Do Natural Detergents Really Work for Cloth Diapers?

As we make our way across the country with our #makeclothmainstream IRL booth educating families about the joys of cloth diapers, you can imagine that one of the most common cloth diapering questions we get asked is: "How do you wash them? Do you need to use a special detergent?" And while the technical answer is no, you don't NEED to use a special detergent on your cloth diapers as long as your detergent of choice is free of fabric softeners, there are some really valid reasons why many families do choose to use a more natural option.

Many of these questions come from parents who have started researching online and stumbled upon cloth diaper Facebook groups that troubleshoot laundry issues. The problem with joining a large cloth diapering community whose purpose is to troubleshoot issues before you actually start using cloth diapers is that you end up freaking out and anticipating that it's super difficult and challenging, but I promise it's not! It just seems like it in a group like that because everyone in there is posting their issues. No one goes into that group to share a post like I would have when I started my cloth diapering journey, which would have looked something like this:

Yes, in case you're wondering, I did in fact just post that on my personal page just to take a screenshot and delete. HA!

My point is, troubleshooting groups are simply for that. Don't go looking for trouble if you haven't already experienced issues! I would highly encourage you to test the laundry waters on your own before you do too much research. Start with whatever detergent you're using with your regular laundry, or switch to something more natural if your reason for cloth diapering is trying to eliminate harsh chemicals from being against your baby's sensitive skin. If mainstream detergent is something you prefer, that's great! But I will say, I've had people come up to me and tell me how frustrated they are when they post into a group asking for natural detergent options based on their own personal preferences and/or skin sensitivities only to have a dog pile of responses saying, "You shouldn't use natural, they won't get your diapers clean. Tide is the only thing that works." While Tide does in fact work for so many families (and again, that's great if this applies to you!) there are many families who are looking for a good nontoxic laundry alternative.

So I asked for recommendations on the Spray Pal page and we had some great responses. This post is for detergents in general:

General Laundry Tips for cloth diapers

And this post is for those looking for a more natural alternative:

Natural Detergent Tips for cloth diapers

The biggest takeaways I can offer personally are these:

1. We successfully cloth diapered both kids with natural detergents and zero issues. Here are all the brands we have used and can recommend:

• Allen's Naturally
• Molly's Suds
• Country Save
• Dropps

2. Many issues can be prevented by following these tips:

• Spray poopy diapers and super full overnight diapers with your Spray Pal diaper sprayer and shield before putting them in your pail liner.
• Do a short wash cycle first and then a full wash cycle with detergent to get them extra clean.
• If you do experience issues, talk to someone local first who will know your water better than a giant FB group.

If you ever want a somewhat smaller, less intimidating place to ask questions or troubleshoot issues, feel free to join us in The Cloth Diaper Experiment Facebook group! We hope you found this helpful. If you have any cloth diaper laundry tips you'd like to share, leave them in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you!