Cloth Diapers 201: Help! My diapers are stained

As baby grows and changes, you may encounter substances that stain your cloth diapers from time to time. Certain foods, such a blueberries, or other substances you or your little one ingest (like medications or vitamins) can affect the color of the output.

We get lots of questions here at Cotton Babies about how to deal with stains.

Our first recommendation is to bleach your cloth diapers once a month. We recommend 1/4 cup of bleach added to the hot wash cycle if you have a high efficiency machine. You may use up to 1/2 cup of bleach if you have a traditional top-loading machine. This helps to sanitize your diapers and fight odors. Some customers like to add an additional rinse cycle when they bleach to ensure the diaper is thoroughly rinsed before it touches baby's bottom again.

If your stains don't come out with bleach, or if you prefer a more natural stain removal solution, we recommend sunning your diapers.

To sun the diapers:

After completing all your wash cycles, find a safe, sunny spot outdoors if possible.

Place diapers on a drying rack or other flat surface with the inside of the diaper facing the sun.

Let the sun work it's magic to dry and sanitize your diapers.

Some customers have success sunning indoors during the winter near a window. With modern windows that block UV rays, indoor sunning is usually less effective than outdoor.

Some stubborn stains make take more than one round in the sun to be completely removed.