Author Archives: Maria

Maria is an aspiring "fit mom" of 3 children, writing about cloth diapers, going green, and her life as a single mom. Maria works with many companies within the cloth diaper industry and beyond, providing social media management, product development, and other services.
Cloth Diapering Inserts Stink Stripping Washing

Not that kind of stripping

>Well. I’d hoped that since I’ve been using Lil Outlaws detergent and cloth safe diaper cream, I wouldn’t have to strip my diapers.  I’ve finally succumbed to the microfiber stink!  They weren’t particularly offensive, just rather musty smelling.  This particular smell appears to be very common with BumGenius diapers.

To strip diapers, you use the classic blue dawn, or plain ivory dish soap, suds the diapers up, then rinse until there are no more suds.  This can be a lot of rinsing, so I did only 5-7 at a time, since I only have 15.

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Detergents WAHM made

Another Addiction

>Well, cloth diapering is addictive enough.  Throw in Lil Outlaws‘ great products and delicious scents, and the case is closed.  I’m addicted.

I had been spending an unhealthy amount of time looking at all the fragrance descriptions already, and when I found out that there was a Buy 4, Get 4 Free Sale on the detergent, I really wanted to buy.  The sale ran only through December 31st, and she warned that her prices would go up in 2010.  So, I bit.

I have a really hard time choosing scents, but I’m loving everything that I’ve chosen.  I prefer powdery florals or light, clean scents.

Here’s what I chose:

2 Baby Bee A fragrance cocktail of luscious fruits such as peaches, mandarin oranges, coconut pulp, bergamot, grapefruit, tropical guava, and tangy lemons.  I like baby clothes to smell baby-ish and this was the only baby scent she had available at the time. Butt Naked is my favorite.

Biolage Matrix top notes of forest fresh green leaves and lemon zests, and well rounded with fruity notes of peaches, apples, and pineapples. A very fresh fragrance that will entice and energize your day. (similar to the shampoo)

Quince A duplicate of the Henri Bendel* fragrance, this fragrance is a light amber woody accord with a splash of fruit and nuance of green.

Yacht Club Want to go yacht sailing on the ocean on a mid summer morning? A fragrance reminiscent of upscale living with salty marine notes and fresh rain, with just a hint of fresh strawberry and kiwi to provide this scent with a well-rounded presentation.

Lotus Blossom The lotus flower is a symbol of beauty, purity, and fertility. Lotus flowers are water-fresh, clean, and slightly powdery in nature. Not too sweet, absolutely perfect! Even people who do not like florals will love this aroma!

Lemon EO

Rice Flower & Shea A very light scent. This duplicate of the BBW* fragrance is a rich bouquet of fruits and flowers on an intense, alluring base of musk and creamy vanilla notes.

I actually didn’t get the Rice Flower & Shea but I contacted Jacklen and she is sending a replacement out to make up for the mix-up.

The scents I’ve tried previously are Baby Bee, Baby Powder, Butt Naked, Giggles, Midsummer’s Night and Laundromat.

All the scents are fabulous, but I found myself sniffing the Quince, Lotus Blossom and Yacht club over and over.  Lotus Blossom and Yacht Club are definitely my new favorites.  My typical M.O. is to “save the best for last” but I went ahead and cracked open the Yacht Club so I wouldn’t be tempted to use too much to zip through it and get to my favorites.  LOL!

I had an empty 4 quart oxo pop container, and I stuck 4 bags in it to contain the smell and keep the bags neat.  The detergent is typically sent in a heat sealed bag with a printed label, but this time it came in ziploc bags with the scent written in sharpie.  She was really busy with the big sale of course!

I would like to get some .9 Qt containers to keep the detergent in, like the ones I use for my baking stuff, but they’re a little pricey.
For now, I have the opened bags in ziploc containers.

Uh, yeah.  I may also have a little label maker addiction.
I also learned something about Lil Outlaws.  I am of course a numbers gal, so I had figured out the cost per load and how long each bag would last, based on the assertion that each package contained 70 loads of 1 Tablespoon each.  I was figuring there should be 4 3/8 cups, or just over 1 Qt in each bag.  I was confused when I realized there was only about 3 1/2 cups in a bag.

So, I asked and found out that Jacklen does it by weight.  She figured that each load weighs .45 oz, or 31.5 oz for a batch.  She always puts at least 2 pounds in a bag, but sometimes puts more, therefore each bag may have a slightly different amount.

It immediately all became clear.  “Product sold by weight, not volume.  Contents may have settled during shipping.”  Sound familiar?  I think we’ve all gotten a half empty box of cereal before!  I have no idea why it didn’t occur to me before.  In fact, I’ll bet if I measured the same 1 Tablespoon, it would be considerably heavier for me, after being packed and shipped, than it was for Jacklen when she weighed it right after mixing.  So that accounts for the difference in volume and assures me that I could use less and still get the same cleaning power.  Shew.

Here is a video that’s more food related, but shows why you should weigh, not measure, your food if you’re watching your calorie intake.

Anyhoo, now that the mystery is solved, I can drool over the other Lil Outlaws scents.  I really want to try the “Rump Solution” for my wipes, but I still have about half of the Booty Cubes I bought.  One cube makes 1 cup of solution, and that 1 cup in a spray bottle lasts me 1-2 weeks.  Argh.  Cost effective, yes, but I’ll never get through it!

Here are the other scents I think sounds scrumptious (though I’m not typically into fruity stuff!)

Amazing Grace – A feminine fragrance that will make you feel pretty…oh so pretty! Italian bergamot and sparkling lemon are sweetened with freshly picked citron and neroli. A white floral jasmine, orange blossom and rose are blended with sheer musk and cedarwood.

Blackened Amethyst – A seductive fragrance created for chic, confident women who like to “live a little”. This fragrance combines aquatic top notes with Italian bergamot, rare camellias, and lime; followed by notes of exotic sandalwood and vetiver.

Pink Lime – Top notes of lime, dewfruit, peach, orange, apple, and mandarin blend with middle notes of lily, berries, jasmine, and lavender into a sandalwood, raspberry vanilla, musk, coconut base.

Pink Sugar – Lively floral with top notes of bergamot, orange, strawberry and licorice. The heart blends red fruit, lily of the valley, fig leaves and soft powder notes. The base is a cotton candy, vanilla, caramel, musk and woody blend.

When I eventually get the rump solution, I’ll probably stick to butt naked, oatmeal milk & honey and baby powder.

Other scents that aren’t in stock now, but caught my eye before are moonlight path, winter candy apple, pink watermelon, white tea & ginger, white nectarine & pink coral, and nectarine mint.

You can’t waffle around on this because if a scent is in stock now, it might be sold out when you check again in an hour.  It makes it fun to try new things, but also frustrating sometimes.  She is offering fragrance sniffies now, but by the time you decide, it will probably be out of stock!

The good thing is that since shipping is included, you can order one bag here and there as scents you like come in stock.  I’m sure my husband would kill me if I bought any more though.  Hee hee.

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Cloth Diapers One Size Diapers Pocket Diapers Snap Closure

Rumparooz with snaps

>I’ve tried a few diapers with snaps and velcro is still my preference.

I like that snap diapers seem to look new longer, no snagging & diaper chaining either. I also hear that although you may have to replace a snap or two at some point, you will have to replace velcro, no question. However, I think I could handle sewing some velcro on, I don’t have a snap press or pliers to do snaps though! People also say snaps are harder for their toddler streaker wannabe to undo.

This Rumparooz diaper has a cute kangaroo print (my daughter still thinks they are dinosaurs!) and I chose the snap option.

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It’s fine. Other than the snaps, it’s exactly like the other Rumprooz I have. The snaps do take an extra few seconds to do, and you can’t get quite the custom fit that you can with velcro.

For now, I think I’d continue to choose velcro over snaps. Not sure if that will change later!

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Cloth Diapers Detergents

A new year and a little recap

>

I’ve been cloth diapering now for around 12 weeks.

I’ve done a lot of boring estimations and calculations.  The conclusion is that the diapers I’ve purchased have paid for themselves.  That includes all money I’ve spent as well as gifts and gift certificates.

Money isn’t why I switched to cloth, but it sure doesn’t hurt.  Also consider that with disposables, that money would be in the landfill.  With cloth, I could stop cloth diapering tomorrow and be able to make a decent amount of my money back by selling the diapers, or at the very least, pass them on to someone else.

I know that the devil’s advocates will have something to say about the cost of washing the diapers.  The lil outlaws detergent I’ve been using doesn’t cost any more than a decent “baby” detergent, and in fact costs considerably less when taking advantage of Jacklen’s sales.  We have well water, therefore there is no cost for the water.  I have an HE washer, so there isn’t much hot water used.  I hang diapers to dry and the inserts take no time to dry in the dryer.  I’ve noticed no change in my electric bill. Often, I’ll go ahead and throw my son’s clothes in with the diapers also, making it even more efficient.

The real reason I switched was for my son’s health.  Since cloth diapering, his bottom is totally clear.  He gets a tiny bit of redness when he dirties his diaper, even when changed immediately.  A thin layer of Grandma El’s and he’s good as new by the next diaper change.

My son wore a disposable diaper for a few hours one day and literally had raised, red welts on his bottom.  I actually love cloth diapering, but even if it were tons of work and very expensive, I’d still do it!

Saving a good $3 per day doesn’t hurt either!

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Handmade Items Toys WAHM made

Cloth doll diapers

>It’s not that difficult to find cheap, single layer flannel doll diapers, like the ones that come with American Girl Bitty Baby.

However, I’ve been suckered into buying my daughter a Baby Alive Whoopsie Doo Doll for her birthday next month.  I never intended to buy the baby alive diapers at over a buck a pop, but the preemie size disposables aren’t looking that attrative to me either.  Not just because I’m sure she will go through a pack the first day she has it, but it’s environmentally irresponsible and just not something I want to do.

Anyway, there are some sellers on Hyenacart that have really cute doll diapers.  They are much cuter and better made than the aforementioned American Girl diapers, but still only typically have two layers, and won’t hold up to a heavy wetting baby doll.

The maker of Heartland Dreams diapers offers doll diapers made by her 12 year old daughter, and said she could do a diaper with added material to make it a bit absorbent.  At $4 each, a handful of them would be a much better investment than sposies anyway!

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