Help! My diapers are stained!

Although most newborn poop will come right out of cloth diapers when following proper laundry protocol, from time to time, you may find that a diaper (or several!) become stained yellow from newborn poop.  Stains are a cosmetic issue, rather than one of cleanliness. 

If the diapers smell clean after washing, they are clean, regardless of how they look.  Just as accidentally spilling ketchup on a white shirt may result in a stain after the shirt is washed, a diaper with newborn poop stains is probably clean - just stained!  As much as possible, try not to let these stains bother you. 

When the diapers have been outgrown, or when the stains are really driving you crazy, we suggest stain-removing in the sun.  Simply take the diapers wet but clean out of the washing machine and lay them in the sun to dry.  This method works even through a window (albeit a little slower), so no worries if it's winter or you have no outside hanging space.  In a few hours, the stains will be gone!

The images below are of a diaper that came through our diaper service.  We hung it out on the line to dry in the sun outside our wash center.  This was how the diaper looked after a couple hours of drying in the sun!