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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Cloth Diaper Challenge: Day 4 Laundry (ok, I did it yesterday)

So yesterday morning I decided realized I needed to wash the diaper liners.  Badly.  I was down to three.  THREE.  That isn't a lot in the world of pooping four month old babies.  So I got them, rinsed them in cold water (in my machine...it isn't 1965 and I refuse to do them by hand).  Then I realized...umm...I only have Costco soap (which I hate, by the way...more on that later).

To the Internets!


I googled diaper detergents.  Had a minor heart attack.  Considered calling 911 because I was sure I was going to die.  No one near me sells this stuff.  Oh my God.  Ok, so I calmed down and looked up making your own.

Oh.  Well.  There you have it.  Apparently I can use my own detergent (I have a little left of the Arm & Hammer), I just need to use only a quarter of the amount.  Ok.  So that is what I did.  I washed my liners in HOT...HOT...HOT water with 1/4 of the amount of detergent I normally use.  Then rinsed on hot twice to see if all the soap was out.  It was.  Awesome.  Then I did one last rinse on cold and line dried.  Gdiapers can be dried on low in the dryer, but line drying uses the sun to naturally bleach out stains, plus it is cheaper.  So I line dry.

Easy peasy.

I had some neighbors look at me funny.  Sure.  But who cares?  One lady asked "are those cloth diapers?"  Yup.  She looked horrified.  An elderly couple (oh...I forgot...we live in a condo) walked by and the lady was like "Oh my!  I haven't seen a cloth diaper since my kids were little!  Good for you!"  It warmed my heart to hear that.  I was happy.  Really happy.  I feel validated in my decision to cloth diaper Audrey, and that is something I can live with.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey - visiting from SITS! i saw your post on the comment list for the daily featured blogger and had to come read it. I am a few months into cloth diapers, and am still learning as well. I use regular detergent, but didn't realize you're only supposed to use 1/4 of the amount, so thanks for that tip! I also presoak in hot water with vinegar. Seems to help get out the urine smell.

Unknown said...

I lasted with cloth diapers for 6 months and then gave in to Pampers! Kudos to you for giving them a shot. I just stopped by from SITS to say hello. Hope you find time to do the same.