Preping Prefolds

Back when J was first born I wanted to expand my cloth diaper stash and had purchased some Blueberry Coveralls.... now at 14 months I have yet to use them since I have been slacking on buying prefolds. This has now changed. My mom and I went to a new/used children's store and she purchased me 7 unbleached prefolds. Why 7 you may ask? Well because that is all they had in his size. I though it would be a good amount to try out, and I'll buy more later if I really like them.

As soon as I got home, I started my research on how to prep these babies, and there are sooooo many different ways. Unhappy with all my choices, I just kinda did my own thing. (Disclaimer: I am by no means a cloth diapering expert! I am simply sharing with you how I prepped my prefolds and it worked well for me.)

Here are the Blueberry Coveralls I have been holding onto of about a year now. And of course some Snappis!

Here are the 7 unbleached prefolds. Unprepared prefolds are extremely flat and almost a little scratchy, this will change once you prep them.

I liked the boiling method as it didn't involve 6-8 cycles in the washing machine! So out came my stock pot, I filled with water and applied high heat until boiling.

Most boiling methods use Dawn. I am a big Rockin Green fan, and have never used anything on my diapers but their detergent. I placed one tablespoon of Rockin Green in the boiling water.

Then I added the diapers and boiled them for about 25 minutes. Once done boiling, I rang them out the best I could, threw them in the washer and did a warm rinse to get the detergent out. After the rinse they went in the dryer. From what I have read, most people only boil their diapers once, but I am a little bit of a freak so I went ahead and started the process over again. After I took them out of the dyer the second time, I went ahead and washed them in the washing machine like as if they were a normal solid diaper load, and in the dyer for the last time.

See now that they are all prepped, nice and fluffy with that quilted look.

I wanted to make sure they didn't need another wash, so I tested the absorbancy by pouring about a half a cup of water on one. It soaked it up like a champ! I'm so proud!

I was so excited we ran in the other room immediately and changed diapers. Look how cute! My folding could use a little work, but I am pretty proud. Then I pondered about what color cover we should try out first (a very hard decision).

After I couldn't decide on color I let J choose... and of course it was the green! Look how handsome he looks! And he is stumped with the snaps. I'm sure he will figure them out shortly but I am glad I can let him run around on hot days with just a diaper again without having to put it back on 50+ times. ;) YAY!