Washing Cloth Diapers...Easier than you thought!

I have recently had several friends who were interested in cloth diapering (yay!) and were looking for the nitty gritty of diaper laundry.  I've typed out the process and tried to add as many high points as possible, but I decided that a picture walk-through might be the best way to share some pretty vital information.

Before Wolfie was born, we were weighing disposables vs. cloth.  I read a million blogs (okay, maybe 20,) and I swear every one of them had different advice.  There was information about detergents, stink, what you can do, what you can't do.  It was a huge, boggling mountain of a task to sort through.  Then there are the types of diapers. This might not sound like a big deal, I mean how many can there be?  Well...a lot.  Prefolds, flats, pockets, fitteds, hybrids, all-in-ones, all-in-twos, hybrid fitteds...probably something else I'm forgetting.  Well, I don't plan to cover all those right now, but I do in the next blog post.  So check back.

Back to laundry.  I was warned by naysayers that my laundry was going to take a zillion hours a week and make me want to pull my hair out.  Cloth diaper manufacturers recommend a prewash, a regular wash, and an extra rinse to get any lingering ickies out.  On the diapering forums, I came across women who were doing a prewash, four regular washes, and six extra rinses, I kid you not.  I was afraid, I was very afraid. But I took the plunge anyway.  And here is my wash routine.  This won't work for everyone, but it will for most people.

Here are the most common questions I've answered recently.

1.  What do you do with dirty diapers?  Don't they stink?!
        I store them inside a trash can with a pail liner. That blue part is made from a magical waterproof material known as PUL (polyurethane laminate.)  It is completely washable and nearly completely waterproof.  I unstuff dirty diapers (I mainly use pockets) and toss them in.  Poop goes in the toilet, diaper gets a rinse in the tub, then goes in the trash can. No, it does not stink.

Inside the pail

A second view of the dirty diaper storage

 2. How do you get the diapers from the bag to the washer without getting covered in poop and pee?
      I turn the bag inside out inside the washer.  I never touch a dirty diaper.  Then, I toss the bag inside and voila.


3.  How long does it really take to wash, sort, and fold diapers?
     I calculated it today, and it took a grand total of...wait for it....less than 15 minutes.

First, I dragged my bag of dirty diapers out to the wash (15 seconds)

Then I placed them in the washer (15 seconds)

Then I added detergent.  Tide in my main wash with some Calgon, and a scoop of Biz for my prewash (30 seconds)

Then I set my machine to do all the hard work for me.  Cotton/Normal, Pre-wash, Hot water (because I like to), extra high spin, heavy soil, and extra water (10 seconds)

 So we are up to 1 minute and 10 seconds of my day that I will never get back. I kid, I kid.

Two hours later I moved them to the dryer.  Then I removed this warm, fuzzy, soft pile of diapers ready to be sorted and reused. I also line dry when it's not cold, and I'm not lazy.

Approximately half my stash.  Mostly Bumgenius 4.0

I sorted them into piles of inserts, doublers, shells, wipes, and a fitted that was in there

.  It took me 3 minutes

Then, I stuffed all of the diapers while I watched TV.  Took me 9 minutes fighting a toddler.

I store all my diapers on the changing table at the top of this post.  Everything is within grabbing distance.  Do I feel diaper laundry takes forever?  No.  If I had to drive to get disposables, I'd be driving to Target which is an hour round trip.  If I run out of cloth, two hours and I have fresh diapers. I only do my diaper laundry every third day, now that my little guy is older.  In the early days, you will probably have to do it at least every other day.  Still, that's 3-4 loads a week. 45 minutes-1 hour of your time.  Or your partner's, because they can be very good at laundry too!  

I hope this sheds some light on how simple cloth diaper washing can really be.  You can use a normal detergent, you can dry them, and they are sturdy.  Using a normal wash routine can save your sanity and the earth one diaper at a time!

For more information, check out The Cloth Diaper Compendium on Facebook.

Trash "diet"

Our family is on a trash diet. We went from the big trash can to the tiny one (the big one is our "new" recycling bin).

About two years ago we were down to one bag of trash every week, and I have no idea what happened. We cloth diaper so it's not like Wolfie has added bulk to our trash. We've been lazy about composting and sorting our trash. No more. This is bound for the compost bin.

We needed to step back and see where all this trash was coming from. So welcome back the every three days trips to Sainsbury's. Yes, I hate going to the grocery store every three days, but it dramatically cuts the waste. 

Having a teenie tiny trash can makes you analyze everything you toss, which is a great idea! 

I just mailed off a hybrid fitted today (!!!) and this was my cool mailing envelope.

Up cycled magazine pages sewn together into a mailing envelope. I'm anxiously waiting to see what type of condition it arrives in. Would anyone like a quick tutorial? Well, like or not it's happening. So check this space! 

I will let you know how the trash diet goes. Two days in, we're in high spirits, and the compost bin is filling. 

Really the only items that need to end in the trash are cooked foods and non recyclable materials. If you've never taken the time to investigate what can be recycled and composted, I urge you to look into it. Dryer lint? Throw it in the compost! Your garden will thank you!

Fabric

I'm not making outlines for these posts (yet) so I apologize if they are extremely scattered and make no sense.

So maybe today I'm not covering our regular Eco friendly practices. Instead, I want to talk about fabric.

Before I started sewing I enjoyed looking at fabric, but I never expected to become obsessed. When I took home ec in high school, I had my mom help me pick fabric since she knew what she was doing. When I decided to start my home business, it was initially extremely important to me to find organic fabrics with environmentally friendly inks. I really had no idea how difficult they would be to find or how expensive they would be. If I were making items that required solid colors or basic cotton prints, I would be golden.  However, most of the items I make, particularly diapers, need to be made from fabric with a good stretch. I recently bought some fabric that was $27 a yard. To put that in perspective, some basic cottons are $3 a yard. I can usually make three large diapers from a yard, so you can imagine how expensive that is. So after I realized the startup expense was going to be astronomical for my business, I decided to buy some traditionally made fabrics and save money. And my conscience was eating me alive. 

I am very happy to announce that all of my new purchases are certified organic, and they are all printed in responsible ways. The downside is that most of them also fade to a certain extent. Actually, I think that's a positive because I personally enjoy the vintage look of a slightly faded fabric. A good friend gave me some great advice, make what you like because someone else out there is bound to like it too. (Major paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) 

So that leads me back to my starting point. I am obsessed with fabrics now. Today I discovered a designer called Lillestoff, and I am in love. Here's a small sampling

Bought a meter of this one

All are GOTS certified organic cotton knits. I want them allllll!

The second part of fabric shopping that is hard online is needing to feel it. I don't know why, but I feel fabric before I decide if I like the print (in real life shopping, obviously). I'm the kind of girl who needs Egyptian Cotton, high thread count sheets, and texture has always been really important. Ask my mom about socks when I was a preschooler. 

So now you know, I'm a fabric addict. 

Finally getting started!

I've been planning to start this blog for quite some time.  Eeko Designs has taken off, and I am extremely excited to see where the next year is going to take me.  I will also admit that I am extremely nervous simultaneously.  I wear my heart on my sleeve.

So today I made a set of unpaper towels that I do really love.

Right as I finished I thought "Why didn't I take pictures of this process so I could share a tutorial?"  Well, I don't know.  So the next set I will.  I am also planning to do lots more of these Nintendo prints because they are way too fabulous!

When I first started my degree program (the meat of it anyway) 3 years ago, I started to become really passionate about limiting my impact on the environment.  Two of the first steps I took were to become a vegetarian and begin composting.  Unfortunately, I quit both of them during my pregnancy with Wolfgang.  I replaced vegetarianism with only eating free range and organic meat.  Composting was just not replaced.  This week I decided to have more meat-free days and to start composting again.  I do think it takes a little bit more time to be mindful about our food impact on the environment, and sometimes I am tired and come up with other excuses for not making that effort.  Because I find being mindful of my impact fulfilling, I really need to start making a better effort consistently.  So that's my goal for this month.

I think that is sufficient for a first post, so tomorrow I will cover the eco friendly practices that we are really good at doing every single day.