Flats and Hand washing challenge 2013 Day 7

                                            

I am taking part in the Third annual flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and hand washing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 430 participants from all over the world!

What have I learned?

I learned I really don't like hand washing. It's very hard on my back and hands. The diapers get super clean, but it is hard to rinse them properly. Over the week, my daughter developed a rash, so I have been using the non-hand washed flats instead of re-using the ones I have already used this week. Luckily there is only one more day and I have a lot. I'm sure over time if I had to hand wash, I would come up with tricks and methods for this, but for now I will just be glad when the challenge is over.

I have been reminded how much I love using flats and pins! I love thinking of generations before me and the connections we have through mothering and babies. I learned that the diapers got more clean during the challenge than they did in the washer and dryer before we started the challenge. One of my diaper covers had a large dirt stain from playing at the park, even after being washed in the washer and dryer. One time through the camp washer and it is almost as good as new! Instead of the stain covering her whole bum, it is now a spot smaller than a dime!

Thankful for my camp washer, and my husband for taking the time and energy to make it for last years challenge.

Thankful for my drying rack, which is the perfect size for one day's worth of flats/covers and wipes.

And, especially thankful for my sweet little daughter who was 100% co-operative through the whole week with no complaints.

I am glad this year's challenge is over and looking forward to any future challenge I may be able to participate in!

See what other participants learned this week by clicking here :)

Flats and Hand washing challenge 2013 Day 6

                                            

I am taking part in the Third annual flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and hand washing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 430 participants from all over the world!

Today I thought I would show my favorite folds and some pinning.

This is how I arrange my flats. I have the kite fold on the left and pad fold on the right. I might skip the pad fold since I love working with pins so much, but my husband and daughter like me to keep it easy for them. I really appreciate their help, so I taught them the easiest way to change her during the challenge. I told them to lay one or two pad folds into a pul cover. Everyone is happy with this arrangement. When I change the baby's diaper, I use the flats folded into a kite fold with a pad fold inside the diaper.

My daughter is a toddler, almost 2 years old, so I don't make the receiving blanket smaller before folding it into the kite fold. I start with a full size receiving blanket.

Then I fold it into a diamond.

Then I fold the top down to form a triangle.

and fold up the bottom a bit, so the rise is just right for my little girl.

I set this to the side and get started on my pad fold to lay inside. I start by folding a flat in half.

and again.

From here, it depends on the size and shape of the receiving blanket. I may fold it in half, or in thirds... just depends. I like it to be about this size.

I then lay it in the diaper.

I fold it so it is ready to go when I need it.

 When baby is ready for a change, I place it under her. I then put the pad fold in the right place.

 

Then I pull the diaper over that.

 

Normally, I can pull the two sides in and use only one pin in the middle, but this one is not going to work that way so I will pin both sides.

 

 I poke the pin in, with my fingers holding the diaper up just enough to make sure that the pin doesn't poke baby, then I stick it back through being careful not to poke my fingers.

At this point, it looks like a pretty poor job. It isn't my best, but it will do.

I tuck in the material, rolling it in so it holds in the waste properly.

I put the cover on and then make sure none of the flat is peaking out. If it is, I just tuck it in.

 Check out what others have to say on open topic day (day 6) by clicking here :)

Flats and Hand washing challenge 2013 Day 5

                                            

I am taking part in the Third annual flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and hand washing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 430 participants from all over the world!

Today I am going to talk about what is working for me and what is not. 

The wind is working for me! The first few days of the challenge were super windy and my flats were drying in around a half an hour! The last couple nights, I have had to bring my flats inside from the car port to dry overnight because it has been gloomy, a bit rainy and absolutely no wind! Here are my flats after drying overnight in my room:

Here is my load of flats today! It is the biggest load this week! Working with a camp washer in the tub is working very very well for me. Many of the flats/covers are getting cleaner than they have been getting in my washer and dryer!

Something that is NOT working is using fleece longies. It won't happen again. They are very hard to properly wring out. I guess I should have thought a little harder about that one!

It is working super well to let time and water do the work for me. Soaking the diapers as well as agitation has been allowing me to do less work with great results.

I love this rubber glove! It really saves my hand from a lot of abuse! I would not want to do this challenge with out it!

It is working very well to scrunch and move my flats around to get the stiffness out of them. Here is a before and after photo of a wipe fresh off the drying rack.

Another night of indoor rack drying :) This is my largest load of the week at 10 flats, several wipes, a swim diaper, fleece longies and a wet bag.

Another thing that is working very well for me is to do one load per day. Washing this way allows me to know that once I am done, I am done for the rest of the day. It is just nice to know that you don't have to worry about something for the remainder of the day. I wouldn't want to do this if my baby needed too frequent of changes, but at this point, it works very well for me :) 

See how others are doing on day 5 by clicking here :)

Flats and Hand washing challenge 2013 Day 4

                                            

I am taking part in the Third annual flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and hand washing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 430 participants from all over the world!

Today, I will be sharing my thoughts about hand washing and how I am doing.

I dislike hand washing. I don't find it gross at all though, which was my initial worry when I first learned about the challenge over a year ago. What I dislike is that it takes time out of my day that I could be doing other things. I also don't like the feeling of wringing out the water before hanging to dry. It makes my skin raw and hurts my hands in general. 

I do enjoy participating in this challenge though! I love learning how to hand wash and I am so happy I have learned to use flats! I have really been enjoying pinning the diapers and finding what works for us! This year is a breeze compared to last year! I figured out what works and what does not work and it has been going really smoothly!

I have a great routine going, I have found a fold I love. I found a detergent that works super good! I'm happy! In fact, I have been able to easily (with out even trying) get stains out that the washer and dryer could not!

Here is today's load washing up. It's bigger than yesterday's.

The weather wasn't great. I put the flats in the car port to avoid rain, but there was zero wind so they didn't dry very good. I decided to bring them indoors to dry over night.

Over half way done now! See how others did on day 4 by clicking here :)

Flats and hand washing challenge 2013 Day 3

                                            

I am taking part in the Third annual flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and hand washing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 430 participants from all over the world!

Today I figured I would show you my routine during the Flats and hand washing challenge.

I keep a bucket in the bathroom, about half way full of water. This is where I store the flats/covers and wipes waiting to be cleaned. I thoroughly rinse and scrub poopy diapers in the toilet before putting them in here to soak. I leave the plunger in there so I can agitate the diapers a bit when I am in the bathroom.

I dump out the water and diapers into the tub... not too many today :)

I squeeze them as good as I can with one hand against the wall of the tub.

I put the squeezed flats/covers and wipes back into the bucket.

I fill with cold water for the first rinse.

I agitate with the plunger for 3-4 minutes.

I pour out the water and diapers into the tub again. I squeeze out the excess water the same way I did before and put the squeezed diapers back in the bucket.

Now I get the water really hot for the hot wash.

I put in a teaspoon of Tide free and clear liquid HE detergent.

I agitate for 5-6 minutes.

Now I let it soak while I go eat breakfast/lunch (depending on what time I get to them).

Once I come back to the diapers, I agitate a bit more and then dump/squeeze and put squeezed diapers back in the bucket. I then fill up the bucket with cold water while agitating with the plunger. This is just a super quick rinse. 

As soon as the bucket is full, I agitate a bit more and then dump/squeeze and put diapers back in the bucket for the final rinse.

After the final rinse, instead of dumping the bucket, I pull the flats/covers and wipes out and leave the water in the bucket.

This will now be my soak water for the rest of today's diapers :)

To dry the covers, I roll them in a towel and they come out almost dry!! It is great!

For the final squeeze, I first squeeze out down the length of the flat.

Then I fold in half and repeat.

and again :)

Then I squeeze and twist until there is little to no dripping of water into the tub. They end up looking like this. As I get them squeezed, I lay them on the bucket lid. When I am all done, I can just carry the lid over to my drying rack! :)

Here is my drying rack, I have just hung my flats/cover and wipes.

I then check out the weather forecast to see if I should dry inside or out. Looks like a great day to dry outside!

However, it is super windy so I decide on the car port so that my rack doesn't blow over!

The flats were dry in no time thanks to the very windy day! I then fold them so they are ready for use :) The top is pad-folded and the bottom ones are folded in a kite fold.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! See how the others are doing on day 3 by clicking here :)