Excessive cloth diaper drying times?

[JDinVirginia]

Puffy, I may try the lined pants. However, as I seem to be leaking when on my side, I think I may need the extra cloth from a regular cloth diaper to go down my legs past the leg gathers of the disposable diaper to help catch the leaks.

This discussion certainly underscores my impressions so far of learning to wear and use adult diapers well - that it is an "experiment of one." We save a lot of time and money from what we learn from the experiences of others but then we have to go through our own trial and error phase to find what works best for us.

Thanks again everybody.

BTW, I went back and re-read the sections from The New Diaper Primer on cloth diapers. I should have done that first as I had forgotten most of what I had read when I first found this group. Who was the author or authors of that incredible source of information?

--John

[ScottK]

That is way too long... But something that has been overlooked, maybe it is a dryer or washer problem? Electric takes longer than gas and is your washing machine spinning enough water out in the spin cycle?

[Puffy Pants]

You could also try just flat flannel/cotton diaper material, and pin them yourself, then all you have to dry is a material thinner then a face cloth, and you can layer as many as you need to catch whatever leaks get thru. A MUCH easier product to dry by a long shot! Puffy

[ScottK]

So JD in VA... Were you able to come up with a solution for this?

Scott

[JDinVirginia]

Hi Scott!

This thread is so old that I had to go back to review what we were talking about. Since the discussion paused, I have begun wearing only cloth diapers at night (no disposables). I am very pleased that I have not had a single leak since I began wearing just the cloth diapers. Those are the pinned Leakmaster night-weight gauze prefolds from AdultClothDiaper with a cloth booster and, of course, plastic pants. I use 4 pins at night to improve coverage at the legs. I am so pleased with cloth that I now wear cloth diapers several times a week during the day when I am at home. I have worn cloth when I am leaving the house, but not when entering into a social situation with others.

Of course, cloth is less expensive in the long run. I calculate that my "break-even" point is at 3 months of wear. So far I calculate that I will save about $950 a year by my use of cloth.

Credit for my success with cloth diapers goes to others in our group who offered such useful advice. That really shortened my learning curve.

We have moved into a new house and that meant a new washer and dryer. My wife wanted a High Efficiency washer, but, as some do not handle cloth diapers well, I did a lot of research and bought one with the controls to add extra water, extra rinse, hot water, and both heavy duty and sanitary cycles.

Being able to insure adequate water in the wash, and that the water is truly hot (not just the lower temperature "hot" in some high efficiency washers) made a big difference. Our hot water heater also is set at a fairly hot temperature. Also it really helped to add a realistic amount of soap rather instead of the lesser amount recommended for HE washers.

The wash and dry cycles do still take a long time. There was no avoiding that. The many layers of cloth in the center prefold section of a night diaper just will not dry quickly. If that section does not get completely clean and dry, the moisture left can allow bacteria to breed. However, as I wash my own diapers, my wife has not complained about the times. My diapers now come out of the dryer clean and fresh-smelling. For me it is important that, due to my more effective washing, I have been able to avoid "diaper funk" and do not think that I will need to strip the diapers.

For those who really have to reduce the washer and dryer times, I think that the only viable option is what Puffy recommended - using pinned flats. I would suggest also using a smaller flat folded for use as a booster to increase the absorbency.

Scott, I hope this answers your question.

--John

[Ted]

For what it's worth, I also use ACD's flat gauze diaper. The 4layer large Purity. I recently saw that they have a toddler/large prefold. They are the perfect size for a booster. They're quite a bit bigger than a normal infant sized prefold. I decided to give them a try and ordered a dozen. I was really impressed with the quality. I have to say I'm really pleased with their performance. They're also very soft and comfortable. At $38.00 a dozen that's about $3.20 each. That seems pretty reasonable.

[ScottK]

I am glad that has worked out. And I see there is also additional useful bits of information from other posters. (Thanks Ted!)

Scott

[JDinVirginia]

Ted, that is good information about the ACD toddler prefolds as boosters.

BTW all, I previously mentioned that after moving to a new house with a new washer/dryer I set the hot water tank temperature higher for the diapers. 13 months later I still have not had to strip the diapers! I think the hotter water, extra rinse cycle, and a little bleach did their job so well that stripping has not been necessary.

--John

[Patrick]

With proper laundry care, stripping is unnecessary.

[MSUSpartan]

It really depends on the detergent you use too. I used to use gain, and had to strip the diapers pretty frequently. I switched to tide, and never had to strip again.