Cloth diapering was once the norm — not unusual.
Before disposable diapers existed, parents used cloth as the standard method to diaper infants. Cloth squares or rectangles of linen, cotton, flannel, or similar fabrics were folded and fastened using safety pins to contain waste. This was the usual practice in Europe and North America by the late 1800s and remained common well into the mid‑20th century.

 Disposable diapers are a relatively recent innovation.
The widespread use of disposable diapers didn’t begin until the mid‑20th century. In the late 1940s, American mother Marion Donovan invented a waterproof diaper cover that helped inspire later disposable designs. However, it was the introduction of commercially produced disposable diapers in the 1950s and 1960s that gradually shifted family habits away from cloth.

 Cloth diaper labor was historically common and expected.
Handling, rinsing, and washing cloth diapers at home was historically part of child care for generations. Many families used community services to pick up and launder cloth diapers, especially as women increasingly joined the workforce during World War II, but many still managed this work at home.

The perception of cloth diaper work has changed.
Today’s reactions — shock or disbelief — reflect modern norms shaped by disposable convenience and parenting cultures focused on ease, branding, and marketed hygiene. But what feels “gross” now was a routine caregiving task for decades, and it was not viewed with the same stigma by parents who had no alternative.

Your memory fits a broader historical context.
Your mother’s quiet diligence washing cloth diapers mirrors the lived experience of countless caregivers before disposables became standard. It wasn’t unique or exceptional in its own era — it was rooted in historical parenting practices that were practical, necessary, and widely shared across households.