Cloth Diapers

Go with the flow

>The best piece of advice I could give for getting started with cloth is to go with the flow. 

People who know me well know how unlike me that really is.  I wish I were easygoing, but I’m just not.  I have to have everything planned, figured out, all scenarios worked through in my head.  It’s only been in recent years that I’ve accepted that I’m wound a little bit tightly and that’s OK.

When I thought about starting cloth, I wanted to know exactly what brand to buy, how many,  and how often I would wash.  I wanted to wash, dry, stuff, fold and put away.  I wanted to have some upstairs and some downstairs.  A pail up and a pail down.  Everything neat and in order.  I wanted a stash in the diaper bag at all times.  Now, I just grab a couple as we’re leaving, depending on how long we’ll be gone, and go with it.  I needed to know exactly what my washing routine would be.  Now, I vary it based on whether they are wet or dirty, how many there are, whether they’re stinky and so forth.

As I’ve been trying new things, my initial intent was to figure out what brand I wanted to stock up on.  I’ve managed to loosen up and take a different approach.  Instead, I am just trying new things and figuring out what I like best.  If there’s something I really like, I will choose that brand if I have a few bucks to spend on diapers, or if there’s a really good sale.  If it’s not my favorite, it will be at the bottom of the pile, in essence a “laundry day” diaper.

While I was expecting my first child, I was worrying about the teenage years, college and weddings.  So when I was thinking about cloth diapering, I was worrying about solid foods and potty training.   I’m working on a post about solid foods and cloth diapers now, but again, right now I am just doing what works for us.

We’re actually using our laundry room as a “diaper pail” right now, either throwing the diapers directly into the washer, or putting them in the utility sink if I am doing other laundry.  If we change one upstairs (usually just one or two a day up there) we just carry it down.  Definitely NOT what my little organized mind wants, but it’s working for us!

I am really proud of myself for being able to stick with what works for us right now & not worrying too much about tomorrow.

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Cloth Diapers

Biokleen Bac Out

>I had noticed that some of my diapers, specifically the BumGenius, had a stinky smell to them.  It seems that “microfiber stink” is fairly common, but the stink I was experiencing wasn’t an ammonia or urine smell, it’s more of a musty, wet towel smell.

Enter Biokleen Bac Out Stain & Odor eliminator.

biokleen bac out

I had read up on it online and found it at my local organic market.  It was $7.99 plus tax for a 32 oz concentrated bottle.  The same size bottle without the sprayer was $1.00 less.

Here is the info as listed on the container:

Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator
with Live Enzyme Cultures:
It seems everyone has a Bac-Out story. Bac-Out’s live enzyme-producing cultures attack pet, food and beverage stains, organic waste, and odors until they are gone, digesting them back to nature, safely and naturally. Bac-Out is safe to use around children and pets, even birds.
• Lime Peel Extract cleaning power
• Destroys the toughest odors so they are gone for good
• Excellent for mold and mildew
• Preferred by commercial carpet cleaners nationwide
It seemed a little spendy, but it is a concentrated bottle and it foams when you spray it.  I wish I could capture that in a photo, but I haven’t been able to.  I figured if it saved my inserts from stink, it would be well worth it, being cheaper than new inserts!
I sprayed each diaper and insert quite liberally and used a good bit of the bottle. 

I didn’t initially realize that I was supposed to soak the diapers after spraying, I washed them right away.  The spray smelled wonderful, a fresh, lime scent, and left the diapers simply smelling clean.

I even sprayed the washing machine itself, hoping it might help with some of the mustiness I’ve noticed.
I’ve got my shower curtain liner soaking now, and I hear it is great for pet odors.  I had used Odo Ban for pet odors in the past, but I’m not a big fan of the eucalyptus scent.

I have to wait & see if it does the trick on the diapers!

Edit August 2010: As of today, the only thing I’ve found that truly takes the ammonia smell out of my microfiber inserts is a dab of bleach.

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Yippee!!!

>I did some looking and found that Diaper Junction had the Lil Monsters Rumparooz diaper I wanted.  Even better, they had it in the velcro closure, it was $4.50 cheaper and shipping was only $2.05!  I also signed up for their newsletter and got an additional 10% off, yay!  I had some $ in my paypal account to pay for it.

I went ahead and ordered the Rumparooz with snaps in kangaroo print, along with the Planet Wise wet bags I wanted from Kelly’s closet.

I found an authorized retailer on Ebay who is selling the Planet Wise wipe pouch I wanted.  Normal price and free shipping.  I’m “watching” it and I really want to buy it before I can’t find it anywhere!

I’m excited since I will have a total of 15 diapers (if I’m counting correctly) which means I will only have to wash once per day!  The wet bags etc should make things a bit neater & simpler now as well!

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Cloth Diapers Detergents

Lil Outlaws Detergent

>One of the moms from one of my cloth diaper groups owns lil’ outlaws.  She makes/sells diaper safe laundry detergent, cloth wipe solution concentrate, cloth safe diaper cream and more.

She honored my special request and packed my order with smaller portions of five different scents of detergent!  I chose baby bee, butt naked, baby powder fresh, laundromat and midsummer’s night. 

My order got here today and the package made my house deliciously smelly before I’d even opened it.  The scents all smell great, though they are very strong smelling in their bags.  They smell heavenly in the washer & after washing though (the smell makes my whole laundry room smell great).  I got the normal strength scent but she also offers heavy, extra heavy, light & extra light.  I’ve had a bit of a headache this evening from all the new smells, but from my experience with the last bag, the scent will mellow a bit after the bag has been open a while.  I actually suggest that if you “stock up” when you order, store the bags in a closet or drawer that needs some freshening, the bag will do duty as an air freshener until you’re ready to use it!

I used the butt naked on diapers tonight, it is fruity & clean smelling.  I don’t know what it reminds me of. 

She recommends 1/2-1T for a load in an HE washer.  I washed my hubby’s coats in the midsummer’s night & used more than I needed to make them smell extra good.  There is no soap or suds so there’s no risk to your laundry or your washer by using more!  It smells just like the Yankee Candle scent.

The last detergent I bought (Giggles, smells just like Johnson’s buddies body wash) is actually only maybe half finished and I’ve been using it for about 6 weeks. I just couldn’t resist some new scents!  I also would like to switch over to using lil’ outlaws on ALL of my laundry.  I want to see how it does, but I think it would be much better for our clothes, our skin, our washer and our septic system than the sudsy, chemical laden, gummy liquid kind!

The scent on clothing is very faint after washing/drying (we have soft water AND a water softener) but to me that is good, since you can enjoy the scent you like without worrying about smelling like you bathed in muffins, hee.  I did notice that some scents are stronger than others.

When I put a more in with my hubby’s coats though, the smell was noticeable & wonderful, though everything gets clean with much less.  If you want the smell to stick around more, choose heavy or extra heavy scent.  I would, but I don’t know if my nose could take the initial smelliness!**

I’m already making my list of scents for my next order.  Lemon, Amazing Grace, Rice Flower & Shea and Winter Candy Apple.  This yummy detergent sure makes laundry more enjoyable!  Once I find a favorite scent, I plan to figure out what strength works best for that particular scent and stick with it.  However, the scents are so tempting, I probably will keep wanting to try them all!!

I still really want to try her wipes solution, rump rub and pail pardner.  I’m not sure what the pail pardner comes packaged in.  I guess you could put it in a baby powder shaker?  I could definitely see that turning into a giant mess with little ones around though!  I do think I’ll wait until I find a favorite scent before I order that, although I will probably end up choosing baby powder for upstairs and lemon or midsummer’s night for downstairs!

P.S. Jacklen also offers Gift Certificates!  If you are having buildup, repelling or stink issues, or if you have sensitivity issues and have tried other “green” or “homemade” products, to no avail, please give lil’ outlaws a try!  You won’t regret it!!

Edit August 2010: This stopped working for me for some reason, I don’t know if the makeup of my water changed or what!

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Dear Santa,

>Dear Santa,

I’ve been a very good girl this year.  I won’t elaborate since you see me when I’m not sleeping and you know when I’m awake rocking someone or tucking someone else in!  As such, I am going to go crazy with my wish list.  Hee hee.

First and foremost, I would like more diapers, so I don’t have to wash twice per day anymore!

I have one Blueberry Minky one size diaper in blue latte, but there are so many other styles and patterns I’d like to try!  The Blueberry One-Size Minky Bamboo Velour has a bamboo/organic cotton inner instead of microfleece.  Then there’s the Blueberry One Size Bamboo Velour Diaper.  Lastly, there’s the Blueberry Deluxe One Size Diaper in snaps and hook & loop.  Microfleece wicks moisture away from baby’s skin, but it is man made, and some babies can be sensitive to it.

Some come in snaps only and others come in snaps or hook and loop (velcro applix).  Generally speaking, I prefer velcro for ease of diapering and adjustability, but Blueberry’s velcro is apparently super strength!  I have such a hard time getting the tabs off of the laundry tabs, I think the laundry tabs may just rip right off.  However, I would not complain if Santa brought velcro!

The prints I love are:

Blue on Chocolate
Blue/Yellow Dots
Lemon Lime
Blue Pop
Sage on Chocolate
Mint Patties
Winter Sage

My favorites are Sage on Chocolate and Lemon Lime.  I try to choose gender neutral prints but I gravitate towards cute boy stuff!  I don’t think any of these are too boyish for a girl, but I’m sure if we ever cloth diaper a girl, I will want to buy all the cute, pink & ruffly cloth diapers too.   Eek now I’m feeling kind of guilty for not CDing my daughter.

I love the monkey print velcro diaper I have.  I would love to try one with snaps, as well as other prints in the velcro.

The monkey print on the left is what I have and love.  My daughter loves it too, she doesn’t want me to change her brother when he’s wearing it!  The peace bears print on the right is the one I’d most love to have!
 
I think the blue hibscus is adorable and would be great for a boy or a girl.

Of course, I’m a sucker for a cute print, so I like them all!

I am really anxious to try Rumparooz.  My favorites are the Lil Monster and kangaroos, but all of the colors and prints are cute!
There are also several accessories I’d love to have
I am definitely wishing for a BumGenius Diaper Sprayer.  We’ve just started solids and I’m scared.  Heh.  I was scared of some of my daughter’s solid food eating dipes, and she wore sposies!

I have a single, small Planet Wise wet bag, but I am coveting several more types.

Why Planet Wise?  First off, they are PVC free and lead free.  Did you know most zippers are painted with lead containing paint?  Scary!  The bags come in awesome prints and are incredibly functional.  They have a locking zipper and hidden/sealed seams for no wicking.  They can be washed & dried with your diapers, though I hang mine dry, as I also do with my PUL diapers.  You can even use the wet/dry bags or large wet bags as a hanging diaper pail. 

Planet Wise is family owned and has very family friendly employee practices.  Not only do their products replace their disposable counterparts, their packaging is recycled/recycleable, and uses soy based ink.  When your children are no longer in diapers, you can use the bags to transport wet bathing suits, dirty laundry, even use them to separate shoes or toiletries from the rest of your suitcase when traveling.  I’m guilty of using plastic bags for all of these things!

The wet/dry bag would be excellent for storing multiple diapers when we are going to be away from home for more than a few hours.
I like the Geometric Studio
Black Curly Q
and aqua swirl.
I’d also like some medium wet bags for the diaper bag, and a couple of large wet bags to use for after rinsing dirty diapers.  The small bag fits two dirty one-size pockets, but it’s a little snug.  The mediums would be a little easier for more than 1 I think. 
I like the blue vista
Black Curly Q
and aqua swirl
I’d also love to have the cloth wipes/pouch and a small squirt bottle for wipes solution in the diaper bag.  I love that you can actually pre-moisten the wipes to take with you, and the bag won’t leak or wick!
This is a little off topic but they have this little mini wet dry bag.  How awesome is that.  Very discreet for using mama cloth when out and about.  I’ve heard ladies say they use small wet bags in their bathrooms as well.

I haven’t decided if I want to use a diaper pail or not, but I wouldn’t mind a large liner to try out.  I’m interested in one with a drawstring so I can see if it would work in the Diaper Dekor pails I have.

I would like some Thayer’s Alcohol Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel to use in my wipes solution.  It is extra soothing to little bums, and can help preserve wipes solution as well.

I’d also like another tube of Grandma El’s diaper rash remedy to keep upstairs.
We don’t have a chimney, and Santa probably doesn’t like Almond Milk, so I’ll hang onto this wish list just in case I win the lottery.  😀  You know, so I don’t have to waste any time deciding what to spend the money on.  Hee hee.
All images used with permission.
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