3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 7

The last day of the Flats & Handwashing diaper challenge was a busy one- working on our house and then a birthday party.  The next day was another busy one, working on the house and grilling hamburgers for Memorial Day (the first Memorial Day in several years that my sailor wasn't working)!  So I'm just getting around to writing about my experience finale.

Was using flat diapers and covers exclusively difficult?
Not at all.  We love flats!

Was hand washing diapers difficult?
No.  It just took a little extra time and elbow effort.

Was line drying diapers difficult?
No.  I don't have to blow the wind, so it was pretty easy and only required a few extra minutes to hang up and take down the diapers from the clothes line, drying rack, back of the dining room chair, or wherever I put them to dry.  

Was diapering with flats & covers, hand washing, and line drying expensive?
Absolutely NOT!  So unbelievably cheap!  This method and flat diapers will provide healthy & cheap diapers from birth till potty training, and still work for future babies!

So, why don't more economically challenged families use this method of diapering?!
Our society's values have changed over time, changed to incorporate constant ease and convenience, as well as a high desire to achieve "success".  The mothers of today's society have been exposed to the fact that disposable diapers are the norm and they are rarely even exposed to the option of cloth diapers.      Lessons in running an healthy, frugal & efficient household have been neglected by most of our mothers and grandmothers, by no fault of their own.  Even if they did try to give us such lessons, society has constantly pushed the opposite on us with fast foods, lavish homes, expensive clothes, pedicures, and gym memberships... as well as the need to acquire the time-consuming, prestigious jobs it requires to pay for all of it!  Making more money to pay for all of our stuff has become the most important thing for most people.  The goal of raising happy & healthy kids in a happy & healthy family environment has been lost in the struggle.  Using cloth diapers is just one of many ways for families to live within their means.

Will I stop using flats and hand washing now that the challenge is over?
No way!  I have loved using flat diapers for a long time now and I will continue to use them.  I have always line dried diapers fairly often and I'm currently line drying all of our laundry full time, until we move into our new house.  For hand washing, I will not continue to do this everyday.  I will, however, use this method when the need arises- camping, frequent hurricane-season power outages, or when my washer breaks (it's been making awful sounds lately, so I'm expecting it to break down any day).

I'm glad I was able to pay tribute to all those hard working mothers that hand wash diapers daily as part of their normal routine, and increase my appreciation of the modern luxury of the washing machine!!


Read more about this awesome diaper challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 6

Well, tomorrow is the last day of handwashing flats, and it's not even that exciting- using only flat diapers, hand washing and line drying them isn't that bad!

During my cloth diapering experience, I've found that pocket diapers are my favorite traveling diaper.     For this challenge, I was able to pre-stuffed pocket diapers with 2 flats pad-folded - it works really well.  No fiddling around, trying to re-stuff a cover, find the Snappi, etc.   Diapering on the go with 3 kids in tow needs to be quick and easy!

I've also recently grown to appreciate disposable liners for traveling purposes- when poopy diapers won't get cleaned until several hours later, liners make the job much more manageable.  Since I wasn't able to use disposable liners for this challenge, I used the fleece liners I made from cutting up a cheap fleece blanket.  That has worked well, especially since we are dealing with a stomach virus here and have plenty of dirty diapers!

I know my grandma is looking down from Heaven & she still probably thinks I'm crazy for using cloth diapers, especially flats...  But the truth is, it's not that hard & I love that we are using something reusable, healthy & CHEAP!


Read more about this awesome diaper challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 5

So... a small stomach virus put a whole new twist on the diaper hand washing challenge!  The combination of a stomach virus and cloth diapers is always a chore, especially since I don't have a diaper sprayer at the toilet.... but when each diaper must be hand washed & dried- I think I just earned myself a glass of wine tonight!  She's already showing improvement, so I'm sure she'll be better soon.  It's always heartbreaking when the kiddos are sick.

Thus far during this challenge, I've found that cloth diapering with flats and covers, hand washing, and line drying works great- it just takes a little extra effort and time.  Nothing worthwhile comes easily, though.  I'm loving my Nellie's Laundry Soda for hand washing, and because it's non-toxic and biodegradable, I could use it while camping.  I've found that air drying these hand wrung diapers indoors leaves them stiff and rough, much more that line drying outdoors.  Plus, I prefer the faster drying time outdoors.  I do realize drying diapers outdoors isn't an option for a lot of people, and that's why I dried them indoors a few times.

I am looking forward to using my washing machine again.  I'll have to wait until we finish building our house to use a dryer again.  I sure do miss my big, fluffy bath towels.  Very soon, hopefully!

Drying diapers and regular laundry on this warm & breezy morning.

Read more about this awesome diaper challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 4

Today, we are asked to report on our handwashing experience thus far.  Like I said before, I've been using flats and line drying since forever.  Hand washing, however, was my challenge.  Overall, handwashing is a bit of a chore, but totally attainable.  I feel great about being able to efficiently hand wash our clothes and diapers since we live in South Texas, minutes from the Gulf of Mexico.  Hurricane season usually leaves us without power, often for hours or days at a time. 

Although I realize it's physically easier to wash only a few diapers at a time several times throughout the day, I just haven't had that kind of time to sit in the bathroom and hover over the diaper wash, leaving the kids somewhat unattended.  During a mere 1.5 minute potty break yesterday, I came out to find my nearly 3 year old literally fishing in our fish aquarium and my 4 year old had brought his bottle of mosquito larvae inside to make a habitat for them.  Not cool.  Not at all.  Therefore, I primarily wash my diapers early in the morning, and then let them sit in the bucket until it's time to take the kids outside to play.  We usually head outside about 10am, because by that time breakfast is over, dishes are washed, laundry work is under way, and we are ready for a break from the preschool work.



I've been using Nellie's Washing Soda for about 2 months now. It's been wonderful, but it's amazing now that I'm handwashing! That has to be why I've had such an easy time washing...
I place my 5 gallon bucket (camp-style washer) into my shower, add all the diapers and fill completely with hot water. I let them soak for about 2-3 minutes (while I brush my teeth).   I pour it all out and then add only a managable amount of diapers (about 5 diapers, a cover, and several wipes) and enough hot water to cover them completely. I use the plunger with holes drilled in it to aggitate the diapers for only about 1 minute. Then, I wring them dry, placing them aside as I go, and continue until all diapers are rinsed.   Pour out the rinse water.  I then place a managable amount of diapers into the bucket again, fill just over 3/4 full with hot water and add about 1/4tsp of Nellie's washing soda. I aggitate them for about 3 minutes with the plunger, wring them dry, and set them aside.  Wash the remaining diapers (usually another 5, plus a couple covers & wipes), and wring dry.  I then place all diapers back in the bucket, fill with hot water, aggitate for about 30 seconds or so.  Wring them all dry as hard as I can (yes, my hands are sore by now), and I'm done.  They smell and look completely clean.

Hand washing diapers using our camp-style washer in the shower.

I've also hand washed our overnight diapers like this and they turn out great too!  For overnight, I primarily use a small pad-folded flat or prefold placed inside a large prefold, fasten with a Snappi and cover with a wool or fleece soaker.  Another nighttime diaper I just recently tried & love is the KaWaii Good Night Heavy Wetter one-size pocket diaper.  There several thick microfiber terry inserts that go inside.  No leaks, keeps bottoms dry all night, and fits my baby and my nearly 3 year old!  I wish I had these for my oldest son- I would have saved so much money opposed to buying disposable pull-ups for nighttime!  I hand washed and line dried the prefolds and this KaWaii GNHW pocket diaper and it was great!  I'm totally impressed!

Line drying diapers outside.  Obviously, this is the preferred method.  Quicker drying time, sun bleaches any stains, and it doubles as outside play time.

Little G is always helping me.  This picture was taken a week or so before the challenge, hence the prefolds.

Ready for bed in her WAHM-made wool shorties over a Geffen Baby pad-folded hemp jersey flat,  laid in a prefold, & secured with a Snappi. 

Last night, however, I decided to wash a load of diapers before I took a shower.  I had planned on putting the whole accordion rack in the shower to drip, but then I realized I still needed to take a shower and the air circulation is terrible in the bathroom.  So I moved the rack under a ceiling fan, and placed a towel underneath to catch the water drippings.  By 6am, they were still damp, but by 8am, they were dry.  Outside, these hand washed diapers dry in about an hour (I live in windy, hot South Texas- the perfect place for drying clothes outside).

Line drying diapers inside.  The new fleece liners I made air dry in a snap!




Read more about this awesome diaper challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge



 

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 3

It's day three and the Flats and Handwashing challenge is going quite well.  I've been a fan of flat diapers for over a year, but hand washing was my challenge.  It's actually not too bad!  They wash out very easily in the camp-style washer we made.  A few months ago, I washed flats & line dried for two days in a hotel bathroom without this camp- style washer & it wasn't bad at all.  Tonight will be my first time drying hand washed diapers indoors.  Since I'm sure they'll be dripping wet, I plan on moving my accordion drying rack into the bathtub.

Line drying diapers with Little G.

I had a little fun with fleece!  I decided to cut up a cheap fleece blanket into stay-dry inserts to lay on top of Little G's diapers.  It was so easy to cut the fabric, no sewing needed.  It kept her bottom dry for nap time and made washing out poopies super easy too!  I also make a quick, cute little headband with scrap fleece.

A Flip one-size cover in Bubble, with a simple stay-dry liner made from a cheap fleece blanket.

A fleece headband, for fun.  I couldn't resist.

Read more about this awesome diaper challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 2

Using flat diapers is truly easy and affordable.  I've tried several different flats and really love them all.  My favorites are the unbleached Clotheez flats from Green Mountain Diapers.   They are so durable and hold their shape very well.  Small is a perfect size.  The large is nice for origami folds on larger baby and pad folded fits perfect into a one-size cover opened up to largest rise.

Top to bottom:
1.  Geffen Baby- Hemp Jersey Flat diaper, 60% hemp/40% cotton.  Only comes in one size & it's fairly small, but on a small baby it's perfect.  Luxuriously soft and absorbent.  But it's $6.95 for one diaper.
2.  Green Mountain Diapers- Cloth-eez Birdseye Flat diaper, size small, 100% cotton.  My go-to diaper!  Holds a nearly perfect square shape, very durable, cleans so easily and dries the quickest!  $12.00 for 6, not a bad price at all.
3.  Hemp Babies- Flat Weeds.  55%hemp/45% organic cotton.  One size, it's a perfect size.  Only a single layer, but Very absorbent!  However it takes the longest to air dry and  the texture is a bit rougher than the others.  I love this flat for nap time, nighttime, or car rides.  $7.50 for one diaper.
4.  An Old Receiving Blanket-  100% cotton.  I have to say, this is a very soft, very absorbent, and very economical option for diapering!  If you don't have extras, check local resale shops!  Receiving blankets are just as awesome as my purchased flats!
5.  Green Mountain Diapers-  Cloth-eez Birdseye Flat diaper, unbleached in size large, 100% cotton.  Another go-to diaper, but too big before baby was 15 pounds.  $13.50 for 6, still a great price for a quality flat diaper.

I primarily pad fold my flats in Thirsties duo wrap covers or Flip covers because this option is quick and fits both my kiddos that use diapers.  (My baby girl is in diapers full time.  My 2nd son is potty training, so he uses diapers when we head to town, out for the day, at nap & nighttime).  These covers hand wash very easily and dry extremely quick, especially the Thirsties covers.  Flip covers really are one-size!  We have loved them from when baby was about 8 pounds to my toddler that's almost 3 years old and weighs 38 pounds!  I almost always add a cotton or hemp doubler inside the pad fold, but not for this challenge.  My other favorite fold is the origami fold, using a Snappi to secure and covering with Thirsties cover with snaps, fleece or wool covers.  Both fleece and wool covers at nighttime rock!  No leaks!  No wet sheets at 3am!  I've never tried the fancy expensive ones, but our WAHM made fleece and wool are so affordable, fit awesome and work great!

Thirsties Duo wrap, Size 2 in Ocean, with the Cloth-eez large flat.  Snap closure does not have the inner flap to tuck the pad-folded diaper into, but it still works great!  Thirsties have double gussets at the leg openings that prevent leaks.

Thirsties size 2 on my nearly 3 year old, 38 pound son, who still needs a diaper when we head out of the house.

Thirsties size 1 in Rose with aplix closure.  Aplix closure has an inner flap that's nice for pad-folded diapers.  

Thirsties size 2 in Orchid with aplix closure on the smallest rise setting.  She's only about 17 pounds.  Size 2 covers a really wide weight range.  

Flip one-size diaper cover in Blossom with a pad folded flat and a cloth-eez cotton doubler on top.   Flips have a flap for the diaper inserts to tuck into in both the front & back, but no double gusset.  I usually fold a doubler inside the flat, but occasionally add it at the last minute like this.

I'm also a fan of using cloth wipes.  For a long time I used the cheap Wal-Mart baby wash cloths and they work fabulous.  Also, cutting up one of my husband's old t-shirts gave me a bunch of cloth wipes that also double as diaper liners when using diaper rash cream.

Drying cloth wipes (& nursing pads) indoors.  These wipes are Green Mountain Diapers Birdseye 2-ply wipes.  Great quality,  perfect wiping texture from the Birdseye, extremely durable.  I don't like wipes to be too soft because they just slide right over the mess without cleaning it up!

For this Flats and Handwashing Challenge, my husband made me a camp-style washer.  For my first hand wash, I used the plunger without holes drilled and it worked fine.  However, with the holes in the plunger, the water really works thoroughly through the diapers and seems to clean better!  And less splashing!  We can really use this for camping and for hurricane season when we loose power.  I love it!!  Right now, I'm using Nellie's Laundry Soda and it works great.  It's biodegradable and non-toxic.

My 4 year old was curious and wanted to help wash.  He did a pretty awesome job!  This was the wash without holes drilled in the plunger.

Camp-style clothes washer with plunger.

Camp-style clothes washer with plunger.  Holes drilled into plunger makes water flow through clothes & cleans wonderfully!

Read more about this awesome challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 1

With all the things that need to get done lately, accepting this challenge almost seemed ridiculous... just one more thing on my daily to-do list, the list that seems to expand by the minute!  However, I feel like the benefits of using cloth diapers should be known and appreciated by everyone and therefore, I want to help in this awareness effort.  Plus, I just like to stay super busy!

The 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge is to raise awareness of the economical & easy option that cloth diapering can bring to nearly every single family, whatever their situation might be.  One in three families struggle to provide diapers for their babies.  Disposable diapers can be so expensive (especially when you have more than one child in diapers at once), and they fill up your trashcan extremely fast, stinking up your house.  The long list of chemicals used to make disposable diapers is another issue all together!  I've been cloth diapering consistently for a little over 2 years now. About a year ago, I tried using flat Birdseye diapers & I fell in love with them!  They are so versatile, & work just as well as my prefold diapers, microfiber inserts, all-in-ones, etc.  Flats and covers are inexpensive, wash up very clean, and dry quick!  Actually, a flat hung outside usually dries quicker than any clothes in the dryer!

Green Mountain Flat Diaper, size small, pad folded in a zinnia Flip cover on second rise setting.  Perfect!

Challenge Contestant - Little G, 10.5 months old- in her Flip & flat.  :)

Line drying clothes and diapers indoors is an essential back up to an outdoor clothes line, especially when heading out for the day.    Rain or playful stray dogs are not an issue this way.

Read more about this awesome challenge here:
Dirty Diaper Laundry 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge