Now that we have washed our cloth diapers, it’s time to dry them!
OK, remember I *used* to line dry everything? When I quit line drying EVERYTHING, I still line dried my diapers…for a while. Now, I only line dry every now and then, usually to get stains out or try to combat a lingering odor. But, for the most part, I machine dry EVERYTHING (including my covers! *gasp*)
But, IF I was going to line dry, I would hang them out and then finish them in the dryer so they wouldn’t be quite as crunchy. You can also use vinegar in your rinse water to help combat crunchiness.
For machine drying, you simply pop them in the dryer – NO DRYER SHEET – and call it good. You can keep your covers out and dry them in your laundry room or outside (PUL dries VERY quickly), and that is supposed to extend the life of your covers, but I’ve been drying mine in the dryer for several years and they are still going strong.
Real quick as to why you should not use a dryer sheet or fabric softener of any kind…
Fabric softener repels liquids. It works like scotch guard does on your furniture. Liquids repelling off your diapers is NOT a good thing. Let me just leave it at that.
After the diapers are dry, I make a huge pile on the couch and separate out all the different pieces. I make a pile for the FuzziBunz covers, a pile for the FuzziBunz stuffers, a pile of prefolds, a pile of covers, and a pile of wipes. My children help me sort and then help put away as I stuff the pocket diapers. I separate them out Mediums and Larges so I can just point to a stack and tell them which shelf it goes on.
And that is our diaper washing routine start to finish!
Erica says
Amy, Great cloth diapering series! Another tip is to dry the wet diapers with a dry, clean bath towel. It will decrease the amount of time needed to dry them. I guess, though, I only know that this works with prefolds. I do not have any other kinds.
Serenity says
Okay, I don’t hang dry ANY of our clothing but I do hang dry our cloth diapers. My laundry room is on the second floor and there is a 10 foot banister right next to it. It takes me 10 seconds to flop everything on the banister and wait a few hours for it to dry. The only bad thing is that I have to remember to take them down before my 18 and 15 year old brothers have buddies over. A banister COVERED in cloth diapers is apparently not cool 🙂 Who knew?
PS: If I didn’t have the banister I would totally dry mine in the dryer. As it is, I’m cool with looking like the Beverly Hillbillies:)
Amy says
Love it! 🙂
Erin says
Hi Amy,
What kind of diapers are on the line? I use the fuzzy bunz, but wondered what the other kinds on the line are.
Thanks much,
Erin
Amy says
Those are BumGenius 3.0 one-size. They are not mine. I borrowed that picture from Flickr Commons. 🙂
Jennifer says
I love my cloth diapers and I LOVE to hang them out to dry. Just curious….why do you not hang diapers or any clothes out to dry? It saves so much energy, leaves your clothes smelling great, and just looks great :0)
Amy says
I used to hang them all to dry, but I don’t have a clothesline right now and I don’t have as much time as I used to. I only hang them to sun to get stains out. 🙂
angel says
*sigh of relief* Thank u for your post, I was worried for a moment I would have to line dry the diapers only. I used to line dry our clothes ALL the time but now (for some reason) the clothes always stink. I don’t know if its pollution or what but it’s pointless to me to wash clothes, line dry them only to need to wash them again 😛