Cloth Diapering Costs How Much?

When my oldest son was in disposable diapers, I had never given a thought to cloth diapering until I kept hearing people talk about how much money you could save by switching. After doing my research, I could clearly see how the savings would rack up over time, but the first thing I noticed was the start-up costs.

In order to have enough cloth diapers to switch from disposables, I realized I would have to shell out a couple hundred dollars up front. Between the cost of diapers themselves to the diaper sprayer, diaper pail, special detergents, and various other “essential” items, I was looking at the cost of a used car. That was certainly not going to fit into my budget!

Determined to achieve the long term savings offered by cloth diapers, I began a mission to find the most frugal start-up options. The first step was to figure out the bare minimum of what I would actually need to ensure my son was diapered and sanitary. Cloth diapers were obvious, but what about the rest?

• Diaper Sprayer. I learned I could avoid the pricey diaper sprayer if I just scraped diapers or used diaper liners. I found that fleece diaper liners were the perfect options to avoid scraping and not spend much money. To make it even cheaper, I went to my local fabric store, bought some cheap, plain fleece and cut it up into rectangles to fit the diapers. Now I can just dunk the mess in the toilet and toss the fleece liners in the wash with the diapers.
• Diaper Pail. The diaper pail became an obvious cut. I could just use any cheap laundry bag or trash can or, if I washed my diapers every day, I could just toss them in the washing machine throughout the day.
• Special Detergent. After quite a bit of research I discovered that no special detergents are needed for laundering cloth diapers. Rather, I could just buy store brand detergents with no fancy color, scent or optical brightening additives. But I decided to take it one step further and just make my own cloth diaper-safe detergent.

Cloth diapering was starting to look much cheaper! Until I looked the price of diapers which averaged around $20 a diaper:

• New diapers. I realized the most expensive diapers were pockets or all-in-ones. While offering a disposable-like convenience, the cost was almost painful. I then started looking into shells and prefolds. That is when I found the Econobum. For only $10, I received a one-size-fits-all shell and a prefold. That made my start-up cost of 10 diapers only $100 dollars!
• Second-hand diapers. For an even more frugal option, I also looked into second hand. A lot of websites like http://cottonbabies.com and http://www.diaperjunction.com offer second hand purchases for a great price with the security of giving you information about the quality of the diapers you will receive. Craigslist can be a great site to peruse frequently to find some great used diapers, though you may be buying at your own risk. When purchasing second hand diapers, always make sure you sanitize them properly. Most prefolds and inserts can be safely boiled while other brands can be washed in hydrogen peroxide. Be sure to check the brand's website for sanitizing tips if possible.

In order to be the most frugal in your cloth diapering start-up, I recommend looking for diapers early. Once that ultrasound confirms a baby in your belly, let the frugal diaper search begin! Enjoy the savings while knowing your baby is diapered and comfortable.

This article was adapted from my original version first published on I Heart Maternity.

For more homemaking tips, check out: Life As Mom, Growing Home and Far Above Rubies