How to Care for and Wash Cloth Diapers

Things You'll Need:
Cloth diapers - any kind, including pre-folds and all-in-ones
Baking soda
White vinegar
Hypoallergenic laundry detergent
Clothes washer
Clothes dryer
Diaper pail or trash can with lid
Water

First, fill the diaper pail or trash can with at least two to three gallons of water. Next, add one cup of white vinegar to the water. Now as you take dirty cloth diapers off your baby, drop them in to the pail or trash can. When the pail or trash can gets full of dirty cloth diapers, empty the contents in to a clothes washer and run it through the rinse and spin cycles. Add one third a cup of baking soda to the washer and the amount of detergent you would normally use to wash a load of that size. Now wash the diapers in warm water on the "heavy" wash setting (i.e. the longest time period they can be agitated for). Once they are done, toss them in the dryer on a low heat setting and run the dryer for as long as necessary to get them mostly dry. Once they are mostly dry, remove them from the washer and allow them to air dry the rest of the way before reuse.

Tips & Warnings:
Don't use bleach unless you absolutely have to, and even then try to keep from using it more than once a month, as it can deteriorate many of the fabrics used to make cloth diapers - which will decrease the absorbency of the diaper.

Don't soak the cloth diapers in any sort of detergent, soap, or stain remover. The ingredients in these can also deteriorate many of the fabrics used in cloth diapers if the diapers are left sitting in them for extended periods of time.

Avoid the use of petroleum jelly, baby oil, diaper rash ointments, or anything else that may build up a residue on the cloth diapers, which will also decrease their absorbency. If you need something containing zinc oxide to treat diaper rash, there is medicated cornstarch baby powder available that contains zinc oxide and will not leave any residue on cloth diapers.