the routine

it's been two days now, and I'm still perfecting my routine. we'll see how things evolve as the week goes by. this is the general routine, though, all done during nap time.

I've been using one of my five gallon buckets as my diaper pail because it just seems easier that way. I normally use a large hanging wet bag to store the dirties, but I didn't feel like adding an extra thing to wash. so once pj is napping, I take the bucket full of dirty diapers down stairs and I fill it with some water. today I let them soak with oxi-clean for about 45 minutes while I ate lunch.

I don't think my next step is necessary, but it makes me feel better about things. I boil two stock pots full of water and then dump them in the other five gallon bucket. I just do this while my diapers are soaking. this is my wash water. I add my detergent and start plunging away at my diapers, two at a time, for about a minute. (sixty plunges, to be exact.) since the water is literally boiling hot, I use a long wooden spoon to fish them out and put them in a large plastic bowl to await the rinse cycle.

once everything is washed, I fill up both buckets with more water. this time I plunge the diapers for thirty seconds in one bucket, then thirty seconds in another. if I feel like there is still detergent in the diapers, I do it again in more fresh water.

once fully rinsed, I wring the heck out of those things. I definitely learned my lesson. I twist those suckers dry and then twist 'em again!

then they go on the drying rack.

I had to put monday's not-quite-dry diapers out on the line so I would have room for yesterday's diapers. as I was hanging them up it started raining just a little bit. at least the clothesline is covered by the party patio.

luckily the sun came out.

so they were able to get some sunshine + fresh air. just what every diaper needs in life.

the lessons I've learned

{image via}

I wish this was the scene from my line drying experience yesterday. unfortunately my backyard is not as cool, nor is it as sunny. (what a dream it would be to live right there and have that clothesline!) the on and off rainy weather has forced me to line dry my diapers on a drying rack in my basement bathroom.

lesson number one: line drying outside on your clothesline is way better than drying in your basement on a drying rack. especially since the wooden drying rack left funny little brown stains where it was hung over the bar. and not to mention they're still not dry.

real lesson number one: wring out the wet diapers better!! I didn't wring them out too well and the dry time is reflecting that. after the spin cycle in my washing machine they will line dry in like twenty minutes. it's been nine hours now and some of the thicker flats are still pretty wet.

the overall process of washing my diapers went better than expected. it wasn't hard and it definitely took less time than doing it in my machine. the kicker is that it's all hands-on time. still not hard, though.

lesson number two: don't be afraid to handwash diapers when necessary.

old school is the new cool

{pj rockin' his new ikea flats, sans cover}

I love telling people how far cloth diapering has come. that modern cloth diapering is nothing like your grandma's cloth diaper. but the most ironic thing about it is that my favorite cloth diapering system is as old school as you can get. flats + wool.

so as crazy as it sounds, I'm going to be taking one more step in the old school direction next week by committing to the flats and handwashing challenge* hosted by dirtydiaperlaundry.com. yep, that's right, for the week of may 23rd through the 30th I will be handwashing my diapers. crazy? yes, a little. but I'm excited to try!

here are a few of the rules:

You MUST use Flats.

You MUST handwash them. How is up to you. (bathtub, sink, large wash tub, portable non electronic washing machine, or camp style washer (bucket and plunger- think churning butter)

You MUST air dry them. (indoors or outdoors, makes no difference)

You MUST limit your number of covers in rotation to 5 or less.

You can use any detergent you want. (Keep in mind that you still want cloth safe detergents)

You can still use your nighttime diapers but I ask that you try to make flats work. Maybe try a prefold wrapped in a flat.

You can use disposable liners.

You CAN’T use a diaper sprayer. I thought long and hard about this one, but at an average cost of 40.00 this is one diaper accessory that is out of range for many families. Dunk, swish, flush, or scrape!

{image via}

okay, I'm good with using flats. I use them almost exclusively anyway. (yes, even over my more "high-tech" diapers) and line drying? no problem. I try to do that weather permitting already. but no diaper sprayer?? I am in love with that thing! but I'm a big girl, I can handle the dunk + swish for a week (because honestly, it's really not that bad. I swear!) but I do have to say I will miss spritzing my dipes...

I'll be blogging about it all, so you won't miss a thing. don't worry! I'll also go into a little more detail on why I choose (and love!) cloth diapering my son as well as some general cloth diapering info, because people have been curious. so get ready for some fluff people!!

::check out why other mammas are joining the challenge::

*recently I have read news articles about low-income families reusing disposable diapers because they cannot afford to buy more. scraping out poop and putting a soiled diaper back on a child is such a huge health risk! now I know that in some circumstances cloth diapers aren't realistic for a low-income family due to a myriad of reasons, but I wanted to see for myself how realistic it would be for me to handwash my diapers. because I know if it came down to it, I would rather handwash diapers every night than use disposable diapers on my son for a prolonged amount of time. it is that important to me. I am also doing this so I know how to handwash the cloth so I would feel comfortable doing it in an emergency situation. plus, I just like a challenge!

the great cloth diaper change

photo + news article here.

on saturday, april 23rd a world record was set and my son's cute bum was a part of it. (as you can see in the photo above) the great cloth diaper change was a worldwide effort to change the most amount of bums into a cloth diaper at the same time, via the guinness book of world records. below are the (unofficial, for now) stats from the GCDC:

157 hosts have reported 4928 participants so far!

Australia: 3
Canada: 668
Germany: 26
Spain: 17
Switzerland: 13
United States: 4201

I love that the event is bringing awareness to modern cloth diapering. they really are nothing like your grandma's (or even mom's!) cloth diaper. it's a whole new world of cute, functional, easy, healthy for the bum+earth fluff! and I am so happy to be a part of it.

it's here! it's finally here!!

{the sprayer, via bumgenius}

I can't wait until my son poops. seriously so excited about it. see, ever since we've started solids I've had to do the dunk and swirl in the toilet. not so bad if it's only once a day, really. I can deal. but oh my how much nicer it will be with the diaper sprayer! I don't think I've ever been this excited for someone's poop before. I must be a true cloth diaper mamma.

in fact, I think I want to sneak into the bathroom right now to give it a whirl, just for fun.

oh how I love my little man in the fluff.