Who Takes Cloth Diapers To Laundry?

[Thickndry]

With so many people extolling cloth diapers, and i have a few, but the big hangup is laundry. When spouse is away, i toss mine into washing machine, but drying is a bear. Does anyone who uses cloth diapers (even all-in-ones) take them to a commercial cleaner (laundry) to wash? If so, do they look at you funny when you take in a bag of dirty adult diapers? How much do they charge. I'm in New Jersey, so it's not like being in the outback somewhere.

[Angela Bauer]

When I was a girl and continuing into the 1990s there were some diaper services. Our family had so many wearing diapers we used our own washer and dryer. A family up the block used Dydee Service for all their kids, but they usually only had one at a time in diapers.

Later, in 1991, after I married Don Davis, I saw that Dydee Service in Pasadena also supplied adult gauze diapers to elder care facilities as well as private homes. It well could have been Dydee Service in Bellflower had done the same thing. You could not tell because in Pasadena the same truck delivered both baby and adult diapers. I did look into using Dydee because I had so little spare time. Ultimately I concluded I preferred the adult pre-folds which Dydee did not supply.

[DiaperBigBoy]

Since where i live i do not have a washer and dryer i can use. Well, we do have one, but I have to get tokens in another city to do a watch and it's over priced, when I can just go down the street and do a wash for cheaper. But I do my onesies, sleepers, and diapers all in there, I don't care who knows or cares.

[Wakko]

I wouldn't be so concerned with a commercial laundry, particularly if it's busy.

We have communal machines in my building. I've stuck with disposables rather than cloth (except for one snap-on I have) because I would be concerned about running into someone, or inadvertently leaving the laundry behind.

Fortunately, plastic pants are easy to hand-wash; I believe that's the best way anyway.

[bedwetter73]

I always would take mine out of the pail and wrap them in a towel to put into a laundry basket. Then just go into the laundry mat and after filling the machine with water a bit just tip the basket over and let them all fall out into the washer. I did this at my apt complex may times and nobody ever said anything. I've done this trick at a public laundry mat too. Yeah it will smell, but what the person near you gonna think: Humm are those his diapers? OR just damn those diapers smell. It's all about what people think they see, or in this case, smell. Nobody is going to accuse you of those being YOUR diapers, they just might know that they ARE diapers.

There was that one time..... I left the diapers in the dryer and some nice lady had taken them out and folded them up for me. They were in a basket in the corner with my towel over the top of them. I never saw who did it, but always wondered what they thought? Towels? Adult diapers? Who knows but they got folded and it was pretty neat.

[Loveable_guy]

I have a washer and dryer at home so no I don’t use a commercial laundry. I was just thinking of the embarrassment of living in a building with a common laundry area and one forgetting about that load in the dryer only to come running back to fine your neighbor folding your diapers.

Hey I needed to use the dryer!

When I do use cloth I hang outside to dry, love the fresh air smell and the sun is good for helping to whiten things some.

[bedwetter73]

Ah yes the sun and the warm air blowing threw your diapers is SO nice. They just need a quick spin inthe dryer to take the stiffness out of them before you wear them.

Now lets see, Sun light....thats the big fireball in the sky that is warm and melts all this white crap right? I haven't seen that in a while.

[d_drew12]

I have my own laundry stuff at home. I can't hardly think of anyone I know, house or apt that doesn't. Guess it's less common in some parts to not have your own laundry stuff. I find it interesting the number that don't? Anyway, I checked around here and nobody has an adult cloth diaper service but there are baby ones. I found the cloth diaper episode on Dirty Jobs pretty interesting as they had adult and baby diapers there. It be interesting to see who it is you're delivering the adult ones to. It'd probably not be as exciting as one would hope to find out. Likely an older person or nursing homes and not a hot 21 year old.

[Angela Bauer]

Now that virtually all elder care facilities and hospitals use disposables, DyDee Service in Pasadena has stopped offering adult gauze diapers. Since I frequently see their distinctive trucks around town, clearly they are still in the baby diaper business.

Apparently in many places the baby diaper service industry is keeping head above water. Recently at the Burbank (CA,USA) Toys-R-Us I saw 6 dozen packs of Gerber Birdseye cotton pre-fold diapers. That would be an entire case. They were not dusty so it is entirely possible that shelf had just been re-stocked. TRU would not stock them unless customers are buying them. Currently I have 4 dozen of those still in their bags from my most recent case I bought at Babies-R-Us, so I am not open-to-buy more baby pre-folds at this time. I expect to ask the Van Nuys BRU manager to order me another case of Gerber Birdseye pre-folds in September.

Growing up our house had a really good washer and a dryer. So did Granny and Grandpa next door. Later when Aunt Betsy and her family moved across the street they had an effective washer and dryer set. Generally my Dad or Grandpa did the necessary repairs themselves. Of course when we traveled Mom used coin washers along the way. Often we would stay at the same motels on subsequent visits, usually selected for the convenience of their washing machines and liberal ideas about operating hours. Sometimes we would extend a lunch stop if the restaurant was close to a coin laundry. Never in all those years did anyone make a comment.

[timmyc]

I only use disposables, but if I did use cloth, I wouldn't hesitate to use public laundry. I firmly believe people are completely wrapped up in their own work and have no real interest in observing my dirty laundry.

[Wakko]

Whether an apartment building has individual machines or communal is very variable. I used to live in a building designed for families, that had individual machines in a large-sized bathroom (and hand shower). I miss that place for obvious reasons.

I moved to a place with communal machines and a tiny bathroom in each unit. It's not designed for families. Same landlord, and same town but different buildings.

[Creepymouse]

While we have laundry hookups, we haven't saved the money for a washer and dryer, simply because the energy costs wouldn't offset the quarters (watch your bill skyrocket when you use a dryer daily).

So, yes. Usually once a week or every two weeks, an overnight cloth diaper or two make their way to the laundromat with the rest of our laundry. I went almost six months in diapers every night wearing cloth, washed at the apartment laundry room as well.

Nobody cares. Most will not even know what you're washing, some might guess at it, but the percentage of those who would guess they're yours and that you wear them because you like them is very small indeed. And on the off chance that someone does guess that, you're very unlikely to ever hear about it.

[CDLover]

I was living in an apartment for awhile and would go to a laundromat about once a week week to wash my diapers. I had no problem.

One time, I was late coming back after a wash and they were in a basket. After drying sometimes I would fold them there and sometimes just put them in the clean laundry bag.

I really don't think anyone cares what one washes...

CDL