Day 7 comes to an end!

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing 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 450 participants from all over the world!

The week is over! What an exciting journey it was! I learned so much! In fact, I think I will continue to diaper this way AND hand wash for at least a couple more days :)

So today is a day for reflection. Here are some of my thoughts about the challenge on this final day:

So how much did I spend???

Bububibi covers 4x $7 and 5x $6.30= $59.50

3 Fleece soakers, home made by a friend 3x $10= $30

Wash board purchased online $30

Laundry tarts, I estimate I used about 65 cents worth

Plunger $5, bucket $7. I have to guess for the scrub brush and gloves since my husband bought them and we did not keep the receipt so I spoke with a friend and we came up with  $3 each. So we will say $18 for this lot.

Drying rack $30

Receiving blankets $20

Diaper pins $1

A second bucket $7

Salad spinner $10

Clothes pins $8

Swish stick $3

So the grand total is about: $217.15

I think if I would have been more careful with money, and left out what I didn't end up needing or using, I could have easily brought that down to $120 or even less!

Before this challenge, I didn't even know what a flat was! I had also never heard of a camp washer. I had never dried anything on a line or rack. I had only used covers over pockets for extra protection...

Before the challenge, I threw poop in the garbage. From now on, it will be going in the toilet where it belongs!! I am excited about this and I may even quit using disposable liners! I only recently started using them because my daughter is eating solids now and her poops are changing! I really hated switching from soft cloth on her bum to irritating disposable liners!

Before the challenge, I thought washing diapers would be really gross... but it really isn't. It was easy and didn't bother me a bit :) I also thought it would take a lot of time, but it took no more time than stuffing pocket diapers.

I learned about softening line dried items... sunning out stains... and many other great tips!

I was especially excited to find that FLATS WORK WELL AT NIGHT!!!  I was so afraid I would be waking up to big puddles on the mattress but I didn't have one leak in the night the entire week!!! Look at my happy baby in her night time flats!

If I was using flats full time and hand washing, I would have to do a few things differently. First of all, I would have to adopt a posture friendly position while washing. I did quite the number on my back. I would also want to learn all the different ways to let the detergent and water work for me, so agitation was minimal. I would also probably get into more of a routine... like wash diapers at the same time each day so it was just a normal part of my day. I would also probably organize the bathroom and baby's room a little more flat and hand washing friendly and organize the supplies to make the best use of the small spaces.

I was thinking next year it would be fun to have some different goals... this year I just wanted to learn more about flats and prove to myself that I can do it. Some things I may want to try next year:

Spending little or no money
Trying different folds
Using less water
Using only cold water
Using my washboard more
Trying different washing routines/detergents
Using as little materials as possible

Well, this has been so much fun and so very rewarding. Thanks to any and all who took the time to read my blogs! See you next year!

If you are interested, click on the links below to see what other participants had to say about their week!