by Danelle Karth

Created on: November 09, 2009   Last Updated: May 02, 2012

There are several excellent reasons to choose cloth diapers over disposables. Not only will you save money over your child's life, you will help the environment and you will be providing the best and healthiest option for your child. However, cloth diapers do need a little bit of extra when it comes to laundering.

• Storing dirty diapers

There are two methods for storing dirty cloth diapers. The first is the wet pal method and the second is the dry pail method. Over time the dry pail has become the preferred method of most cloth diaper users. A wet pail can be kept half full with water. Add 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup of baking soda. The diapers can soak for 2 to 3 days waiting for wash. A dry pail can be kept with a sprinkle of baking soda in the bottom to help with the odors.

• Rinse It

If there is a soiled mess you need to rinse it before placing it in the bucket. The most sanitary way to go using a good diaper liner which will make it easy to clean off in the toilet. They also make disposable, flushable options which are even cleaner.

• Washing

One wash day you will want to dump the pail in the washer. An average sized washer will hold 15 to 20 diapers while still giving plenty of room for good agitation. If you used a wet pail you will want to spin out all the liquid before you begin.

1. Pre-Wash. Add 1/4 cup of baking soda and run the washer on a full wash cycle with as much water as possible. You will want to keep this cycle on cold to make sure stains don't set in.

2. Wash. Now reset the washer for a full cycle. Again you want as much water as possible, but this time you will add 2/3 the normal amount of detergent and use hot or at least warm water for the best option. Make sure it agitates for as long as possible.

3. Rinse. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle. This will help to remove any bacteria that is left as well as detergent. You can add the vinegar directly to the rinse cycle or use the fabric softener dispenser. If your machine doesn't have a fabric softener dispenser then you can put the vinegar into a Downy ball. A second rinse is often a good idea to remove any detergent left in the fabric.

• Drying

The best drying option is to hang your diapers out in the sun. The sun will bleach them while also saving your fabric the traditional damage the dryer causes. You can do this in the summer and the winter as long as the sun is shining. In the winter time the diapers will freeze dry, but the sun will

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