Stole this from another blog... Found it interesting and figure it will come in handy to have easy access to the information when converting mummy friends (which everyone knows I'm good at doing!)
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Modern cloth diapers are so different from your grandmother’s diapers you would hardly believe it. They come in bright colors and prints, fasten with snaps instead of pins, and can be washed in your washing machine with very little trouble. Here are some common myths surrounding cloth diapers, and the straight poop on how they really work.
Cloth Diapers Are Unsanitary: FALSE
When washed with a good additive-free detergent such as Allen’s Naturally or Rockin’ Green, cloth diapers are easy to keep clean. Breastfeed poo can go straight in the washer, but solids go in the toilet before the diaper goes in the pail, so you don’t have to worry about putting your washer under too much strain. Wash your diapers at least every three days to keep stinkies at bay, and try drying them in the sun occasionally, which both disinfects and removes stains.
Cloth Diapers = Pins & Plastic Pants: FALSE
Cloth diapers are now made of high-tech fabrics and fasten with snaps or Velcro. In fact, cloth diapers today are nearly as convenient as disposables. The most convenient brands (Applecheeks, Thirsties, Bamboo Baby) allow you to just throw them in the pail in one piece when they’re wet. Any loose diaper inserts will shimmy out in the wash.
Cloth Diapers Can Help Kids Potty Train Sooner: TRUE
SAP, or sodium polyacrylate, is the super-absorbent polymer crystals in the core of disposable diapers. This substance wicks and traps moisture away from baby’s skin to help him feel dry, but it has also been linked to health problems such as endocrine disruption, which can cause a host of illnesses later in life. Cloth diapers also wick moisture away from baby’s skin, but they let baby feel wet enough that he knows when he has peed, and that makes him more likely to want to use the potty instead.
Cloth Diapers Don’t Save That Much Money: FALSE
Cloth diapers cost $10-20 apiece up front, which can be intimidating. But cloth diapers can be used with multiple kids. If you diapered 3 children for 2.5 years each using cloth diapers, your total cost would probably come to about $1,000. Disposables for the same kids would run you an intimidating $7,500. Win some free cloth diapers in a blog giveaway such as those hosted on 29Diapers.com, and you can cut the cost of cloth even further.
Cloth Diapers Save 1 Ton of Trash Per Year: TRUE
Cloth diapers keep 1 ton of trash per year per kid out of the landfill. This fact alone is enough to keep many moms coming back to cloth diapers, so they have a healthy earth to pass down to their kids. Disposable diapers take about 500 years to decompose, which means your great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandchildren will still be living with the first disposable diapers ever created 40 years ago. That is the definition of unsustainable.
Cloth Diapers Are Hard To Wash: FALSE
Modern cloth diapers can be washed in your home washer and dryer. They are stored until wash day in a flip-top plastic pail and can be kept in a pail liner made of the same PUL (polyurethane-laminated polyester fabric) that diapers are now made of. This means no mess: just pull the pail liner bag out of the pail on wash day and dump the whole thing in the washer. The bag gets washed along with your diapers, and you didn’t have to touch a thing.
Cloth Diapers Are Healthier for Babies: TRUE
Disposable diapers are made of bleached wood pulp (which contains the carcinogen dioxin), SAP or sodium polyacrylate (which has been linked to chemical burns in Pampers DryMax diapers, toxic shock syndrome in feminine products, and endocrine disruption to give children diseases induced by hormonal imbalances), and plastic (which requires crude oil to create—neither healthy for your baby nor good for the economy). Cloth diapers are made of polyester or cotton or wool or fleece on top, and microfiber or hemp or bamboo or cotton on the inside.
