Washing Diapers

Washing Diapers

Other cost:

Unless you are washing by hand with no soap (gross!) there are other cost to consider.

How much does it cost to wash and dry cloth diapers?

Washing Energy:        

Expect to be doing two to three load a week- I figured 12 loads a month. Each load cost about $.40 in energy to wash. (Cheaper if you have a more energy efficient washer.)

 Drying:

            Line drying is free. Sun is a natural bleacher and kills germs. Out of laziness or being in a hurry I have used the dryer. One website estimate that to cost $.36 a load.

So add the initial $91 dollar plus $57-109 a year.

 Cloth diapering cost $148-200 a year.
That is a savings of $85-137 the first year and even more the second.

Now what about that soap? ...

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

My friend buys a detergent for hard water.  It cost her roughly $.18 cents a load.

I decided to make my own for hard water. Here is the recipe and cost:

Cloth Diaper Detergent

Here are my high estimates, rounding up dollar amounts and not counting buying it on sale or the store brand.

½ cup Baking Soda: $.25 at $1 for 2 cups (1 lb box)

½ cup Washing Soda: $.34 at $4 for 6 cups (3 lb box)

½ cup Epsom Salt: $.37 at $3 for 8 cups (4 lb box)

½ cup Free or Baby Oxiclean- $.80 at $8 for 5 cups (3 lb box)

$1.76 for 32 loads or about $.06 a load. (Rounded up- very up)

12 loads a month =__$.72__ total detergent cost per month or $8-9 a year.

Still, that is a savings of $76-129 the first year.
The second year you would save at least $132-171.
And those are conservative numbers. It can easily be double that! Is it worth the time, money, and poop rinsing?

Another way to look at is this way

If each load contained 12 diapers and the soap cost $.06 and the total cost of energy (I used Mr. Electricity’s calculator) to wash them is $.40 a load, that equals $.46 a load.

So each diaper will cost you less than $.04-.07 depending on if you use the dryer.  That is way less than the $.13 for disposables. Seriously, you would be cutting you diaper bill in more than half!

Okay, now comes a bonus:

When you are done using cloth diapers you can sell cloth diapers, if they are still in decent condition. So expect another pleasant return. Now they cost even less!

However, the biggest money saver, and my favorite thing about cloth diapering is the wipes

Coming next- FREE WIPES!...