Just the other day I was thinking back on my cloth diapering journey of almost 4 years continuously and simultaneously diapering two babies. I thought to myself: what part of reusing diapers has made the most difference in my day-to-day life? The answer might surprise you. It’s actually cloth wipes! My washing routine for cloth diapers has changed slightly over the years by moving houses and going from top-loading machine to high efficiency front-loader. My preferences in cloth diapers has changed too — at first I was a hook-and-loop girl, and now I’m definitely a fan of snaps. But I
Tag Archive: laundry
Spring is here and that means one thing – it’s time to freshen your cloth diapers with a little sun. Has your little one been trying new foods this winter and spring? Blueberries and other foods can often leave a mark on your cloth diapers. In winter, it can be difficult to remove stains inside your cloth diapers. Sunning cloth diapers not only removes stains, but is a natural way to sanitize your laundry. With spring upon us and more sunshine in most of our forecasts, now is the perfect time for your cloth diapers to catch some rays. To
Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow earlier this month, so as the legend says, we should expect an early spring. I’m not sure about you, but I’m definitely ready for spring. However, for many of us, spring means lots of rainy days, which can be a bit challenging when drying your cloth diapers. If you read the packages of your bumGenius, Flip and Econobum cloth diapers, you’ll see that we recommend “line drying” most of your diapers. Not only is line drying environmentally friendly, it also puts less wear on your cloth diapers than a trip through the dryer. But you
One of the first questions that anyone who is considering cloth diapering asks is “How many diapers do I need to cloth diaper?” Recommended Minimum Number of Cloth Diapers For full time cloth diapering, we recommend 24 cloth diapers, regardless of the style you choose. Why 24? Breastfed newborns often go through 8-10 cloth diapers a day. To avoid stink, mold, mildew and other issues, we recommending washing your cloth diapers every other day. With 24 diapers, you have a few extra clean cloth diapers to get you through a day or two while the rest are in the washing
Can I let you in on a little secret? Toddlers LOVE chores. I know it’s hard to fathom. When we hear the word chores, endless piles of dishes and laundry spring to mind. Miraculously, that is not what toddlers think of. They think it’s fun! It took me a few babies to discover this awesome fact. I wish I’d know earlier, which is why I’m sharing with you today. However, before reading further, there are a couple of disclaimers. First, doing chores with toddlers takes approximately ten times longer than if you did them yourself. However, there is a
Potty training, for us, means instantly less diaper laundry. Hooray! The potty training toddler is still having accidents, but it is definitely a huge difference to have only one baby in cloth when I was accustomed to two. I’m no longer having to run loads of laundry and stuff pockets late into the night because I’ve run out of diapers. Occasionally, the diaper pail wet bag is actually full before I run out of diapers! While I’m really enjoying less urgency in washing my stash, I’ve also learned from the more experienced cloth diaper mamas that I have to be
On the heels of Heather’s Laundry Lament, I bring you some tips on how to stay on top of your laundry during the busy & crazy times of life. Which, let’s face it, ends up being every other week this time of year between vacations, full schedules, lots of special events and fun summer activities. When you’re out and about it’s way easier to forget about the laundry in the hamper, or worse, in the washing machine and fall behind. Then you have a mountain of laundry to tackle all at once the night before you’re leaving for a trip
Oh laundry, the never-ending chore. Laundry has never really been an area I excelled in. Since the last addition to our family, I completely strike out on a regular basis. Six people, five beds, scores of towels, tablecloths, cloth napkins, un-paper towels and all the other things I use to be as green as possible in my home mean my washer and dryer get quite the workout. Unfortunately, even with all the laundry we do, I always seem to find a pile of dirty clothes lurking behind a closet door or a laundry basket of neatly folded clean laundry sitting
A few weeks ago, our car started smelling really weird. At first, I ignored it because really, when does a car carrying two toddlers smell GOOD? But eventually we broke down and did a full-car clean out. What did we find in the back hatch area of our car? A slightly wet cloth diaper! Fortunately, it was only wet and not solid waste. Can you imagine if had been poop? I can guarantee that we would have found it sooner! Keeping up with diapers and wet bags is just another mom duty that comes along with cloth diapering. Even the
Now that spring has sprung (for most of us), it’s time to get outside and really enjoy the warmer weather. Unfortunately, spring often brings rain along with the warmer weather. And at least in my backyard, rain = mud. Some people don’t like letting their kids play in the mud- and it can be a little overwhelming, it terms of mess. But there are things we can do to make clean up easier on ourselves. For my older kids, who are (somewhat) less inclined to really roll in the mud, I usually just let them go as long as they