What Does It Mean To 'Sun' A Diaper?

To 'sun' a diaper means, simply, to use the natural bleaching properties of sunlight to cause staining on cloth diapers to fade or, in some cases, entirely disappear.

What causes this fantastic natural bleaching is UV rays, those same little arrows from the sky we're trying to protect ourselves from when we smear on the sunscreen; they cause molecules in the staining to break down, and the stain itself to go away.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that like any type of bleaching, exposing your diapers to an element that works by causing organic matter to break down is going to also cause damage to your diapers.  I've read some reports of little holes appearing in the diapers after repeated 'sunnings', and certainly the fabric will weaken with repeated use.  This being said, I've mentioned before that all cleaning procedures are going to put strain on the fabric of your diapers.  That includes sunlight!  But, if you are going to try naturally whitening your diapers, the sun is less harsh than, say, Javex.


Some of our prefolds enjoying the sun.

Sunning is a simple procedure.  Lay your clean diapers, stain side up, in sunlight and leave them alone for a few hours.  That's it.  If you dampen the fabric it seems to work better, and for good measure I use a 50/50 mixture of lemon juice and water to soak right on the stained parts.  Since the UV rays are what are causing the stain break down, sunning is a bit of a misnomer - cloudy days should also work just fine.  If even heard of people 'mooning' their diapers by the light of the moon and claiming that that is also an effective stain remover.  Not sure how that works, precisely, but I don't claim to have all the sky vs. diapers answers.  Go ahead and give it a shot!

Stained diapers certainly don't work any less well than white ones, but they don't look pretty.  If you don't fancy putting your diapers out to be bombarded by bleaching rays, though, don't feel that you have to - your diaper cleaning regime is much more important than what they look like.

The other benefit to sunning diapers is that with the exposure to light and fresh air, smells are significantly reduced.  In fact, I'd suggest trying to sun your diapers before you go so far as to strip them.

Happy sunning!