While brainstorming creative ways to save money on baby stuff, a friend recently blew my mind when she said that Little Swimmers and other disposable swim diapers can be washed and reused!
While I'm kicking myself for not knowing about this two years ago when we started taking Haiden in the pool, I'm SO happy I learned this before summer starts here in Minnesota!
How to Wash Swim Diapers:
Washing a swim diaper is super-easy. Here's what you need to know:
- Only wash wet swim diapers. If your little one pooped in it, it's best to throw it away.
- When you're ready to wash, just toss the diaper in the washing machine along with the rest of your laundry load.
- Let the swim diaper air dry. If you put it in your dryer, it will get hard and crunchy from the heat.
- Reuse your swim diapers until they start falling apart!
I've learned that most swim diapers last for around three washes, but they can last longer!
Did you know that you can also buy 100% reusable cloth swim diapers? Here's a post I wrote a while ago on how to save money on swim diapers by using reusables!
Your Turn: Do you ever wash disposable swim diapers?
margaret says
I made two swim diapers last all summer last year. Too bad that I can’t just purchase a small package of one or two.
pearl says
u can now!
Mom Blog says
I can’t believe that, I missed out on that idea! My son is 4 and we no longer wear swim diapers. I thought they were full of water and ready to be thrown away! I will have to link to this post on my personal mom blog. This post is an excellent, money saving idea!!
It was always such an expense to buy those swim diapers! Rewashing them needs to be shared with money saving moms everywhere. Thanks for posting!
Robin says
Um…why wouldn’t you just buy actual reusable cloth swim diapers, if you’re just going to reuse the disposable ones? The cloth ones are so much nicer and sturdier, and a TON cuter!
Amber says
I was going to post what Robin did. I love our iPlay swim diaper. I think I got it for around $10 on amazon.
Tired Mom Tésa says
I can’t believe I never thought of this either!
Vanessa says
Some places do let you buy 1 or 2. There is a splash pad at the local aquarium and they charge $3 for a swim diaper because they require they be worn while playing. Keep your eyes open, you can find them!
cher says
I actually washed one on accident and realized it was fine, now I wash them whenever I remember!
Stacey says
Walmart has actual reusable diapers for only $5. That’s what I got for this year!
Candace says
No I wouldn’t wash a disposable swim diaper when I can, and do, use cloth diapers, including in water because swim diapers don’t absorb pee they absorb the pool. If you are going to wash them you might as well use cloth. If not then I would toss them because to me washing a disposable swim diaper is like washing plastic, disposable utensils, defeats the purpose.
alicia says
That’s pretty gross. Disposable diapers don’t have elastic that is made to be reused making it very likely that poop will leak out if it is reused this way. Why not buy a cloth swim diaper that will hold in the mess and costs less than a package of swim diapers?
Bonnie says
Robin, that’s EXACTLY what I was thinking!
Beth says
I’m going to echo the others. If you’re going to wash them anyway, wouldn’t it make way more sense to get diapers MADE to be washed and reused? I love my cloth diapers (both regular and swim) and am so glad I made the switch.
Steph says
That is amazing! I will have to share this on my blog about how to save money! Crazy cool!
Samantha Barfield says
The washable swimmies make more sense to me but I didn’t know about them before and we currently have a new pack of disposable swimmies. So I will use these and wash them for now and when I run out, I will invest in one or two re-usable swimmies. Thanks for the information, though!
Stephanie says
We have a single reusable cloth swim diaper. i dont see how this can save money because you will have to throw it away after 3 washes. when you can buy a cloth swim diaper that was meant to be re used and washed. and then you can pass it on to the next child. AND using cloth is more money saving. creative thinking though.
Theresa says
That our local pool they do not allow cloth swim diapers, only disposable. And they have to wear plastic pants over the disposable, at least those can be reused until they fall apart. I found this information very useful, and we’ll try it out in the next few days 🙂
ALANA says
What an absurd idea! I agree that this is the same as washing plastic cutlery or paper towels. Why would you do that? If you want to reuse a product, don’t buy the disposable version and reuse it. I don’t mean to be rude, but this has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life! Do you buy disposable bibs and wash those too? Why don’t we just buy disposable clothes and wash those?
Mandi @ Life...Your Way says
We prefer cloth swim diapers at home, BUT when we’re on vacation at a hotel or some place where I don’t plan to do laundry, I usually use disposable swim diapers. In my experience, they don’t absorb anything at all; the goal is just to keep poop contained, so if it still looks clean, we just rinse it in hot water and reuse it the next day.
brittany says
ya..gross..im not a fan of cloth..ill jsut stick with using a new disposable one each time we go for a swim..one pack should last all summer for me..if not longer..we dont have a pool so we rarely use them anyway..
Wendy Sellers says
I have cloth too, but I DO see a point in reusing the disposables. If it’s poopy, you can toss it! If cloth is poopy, you have to deal with it.
Erin says
Ok I might be way off base but can someone tell me again what is so wrong with buying plastics plates/utensils and using them and then washing them???
It saves me money to have my kids be able to reuse these products as often as possible especially when they CAN be tossed when needed and with us being sensitive to having regular utensils in our mouth. For those of you being so judgmental about buying the disposal version of products and reusing them, ummm isnt that a good thing. Reduce REUSE recycle??
Rachel says
We use cloth diapers on my 1 year old daughter, so when I decided to find a swim diaper I immediately thought of cloth. I bought at cloth swim diaper at Wal-Mart for $5. Way cuter than a disposable swim diaper and actually made to be rewashed many many times.
danielle says
wow people…. if you don’t find the tip useful or helpful- move along. its that simple. i think that this is a wonderful idea to help stretch a dollar as well as not be (so) wasteful by using them up to two additional times per diaper before having to dispose of them. I know that Baby GoodBuys was really trying to help out with this tip. I appreciate it!!
Stephanie Brandt says
I just had to laugh when I read this. I run a budgeting/money management blog, and I HAD to post a link to this post. I will be anxious to hear if anybody says anything. Now THAT is some awesome frugality at work! 🙂
Marybeth Hamilton says
Personally, I truly admire those people who use cloth diapers. I really do, but I can’t deal with the poop factor. I feel lucky that I had the option to toss poopy diapers in a neat little package, and that’s why I would continue to use disposable swim diapers.
For me, it’s nice to be able to wash and reuse a swim diaper that’s simply wet, but I still want to throw away anything solid in there!
Amy says
I’m going to echo what Mandi said… when we are on vacation, I don’t have time to worry about cleaning up a poopy swim diaper. I would much rather just toss it and move on. I even didn’t realize swim diapers would continue to hold up through a second wear, but I will definitely be reusing them from now on. Thanks for the tip!
J says
This is asinine! Just buy a reusable “cloth” swim diaper. You just dump the poop in the toilet and move on. Washing a paper diaper is really a dumb way of “saving money”.
Kayt says
I use a reuseable swim diaper that I bought for 10 dollars, which is the cost of the throw-away packages. I have used the throw away diapers, but I hate them. I’d never wash them and use them over again, that’s sort of beyond where I’m willing to go to save a few bucks.
I’m surprised at how many mamas have issues with ‘the poop factor’ 😛 It’s just poop. Everyone poops! All you do is rinse it off into the toilet, wash it and move on. Super easy, saves money and keeps away all the funky chemicals.
Edie says
I have done this for years! They last a few washes.
And before the cloth is best posters bash me, we do cloth diaper. We also have cloth for our own baby pool. However, our city pools, gym pool, waterpark attractions and neighborhood pool all require a disposable swim diaper. So yes, this tip is beneficial. Cloth is great, it is not for everyone and I respect that.
Lisa from Life with Lisa says
We are way beyond that stage, thank goodness!
Angela says
I know this is really old, but I just in case someone hears about it and googles it, I thought I’d add that reusable swim diapers are super easy, especially since they don’t absorb. My daughter is nine months and we haven’t had a poopy in her swim diaper yet ( and we have a pool and use them a lot). I do think its kinda funny/ironic that people think cloth is gross but not washing disposable diapers. Its really easy to clean poop though you just plop in the potty and if still some poop I just rinse it off. I don’t know, I have had 4 kids now and their poo, pee, vomit doesn’t bother me as much, just part of being a parent. We went on vacation for4 days/3 nights and I used the cloth swim diapers, they were super easy since they don’t absorb much( and don’t get saggy like the disposable ones) and they dry in the sun quickly. The idea of old poo in landfills leaching into the soil grosses me out more. Poop really belongs in the toilet so it can be treated. Before you “poo poo” the idea of resuasable swim diapers, just try them out. I play is like $10 max in the store and you can sell them if you don’t like it 🙂
Olivia Bradley says
I can’t get reusable swim nappies where I live and struggle to find disposable ones. So happy to find this post. Definitely going to wash and reuse! Maybe not the best but it’s the only option I have!