Don't shy away from cloth diapers because of washing. Washing cloth diapers is easy. Some toss all diapers in a dry pail, some soak and rinse. Once you have some diaper washing experience, you will know exactly which method is right for you.

We like a two pail method—one wet, one dry—and we trade off between two reusable, waterproof pail liners. Next to the changing table is a dry pail (meaning, you don't add water to soak the diapers, just the diapers as they come off baby) with a waterproof bag as a liner. Wet diapers go directly into this pail. Next to the toilet is a wet pail with no bag or liner but about half full of water and a few squirts of Bac Out, a live enzyme culture to prevent stains and odors. (Do not use a wet pail if your diaper pail does not lock or is not completely out of reach of curious toddlers. Standing water in the pail is a drowning hazard.) Drop, scrape, spray, or dunk any solids off soiled diapers, then toss them in the wet pail.

On cloth diaper washing day, take the (no longer) dry pail of wet diapers from the changing table to the bathroom. With both pails in front of you, you are ready to consolidate. Open the wet pail of dirty diapers, and squeeze out the water from the dirty diapers. Put them in the dry pail, in the waterproof bag along with the wet diapers. Empty the water-filled pail into the toilet, rinse, refill, add Bac Out. The wet pail is ready to go again.

Carry the full pail to the washing machine. Put all of the diapers, along with any covers and the liner from the pail, through a warm wash. Do not use harsh detergents or chlorine bleach. These are not only hard on the environment because of the difficulty in treating the wastewater, but they are hard on your diapers and will shorten their useful life. Rinse the dry pail and let it dry. Put a dry pail liner in the pail. When the diapers are ready for a second cycle, remove the liner bag and any covers for line drying. Run a hot wash. Line drying is great for diapers, and the sun will naturally bleach many stains. If you decide to dry the diapers by machine, Firefly diapers should be dry within one medium-length cycle, depending on the heat and power of your machine. If you experiment, you will know exactly how long your diapers take to dry in your machine, and you can use the minimum of energy in drying the diapers. The ideal cycle for diapers is long enough for just dry then 10 more minutes, which sterilizes them.

If you feel the need to bleach, and sunshine and lemon juice has not done the trick, try hydrogen peroxide bleach (H2O2 sold commercially—much stronger than the 3% solution sold for medical use) rather than chlorine bleach. You can use it on prints as well as whites, and it is not nearly as hard on the diapers—or on water that has to be treated as it leaves you to go back to the river/ground/ocean.

If you encounter problems with odors from the pail before wash day, you can use a deodorant disk or charcoal filter. Making a natural deodorant (deo) disk from baking soda and essential oil is very easy. In dry climates, you can minimize diaper odor by keeping your pail open. If you want to distract yourself from the odor of diaper washing day, you might light diffuser with some essential oil before you begin to rinse the dirty diapers. Or, open a window.

That's it. There are a few details to keep in mind, but the whole process only takes about 15 minutes of your time altogether.