I just finished Day 1 of the Dirty Diaper Laundry Flats and Handwashing Challenge. <-Click to learn more! By joining this challenge, I agreed that I will only use flat cloth diapers (1 large square of fabric) on JD and I can only handwash and air dry them.
So Why I’m Taking the Challenge?
I love using cloth diapers on JD. They are economical, cute, keep him dry, and fun to talk about! We use 90% Bumgenius pocket diapers, with a few other pockets and FLIP hybrid diapers as backups. The idea of flats (and prefolds for that matter) seemed old fashioned, “dirty”, and hard to use. However, in this era of massive storms that knock out power for days and an unstable economy, I thought it would be good to have the skills to properly diaper my son if we were ever without a washing machine.
I love using cloth diapers on JD. They are economical, cute, keep him dry, and fun to talk about! We use 90% Bumgenius pocket diapers, with a few other pockets and FLIP hybrid diapers as backups. The idea of flats (and prefolds for that matter) seemed old fashioned, “dirty”, and hard to use. However, in this era of massive storms that knock out power for days and an unstable economy, I thought it would be good to have the skills to properly diaper my son if we were ever without a washing machine.
My second reason was to learn what a family without a washing machine would have to do to cloth diaper. I read that many families have trouble paying for diapers, reuse disposable diapers, and keep their children in a disposable for hours. I would like to advocate that cloth diapers are an option, but first, I need to see if cloth diapers, without a mechanical way of washing them, would even be feasible. So I signed up! In 7 days, we’ll see how much I will want to advocate for this method of diapering!
So far, I really like using flats in my Bumgenius pocket diapers and my Flip covers, but handwashing is maddening! Actually it wasn’t the washing that was maddening, it was the rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing, and wringing, and drying. Today I handwashed:
5 flats(2 poopy)
1 FLIP cover
3 BumGenius pockets
1 Bummis wetbag
2 fleece liners
5 flats(2 poopy)
1 FLIP cover
3 BumGenius pockets
1 Bummis wetbag
2 fleece liners
I put all the dirt diapers in a 5 gallon bucket and filled it with warm water from the tub. I unfolded all the diapers and hand agitated them for a minute or so as a “rinse” and then dumped it. I filled the bucket again with hot water and a half Tbs of Tide powder. I hand agitated for about 4 minutes and scrubbed the poopy spots with a nail brush I had in the bathroom. Then I let it soak for about 20 minutes while I put JD to bed. Then I rinsed 4 times (I think my problem was too much soap!) I was starting to curse this whole process, but by the 4th rinse, there were FINALLY no bubbles! I twisted all the flats and covers and hung them up on the shower curtain rod ( I need to get a photo of this!) Hopefully they will be dry by tomorrow morning!
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