Diapers are just the beginning

I often see the idea tossed around about cloth diapers lasting for every child that you have and then be used for the next 50 years as dust rags.

That’s not going to happen with every diaper.

Think about your favorite t-shirt. Maybe a heavy weight cotton. Have you had it for years? I’ll bet that it is looking a little worn at the seams. Maybe a little threadbare? It’s nice and soft though and it still works great. Your more fancy clothes usually require more gentle use and care, but will probably not last as long as your t-shirt.

Imagine what a cloth diaper goes through. Peed and pooped on, it sits for a few days in the diaper pail until wash day. The wash routine usually takes two or three cycles to get the diaper clean and then to make sure that the detergent is rinsed. Then into a hot dryer. Over 100 times a year it makes the same trip. Washed in hot water, dried on high. I’m thinking of prefolds here - don’t put most of your All in One Diapers, Fitted Diapers or diaper covers through that kind of routine.

We will buy a $50 shirt and how many uses do you expect to get out of it? 50? 100? - It will be out of fashion by then.

But we buy a prefold - about $2.50 each and expect the thing to last forever with really harsh treatment.

Most fitted diapers and All in Ones will last for about 150 uses.  Any product with a rubber based elastic will fail eventually. Velcro too will eventually wear out.

Prefolds are going to last longer. I really do have some that went through years of diapering use and are now being used as dust rags and car detailing towels.

Not letting your diapers and covers sit a long time before washing, washing warm, drying as little as possible (hanging dry to finish) and not using harsh laundry additives (like bleach) is going to go a long way in keeping your favorite diapers and covers around as long as possible.

The diapers in this picture have been used on two of our kids and are serving us well as car wash/car detailing towels. They have all had about the same amount of use, but the one on the bottom is a little more threadbare and fuzzy. It is also incredibly soft and one of the ones that we use to polish the car after waxing.