Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Seven

Today was the last day of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and I've got to say that I'm not really dying to go back to my washing machine like I thought I would be. Washing diapers by hand hasn't been the awful chore I thought it would be, even when Baby decides to poop THREE TIMES in one day. Seriously kid, what the heck?! As I've been handwashing I've noticed that it's given Papa and bit of extra time in the evening to spend with Baby even if it is in 5 minute increments.

The intent behind the Flats and Handwashing Challenge is to show that there are viable low cost cloth diapering solution for people who struggle to buy diapers and I feel like our family can really relate to that.  Thankfully we researched cloth diapering before we had Baby so we were able to buy most of her diapers before she arrived by saving a little bit each month and shopping around for deals. I didn't really have any idea how much disposable diapers cost because I had decided from the start I'd like to cloth diaper but yesterday I went to get a girlfriend a shower present and saw diapers on her registry and was very surprised with how much they cost. We purchased her two packs of Huggies Pure and Natural for $16 and I'm told that will last for about 7-10 days, eek! I offered to buy her cloth but she was resistant to the idea so I let it be. When we told everyone we were going to cloth diaper most people laughed and bought us disposable diapers anyway thinking we would change our minds. Since I am one not easily dissuaded (Papa calls me stubborn) I returned all the disposable diaper packs to Target and used the gift-card to buy cloth diapers from their website. Yes, Target and Walmart both have cloth diapers online.

This post is a bit rambly and I apologize, it's been one of those weekends. We're preparing for Papa leaving in the next 48 hours so there is Army gear all over my living room and today has been all topsy turvy. I hope you all enjoyed our documentation of the Flats Challenge, feel free to ask questions or leave comments!

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Six

Yesterday was day six of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and I didn't get a chance to post because we were incredibly busy. We woke up early in the morning and headed to the Flea Market where I tried to convince Papa to buy me a baby pig, it was adorable! There is an outdoor flea market not too far from us and you can find some really neat stuff there, I'll post about that a bit later. After the flea market we went home and topped and cut a tree on our land. It's been hanging over kinda crooked like ever since it got hit by lightening and since a large branch was dying off we thought it best to cut it down before it fell. Papa worked with the chainsaw and I handled the smaller limbs and Baby played happily in her pack and play.

Once again I handwashed as they came off of Baby and I think I have a pretty good system down now. I have a baby food jar of detergent in the bathroom and when she soiled a diaper I rinse it in the tub with hot water, transfer it to the sink that's filled with hot water and a smidge of detergent, agitate and rinse. So far it's working famously and with the great weather we're having I can hang them outside and have it dry in half an hour or hang it inside and it's dry in about 2 hours.

As Baby has gone through various stages I've used different folds, main the pad fold and the origami fold, both of which I learned here. When Baby was tiny and not mobile I could origami fold a diaper on her and tie the wings together, no pin necessary! As she got larger and wigglier I found myself pad folding and just sticking it on her, she had no patience for laying still while Mommy folded and pinned. Now that she's nearly a year she will lay still and play with a toy long enough for me to origami fold a diaper on her again. Most babies will have already outgrown the origami fold by a year, but she's a skinny baby so it still works for us.

I hope you all are enjoying the challenge, it's been nice sharing a bit of our cloth diapering experience.

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Five

Today as part of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge we're talking about what works for us and by extension, what doesn't work. We haven't had any problems with fit or leakage, but that may be because we use flats fairly regularly so we've worked past the initial kinks. I used to have a problem with the legs leaking until I figured out to roll them under to form a little seal.

Confession: Yesterday was Papa and I's anniversary and we left Baby with a babysitter. We left her a pocket stuffed with a flat but when we came home Baby was in a pocket stuffed with a microfiber insert because she thought it was cuter. I didn't say anything to her because I'm just happy Baby was still in cloth, we showed her where the disposable diaper pack was in case she didn't feel up to cloth (she's young).  I still handwashed the diaper, but yeah, not a perfect streak I guess. Oh well!

What Works

• Using the origami fold
• Securing the diaper with a pin
• Covers with snaps
• One flat overnight with an econobum cover
•  Washing in the sink as soon as they come off of the baby
• Line drying inside or outside

What Doesn't Work

• The snappi half the time! The bottom hook doesn't want to attach and Baby ends up with nothing between her legs if she's coverless. This is definitely a problem!
• Covers with velcro if Baby isn't wearing pants or a onesie. Apparently she can undo velcro now, tricksy baby!

Today is a very busy day for me so this post is going to be a short one. If anyone has any questions feel free to leave a comment and I will definitely get back to you!

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Four

 When I decided to take this challenge I wasn't sure whether I was going to save all the diapers until the end of the day and wash them all together, or do like my neighbors told me and wash them as they come off the baby. I tried washing them all together Monday and Tuesday and as then tried washing throughout the day on Wednesday.

Just reading this paper in my flat, nothing to see here!

Washing Method One

Monday I washed the diapers in the Wonder Wash at the end of the day and it worked out well, but I felt the rinsing got a little tedious. Monday morning I filled the Wonder Wash about a third of the way full of hot water and added Baby's overnight diaper. Throughout the day as she wet her diapers I'd stick them in the WW with some more water. We have a 24 oz cup Baby loves to play with in the tub, so I just filled that each time and added that much water since I was leaving the WW in the tub anyway. I knew I didn't want to just toss a bunch of poop in my WW so when Baby eventually soiled a diaper I plopped off the majority into the commode and then used my shower head to spray off the rest. The whole procedure only took about a minute and then it was feces free and ready to be put in the Wonder Wash. At the end of the day once Baby went to sleep I put the lid on the washer and gave it about 30 seconds of rotation. After that I took the lid off and let it drain and fed our rotten dog and got some laundry detergent. We're a Tide family. (I know some people panic when you say you wash with Tide because it's not the most eco friendly, but I figure that with everything else we do it makes up for the Tide.) After the first prerinse drained I refilled the washer 2/3rds of the way up and added a tablespoon of Tide. In hindsight, I should have used less, probably 2 teaspoons since it was only 6 diapers. I agitated that for two minutes and then while I was checking on Baby Papa agitated it for 2 more. After draining it I did two rinses with hot water, filling it and agitating for about a minute each time. After that Papa helped me wring them out and we hung them on our indoor drying rack and made sure the ceiling fan was on. This all took place at about 8pm and they were dry the next morning at 7am when we got up. They were a tad stiff so I shook them out a bit and they softened right up. Now I should have refolded them and put them in their cute little basket to prepare for the day, but I didn't, I just used them off the rack all day, that's life sometimes!

Aforementioned rotten dog, we love her.

 

Here's the short version of the wash routine using a Wonder Wash:

1.) Fill Wonder Wash 1/3 full with hot water at the start of the day.
2.) Insert wet diapers as they come off the baby adding a bit more water each time.
3.) Prerinse poop out of soiled diapers and add the diaper to the Wonder Wash along with some more water.
4.) At the end of the day top off with water, put on the lid and agitate 30 seconds.
5.) Drain and refill with hot water and 2-3tsp detergent powder.
6.) Agitate two to four minutes.
7.) Drain, refill with hot water and agitate one minute.
8.) Repeat step seven.
9.) Ring out diapers, hang to dry.
10.) Eat victory brownie. 

Washing Method Two

 On Wednesday I decided to try washing the diapers as they came off the baby and I've got to say, vastly preferred it! When Baby wet I'd just rinse the diaper in the bathtub with hot water, transfer it to the sink, add 1/4 tsp Tide and agitate with my hands for about 2 minutes. After that I'd drain the sink and rinse the diaper under the running bathtub tap, this took about 20-35 seconds and then I'd wring it out and toss it on a towel hook. When Baby and I went outside in the afternoon I took them with me and hung them on the laundry line for some sunning. None of them were stained but UV rays make a great disinfectant so I figured I might as well. They were all dry in about 30 minutes by the time I was finished putzing around in the garden but I left them hanging up still and went and visited with our neighbors.

Four diapers and a onesie hanging out to dry.

Short Version of handwashing as they come off of the child:

1.) Rinse in bathtub.
2.) Put in sink of hot water and add 1/4 heaping tsp laundry power.
3.) Agitate two minutes by hand, about how long it takes to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep and have your baby wander off.
4.) Drain and rinse under bathtub tap with hot water until the water runs clear and you don't see any soap.
5.) Chase baby.
6.) Hang to dry.

For the rest of the week I'm definitely going to be washing them as they come off, it's so much easier I think. It takes about 3 minutes per diaper which isn't so bad and it doesn't take away from Papa and I's time together after Baby is asleep.

Does anyone else have any tips for hand washing diapers? I feel like this is a really easy way to launder flats and I might keep it up even after the challenge on days when we use flats*.


*Completely unrelated to the challenge but does anyone else who cloth diapers find themselves cycling through diaper types? Some weeks I find myself using lots of flats and totally digging it and then some weeks I'm like "pffft, gimme a pocket diaper, who wants to fold!". Then the next week I'll find myself using the prefolds a lot and then swapping off to another diaper. Papa is a very consistent pocket/AIO user, he wants the easiet diaper possible, but some days I like folding and pinning diapers. We originally planned to only use prefolds so we have 24 prefolds and some covers, but then we were gifted AIO's and pockets and Papa got totally spoiled, so we have 12 of those for him. 

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Three

These are diapers hanging out from the first warmish spring day we had 2ish months ago. L to R you see prefolds, covers, inserts and flats.

Today is the third day of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and I thought it'd be a good time to reflect on how handwashing makes me feel connected to the past. We have two sets of elderly neighbors that are an absolute blessing in our lives. Both women used birdseye (flat) diapers with their children and were delighted when they realized I was using cloth diapers on Baby. They told me stories of how they washed their diapers in a bucket and hung them to dry and as I do the same this week I can't help but feel connected. There is something very peaceful in doing a simple act of service for your child and knowing that millions of women before you have done the same thing. I feel the same about hanging my laundry out to dry, there is peace in knowing I will always have the knowledge and skills to provide clean, dry diapers for my child. This challenge has been less of a challenge and more of opportunity. I would now not hesitate at all to recommend flat diapers and hand washing to anyone who asked me for the cheapest way to cloth diaper. Don't get me wrong I love my Kenmore, but there's something to be said for hand washing as well.

Struggling for diapers, say it ain't so!

We have a couple that we're friends with who were struggling a bit financially after the birth of their daughter and we were able to loan them the diapers that Baby had just outgrown thereby easing their financial burden a bit each month. I could not imagine the stress that would come with not knowing if I was going to be able to diaper my child, having a newborn is a challenge enough on it's own.

Is there anything you do that makes you feel especially connected to the past? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day Two

This is the second day of the 3rd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge, a week wherein we agree to only use flat diapers and hand wash them.

Supplies and Preparation Cost Breakdown

Getting ready for the challenge was very easy for us as we already use flat diapers pretty consistently. For our supplies we have one Wonder Wash that I mentioned yesterday, you can see it here below:

The instructions say, "2 Quarts warm water, 1 tbs. detergent, 1/2 full clothes. Agitate 2 mins., drain, rinse w/1 quart cool water & 1 tbs fabric softener, drain."

Washing Implements:

Wonder Wash (manual): $50

We purchased our Wonder Wash two years ago when we first got married on Amazon. We used it daily to wash our clothes every evening so you can see where I wrote instructions on it for Papa. We did a slightly different routine for diapers, but I'll cover that another day.

Washing Implements Total: $50

 

Diapers:

10 Receiving blankets: $1

For flats we are using 10 receiving blankets that we purchased at a yard sale. We were also given many receiving blankets as gifts, probably about 20 but the ten we're using are the purchased ones. I contemplated buying actual flats, but when I compared a birdseye flat to a receiving blanket there wasn't enough difference for me to justify buying them. They're basically plain receiving blankets with a slightly different weave.

Diapers Total: $1

 

A not very well folded diaper on Baby. I was in a hurry and she was squirmy, but hey, it doesn't leak and it's cute,  so win/win I say.

Covers: 

2 Econobum covers: $5 
2 Flip covers (snaps): $14
1 Flip cover (velcro): Gift!

The two Econobum covers we purchased off of a diaper swap on Facebook that were second hand but in like new condition for $5, which was a great deal. They're blue edged but neither of us mind our daughter wearing blue so there you have it. The Flip covers we purchased off of the website Cottonbabies.com during their Seconds sale and got them for $7 each with free shipping. We purchased 3 covers for $21, but we're only using two for the challenge. One lives at the neighbors house with 2-3 prefolds for when we need to change diapers over there. The velcro Flip cover we have was a gift from my sister and one of Papa's favorites, so I made sure to include it this week.

Covers Total: $19

Grand Total: $70*

Given the supplies that we have it would be entirely feasible to diaper a baby from infancy to potty training for $70, which is pretty awesome. If we don't count the washer since it's dual purpose and not strictly for diapering, we spent $20 on diapering.* All together for our diaper stash that we typically use we've spent slightly less than $200, mostly for convenience (velcro pockets for Papa!) and a few cute diapers I bought because they matched outfits Baby had (silly but I don't care!). Cloth diapering has saved us a ton of money even factoring in detergent at $17 every 12 weeks and a $2/month water bill increase only comes to about $8/month spent on diapering.

Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day One

This year we're taking part in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. For one week we will be only using flat diapers and handwashing them. Using flats isn't outside the norm for us, we use them all the time, but the handwashing thing is new. We have a manual Wonder Washer from when we lived in an apartment with coin operated laundry when we were first married so I plan on using that to wash our diapers. I used to wash our clothes at the end of the day and hang them and usually by the morning they were ready to be put away. 

We don't have birdseye flats, we just repurposed some receiving blankets. They work just as well for us and they're in cute prints, so it's an all around win I think. We got 10 receiving blankets at a yard sale for $1 and then we were given about a dozen as gifts, so we have a lot to use. For this challenge we're only using 10 blankets, 5 covers and some snappis and pins. The covers we're using are Flip and Econobum covers, two of our staples. You can see them here below:

Our diapers for the challenge less one flat and snappi since they're already on Baby.

We decided to do this challenge because as part of our emergency preparedness we plan on still using and laundering our cloth diapers and we want to see how viable that is without power. I don't think it will be terribly difficult, I think the worst part would be that without power we'd have to manually heat the water, but I don't even think that is too bad. Once Papa gets the fire ring built I think I might try it, he's going to think I'm crazy.