Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Review & Giveaway (2 winners!) CLOSED

Jun 10,2010 / By Maria / 259 Comments

Mrs. Meyer’s makes “Clean Day” aromatherapeutic household cleaners. All products are cruelty-free, and have never been tested on animals. There are no solvents, no petroleum distillates, no bleach, no phosphates and no ingredients that could cause harsh fumes. Most of their products have a near neutral pH that makes them safe for skin contact.

Their products are also environmentally friendly. All of their liquid cleaning products are biodegradable, and the powdered products break down into “non-harmful decomposition products.”

They are middle of the road, in my opinion, as far as being “natural” goes. Here is what they have to say: We use naturally derived ingredients whenever possible from corn, sugar cane, coconut and palm. When we cannot find a plant-derived ingredient that performs to our rigorous standards, we use ingredients from the world of safe synthetics. These are materials with a long history of safety and efficacy in use for people and the environment they live in. At Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, we do our best every day to make our formulations as natural as possible without compromising freshness, and performance.

Mrs. Meyers sent me dish soap, hand soap and all purpose cleaner in the Lemon Verbena Scent.

The all purpose cleaner is to be diluted 1/4 cup to 1 gallon of water. You can also use 4 Tablespoons to a half bottle of water to make a refill for the countertop spray. The MSRP of a 32 oz concentrated bottle is $7.99.

I went off in hunt of an empty spray bottle and came home with a bottle of countertop spray!

A 32 oz, empty Rubbermaid bottle (the only one I could find other than travel size/personal care bottles) was $3.99 and out of stock. The 16 oz bottle of countertop spray was also $3.99! Easy choice.

The countertop spray is basically the all purpose cleaner, with an additional vegetable protein extract added to remove odors.

The spray is safe for all non-porous surfaces, so I suppose I technically should not be using it on my counters.

Don’t tell the granite police on me, m’kay? I think they look great!

The liquid hand soap is 12.5 ounces with an MSRP of $3.99.

It does contain sodium laureth sulfate.

I think the pump blends in nicely with my kitchen!

The soap foamed nicely, though it didn’t make big, giant bubbles. It rinsed off cleanly and easily in our soft water, something I can’t say about other soaps. Initially I thought the scent was a bit strong for my sensitive sniffer, but it mellowed out shortly after I washed my hands. The scent sticks around, but it doesn’t stay terribly strong.

I also received the dish soap in the lemon verbena scent.

I really don’t hand wash a lot of dishes. Mostly things that don’t fit in the dishwasher, can’t go in the dishwasher, or things that can’t wait for the dishwasher to be full. I washed the cake saver thingie that my son’s Birthday cake was in; it had some pretty caked on, greasy buttercream icing and fondant on it.

Just a little squirt.

Nice and clean. Rinsed easily. The lemon verbena scent actually reminds me of lemon dish soap. Hard to describe, but it is much milder and more earthy smelling then the fresh, citrusy “kitchen lemon” type scent.

Mrs. Meyers has so many more products. I smelled the Baby Blossom scent at a store and it smells heavenly! They have geranium, lavender and basil scents in all sorts of household products. I’d love to try the automatic dish packs, window spray or toilet bowl cleaner. Scrubbing toilets is bad enough; having to smell the stinky cleaner just adds insult to injury. I’d rather smell geraniums!

Interested? Find Mrs. Meyer’s products at a store near you, or shop online.

~~Or, win it. Mrs. Meyer’s is generously offering two winners Dish Soap, Hand Soap and Countertop spray in their choice of scent!~~

Here’s how to enter: You may do any or all of the below. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Please be sure your email address is in at least one of your comments if it isn’t visible in your profile.

~~1. Browse~~ ~~Mrs. Meyer’s products~~ ~~and tell me what products and scents you like best.~~

2. ~~Subscribe to my blog~~ ~~via RSS feed/feedburner.~~

~~3. “Like”~~ ~~me on Facebook~~.

~~4. “Follow”~~ ~~me on Twitter. (Anyone else humming “every breath you take, every move you make, I’ll be watchin’ you?”)~~

5. Tweet about this giveaway. One tweet per day please. Please include a link to this post. You may use this tweet if you like: Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day prize packs – 2 winners from @chgdiapers, ends 6/21 http://bit.ly/8ZWdrX

This is open to the U.S. only. I will accept entries until Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 9 P.M. Eastern. I’ll select the winners with random.org’s true random number generator and contact the winners by email. Products will be sent directly from the manufacturer.

Thank you to Mrs. Meyer’s for providing the review and giveaway products. Though I was given products at no charge for review purposes, all opinions are genuine and my own. Your opinions may vary.

Giveaway Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Happy Baby Food Winner!

Jun 10,2010 / By Maria / No Comment

The winner is orangefukurou! Congrats, I’ve emailed you!

Cloth Diapers Giveaway Made in the USA One Size Diapers Pocket Diapers Review Snap Closure WAHM made

Preston’s Pants One Size Pocket Diaper Review & Giveaway CLOSED

Jun 8,2010 / By Maria / 480 Comments

Preston’s Pants makes perfect size and one-size pocket diapers (my favorite, as you know by now!) You can get solids, prints and even embroidered designs. They come in breathable fleece, PUL, cotton prints with hidden PUL and minky.

I am of course grateful for any review diaper I receive, since I’m evaluating the fit and function, not the cuteness. I do have to admit that I was very excited when I opened the package and saw the cute cow print I had spotted on the Preston’s Pants website!

The perforated poly mailer made it that much faster to get to that fluff! I much prefer this type of mailer to the kind that requires digging out the scissors and cutting carefully.

The package came with printed care instructions. I really appreciate this, since each manufacturer/diaper maker has their own instructions. Some are pre-washed, some aren’t, some suggest line drying, some machine drying. It makes it nice and simple to see it right there with the new diaper.

The sheet also had warranty info. Yep, Colleen has an official warranty! Most WAHMs would stand behind their product if you complained, but I like that it’s official. I am leery of being a “complainer” but for some reason if the product were under warranty, I would feel less awkward about the complaint. No complaints here though!

The diaper has a care tag sewn into the pocket, and this was on the reverse. It made me laugh because cloth is an obsession! Something I didn’t know when I started out.

The snaps were evenly applied and the stitching seemed fairly even and consistent.

The diaper came with a microfiber insert and a doubler. I believe the doubler is organic cotton. They are used by stuffing them in the pocket opening, not laid on top, I just did that for the picture! My diaper has a microfleece inner, which is my preference. Preston’s Pants can also be purchased with a bamboo inner.

Here’s the diaper on the small rise setting.

Stretched:

The large rise setting:

Stretched:

The medium setting is about the same as the medium setting on a Flip.

I usually like to try diapers out a bit before I use them for a nap or car ride, but I put this diaper to the test right away. I stuffed it with the doubler and put it on my son as we were riding to the airport to pick up my husband.

Looks like he should be saying “Howdy Pardner!”

I got a good fit, and the snap configuration was very simple. Easy to put on a baby on the move.

My son wore the diaper for more than four hours with no leaking or wicking! Preston’s Pants can definitely give the “big name” pocket diapers a run for their money. The one-size pockets start at $19.95 for solid PUL; prints and embroidery are more. I love supporting WAHMs!

Want your own Preston’s Pants pocket diaper? Buy one. ~~Or, win it. Colleen at Preston’s Pants is offering a one-size pocket diaper to a lucky blog reader (Colleen picks the color.)~~

Here’s how to enter. You may do all or some of the below. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Be sure the leave your email address in at least one of your comments if it isn’t visible in your profile.

~~1. Visit~~ ~~Preston’s Pants~~ ~~and tell me what you like.~~

~~2. Follow my blog publicly.~~

~~3. “Like”~~ ~~me on Facebook~~

~~4. “Like”~~ ~~Preston’s Pants on Facebook~~

~~5. Follow~~ ~~me on Twitter~~

~~6. Follow~~ ~~Preston’s Pants on Twitter~~.

7. Tweet about this giveaway. One tweet per day. Please include @chgdiapers and @prestonspants in your tweet. You may use this tweet if you like @chgdiapers has a @prestonspants #clothdiapers #giveaway ending 6/18 http://bit.ly/d15g8g

~~8. Grab my button for your blog. Leave me a comment letting me know where I can find it.~~

I will accept entries until Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 9 P.M. Eastern. Open to the U.S. only. Winner will be chosen using random.org’s true random number generator and will be notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond.

Preston’s Pants generously provided a diaper for me to review however, the free item did not influence my review. All opinions are my own. Results may vary, blah blah.

Giveaway Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

BabyKicks Bumboo Pocket Diaper Winner

Jun 8,2010 / By Maria / 1 Comment

Congratulations to Helen! I emailed you!

I want to thank BabyKicks again for providing the diapers for the review and giveaway. Don’t forget to check out BabyKicks on Facebook and BabyKicks on Twitter!

I’m hoping to have the next diaper review/giveaway posted on Wednesday and another a few days later!

Cloth Diapers Made in the USA Pocket Diapers Review Two Size/Staged Diapers Velcro/Aplix Closure

Thirsties Duo Diaper Review

Jun 7,2010 / By Maria / 12 Comments

I have heard people mention Thirsties duo-diapers when discussing night time diapering options, and a lot of people were interested in them after browsing the site for the fab wipes giveaway. I was able to get one at my favorite online cloth diaper store for $17 and change after coupon, free shipping, and I had a few bucks in my Paypal account.

Before I forget: Check out my “Cloth 101” post at Village of Moms. Today it’s basic cloth diaper types.

So here’s the deal with the Duo Diapers: they have the snap down rise that offers 3 sizes in 1 diaper, just like many one size pocket diapers, except Thirsties come in two sizes. Size one is supposed to fit 6-18 pounds (or 0-9 months) and size two fits 18-40 pounds (or 9-36 months.)

Many one size diapers say they will fit birth through potty training, but most people find they don’t fit well until the baby is around 10 pounds, and some say they don’t fit quite through potty training. That means even if you buy one size diapers, you could potentially have to buy three sets of sizes; newborn, one-size and XL/Toddler. With Thirsties, you’d only have to buy two.

My guy is just over 17 pounds, so I chose the size two in Ocean blue.

The double leg gusset is supposed to better contain messes, but I’m not sure how I feel about PUL potentially being directly against his skin (didn’t bother him though.)

One thing I love is that the pocket is open on both sides, which means you don’t have to pull inserts out before washing, woo-hoo!

The Duo Diaper has a unique insert as well. It has a two layer microfiber terry insert snapped to a 5 layer hemp jersey insert. You stuff the diaper with the microfiber facing the baby side (inside the pocket of course!)

The size two duo diaper on the small setting

and stretched

vs a Bumgenius 3.0 on the small setting

and stretched

Thirsties duo diaper size 2 on the large setting

Stretched

vs Bumgenius 3.0 on the large setting

stretched

Overall, the Duo Diaper size 2 is just a bit larger than a Bumgenius 3.0. Here they are one on top of the other, rises unsnapped.

Too bad they can’t “cuddle” and make some diaper babies! Wouldn’t that be cute, some wee little BG/Thirsties babies? Hee hee.

The small Thirsties setting seems to fit similarly to the Bumgenius 3.0 on the medium setting.

Notice that the microfleece inner was hanging out. I didn’t find info about this happening, so I figured it might wick if it was hanging out, and I fixed it.

It’s all good in the hood, but I prefer a diaper that doesn’t require any special instructions (make sure you do this or that, don’t let the xyz hang out!) I like diapers that anyone (who can put a sposie on) can just pick up and put on.

There’s a close up of the leg opening. If the PUL touched his skin, it didn’t bother him.

The first two times we used this diaper, he wore it for around two hours as usual. The third time, I put it on him before we went to drop my daughter off at preschool. It’s about 30 minutes round trip, but while we were out, my Mom asked if we could stop by before we headed home. I told her we couldn’t stay long since I didn’t have any diapers with me.

By the time we left, he’d had the diaper on for over 2 hours, around 2 1/2 by the time we got home. He fell asleep on the way, so I took him upstairs, nursed him and snuck him in bed, thinking it wouldn’t work. Well don’t you know that my little non-napper indeed napped. By the time I changed him, he had been wearing the diaper for over 4 hours! Eek! Not only did we have no leaks, but there wasn’t a hint of redness on his tush either!

Of course now I definitely want some size 1 Duo Diapers for my non-existent newborn baby! I know that the goal of all diaper companies is to get you to buy a complete stash of just their diapers, but I’d never recommend that. Buy one and see how it goes. If you like it, buy a few more. I still wouldn’t recommend putting your stash in one “basket” so to speak. Make sure you have a variety of brand and styles. As your baby’s shape, size and wetting habits change, things may not work quite the same for you. Or, something you loved at first, you might not like so much alter. Just sayin’.

See the size 1 on my newborn.

I also have to see how the velcro holds up over time. For now, it’s great!

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