Keeping the Mess in, then Getting the Mess Out when Cloth Diapering

This subject was one of my main reasons for starting this blog.

I definitely appreciate that cloth diapers keep in the mess much better then disposable diapers, at least  in my case that is how it has been.

However, I don't appreciate it when the mess gets all over inside the diaper. So what can be done to make cloth diapering less work to clean up when there is a mess?


Back in the day when my Mom was cloth diapering, she rinsed them out in the toilet. I have to say that she is a saint, and it now makes more sense why she isn't as sharp as she use to be, after 7 children.

Cleaning diapers out in the toilet is a very time consuming and quite messy way of cleaning out diapers, but one could still do this if they really wanted to or had no other options. But thank goodness, for most of us, we do have options.


Personally, I want cleaning out a diaper to be the least amount of work and mess as possible. Many people are very busy, and that is why cloth diapering has been an issue for them. They may simply just not want to deal with the mess in a diaper.  I can't blame them, before I had my baby I felt really sick and so the thought of dealing with cleaning out messy diapers was not appealing at all. So, how can cloth diapering be less work and mess?

Options:

*Many people use a sprayer to clean out diapers. This is a type of mini-shower that connects to the toilet and the diapers are sprayed off in the toilet before going in to a diaper pail. I've had to rinse out some diapers in my experience of cloth diapering, and I personally don't like having a sopping wet diaper sitting around until I can wash it.

*Diaper liners are another option for dealing with dirty diapers.

-There are cloth liners, which are usually fleece, because it helps wick moisture away from the baby, helping him or her to feel dry. Fleece is also quite easy to wash out when messed on. It also doesn't
fray. A liner can be easily made by finding something fleece or polyester and cutting it into the shape desired. I've made some of my own liners to use, like this:

One thing with these kinds of liners, is that they don't exactly make cleaning up any easier or less messy because they are cloth, but they do wash well.

-There are also many disposable liners out there. But from what I have seen they are all pretty similar, looking a lot like this (with a little variation in size, thickness, texture, and possibly shape):

I have found that these liners bunch up and do not keep the inside of the diaper completely covered, and where they can be some what thin, the mess can still get through onto the inside of the diaper. They can make clean up a little less messy, but it still can be pretty messy using just these.

- There are some pretty good Disposable Inserts available. These are probably more for people who want to use something less harsh on the environment and their baby's health than disposables, but regularly using these wouldn't really save money. So for people who are cloth diapering to save money using these regularly might not be a good option. The kind I use and really like are the GroVia Inserts, which look like this:

These work really well in keeping the mess in the diaper, and making it very easy to get the mess out. If it leaks at all inside the diaper, the clean up is minimal usually.

Now for some Innovative Ideas:

I have been experimenting with several ideas for liners. They are still in the development stage, so there's still plenty of improvement to be made on them. For now I am simply going to share some pictures of things I am using to experiment with more details will come later in a movie post I hope.

Thanks :)

Feel free to share any of your own ideas and experiments or experiences. Thanks!