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Every Monday I will answer user submitted questions. They don’t have to be about cloth diapering! I’ll always answer questions via email, but if you would like your question to be answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, send an email with the subject “Mailbox Mondays” to Maria at change-diapers dot com.
Courtney says:
Hello Maria!
I have a diaper cleaning question. Our diaper sprayer recently broke. Until we can build a new one, I need to find a new way to clean poopy diapers. What is your method? Do you have any pointers? My son is 11 months old, so there is no way we can throw them in the wash without rinsing first!
Thanks!
Courtney
I never got around to buying a diaper sprayer, so I’m all too familiar with this conundrum. When my son first started solids, I was able to get away with just throwing them right into the wash. If they needed a little extra help (still mostly breastmilk poop) I was rinsing them with my laundry room/utility sink sprayer. Then for a few months there, I was able to flip the poop right into the potty. Boy was that nice!
Now here’s where this question gets a little gross. I apologize in advance, there’s just no way to avoid a little grossness with this subject! He went through the stage of the “peanut butter” consistency poop, and now that he’s eating tons of fruit and drinking some juice, diapers are much more messy and I can’t just flip solids off the diaper.
What I do is use 3 or 4 sheets of toilet paper folded up to scrape off as much as I can, then whatever is left goes into the washing machine. I’ve heard of several other similar methods, where people may use a clean popsicle stick or plastic card (great use for the old Blockbuster card if you still have one!) to scrape the diaper. Just keep it in a plastic bag out of sight, perhaps behind the toilet, or under your tissue box if you keep one on top of the tank like I do.
Some people still do the ol’ dunk and swish in the toilet, I’ve even heard of people flushing with the diaper in the toilet (hold on to it tightly!) to take advantage of the self-swish.
I’ve heard more than a few say they just rinse the diapers in the sink or the bathtub (a hand held shower head would be especially handy) and then wiping out the tub/sink with bleach etc. This would be a pain if you have a frequent pooper, but might be handy if you have a child who poops like clockwork once per day.
How about the rest of you? Do you use a diaper sprayer? If not, how you handle the poop?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
