This continues to be one of my top performing blog posts — and every time I see that, it makes me chuckle because I know that the internet is telling you all these rules that you need to follow and you don’t. Cloth diapering is meant to be simple, and the rules get created for some situations but they might not apply to you.

• this is my cloth diaper wash routine

There are many different settings on your washing machine – and you might not have to bulk up your machine. But you might want to take advantage of another load of laundry. Because, it’s been 7 years and I do more laundry today than I did when I was cloth diapering. Seriously, so much laundry.

Fun fact: I recently chatted with a few washing machine brands and manufacturers on Twitter, and most of them said – mix it up! Add big things with your little things. We’ve been saying that you need to ‘bulk up your washing routine’ to amplify agitation with small things, but to what avail? And to what reason? It’s largely antectodal, so if you want to wash your cloth diapers with big things, it might just work and it might just be a myth we perpetrate in the industry.

What Can I wash With Cloth Diapers?

• Cloth Wipes
• Swim Diapers
• Potty Training Pants
• Face Cloths, Hand Towels
• Underwear, Socks, and Other Small Garments
• Children’s Clothes that you’re okay washing on hot.
• Kitchen Towels and Clothes
• Bibs
• Menstrual Pads (yes, I do it all the time!)

Or maybe, like my machine, you’ve learnt it really does wash best when completely full which is prime time to embrace all the other reusables in your life. Check out my cloth diaper wash routine here. 

But this cloth diaper mom, she’s has a different idea.

>> I like to keep all the gross things together. <<

#whatcanIsay?

If it’s smaller than a Large Flat Cloth Diaper, and it’s gross, then I toss it into my cloth diaper laundry.

Things I add to my cloth diaper laundry.

1. Cloth Wipes: obvious to some, and less to others, but my stash of cloth wipes is always being washed with my cloth diapers. Sometimes I use cloth wipes for bums, other times for noses; regardless, it all goes in for a deep hot wash.
   • Learn how to use cloth wipes. 
2. Face Clothes: Between a nightly scrub down, and a scrub after each meal, wash clothes find their way straight into my wet bag ready to be cleaned up on wash day. No need to let the stank happen.
3. Kitchen Towels: I haven’t made the switch to official un-paper towels, but I do use a lot of kitchen towels and clothes in my home. When I’m finished cleaning up milk off the floor, applesauce off the table, and whatever else my toddler tosses, those towels find their way straight into the dirty wet bag.
4. Reusable Menstrual Pads: If it’s good enough to clean diapers for my baby’s bottom, then its just right for cleaning my cloth menstrual pads is my theory on this. But, not a necessity, I washed my menstrual pads in college on just a hand rinse and a single cycle. 
5. Bibs: Nothing cleans a bib better than a round or two in a diaper cycle!
6. Socks: Whenever I find a random dirty sock laying around, I toss it in a wet bag. It’s just something I do. #dontquestionit

Why Not add a few extras to the diaper laundry?

Dirty Diaper Laundry comes every 48 hours in my house, and sooner when I bulk it up with all the gross things I find in the house. It’s not hard because small children leave a mess wherever they go.

There’s a good chance you don’t need to bulk up your cloth diaper laundry, but why not take advantage of this thorough wash routine? Need some more things to add to your wash routine? Shop Canada’s up and coming baby boutique – Nest & Sprout. that’s my shop, I own the shop but we do have all the things like face cloths, cloth wipes, bibs, socks, and more for your family. Even cloth diapers 😉

I started adding things to my diaper laundry when I noticed things not getting clean in my regular wash. While I might use the same mainstream detergent for all my laundry, I only use hot water with my diapers. Washing my face clothes, kitchen towels, and bibs in hot water gave me a better clean. #youheardithear.

Do you add anything to your cloth diaper laundry? Or Just Laundry?