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 write about how I prepared for the challenge, including a list of my supplies, where I got them and how much I paid.
The first thing I did was get out my receiving blankets and wash and rinse them. They must have had some major build up from last year since it took 2 FULL days to rinse the suds out of them!!! I am so glad I took the time to prep them thoroughly. It should make for a much better week for me!
The next thing I did was clean out my tub really well and clear out the drain. It had been moving very slowly from my long hair building up in there and I thought that would not be fun to deal with during the challenge!
I then gathered last years supplies which included gloves, camp washer, drying rack etc. I washed the camp washer and put it in the place that will become it's new home for the next week, beside the tub.
After this, I checked out some videos on You Tube for some folding ideas. I used mostly pad folds last year and I wanted to do more pinning this year.
I was generously given some flat diapers to use for the challenge which I also washed and rinsed thoroughly. I have only used receiving blankets in the past so I was curious what it would be like to use an actual flat.
Although I am doing the challenge this year with out spending any money at all, I did pay a price for my supplies at one point, so those are the prices I will be posting.
The first thing I did was get out my receiving blankets and wash and rinse them. They must have had some major build up from last year since it took 2 FULL days to rinse the suds out of them!!! I am so glad I took the time to prep them thoroughly. It should make for a much better week for me!
The next thing I did was clean out my tub really well and clear out the drain. It had been moving very slowly from my long hair building up in there and I thought that would not be fun to deal with during the challenge!
I then gathered last years supplies which included gloves, camp washer, drying rack etc. I washed the camp washer and put it in the place that will become it's new home for the next week, beside the tub.
After this, I checked out some videos on You Tube for some folding ideas. I used mostly pad folds last year and I wanted to do more pinning this year.
I was generously given some flat diapers to use for the challenge which I also washed and rinsed thoroughly. I have only used receiving blankets in the past so I was curious what it would be like to use an actual flat.
Although I am doing the challenge this year with out spending any money at all, I did pay a price for my supplies at one point, so those are the prices I will be posting.
Here are my covers. I also have a cute skirtie that is just like the purple and pink shorties and longies here. My 2 favorite colours :) All of these covers plus the skirtie cost around $110. I could EASILY get away with only 3 pul covers for $21.
Here are my flats. Some are pad folded and some are kite folded. I also have my wipes and pins shown here. I paid $20 for the receiving blankets. I also had some from having a baby and was generously given all of the white flats on the right.
Here are the ingredients for my wipe solution. Baby wash, lavender oil and tea tree oil. The high end oils are not necessary. I paid around $60 for those. The wash was free and I don't remember where I got it. The wipes were around $25 for all of the ones I will have in rotation.
Here is my drying rack and clothes pins. I paid $30 for the rack and $8 for the clothes pins.
Here is my camp washer. Plunger $5, bucket $7. I have to guess for the 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. So we will say $15 for this lot.
I am using a teaspoon of tide free and clear liquid detergent in each load. I am planning to do one load every morning.
Again, I have not spent a penny this year for the challenge, but the total that I spent on the items I will be using is around $270.
It would be entirely possible and even EASY to spend WAY WAY less.
See how others have been doing on day 2 of the challenge :)
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