This is one of my most frequently asked questions! Truthfully, starting out with cloth diapers might seem like a daunting task, but it isn’t terrible at all. I’m breaking it down for you with links to each item you’ll need, and why. Plus, I give a price break down. Would you believe that the supplies to start cloth diapering together all cost under $300. That’s FOREVER. Want to know how much I spent on disposable diapers? At least $70 dollars a month for two+ years. You do the math 🙂 Here is what to buy if you want to start cloth diapering.
What to Buy if You Want to Start Cloth Diapering
1 // 15-20 cloth diapers (if you’ve found a brand you like) roughly $100-$150
Like I mentioned in this post, be sure to try out a few of your favorite brands before committing to buying 15-20 diapers from one place. My favorites are Charlie Banana, Nora’s Nursery, and Alva Baby. I also have a couple of Grovia velcro style diapers. I prefer pockets with removable inserts. I linked a few here, but I used Amazon to purchase them all because… two-day shipping! Just remember there are different kinds of cloth diapers. I prefer the pockets, but you might like all-in-ones or a different style! Read more about the different styles here.
2 // a wet bag storage bin $40
I was cheap with Gracie and used an empty laundry basket to store my wet bag in, but to be honest, it didn’t do a great job of keeping in the yucky smell. For Norah, I knew I needed something better. We keep this Dekor Plus diaper pale in our room and don’t smell our diapers ever!
3 // two large wet bags and a small travel size wet bag $30
The cool thing about the Dekor Plus diaper pale is that it has wet bag liners made for it. I bought this box of two wet bag liners that fit in the diaper pale and it’s proven to be amazing. For my travel size wet bags. I have a few of these, but you really only need two. This set is $9 and has lots of cute prints. Some of which match the diaper prints that Alva Baby has!
4 // cloth diaper-safe detergent $15 occasionally
This is where things can get a bit complicated. If you’re like me and worry about toxic products and synthetic detergents, then you probably won’t want to do this. Many cloth families I know use Tide Powder detergent and swear by it. I can’t bring myself to use it, so I use Country Save instead. It’s also a powder and can usually be found on Amazon or your local health foods store. It’s proven to work pretty well so far!
5 // a sprayer (optional) $40
If your baby is exclusively breastfed, you may not need this right away. Want to know why? Breastfed baby poop is water soluble. Meaning it literally disappears in water. Haha. However, if you formula feed or your baby eats solid food, you’ll want a good sprayer. It attaches to your toilet, and you just quickly spray it off after changing baby, then put it in the wet bag. I always remove the insert first! Even though I exclusively breastfeed Norah I do like to give her poopy diapers a good rinse before I put them in the wet bag. I store poo diapers in a separate wet bag (remember the set I got comes with two!)
6 // a spray pal (optional)$25
Have you ever tried to spray a cloth diaper without something to hold it still/straight? Haha. It isn’t the easiest thing in the world. That’s why when I got a Spray Pal, my whole life changed! It also helps keep the splatter inside the spray pal and not onto your arms or legs.
I hope you enjoyed this post about what to buy if you want to start cloth diapering. Let me know if you have any questions at all 🙂
