Many people don’t like using the dryer for their diapers because there may still be some residue from fabric softeners in the dryer which would make the diapers entirely waterproof (even the parts that are supposed to let liquid through). Others just don’t like the extra bit of electricity used for every load. So there are several different ways of drying your cloth diapers without this problem.

One is a regular clothes line! That was easy. A piece of rope, some clothes-pins and hanging the dipes out in the wind and sun not only gets them dry, but also helps with smells because the sun bleaches them. How beautiful is that. There is one downside though, if you are using the sun to bleach your diapers, it does just that. The colors fade a bit with each drying. But if you’re using flats or prefolds, its PERFECT for getting them to stay white. Most people think this is only a “summer” way of drying, but apparently, my mother freeze-dried our clothes when we lived in Alaska, so as long as it doesn’t snow or ice on them, they should dry even in the winter.

Another way of drying without the dryer is using a drying rack. These are generally accordion-type racks that you can drape any type of clothes over to dry in a warm, linoleum or concrete floored room. People have also found that draping them over hangers and just hanging them like that works pretty well. Another type of drying rack is a hanger with a circle on the bottom and then clothes-pins attached to the ring. It works best for flats and prefolds which don’t need to be laid out as well.