I have lived through 20 months of cloth diapering my son.  To say I have learned a thing or two is an understatement.  Not only have I tried and reviewed over 50 cloth diapers, I have tried all sorts of accesories.  Plus I have real world experience.  I know how to change a cloth diaper on a plane, bench, lap, and how to deal when my son is fighting me for a change.  I have sampled cloth safe diaper creams and detergents and picked my favorites.  And, I have learned how to keep my son relatively still during changes (crucial when in public and there is a nasty poop!)  I am listing what I feel a cloth diapering mom needs and stating my brand of choice where applicable.

A few easy peasy AIO diapers for the babysitter/ diaper bag. Because no matter how much you love prefolds, your babysitter might not.  My favorites are the Drybees Hybrid Pocket AIO and the AMP AIO.

Diaper Sprayer (around 6 months when your baby begins solids)

At least (2) Travel Size Wet Bags. The Wahmies Medium in the Guitar Print is my go to quick trip out, while my Planet Wise Wet/ Dry in Medium is best for a day trip.

(2) Elastic edged pail liners -or- at least 2 Hanging Wet Bags- Wahmies Pail liner is my choice, and Planet Wise Wet/Dry bag in Large for a hanging pail.

Diaper Pail- if you choose one, it should have a pedal for ease of use, especially when you have a dripping wet diaper.  I love my Diaper Dekor, which I modified to accommodate cloth diapers.

1 pack of Snappis

Cloth Friendly Diaper Detergent (I use Rockin’ Green Hard Rock)

Dryer Balls (if you want to soften your diapers or reduce static.)

Flushable Liners- I have found Bummis Bioliners are the softest.  Good to use when on the go to prevent coming home with poop in your diapers.

Drying Rack, clothesline, or gizmo for hanging diapers- I love my Ikea Octopus for hanging covers, but I just throw my inserts over the porch rail for sunning.

Awesome diaper bag big enough for your cloth diapers! I like my Petunia Picklebottom but I am still drooling over the Go Gaga Messenger bag!

Changing Pad- I have a great changing pad from Ikea!

Cloth Diaper safe Cream- My fav is Dimpleskins Bum Balm.  Silky and very effective!

Distracting/ engaging Toy for changes.  Especially good for when you are learning how to put on a prefold or a snapping diaper.

Mobile above changing table when the baby is younger and can’t reach it. It will keep their eyes engaged while you do your thing.

You can find many of these items at my affiliate, Kelly’s Closet, including the Bummis Bioliners, Planet Wise and Wahmies Wet bags, diaper sprayers, snappis, and Rockin’ Green.  Shopping my link supports DDL!  Need a coupon code?  Find them here! Happy Shopping!

What are your must have items to make cloth diapering easier?

SweetBottoms Baby Boutique, a new DDL sponsor, is giving one lucky reader a bag of the new Hard Rock formula of Rockin’ Green.

As you know, Rockin’ Green is one of the (if not the) most popular cloth diaper laundry detergent, and for good reason!

Got hard water?

We got you covered- this stuff was designed to bust through the minerals and grime and leave you with clean smelling, sparkly diapers and clothes! Without the need for all those extra boosters and add-ons that you are used to using. Just a few tablespoons and you are on your way to clean diapers and clothing.

Dye free
Comes in several yummy scents (& an unscented version for sensitive skin)
No fillers
No enzymes or optical brighteners
100% Phosphate free
Vegan
Great for sensitive skin
Easy rinsing formula
Approved for military use
Works wonders on microfiber stink!
Perfect for cloth diapers
HE compatible
Reusable packaging
Economical!

The hard rock version was created with the utmost care and consideration by Kim Webb. You can read all about her journey and hard work on SweetBottoms Baby Boutique.

SweetBottoms Baby Boutique also sells cloth diapers like Bottombumpers, Bum Ware, Kawaii  (brands I haven’t tried yet!), Bum Genius, Thirsties, and will soon be carrying Babykicks Hemparoo fleece prefolds.

If you are looking for baby carriers, SweetBottoms Baby Boutique sells Boba (my personal favorite SSC so far), Sleepy Wrap, and Gypsy Mama wraps.

I love amber teething necklaces, so I was happy to see that SweetBottoms Baby Boutique carries them as well!

As a former NC resident, I was happy to see that SweetBottoms Baby Boutique serves their local community, offering Cloth Diaper Workshops and personal consultations.

Are you ready to enter?

Mandatory Entry:

Visit SweetBottoms Baby Boutique and tell me your favorite product that they sell, other than Rockin’ Green.

For extra entries do any or all of the following.  Leave a comment for each you do.

Follow @KimRosas on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Please tweet, “Stinky Diapers and Hard Water?  Win Rockin’ green Hard Rock from @KimRosas http://6mhw8.th8.us #clothdiapers”  Leave a comment with a link to your status.

You can tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Leave a comment with your status for each tweet.

Become a fan of SweetBottoms Baby Boutique on Facebook. Leave a comment.

Subscribe to my blog via email through feedburner. Leave a comment.

Follow me through Google Friend Connect or via a reader. Leave a comment.

Grab my button and post it on your blog. Leave a comment.

Blog about this giveaway. Post a link in the comment.

Get Creative: Post about this giveaway on a messageboard or forum. Leave a comment with a link.

New Entry: Become a fan of Dirty Diaper Laundry on Facebook and get 3 extra entries! Just leave your comment as FB entry 1, FB 2, and FB 3.

Giveaway ends on April 19. Winner will be chosen using random.org. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn.

***Open to US and Canada***

I was asked to review Crunchy Clean detergent for cloth diapers.  I have heard of Crunchy Clean, they are a leading brand recognized by many as a very cloth safe detergent.

From the website:

This cloth diaper detergent special blend of naturally occurring minerals, detergents, oxygen releasing agents that have proven to clean diapers in a safe way that does not harm your precious baby or your diapers. It does work to kill bacteria, and works great in any temperature wash and any type of machine. You can use it to soak your diapers to kill germs or get rid of stains as well as wash your diapers regularly.

No optical brighteners, fillers, dyes, or enzymes.
Great for military use!
Clean rinsing – an extra rinse isn’t necessary!
No soap to build up in your diapers.
HE compatible.
Great for all of your family’s clothing and diapers.

When I opened the package my first thought was how adorable the packaging was. Their logo of a sketched front loader washer is oh so cute. The bags are brown with the logo and are resealable. Since powder detergents tend to get clumpy, especially in my damp basement, this was perfect.

I set about washing my diapers as soon as I could to begin trying it out. I started out using Cherry Almond. After opening the bag I was greeted with a delicious sweet scent. That made me even more excited to try it. I have used a few other cloth diaper detergents which have worked great, and like one I have tried, Rockin’ Green, it smelled so awesome!
The two small bags I received also came with a wooden scoop. I used 2 scoops for my diapers, not heaping, level to the slant of the scoop. I do relatively an average size load of diapers, about 10-12.

When I took the diapers out of the washer they smelled nice and clean. My diapers didn’t smell like cherry almond much but clean is what matters. Other scented detergents never left my diapers smelling the same scent either, after rinsing and drying it just hasn’t happened. Keep in mind that this detergent is cloth diaper safe for a reason.

I used Crunchy Clean exclusively for about a month on my diapers. I also used it to wash my sheets because it smelled so great. Cherry Almond was my favorite scent. The other scent I had the opportunity to try was Lavender Vanilla. It smelled very strong out of the bag but again, after rinsing and drying there wasn’t a scent left on the diapers, they were just clean smelling. I never had any issues with repelling, which is awesome. It is always scary trying a new detergent when you have a routine that works for you. The first load you are waiting for a disaster, for wet sheets, for anything. None of those things happened.

I have been battling ammonia smell (the buildup of ammonia salts in the inserts from urine) in my microfiber for a long time. It has been worse than right now and it has been better. Unfortunately the only solution that has worked (and for a limited time) has been bleaching. It isn’t recommended for every wash, maybe once a month. I don’t even do it that much. Crunchy Clean didn’t cure my microfiber stink but no detergent has so far. I wasn’t expecting it too. Ammonia is a complex issue, probably the most complicated problem with cloth diapering.

As for the packaging, the re-sealable bag worked great.  My basement is very very damp.  While the powder seems to thicken up just a tad, it didn’t get super clumpy or hard like my boxes of detergent do.  I also am at fault for leaving it unsealed a couple of times!

The biggest benefit of using Crunchy Clean is that it is made with cloth diapers in mind. There should be no residue. Now that modern cloth diapers have modern materials like PUL, elastic, velcro, and man made fabrics, it is no longer acceptable to use a wet pail filled with bleach. That worked for flats and prefolds, but will ruin your PUL and elastic. We need modern cloth diaper detergent as well!  Crunchy Clean has even come out with a Hard Water Detergent.  She also has sprinkles for your stinky diaper pail (which are awesome, I was sent some to try as well) and linen spray.  Mmm… lovely!

You can also save 15% on your entire order at CrunchyClean.com with the coupon code DirtyDiaperLaundry. Pretty cool!

To enter first:

I was not paid to perform this review however the samples sent to me were free of charge.