Flats Challenge Day 5: Tips and Tricks

We made it to day 5!  When I cut my thumb on day 3, I almost threw in the towel, but I’m glad we stuck to it! As you probably know by now, I am taking the Dirty Diaper Laundry Flats and Handwashing Challenge.  By joining this challenge, I agreed that I will only use flat cloth diapers on JD for 7 DAYS and can only handwash and air dry them.

Handwashing Update:  All those diapers I washed last night were “almost dry” this morning.  Those stretchy tabs on the flip covers and bumGenius pockets are drying VERY slow, but I have a few tips for that below!  Also, those 4 pockets that were still stained were a little stinky this morning, so I’m rewashing them using the nailbrush/soap paste method.  Now they are clean!  Tonight I handwashed:
7 Flats
4 Fleece Liners
8 BumGenius Pockets (4 from yesterday)
1 Bummis Wet Bag
(My Flip covers were rinsed and are air drying for tomorrow)

Here are a few Tips and Tricks for using Flats and Handwashing:

1. Wash every day or when you have about 7 dirty flats!  If you have more than that,  you will have to do 2 “loads.”
2. To clean pockets, make a paste of laundry soap and water and scrub the suede cloth with a nail brush and a little soap paste – hand agitation did not get the pockets clean!
3. If you have a diaper sprayer, use it to get off all the poop before trying to handwash.
4. Avoid diaper cream if possible.  I cannot get the diaper cream off my fleece liners by handwashing.
5. Rinse each flat under running water.  This is much faster than trying to rinsing an entire bucket!
6. Roll the covers in a towel to remove extra water (great tip from Kim @ DDL!)
7. If you have aplex/velcro covers or pockets, make sure you dry them with the aplex unfastened from the laundry tabs so air can dry the inside (see photo below)!
8. You don’t have to use a complicate fold…Pad fold works great!

To learn more tips and tricks for using flats and/or handwashing diapers, check out these blogs: