjust the size of the

diaper from small to medium and then to large. The diaper is made to fit babies from 7lbs to

35lbs. Simply adjust a few snaps and you arrive at the next size. This feature helps to save a lot

of money.

Dual Pocket Openings - Dual pocket openings are when the opening to stuff the insert in the

diaper is located both in the front and the back. If there is a diaper with poop on it, you can pull

the insert out from the front, but if the diaper only has pee, pull the insert out from the back.

This makes for easy access to the insert and allows you to stuff your diaper easier.

Crossover Snaps – If you have a skinny baby, crossover snaps will come in handy. Crossover

snaps allow for a more snug fit around the baby’s waist by overlapping the flaps of the diaper. I

used this feature a lot, especially when my son was young.

Green Stitching on Inserts – Did you ever have the problem of figuring out which diaper inserts

goes with which diaper? Smartipants adds lime green stitching around the outside of the insert

to identify the inserts. I always know that the green stitching means that the insert belongs to

Smartipants.

Made in the USA – With many diaper brands going overseas to be made, you can rest assured

that Smartipants proudly employs and thus supports our economy here in the USA.

Contributed by: Julie