How to Use Cloth Diapers: A Beginner's Guide for Indian Parents

Last updated: 10 September 2026

Quick Answer

Snap the diaper to your baby's size using the rise and waist buttons, lay a dry insert in the centre, and fasten it snugly enough that two fingers slide in at the waist with the leg elastic sitting in the thigh crease. Rinse after use, wash with a mild detergent and no fabric softener, and dry completely. Most beginners need about 20 diapers to start.

Key Takeaways

• For a first time user in India, a one size pocket or all in one diaper with a removable insert is the simplest place to start.

• Fit does more than anything else. Most leaks blamed on the diaper are actually a rise setting or leg elastic problem.

• Plan around 20 diapers to begin with, and more if you are starting in monsoon, because drying time is what decides your stash size.

• Never use fabric softener, and do not under dose detergent. Both cause the absorbency loss and ammonia smell that most beginners mistake for a faulty diaper.

• Thick petroleum or zinc barrier creams can coat cloth fibres. Use a liner between the cream and the insert.

What Are the Different Types of Cloth Diaper?

Five main types, and they differ mainly in how much assembly they need and how fast they dry. That trade off between convenience and drying speed is the whole decision.

Most modern cloth diapers sold in India are also "one size" or "free size", meaning rows of snaps let one diaper adjust from roughly 3 months to 3 years rather than you buying separate sizes.

Which Type Should a Beginner in India Actually Start With?

A one size pocket or all in two diaper with a removable insert, in most cases. The removable insert is the deciding factor, and the reason is drying.

An all in one is genuinely the easiest to put on, which is why it appeals to beginners. But because the absorbent layer is sewn in, the entire diaper has to dry through, and in a humid Indian monsoon that can take well over a day. A diaper you cannot dry is a diaper you cannot use. With a removable insert, the shell dries fast and only the insert needs the long dry, so your rotation keeps moving.

Two more practical points for Indian conditions:

• Snaps over hook and loop. Velcro style closures wear out faster, snag on other laundry, and lose grip after repeated washing in hard water. Snaps last longer.

• Do not start with 20 diapers of one kind. Buy two or three, use them for a week, then commit. Fit and drying vary by household, and a small trial costs far less than a stash you dislike.

Mylo's cloth diapers follow this pattern, with adjustable snaps at the waist and rise and a removable insert pad, sized from about 3 months to 3 years:

• To try two at once: the Adjustable Washable and Reusable Cloth Diaper with insert pads, pack of 2. Two is roughly the right number for a first week trial.

• To start with a single diaper: the Cherry Blossom or Twinkle Twinkle pack of 1, if you would rather test one before buying more.

• Once you have decided to commit: a free size cloth diaper pack of 3 builds the stash more economically than single units.

• Compare prints and pack sizes across the full reusable cloth diaper range.

One thing no cloth diaper can do, whichever you buy: it cannot prevent diaper rash on its own, and it does not change how often your baby needs changing. Absorbency claims describe capacity under test conditions, not how long the diaper should stay on.

How Do You Put a Cloth Diaper On?

Set the size first, once, then the daily routine takes under a minute.

Setting the size, which you only redo as your baby grows:

1. Lay the diaper flat, inside facing up. You will see two or three rows of snaps running across the front panel. These are the rise snaps.

2. For a small baby, fold the front panel down and fasten it to the lowest row to shorten the diaper. For a bigger baby, use a higher row or leave it unfolded.

3. Check the result against your baby's body: the diaper should sit just below the navel at the front and cover the whole bottom at the back.

The change itself:

1. Lay your baby on a clean surface and keep one hand on them throughout.

2. Place a dry insert centred in the shell, or stuff it into the pocket, smoothing out any bunching. A folded or twisted insert is a leak waiting to happen.

3. Slide the diaper under your baby so the back sits high, level with or just above the waist at the back.

4. Bring the front up between the legs and fasten the waist snaps.

5. Run a finger around each leg opening and pull the elastic gently outward so it sits in the thigh crease rather than bunched inside it. This one step prevents most leg leaks.

6. Check the fit: two fingers should slide in at the waist, and there should be no gap at the thighs.

7. For a newborn with a healing umbilical stump, keep the front edge folded below the navel so nothing rubs it.

How Do You Get the Fit Right When It Leaks?

Before blaming the diaper, work through this. Fit and capacity account for the large majority of cloth diaper leaks, and each pattern of leaking points to a different cause.

How Many Cloth Diapers Do You Need to Start?

Work from your drying time, not from a recommended number. The calculation is:

Diapers needed = changes per day x days until a load is washed, dried and back in the drawer

If you use an all in two or hybrid, you need fewer shells than inserts, because a shell can be reused across a couple of pee only changes when it is completely dry inside and unsoiled. Never reuse a shell after a poop, or if it feels even slightly damp.

The monsoon column is the honest one for much of India for several months a year, and running short during a wet week is the most common reason families abandon cloth. Plan for it at the start rather than discovering it in July.

How Do You Wash Cloth Diapers?

The routine is simple. What matters is the three things you avoid.

1. Remove the insert as soon as you take the diaper off. Do not leave it stuffed inside the shell.

2. Deal with poop straight away. Rinse it off under running water or a hand shower. Breastfed newborn stool is water soluble and rinses easily. Once solids start, stool is firmer and needs shaking or rinsing off properly.

3. Store dry and ventilated. Keep used diapers in an open or lidded bucket with air flow, not sealed in a plastic bag. Sealed storage is what breeds the ammonia smell.

4. Pre rinse, then wash. A cold rinse first to remove urine and residue, then a warm or hot main wash with a full dose of mild detergent.

5. Rinse until the water runs clear of suds. Detergent left in the fibres is the main cause of absorbency loss.

6. Dry completely. Inserts in the sun, which helps with staining and odour. Shells in the shade, because prolonged direct sun is harder on the waterproof layer.

The three things never to do:

• Never use fabric softener. It works by coating fibres, which is exactly the opposite of what an absorbent layer needs. This single mistake ruins more cloth diapers than anything else.

• Never under dose the detergent. Beginners often use a tiny amount thinking it is gentler on baby skin. Too little detergent leaves soil in the fabric, which causes the ammonia smell and the absorbency loss people then blame on the diaper. Use the full recommended dose of a mild, fragrance free detergent.

• Never use bleach, antiseptic liquid or harsh additives as a routine measure. They irritate skin and degrade elastic and waterproofing. A proper hot wash and full drying does the job.

A gentle, fragrance free option such as a baby safe liquid detergent works for cloth diapers, provided you use a full dose and rinse thoroughly. The dose matters as much as the product.

What Is a Strip Wash, and When Do You Need One?

A strip wash is a deep clean that removes accumulated detergent and mineral residue from the fibres. You need one when your diapers start behaving badly rather than on a schedule.

The three signs it is time:

• An ammonia smell that appears as soon as your baby wets the diaper, or that lingers after washing

• Water beading on the insert instead of soaking in, so it seems to repel liquid

• Absorbency that has clearly dropped, with leaks in diapers that used to cope fine

How to do it: wash the inserts on the hottest cycle the fabric allows with a full dose of detergent and no other additives, then rinse repeatedly until no suds appear at all. Then dry fully. If you have hard water, which much of India does, this may need repeating.

Hard water is the usual culprit behind all three symptoms above. Minerals combine with detergent and build up in the fabric over time, so this is a maintenance issue rather than a sign the diapers have worn out.

What Do Cloth Diapers Actually Cost Compared With Disposables?

Cloth is cheaper over a full diapering period, but the honest comparison has to include the washing, and most online comparisons leave it out. Rather than quoting a single savings figure, here is the calculation so you can run it on your own prices.

How to work it out in two minutes. Multiply your current diapers per day by the price you pay per diaper, then by 30, to get your monthly disposable spend. Then take your intended cloth stash, multiply by the price per cloth diaper, and divide by that monthly figure. The answer is roughly how many months it takes for cloth to pay for itself, before washing costs. For most families that break even point falls within the first few months, which is why cloth saves money over a two to three year diapering period.

Two caveats worth being honest about. Cloth only saves money if you actually use the stash, so a large purchase you abandon after a month costs more than disposables would have. And on environmental impact, neither option is straightforwardly greener: disposables create landfill waste, while cloth uses water, detergent and energy across hundreds of wash cycles. Local water scarcity is a genuine consideration in parts of India.

Can You Use Diaper Rash Cream With Cloth Diapers?

Yes, but not directly against the insert. Thick barrier creams, particularly petroleum and zinc oxide based ones, coat cloth fibres in much the same way fabric softener does, and that reduces absorbency over time.

Three ways to handle it:

• Use a liner. A fleece or disposable liner between the cream and the insert takes the cream and protects the fabric. This is the simplest solution.

• Apply a thin layer only, and let it absorb into the skin for a moment before the diaper goes on.

• Switch to disposables during an active rash. A rash needs frequent changing and a very dry bottom, and many parents find that easier to manage with disposable pants for a few days.

If cream has already built up and your inserts are repelling water, a strip wash will usually clear it.

A Realistic First Week

Most people who give up on cloth do so in week one, usually because they bought a full stash and tried to switch overnight. A gentler start works better.

• Days 1 to 2: use two or three cloth diapers during the day only, at home, when you can change easily. Keep disposables for nights and outings.

• Day 3: wash a load and time how long the inserts actually take to dry in your home, in your current weather. This number decides your stash size, so it is worth knowing before you buy more.

• Days 4 to 5: work on fit. Take a photo of the diaper on your baby and compare it against the leak table above. Adjust the rise setting rather than the brand.

• Days 6 to 7: decide how much of the day cloth realistically covers for your household, then buy to that number rather than to an ideal.

Cloth by day and a disposable pant for nights, travel and clinic visits is a very common arrangement among Indian parents, and it is a sensible allocation rather than a half measure.

Mistakes Beginners Make

How Often Do You Change a Cloth Diaper?

Usually after each pee, or at least every 2 to 3 hours. Cloth holds urine as liquid in its fibres rather than converting it to gel, so the wet layer is the layer touching your baby's skin.

Because that is the question beginners ask most, we cover it properly in its own guide: read whether you need to change a cloth diaper after every pee for insert capacity, how to check for wetness without opening the diaper, when a booster helps, and what to do at night. For change intervals across all diaper types, see how often to change your baby's diaper.

Mylo Parents Asked

Which cloth diaper type is easiest for a complete beginner?
A one size pocket or all in two with a removable insert. All in ones are simpler to put on, but the sewn in absorbent layer takes far longer to dry, which becomes a real problem in Indian humidity. A removable insert lets the shell dry fast.

My cloth diaper leaks at the thighs every time. Is it defective?
Almost certainly not. Run a finger around each leg opening and pull the elastic outward so it sits in the thigh crease instead of bunched inside it, then try one rise setting lower. Leg leaks are the most common fit error and the quickest to fix.

Can I use my normal washing machine and regular detergent?
A normal machine is fine. Use a mild, fragrance free detergent at the full recommended dose, add a cold pre rinse, and run extra rinses until no suds appear. Skip fabric softener entirely and skip antiseptic additives.

Can I put cloth diapers on my newborn from day one?
Only with a genuine newborn sized cloth diaper. Most one size diapers are designed from about 3 months and will gap at the legs on a small newborn, which causes leaks. Many parents use a newborn size diaper for the first weeks, then move to cloth.

How long do cloth diapers last?
Inserts generally outlast shells. Elastic and the waterproof layer in the shell are what wear out, typically over a couple of years of regular use, and faster with prolonged direct sun or harsh additives. Dry shells in the shade to get more life out of them.

My inserts smell of ammonia even after washing. What now?
Strip wash them: hottest cycle the fabric allows, full detergent dose, then rinse repeatedly until the water runs clear of suds. This is usually hard water residue rather than worn out diapers, so it may need repeating.

In monsoon my inserts never dry. What do I do?
Never store or reuse a damp insert. Increase your stash using the monsoon column above, dry with a fan and moving air rather than in a closed bathroom, and use disposable pants for part of the day until the weather turns.

Is cloth really better for the environment?
Not straightforwardly. Disposables create landfill waste, and cloth uses water, detergent and energy across hundreds of washes. Which one comes out better depends on your local water situation and how you wash and dry. Cost savings are the more reliable argument for cloth.

When Should You Speak to a Doctor?

Cloth diapering itself is not a medical matter, but see your paediatrician if you notice:

• A rash that has not improved within 2 to 3 days of frequent changing and barrier cream

• Blisters, open sores, pus, yellow crusting or bleeding in the diaper area

• A bright red rash with a clear border and small spots spreading beyond it, which can indicate a fungal infection needing prescribed treatment

• Fever alongside a rash in the diaper area

• Far fewer wet diapers than usual, or a baby who is unusually drowsy or hard to rouse

This article is general information and does not replace an examination. Any diagnosis or medicine for your baby's skin should come from your own doctor.

Bottom Line

Start with two or three one size diapers that have a removable insert, get the rise setting and leg elastic right before you judge the product, and time how long your inserts take to dry before you buy a full stash. Wash with a full dose of mild detergent, never fabric softener, and dry completely. Get those four things right and cloth diapering is straightforward and considerably cheaper than disposables over two to three years.

References

1. NHS, UK. Nappy rash.

2. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Common Diaper Rashes and Treatments.

3. Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Guidelines for Pediatric Skin Care. Indian Pediatrics. 2021.

4. Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Care of Newborn Skin.

5. Baer EL, Davies MW, Easterbrook KJ. Disposable nappies for preventing napkin dermatitis in infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

6. StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf. Diaper Dermatitis.

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