When we first got a front-loading washing machine, I had to learn a new method for washing our cloth diapers. It’s not difficult, but you do need to know a little secret!
Front-loaders are really efficient because they don’t use as much water as traditional (old-school top loading) machines. However, this is a problem when washing cloth diapers because it’s often not enough water to get the diapers clean. The diapers are just doing their job of being really absorbent, and the washer is doing its job of not adding a ton of water.
Here’s the little secret I learned for how to wash cloth diapers in a front-loading washer: run a rinse/no spin cycle before you start your regular washing routine. For my washing machine, this takes 8 minutes. It adds water, sloshes the diapers around for a bit, and then ends the cycle without spinning them. Then when I begin my washing routine, they are already soaking wet and can get really clean!
If you’re curious about my regular routine, it’s pretty simple too. After the rinse cycle, I then do one normal wash (no spin) with soap. After that, I do another wash with soap and program an extra rinse at the end.
Easy and efficient!
To learn more about how we use cloth diapers in our family, I have lots of information in this post!
