Good things take time, and cloth diaper laundry is no different – but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s timeyou will have to invest, but rather, time your washing machine will need to invest! (no washboards or scrub tubs required, we promise! 😉)

For washing cloth diapers, 2 cycles are necessary to ensure the diapers are getting fully cleaned in the wash. We often get asked if both cycles are really necessary, and to that we say: they certainly are! The first cycle is called a “Flush” (in technical laundry language) and the purpose of this is to remove the easy to reach surface soil from the fabric. This is a normal cycle with warm water and typically takes around 30-45 min. The second cycle is the Power Clean cycle. Because you removed all of the obvious soil in the Flush, this cycle allows the detergent and water to reach the ammonia and bacteria that’s hiding deep in your fabric fibers. This hot water, heavy duty cycle typically takes approx 60-75 min. Running these 2 cycles is hands down the best way to clean cloth diapers and helps avoid any issues like buildup or diaper rash.

Getting the temperature right is another key factor in ensuring your cloth diapers are properly cleaned. While it might seem eco-friendly or gentle to wash in cold water, it’s unfortunately not the best choice for cloth diapers. Cold water causes the natural fibers to tighten and constrict, effectively trapping soil, bacteria, and odors within the fabric. Think of the natural fibers like you would the pores of your skin. When you splash your face with cold water, the pores shrink and tighten; when you steam them in a hot shower, they open up! Washing in cold water makes it much harder for the water and detergent to penetrate and effectively lift away ammonia and bacteria, leaving your diapers less than clean.

We recommend running cycle 1 (the Flush cycle) with warm water. Warm water helps loosen and lift the top layers of soil, ammonia, and residue, flushing them away and prepping the diapers for a deeper clean. Follow this with a hot* heavy duty wash cycle to deep clean and remove any remaining bacteria or buildup. Together, these steps ensure your cloth diapers are not just clean, but truly fresh and ready for reuse. 🙂

Why do we not recommend hot water for both wash cycles? It has to do with avoiding staining on cloth diapers. When you have soil sitting on the surface of your fabric (think poop), you want to gently lift it off at approximately the same temperature that it went on (gross but true!). Removing the poop from cloth diapers with warm water is therefore better than hot water because with hot water you run the risk of baking the stain into the fabric.

*Please avoid ultra-hot settings or cycles like Sanitize, Allergine, Baby Wear, or Steam. These cycles run extremely hot and can damage your diapers by causing holes in the cotton, weakening elastic, and compromising waterproof covers. Fortunately, you don’t need fancy settings to get the job done! Basic wash cycles like Normal and Heavy Duty along with warm and hot water — which most machines have — work perfectly for cleaning cloth diapers. 

When it comes to laundry, most people focus on water temperature and detergent (we’ll get to detergent next! 🙌) . But there’s an often overlooked component that’s just as crucial: mechanical action. Mechanical action is the bumping, pounding, and swishing of your diapers (or clothes) against each other during the wash cycle that helps squeeze out all the dirt and grime, allowing the detergent and water to wash it away. Below, we’ll dive into three key ways to ensure your diapers are getting the mechanical action they need to come out clean and fresh.

Load Size

Load size is critical when washing cloth diapers. Getting it right ensures that your diapers have enough room to “swoosh” around in the machine, creating that essential mechanical action where they bump and press into each other as we mentioned above. This action forces soil to the surface, making it easier for the detergent and water to wash it away!

For optimal cleaning, aim to fill your washer barrel between ½ and ⅔ full.

Any less than 1/2 and your diapers are just gently floating around in your machine. You’re missing out on the necessary bumping, pounding and squeezing that lead to your cloth diapers getting perfectly cleaned. Same is true for an overstuffed machine. If your washer barrel is more than 2/3 full, your diapers are crammed in and being deprived of that essential "swooshing" action that is needed for deep cloth diaper cleaning.

Pro Tip: if your diaper load is too small, you CAN throw in some regular laundry to help round out the load. Just make sure that whatever you throw in won't bleed color and can withstand the hot water temps! (And try to avoid giant oversized items like sheets or duvets. These can tangle easily and "bury" the diapers. Baby clothes, your clothes, towels, etc work great.)

Water

To ensure there’s enough agitation happening, you’ll also need enough water in the load to completely submerge the diapers with room for swishing. This ensures that every part of the cloth diaper gets thoroughly cleaned and that the detergent can do its job effectively.

Pro Tip: Be mindful of your washer’s settings. Sometimes, the “autofill” feature doesn’t provide enough water. If you notice your diapers aren’t fully submerged, consider choosing another setting or manually adjusting the water level to ensure there’s enough for proper cleaning.

Agitators

Our little secret to getting the cleanest diapers around? Our Agitators – 4 spikey little silicone balls that help deep clean and remove stains!

As your washer spins, the Agitators pound into the fabric, forcing soil and stains to the surface, making it easy for the Washing Powder to carry them away.

Bonus : Agitators also pack a punch in the dryer! After you’ve done your washing, add your Agitators to the dryer to lift and separate the fabric allowing hot air to flow more efficiently, helping dry your laundry quickly. The bumps and spikes on the balls massage the fabric so it comes out softer and fluffier. (a win-win if you ask us!)

And yes, we recommend using the Agitator balls even if you have a top loader washing machine with a center agitator column. They share a name but do 2 different things. The agitator of your machine simply moved the laundry from the bottom of the washer barrel to the top throughout the cycle. The Agitator balls increase the mechanical action.

And last, but certainly not least, the game changer for any cloth diaper laundry routine: Detergent! As much as we wish we could say any detergent will be fine, it won’t. Diapers are the dirtiest laundry you will ever wash AND once clean they go up against your baby's delicate bum. You need a powerful formula for cleaning that also happens to be extra gentle for baby. It’s a tall order!

As mentioned, in 2009 as we started washing over 15,000 dirty diapers per week at our busy NYC cloth diaper service, we ran into a pretty big problem: none of the detergents we tried were doing the trick. They were either not powerful enough or contained some icky ingredients that we were not comfortable using. It takes a unique combination of surfactants and chelating and redeposition agents, specifically formulated to tackle the soil in dirty diapers. We spent years working with a chemist to crack the code of cloth diaper washing. The end result of all that research, testing and hard work, our Washing Powder. 🤓

Our EWG Verified formula is all natural, mineral-based and free of all the nasty junk like SLS, SLES, LAS, phthalates, 1,4 dioxane, fragrance, dye, and fabric softeners. In other words, we steer clear of all the synthetic toxic crap that we know you want to avoid for the sake of your skin and our planet.

*BONUS: Our Washing Powder is also the only detergent ever to be awarded a Patent for cleaning cloth diapers. Our clean-rinsing formula is a unique blend of ionic and anionic surfactants, anti-redeposition agents, chelating agents (aka water softeners), and alkalis to power clean diapers without causing harm to the environment or being too harsh for delicate baby skin. (and if it can do all that for the poopy diapers, just think of what it can do for the rest of your household laundry!)

Read more about the science behind our formula here on our blog: What Kind of Detergent Do You Need to Wash Cloth Diapers

That said, there is no mandate, and you are free to wash diapers with whatever detergent you’d like. But, we encourage you to find a formula that is free of fragrance, fabric softeners, optical brighteners and powerful enough to clean heavily soiled fabric. (Something like Tide Free & Gentle would be okay!) 

Our super-simple, step-by-step Cloth Diaper Wash Instructions are the secret to cloth diapering success.

Time, temperature, agitation, and detergent are the pillars of a successful wash routine, and when you get them right, washing cloth diapers really is as simple as tossing in a load of laundry.

At Esembly, we’ve spent over a decade perfecting the science of cloth diaper care, and we’re here to make your journey as smooth as possible. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, these tips will help you build a routine that works for you and your family.

So go ahead, take advantage of us over thinking the whole thing so you don’t have to! 😉 And remember, we’re always here to help if you need a little extra guidance along the way.