I have never handwashed diapers before, so this process might be modified as I go. I'm hoping to do a trial run before the challenge actually starts. you could do this in a bathtub with just your hands, but I didn't particularly want to go that route. instead I bought a few supplies to make things more fun.
two 5 gallon buckets from home depot. orange, of course. I plan on using one bucket to initially rinse the diapers in. then I will be filling up the other bucket with hot water (I'm contemplating boiling two stock pots of water) for the wash. I will have dumped out the initial rinse water and put fresh water in for my rinse. I will probably do a second rinse to make sure no detergent is left in the diapers. I think this sounds like a solid plan. but again, we'll see how it goes.
this is the mobile washer. I bought it online at an emergency preparedness store. it supposedly produces a push/pull sucking action so the water and detergent get, well, pushed and pulled through the clothes. they say you only need to agitate it for about a minute. and that it gets your clothes super clean. you do the same agitation for the rinse(s) and it supposedly gets all the detergent out easily, which is very important for cloth diapering. 
I didn't really need rubber gloves, I have no problem touching dirty diapers (I mean, that's what we wash our hands for, right?), but I actually wanted them mostly for the wringing out process after they are washed and rinsed. (because that can be hard on your hands!) though I could probably not even wring them out and the flats would still be dry in no time. that's why I love flats. and of course, the clothesline + clothespins. though I didn't purchase them for the challenge, I just love them all the same.
when washing cloth diapers you need a cloth diaper safe detergent, and handwashing them is no different. you really don't want anything with additives, brighteners, enzymes and the like. I use country save because I can buy it locally and it seems to work well with my hard water. I actually use it on all my laundry. it's a low sudsing detergent, so it's perfect for my HE washer. I will be using about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspon to wash my diapers. I think. I really have no idea if that will be enough/too much until I actually try it out. I'm just going off a recommendation from another handwashing flats challenge mamma (who uses the mobile washer and a bucket! whoot!)
and no, oma, no bleach. gone are the days of bleach soaked diapers. it actually wears out diapers faster and can ruin the modern day covers. the detergent + hot water should do the trick. not to mention the uv effects of the sun. I should write a whole post about the sun. amazing!
well, that's it as far as supplies, I think. oh, and my diapers of course. and my covers. and my son's cute bum.
::check out how other mammas are preparing for the challenge::
4 comments:
That mobile washer looks really cool as far as emergency preparedness goes. I think I might have to get one. I'm really interested in this challenge. I tried the cloth diapers at first. I used pre-folds and Grant grew out of them so fast and I felt like my front loader washing machine didn't clean them very well. This will be interesting to see how the flats and hand-washing go.
I know, after it came in the mail I just felt so... prepared. LOL now I can wash my clothes in any circumstance!
and that's one reason I really like flats. they're only one layer so I feel they get so much cleaner in my HE front loader too. I swear that thing only uses like a cup of water! I'm interested to see if I can get them even cleaner by handwashing them. at least rinse out the detergent better!
I just read a blog post online from a cloth diaper mom who hand washed her diapers on a trip to help her parents just hit by the tornado...a similar situation to your challenge. She did the two buckets and clothes line, but one supply she mentioned that was invaluable was 2 clean plastic garbage bags. She laid these out as clean areas to lay the diapers on between stints in the buckets as she went through the wash/rinse cycles.
Just thought of it while I read your post and thought I'd pass on her suggestion. I'm so impressed with your challenge! I've never even tried flats, and here you are HANDWASHING them. You're crazy amazing!
So I have been cloth diapering a cute bum for nearly two years now and should know more about this... but, you're always the one I come to for info on this stuff even though you've been doing cloth for fewer months than me, lol.
But with flats, I know they are only one layer but do you still fold them all up with a snappi like your standard prefold?
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