Cloth Diapers & The Front Loader

I have a on off relationship with cloth diapers.  I'm okay with that.  When I first started to use cloth diapers I loved them.  I am pretty sure I drove my friends batty with diaper chat.  I found other cloth diaper companions in church and with "old" friends across the miles.  We were the few...the odd.

I was on again off again with them.  Morning sickness pushed me over the edge with Miss A and this one that I didn't want to deal with any sort of diapers really.  We are at a point that I am loving them again.  Not to the point where I can barely contain myself when new ones come out or I am always trying to figure out a way to justify some new diaper purchase.  I am pretty happy with what we have and I was "gifted" some cloth diapers for the newest addition in newborn sizes so we'll see how it goes when she arrives and once again I have two in cloth.

I think my biggest struggle has been fine tuning our wash routine.  Cloth diapers wash up beautifully in a traditional top loader.  It can be more of a trick in a front load washer, which is what we have.  I had our routine down pretty well in our old house where the water was soft.  Now we are in a place where the water is fairly hard which doesn't always let the soap do what it needs to be doing.  And while front loaders save on water I need more water in with my diapers.  What's a mama to do?

Awhile back I had bookmarked a page on the Knickernappies website that had several videos of different women and their wash routines.  I guess there really is a video for just about everything on YouTube!  I watched them all and finally came up with something that I think will work for our family.  Maybe this will help you?

FYI:  We wash about every third day, small load or big load.  That will probably change to every other day when #3 arrives.  I have mentioned this before but generally, when I am doing cloth my regular laundry routine gets better, too.  I am still working on that this go round.  HA!

1. I toss in all of our diapers and wet bag.  I set the washer for a regular wash on cool.  I then set my kitchen timer for about six or seven minutes.  This lets the diapers get nice and wet and tossed around a bit. NO DETERGENT.
2. I turn off the cycle and the water drains without a spin cycle.  This will trick your machine into thinking that it has a bigger load and will add more water when you start the next step.
3. I add 2 TBS of Rockin' Green laundry Detergent to the soap container.  Select Heavy Duty cycle (never Sanitize as the machine increases the temp of the water which may be too hot for PUL), Hot water, add the extra rinse/skincare rinse, and press start.  I set my kitchen time for about another six or seven minutes.
4. When I know that the washer is done filling I grab a pitcher from cupboard and get the water as hot as I can from my kitchen sink.  I fill the pitcher and pour this into my washer manually through the soap dispenser.  Depending on the size of the load I will do this 2 to 4 times.  You want enough water in there that they swish around but not too much where they are just hanging out in the water.  If you are trying this for the first time I recommend to pitchers of water, wait 5 to 7 minutes, and then look in your wash bin and evaluate from there.
5. After the cycle is finished I usually pull out my wet bag (as it can hold water sometimes) and hang it up to dry. (Sometimes, not always I repeat steps 1 and 2 here)  I then set my washer for another regular hot wash, NO DETERGENT, extra rinse to make sure all was rinsed well.
6. Hang everything out to dry in the hot Phoenix sun.  The sun's UV rays help to kill odor causing bacteria, will help to remove any stains or discoloring, it's cheap, and even the thicker diapers dry uber fast.  Even in the winter here I try to do this as often as possible.  Other wise inserts and prefolds (and sometimes fitteds) go in the dryer, AIO's and pockets are hung up in the girls bathroom.

There you have it.  So far so good.  It seems to be holding the ever popular microfiber stink at bay.  With each wash it gets better.

Do you have a specialized routine for your cloth diapers and a front loader?  Tips?  Tricks?

Back to Cloth

Cloth diapers.  Generally, I love them.  Sometimes I just don't want to deal with them.

Miss A came up with a pretty bad rash and for the life of me I cannot figure out what caused it.  We will do a little experiment in the next few days to see if I can pin point it but for now is a mystery. Our usual routine for treating rash wasn't even making a dent and if anything it seemed to be getting worse.  Desperate, I pulled out my bamboo and hemp cloth diapers.  These tend to have some healing properties to them.  However, I didn't have any diaper creams that were cloth "friendly."

I quickly tracked some cream down at Baby Half Off in Mesa, AZ.  However, I wouldn't be able to get it until the next day when Husband could pick it up at lunch time. (Their storefront is only a couple of miles from where Husband works.)  In the meantime, I thought that air would be Miss A's best friend.  I lined the playpen with towels and just put her in a fitted diaper (shown above in a Kissaluv hemp fitted diaper) with no cover.  I also had her hanging out in cotton prefolds with no cover.  Between that and the cream she is clearing right up!

I will say that I am back to using cloth part-time.  Miss A is in a disposable when grandparents are around and when we go out, and at night.  It just depends on how I am feeling.  Miss L grew out of cloth pretty fast.  She's no where near the weight limit but she's tall and the rise in the diaper wasn't enough.  Oh well.

Oh!  The cream we purchased was Grandma El's and would be worth it even if I had to pay full price.  It is great for cloth or disposable users.  It can also be used for eczema and cradle cap (which we will be dealing with later this week!) and it smells DELISH.  I highly recommend it!

Wash, Fold, Repeat

I have said it before and I will say it again,

Laundry, like sanctification, is a continual process.

It's true.  Especially if you have little people around.  Their laundry seems like the most difficult to me.  Not that their's is all that hard to clean it just seems like there is just SO much of it no matter how small the load.  It probably doesn't help that I let it pile up because they both have SO many clothes they could go awhile without washing.  It's a vicious cycle that I am trying to break!

Before we moved the chore of laundry was the easiest for me to keep up.  It also helped that I loved my new washer and dryer (I still do.)  However, since we moved and especially since Miss A arrived on the scene laundry has been hit and miss.  It's sad really.  This week has been the beginning of new habits and getting laundry back on track has been one of those things.  Granted we are only on Tuesday but it looks good so far.  We will see how I am doing come Friday.  HA!

There are times that I end up doing laundry all day.  Not really my cup of tea.  Although, if that is the place that I have worked myself into then I need to suck it up and press on to get the job done.  FlyLady has recommended that if you do a load a day you will keep Mount Washmore away.  I tried it before and it worked really well for me.  For us, it can be more than one load a day but it beats five, six, seven... or more all in one day.

Here is what our schedule looks like:

Monday - Shirts, Diapers*
Tuesday - Whites
Wednesday - Gentle, Diapers
Thursday - Kids
Friday - Sheets, Towels, Diapers
Saturday - Pants, Any Catch Up Laundry


* These are the days we wash diapers when using cloth.  It may or may not require more washings depending on how old baby is and how many diapers we have in our stash for that particular stage, etc.  But this is usually what it looks like.  Is it weird that I was WAY better at keeping up with laundry when the cloth diapers were in play?

The whole routine may look different for each person.  Shirts are usually sorted in lights and darks.  However, these mostly comprise of Husband's work shirts and generally can fit into one load.  There will come a time when I sort by color the girl's clothes but right now they go in together and only sorted by if the belong to Miss L or Miss A.  Sometimes it gets mixed but that's not a big deal at this point in time.  Obviously Friday is a big day but I would rather have the extra family time on Saturday.

What does your laundry routine look like?

Nesting

Nesting.

In some sense it seems like a foreign concept to me and at the same time a very true reality.

I made the comment to Husband the other day that I think that I have more of a nesting urge with this pregnancy than I did with my first.  He thought it was the other way around.  However, I think that the things that happened (and current tasks at hand) in each situation have been very different and that effects how we perceive it.

Either way, I am totally in the midst of it right now.  Although, I will say that while I have things to do and want to do certain things my motivation can quickly go out the door.  Or little things become big things and that is all I can focus on.  And even worse, sometimes other things completely get neglected because I am focused on this other task or thinking about it, etc.

Things are coming together, though.  Much to our surprise (and my great hesitancy) Miss L moved to a "big girl" bed on Saturday night.  Quite on a whim, I must say.  She has done remarkably well!  So, we will be moving the crib to Miss A's room.  We found a great deal on a new-to-me glider as my other one broke. (That story for another day.)  I am still trying to figure out the changing table configuration.  I just want one changing area for both girls.  I think I have it down.  So, there are just a few little things to get both rooms ready for different changes.

The funny thing is that while there are a gazillion things to still get ready there are toys strewn across my living room floor (with said toddler in the midst of it all) along with a pile of clean cloth diapers that she has also seen fit to play with.  She loves to play with the fluff... even when it has been put away.

Maybe more on all this later...

Brand Name vs. Generic

Now, I am usually a girl who likes to find a deal.  I mean, who doesn't, really?  I have learned that store brand of anything can be just as good, if not better than the brand name product.  Not always but a good portion of the time.  And the pennies start to add up fast.  So, while I was looking through the baby section for some random item I was missing or needing in a pinch at Wa.l Ma.rt I stumbled onto a diaper pail liner that was said to fit my Diaper Genie Elite II.  It was also a good $2.00 cheaper.  I wondered what it would be like.  It claimed that it would hold more diapers than the brand's refill, etc, etc.  My hopes were high enough that I even purchased TWO of said product.

The verdict...


DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!  This is where the brand name is much more superior than the generic knock off.  First off the brand name is a continuous bag that you "snip" as it fills up.  For whatever reason this system works.  The generic is just a bunch of bags that you drop in individually as you need them.  Ultimately, it's not as clean as the brand name. 

The big difference is the containment of smell. 

We bought this particular diaper pail on the recommendation of friends who have one.  They only use disposable diapers at night so the pail didn't fill up very fast.  They never had a problem with smell!  We found the same thing to be true of the diaper pail.  We were full-time disposable users for the first three months or so of Miss L's life when we switched to cloth.  We never had a problem with diaper pail smell even after we, too, became night only users of disposables (Well, and trips, too).  We threw in the dirty wipes, no problem.  Again, no smell issue... until we bought the generic bags.  I find myself emptying the container more often - so I don't think it will get near the number of diapers it claims it will hold.  I think it has something to do with the plastic quality and then how it is positioned in the container that effects the smell aspect.  I find myself tossing in baking soda to keep some of the smell at bay until we have a few more diapers in there that make it worth changing the bag.  Seriously, I have more issues with smell from this pail now than do with my cloth diaper pail... which really has no issue... odd, right? (Just another benefit of cloth... hee hee hee!)

So, there you have my review.  We will be going back to the brand name refill soon as I only have one more bag left to use.  I think I may have to track down my receipt and return the second refill.  That will teach me!  If I cannot return it I will find something else to do with the bags (maybe line my small trash cans with them?) because I will not be using them in Miss L's room anymore. 

I gave them the good ol' college try and they FAILED!


***Disclaimer:  While we use disposables at night cloth can and is used by many overnight.  We are not that brave yet plus we recognize we have a very heavy wetter.  We value our sleep and did not want to experiment with that after Miss L was already sleeping 12+ hours a night.  We may integrate that option with Miss A but we will see how it goes and what we need to add to our diaper stash.  Also, others use cloth wipes with their cloth diapers.  I am so not there and like not having to rinse those off as well as a diaper.  I have found a system that works for me. :)  Props to the mamas that can and do use the cloth wipes, too.

Laundry

Before we moved I think of all the household chores I was probably the best at laundry.  However, I would say that now I am not so good at laundry these days.  In many ways, I think I am still trying to figure out my routine here in this new house.  Yes, even though we have been here for almost five months now!  My husband is tremendous in extending grace in the area of keeping our home.  I wish I was a graceful with myself as he is with me.  I will say that what has helped me in getting my wash routine down this week is that we started cloth diapering Miss L again.  That has to be done in certain cycles and I start working other things out.  So, I think I may be back on track with laundry this week.  Much to my husband's delight.  No worries though, he always has work clothes.  :)

Well, with that above rant there was a glimpse of sheer joy in doing the laundry today.  Miss L usually follows me all around the house as I do things here and there.  She especially likes to close any door or drawer that I open.  This becomes tricky when you are transferring wet laundry to the dryer.  I have been trying to tell her to put whatever item she has in the dryer.  No.  It usually ends up on the floor or a play thing for her for the moment.  Sigh.  We keep working.  Today I was moving diaper inserts from the wash to the dryer.  I said, "Put it in the dryer."  Gasp!  She put it in.  Was it a fluke?  Nope!  She continued to put them all in the dryer with the occasional wipe of the face because she likes that they are wet.  Silly.  It was great fun to be doing laundry with her.  Yes, even if it took me a bit longer than normal.  Such joy to see her learning.

However, as I reflect on this moment I realize it is a weighty moment.  It wasn't just a moment of, "Oh, I get what you are saying, Mama."  It was a moment of training her young heart and mind for the duties that she will someday have as a wife and mother.  I was reminded that I was her model of housekeeping (among other things).  Not something of perfection but a woman of grace and diligence.  It is convicting.  I don't want to teach her to beat herself up if things are not just so.  I want to teach her to work hard and give grace to herself in all areas... not just the laundry.

I have much to learn in order to teach.  Talk about some serious on the job training!