Cloth diapering part 3

        
            So in this section i would like to go into the yucky stuff. . . . cleaning. cloth. diapers. haha I am totally joking, it is super easy and clean.

Lets start with a list of cloth diaper safe detergents
 HE washers                                           Older washing machines
-RubyMoon                                           -Allens
-Charlie's Soap [powder/liquid]              -Arm and hammer free essentials
-Moutain Green free and clear                -Bio-O-Kleen
-Moutain Green Baby                            -Country save liquid 
-All small and mighty                              -EviroRite
-Caldrea                                                -Lifekind
-Country Save                                       -Nature clean 
-Dropps                                                -Oxy-prime
-Ecos                                                    -Penguin
-Maggie's soap nuts                               -Planet ultra powder
-Method free and clear                          -SensiClean  
-Nellie's                                                -Sport-wash
-Rockin green                                       -Trader joe's
-Sun and earth                                      -Vaska
-Oxyclean free/baby
 This site has a detergent chart for which ones are better than others.
        
            So you start off with a large amount of brand new/new-to-you dipes of your choice and the first thing you are going to want to do is prep them. To prep your dipes you will want to follow these steps

Sunning our dipes at grandma's

 -remove all packaging [sometimes there are tags INSIDE the pocket of your dipes]
-un-snap all snaps and undo all aplix and fasten laundry tabs
-remove any inserts/doublers
-Throw everything into your washer
-Set wash setting to heavy/hot wash/cold rinse
-Add 1tbs. original dawn dish soap
when the washer is done, run the entire cycle again WITH NO SOAP
-Line dry anything containing PUL
-Toss all inserts/doublers/prefolds/flats/fitteds/wipes into the dryer
VOILA you are prepped and ready to diaper

            So now that your dipes are prepped you will probably want to put them into action but first you will want a diaper pail/wet bag to put your soggy dipes into. You have three choices for a diaper pail here[I have tried all three by the way]. Wet pail, Dry pail, or Wet bag.
            A dry pail is exactly what it sounds like, a pail with a garbage bag type liner made of PUL. With this method you will need at least two diaper pail liners because whenever you empty your pail you will want to toss your liner in the wash with your dipes or else it will end up getting pretty funky. With this method you will want to go no longer than 3 days between washes because of the fact that the dipes will dry/stain if left in there too long. I stopped using this method because my dipes always smelled like ammonia, even if they were clean.

My diaper pail

            You guessed it haha the wet pail method is WET. This method is discouraged now because of the drowning hazard but i keep my pail in the laundry room with the door shut. I have a solid plastic diaper pail that i fill 3/4 of the way and add 1tbs. of oxyclean free to. I put the lid on and put all of my dirty dipes in there. Since i started using the wet pail, you cant smell diapers in my house anymore, the ammonia smell in my dipes is gone, and all of my dipes look the same as the day i bought them. No stains or anything.

Inside my wet pail

                     A wet bag is NOT the same as a wet pail haha. All a wet bag is, is a bag made out of PUL that you can hang in your nursery or on your changing table to put your soggy dipes in. It is pretty much the same as a dry pail but it is a bag that you can hang. The only time i ever use a wet bag is in my diaper bag when we are on the go.

            Now that you have a bunch of prepped dipes and the diaper pail of your choice . . . you are pretty sure you are ready to go right. Wrong. What kind of wipes are you going to use. Your options are cloth or disposable. If you choose cloth then you also have a choice between making your own[my preference] or buying them. I will soon do a post for a cloth wipes tutorial and the recipe for my wipe solution. But anyways, for cleaning your cloth wipes all i do is throw them into the pail with my dipes, wash them, throw them into the dryer with my inserts/prefolds and it is as easy as that.

Ok so NOW are you ready
. . .
YES, now you are ready to put that adorable little tushie into the fluff of your choosing. And soon there will be. . . POO [OH NO] but wait, it really is not as gross as everyone thinks. Hmmm because i am a mother i have come into contact with poo A LOT but. . . it has never been because of cloth dipes. IMAGINE THAT haha but in all seriousness, exclusively breastfed baby poo can go right into your pail. No rinsing. But if you formula feed or have started solids you will have to rinse the solids into your toilet and then toss your rinsed dipe into your pail. there are two ways that you can do the deed 1] buy a diaper sprayer, this hooks up to your toilet so all you have to do is hold your dipe above your toilet and spray the poo into your toilet. 2] swish n' swipe, i found this easier at first. I would turn my dipe inside out [so the PUL is on the inside] and then dunk it in the toilet and swish the poo off and then flush the toilet.

Diaper sprayer

            So now you have been cloth diapering for around 2-3 days, your pail is full, your stash is running low. It is time to wash.

My wipes/prefolds/inserts in the dryer

-Empty your pail/wetbag into your washer
  -If you use a wet pail run a spin cycle before washing
  -if you use a dry pail run a cold rinse before washing
-Set washer on heavy/hot wash/cold rinse
-Add 1/4 the amount of detergent that you would for a normal/large load
-Line dry anything with PUL and toss everything else [other than wool] into your dryer
-Stuff your pockets/fold your flats and you are ready to go for another 2-3 days

Now if you are using wool covers for your prefolds/flats/fitteds you will wash your cover like this
-use cover until A]damp or has poo on it. or B] 1-2 days
-Buy a wool wash and wash your wool by hand
-hang or lay flat to dry
[DO NOT MACHINE DRY WOOL]

I will be linking with the pistachio project.

Paper-less?

Just a small example of our endless disposable products

            Has anyone ever really sat down and asked themselves WHY IS EVERYTHING DISPOSABLE. In my opinion it is just plain laziness. Laziness is killing our planet and our desire for prettier paper products is exposing us and our children to dangerous chemicals. Really, for five minutes sit down and try to think of all the paper products we use everyday and then IMMEDIATELY put into the trash to go spend the next 30 years decomposing and leaching chemicals into our earth and water supply. And we do all of this damage to try and save miniscule amounts of time out of our day. Let me make a point real quick, are we saving time or are we killing time. Is our need for ease of use so dire that we are willing to destroy our planet. Our gift to our children should really be a healthier planet and an inner sense of responsibility for this world that we all live in.

We are filling landfills far faster than our waste is breaking down 

            Now that my rant is over i will get to the point, my goal is to eventually live in a home that is completely free of any unnecessary paper products [i.e. paper towels, toilet paper, pads, tampons, disposable diapers, grocery bags, . . . etc.] I plan on achieving this one step at a time. It is a rather large transition if you are coming from a disposable home but don't worry. You really can do it, if you take it a step at a time. Instead of diving into this head first why don't you start with something simple. Try investing in some nice kitchen towels and stop buying paper towels. If we all started making small steps to improving our lifestyles we could be capable of changing this world for the better.

I love this picture

             My first step in this goal was to start cloth diapers, now that i have done that and completely cut out disposables [not even allowed in the house] i decided to find my next step. I decided that mama cloth was the next step for me, it just felt right. I am very new to that but i did not just go out and buy a full stash and throw out all my pads and tampons. I bought enough to transition me over, after trying these products i plan on filling my stash slowly until i have everything i need. I truly believe that so many people give up on going green because they try to just jump in rather than taking small steps and sticking with them.
            After mama cloth i plan on switching my entire household over to un-paper towels. I plan on making them myself so that i can match them with the decor of my house.  I am very excited about these steps i am taking even though most of my family thinks that i am a crazy hippie haha and i am but i embrace it, you should embrace your inner hippie too.
            Finally somewhere along the line i will be making my own grocery bags, produce bags and also making the family cloth for my house i will be moving to next summer. Family cloth is pretty much cloth toilet paper but i will do a post explaining that soon.

I will be linking with the pistachio project.

Cloth Diapers part 2

                So i would like to introduce and explain all of the different types of cloth diapers. In a later post i will then explain how to clean and care for cloth diapers and my final post on cloth diapers will be all about trouble shooting with cloth diapers because nothing is perfect and you are bound to run into a snag here and there. So for this post i will list all the types and explain what they are and then i will list the pros and cons from my own opinion.

An AIO with aplix closures.

-All in ones [AIO]
            An AIO is considered the easiest option in cloth diapering. They are very daddy and daycare friendly and easy to put on baby. All an AIO is made up of a waterproof outer material, normally PUL[polyester lined with polyurethane], with an absorbent material, like microterry, microfiber, bamboo, hemp, or cotton. sewn into the middle and topped with a wicking material like flannel or micro fleece so that the moisture is pulled away from baby's skin and into the absorbent core. Fastening options for this are either snaps or aplix[A.K.A. velcro] I personally do not like AIO's simply because i prefer line drying anything with PUL [it makes it last longer] so because i line dry my AIO's they take almost a day and a half to dry after washing.

an AI2 with a snap in insert and aplix closures.

-All in twos [AI2]
            These are basically the same thing as an AIO except the absorbent core is removeable. So you have a shell with your waterproof material and you have an insert with your absorbent material and you wicking material on it. With AI2's the absorbent core normally snaps into place. These will also fasten with either snaps or aplix[velcro] closure. I do not have any of these diapers so i cannot tell you from experience but i would assume that they wash and dry the same as pocket dipes and i LOVE my pocket dipes. The downfall to these is that they do take some assembly but they will wash easier and dry faster than an AIO's

Already stuffed pocket dipe, stuffed with a prefold.

-Pocket dipes
            Finally my favorite. A pocket dipe consists of a shell with wicking fabric sewn into the inside and a hole in the back of the diaper that forms a pocket. You have an insert made up of an absorbent material of your choice that you then stuff into your dipe and you are ready to go. I personally love these because of how easy they are to wash and dry. I pull the insert out of dirty dipe and throw shell and insert in my pail and then when my pail is full i pick the whole thing up and dump it into the washer [no touching dirty dipes] i wash everything then i pull the inserts out and put them in the dryer and hang my shells on a drying rack and by the time the dryer is done so are my shells. Downfall to these is that you do have to stuff them when they are clean but that is also an advantage because you can personalize the amount of absorbency you put in your dipe by adding more or less inserts.

My daughter Skye in her aplix pocket dipe.

Different sizes of prefolds

-Prefolds
            These are the way your grandma cloth diapered . . . oldschool, yes. But I still have a place in my heart for prefolds. A prefold is a rectangular piece of fabric that has a thicker absorbent middle. These can be folded different ways to add absorbency or comfort for baby. This is by far the cheapest route for cloth diapering but it does have a bit of a learning curve. Prefolds have to be folded and then fastened with either a pin or a nifty little thing called a snappi. When i am at home i will use a prefold fastened with a snappi and no cover on my daughter it lets her breathe without peeing all over my floor. My daughter is in prefolds with no cover when ever she isn't sleeping or out and about. So  They also have no water proof outer layer so they need a waterproof cover if you are using

them full time.

My daughter Skye in her prefold fastened with a snappi.

Fitted diaper with snap closure.

-Fitteds
            These are diapers with no water proof outer layer but are made up of many layers of absorbent fabrics. These do need a cover for using them overnight or for long periods between changes but many people find them absorbent enough to go without a cover during the day. These normally have some type of fastener such as snaps or aplix[velcro] and are shaped like a diaper so there is no folding invloved. I currently have one fitted diaper that i made out of a prefold but i am waiting for the oppurtunity to get myself a few poopsiedoodle fitteds.

            Now diapers like prefolds and fitteds have no waterproof outer layer so you will need to use a cover over them but again there are several options to choose from.

Wool cover in shortie style.

-Wool
           Alot of people prefer wool because it is very breathable but it can be hard to care for sometimes. You will need to lanolize your wool cover before use, this entails filling a bowl with very hot water and melting lanolin on top of the water and washing your wool in it until it absorbs the lanolin. This makes your wool water resistant. You must hand wash your wool with a wool wash and hang it to dry. The benefits of wool is that it is extremly light and airy on babys skin and helps to prevent rashes because of its breathability. Also, wool soakers come in many different styles such as pants[longies], skirts[skirties], and shorts[shorties]. these covers require no fasteners because they are often just a pull up style.

PUL cover with snap closures.

-PUL
           PUL is the same fabric that is sewn onto the outsides of AIO's, AI2's, and pockets. It is polyester that has been lined with polyurethane. The upside is that it is easy to care for, all you do is wash with your dipes and hang dry. But it has little breath-ability and it can trap moisture if baby is not changed as often as they should be. These covers also have snap or aplix fastening options.





 

plastic pants with nylon hem

-Plastic pants
            It is exactly what it sounds like. It looks like a tiny pair of pull up underwear except they are made of plastic. These are the cheapest covers to buy but they are not very good for babys skin and they are not very comfortable because the hemming along the edges is often done with a waterproof nylon that can be very abrasive on babys skin. Also, unlike the PUL which offers some air flow these will offer almost none. So when you are using these you will have to be very diligent about changing baby often. And make sure your baby has a little bit of diaper free time everyday, even just 5-10 minutes of air can help a lot.

I will be linking with the pistachio project.

                    

Cloth diapers Part 1

            Why use cloth diapers, you ask. Allow me to tell you all the factual reasons and then later I will tell you all of the personal reasons why I am in love with cloth diapers.

My daughter Skye, wearing her cloth diaper and her baltic amber teething necklace.

FACTS
- The environment.
            One disposable diaper takes over 500 years to breakdown. The number of disposable diapers in landfills is increasing dramatically every day. There is also a concern for the contents in disposable diapers, did you know that it is illegal to throw away human waste. Over 100 intestinal viruses are dumped into our landfills via disposables diapers and then transported into many of our water sources, contaminating our drinking water. On top of all of this approximately 1 billion trees are destroyed each year to make disposable diapers. Finally don't forget to take into account all of the natural resources and emission gases, used to haul those disposable diapers all over the world.

-Cost
            Disposable diapers can range in cost anywhere from 1500 dollars to 2500 dollars over the course of three years and many children are not totally potty trained by three years. This stats are not including things like traning pants, swim diapers, and wipes by the way. I have spent a total of 200 dollars on all of my cloth diaper necessities and because you only use 1/4 of the amount of detergent you would normally use in a load of laundry, I am only buying detergent about once every three months. Doing diaper laundry twice a week with 1/4 the amount of detergent uses the same amount of water in your home as a child that would be using the toilet. All in all you are looking at a comparison of 2500 plus dollars or 200 dollars total to diaper your baby through toddler years. Don't forget you can also reuse cloth on multiple children so multiply all of these savings by how many kids you would like to have and you can only imagine.

This is a photo of chemical burns caused by Pampers brand diapers

-Skin care
            Would you rather wear paper underwear or soft cotton. . . This is a list of Pampers  Ingredients; wood pulp, absorbent gel material, petrolatum, stearyl alcohol, aloe, polyethylelene and polypropylene [plastics], cellulose tissue, elastic, and perfume. Sodium polyacrylate is in the absorbent gel material [AGM] it is what forms the beads you find inside of an over saturated diaper. This chemical has been linked to rashes, allergic reactions, and decreased sperm count. Cloth diapers are changed more often which decreases the chance of a child developing a rash and they rarely ever cause an allergic reaction and even if they do, all you do is switch to an all natural fiber dipe and poof problem solved.



This is a link to a site that i am in LOVE with it is called toxipedia and this link will take you to a page that explains all of the harmful chemicals that are lurking in your baby's disposable diapers.
http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Diapers

If it was your body, which would you choose to wear. . . 

Add caption

I will be linking with the pistachio project.