How to Wash Cloth Diapers Like a Pro: A Step-by-Step Guide

An unavoidable fact: babies come with diapers. A lot of diapers. A newborn baby goes through

10 to 12 traditional diapers a day, which equates to around 2,200 to 3,000 diapers during your little one's first year of life. But just because something is unavoidable, that doesn't mean it can't be made more sustainable with some extra effort—in this case caring for the environment translates to learning how to wash cloth diapers.

"You can do it," says Brightly founder Laura Wittig, who practices cloth diapering with her daughter. "It seems overwhelming for a lot of people, but when you consider the waste that comes with regular diapering—you can kind of picture it in your head, and there’s a lot of diapers sitting in landfills." Billions of disposable diapers are added to

landfills across the United States every year, in fact, where they can take up to 500 years to degrade.

Choosing cloth diapers as an alternative may be less convenient, but the reduction in waste (while you work to manage your baby's waste) makes the undertaking incredibly worthwhile. Here's what you need to know about washing cloth diapers like a pro.

To make your cloth diapering process as seamless as possible, Wittig recommends investing in a diaper brand that you love to use and that's super easy to clean.

"We really like using the

Esembly system, because there’s an inner and outer component to the diaper. They’re really easy to use, they’re durable, and they wash up really well," she says.

While diaper pails have their place, the buckets are no match for the stink that comes with cloth diapering—particularly between laundry loads, the amount of which depends on the number of cloth diapers you buy and the age of your baby.

Instead, Wittig suggests a durable wet bag with a zipper, the better to subdue the stench. "Sometimes you’ll read that you need something with airflow—no," she says. You get the picture.

"Powders work best in my opinion," says Wittig, who goes industrial over eco for this step, opting for

Tide Free and Gentle Powder Laundry Detergent.

"

Fluff Love University has a ton of advice and testers that help to test different detergents to ensure that the diapers are actually getting clean," she says. "The problem with most eco-friendly detergents is that they don’t have enough actual detergent in them, they mostly consist of soap."

Seventh Generation's new

Zero Plastic Powder Laundry Detergent Soap offers a more sustainable option that the cloth diapering community is currently trying out—you should, too!

To ensure the cleanest possible diapers, you'll want to opt for three cycles: pre-wash, main wash, and rinse. The pre-wash should be a quick or express wash with detergent, followed by a heavy-duty wash with detergent, and finally a rinse sans detergent.

Though you can certainly wash your cloth diapers in a traditional machine, Wittig (and the Fluff Love community) suggests investing in an HE (high-efficiency) mini machine.

"I wanted to make sure that they were super-clean," she explains. "It’s kind of problematic, getting another piece of machinery/more electronics, but we’re planning on multiple kids, so we’ll get our money’s worth out of it. And when we’re done, we'll pass it to the next person in our

Buy Nothing group who wants to try cloth diapering."

Another benefit? With multiple wash cycles comes water waste—a smaller machine helps to reduce your footprint.

Here, some gear to help you get started on your cloth diapering journey.