I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!
Yup.
There is.
And it is a ton of fun...
Errr......
Well it isn't horrible.
In fact, I'm pretty confident I'll have less arm fat wiggle by the end of the week!
Oh. I do the dirty well. And by hand!
Get your mind out of the gutter. I do the dirty diaper laundry. As in wash them. Duh. Sheesh.
How?
First I should state that I do this at night while Turtle-Love is asleep or entertained by our family that we live with.
I should also mention I'm not allowed to use hot water to wash the diapers because I wash right after/during/right before someone being in the shower for the night.
And I like in a house full of cloth diaper haters.
Yup. Haters gon' hate.
That's three adults - all of which are mothers, against me. My husband is pro-cloth but not feeling my handwashing duties at this time, because the challenge coinsides with "moving week". Which I completely understand.
Moving on...
To wash our diapers I...
•Rinse all diapers in luke warm water making sure to scrub any stains with a little soap.
Oh, I wash with blue Dawn.
•I do a preliminary wash with the soap applied to the stains and minimal aggitation effort
•Allow soaking
Usually at this time I am needed to assist with some household duty, or need to nurse Turtle-Love.
•Aggitate and then drain the water and wring out the flats and squeeze the covers
•Add a less than pea sized amount to each flat and work it in, scrubbing any stains well
•Aggitate them individually, as a group, repeat repeat repeat
•Add in a few scrubs per flat, specially addressing the stains
This part takes a while. It just does, I want to make sure they are clean. CLEAN clean.
•Drain the water, wring the flats
•Plug and add more water using teh water to rinse the flats as the sink fills
•Continue with the aggitating process
This is as much a second wash cycle as it is a cycle to remove some of the suds.
•Repeat
•Repeat
At this point almost all of the bubbles are gone.
•Fill sink one more time
•Aggitate each flat individually while dunking and swishing to ensure all suds are gone
•Rinse and wring each flat
•Hang to dry on teh rack
DONE!
I know it seems like a lot. It really isn't, it is just a lot to explain.
In the morning the flats are mostly dry. They are definitely dry when I get home from work. I snap and russle each one before folding it origami style and putting it in the diaper bag or setting it out for use.
This is a picture of our flats and covers soaking. For the third time because my arms were too tired... So I decided they needed a little extra soak here and there...
Also here is a picture of Turtle-Love eating pizza in bed in his flat and Thirsties cover. Life is hard!
Check out what the other bloggers participating in the challenge think of handwashing!
You mean there is handwashing in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge?!
Yup.
There is.
And it is a ton of fun...
Errr......
Well it isn't horrible.
In fact, I'm pretty confident I'll have less arm fat wiggle by the end of the week!
So, how do I, you know, do the dirty?
Oh. I do the dirty well. And by hand!
Get your mind out of the gutter. I do the dirty diaper laundry. As in wash them. Duh. Sheesh.
How?
First I should state that I do this at night while Turtle-Love is asleep or entertained by our family that we live with.
I should also mention I'm not allowed to use hot water to wash the diapers because I wash right after/during/right before someone being in the shower for the night.
And I like in a house full of cloth diaper haters.
Yup. Haters gon' hate.
That's three adults - all of which are mothers, against me. My husband is pro-cloth but not feeling my handwashing duties at this time, because the challenge coinsides with "moving week". Which I completely understand.
Moving on...
To wash our diapers I...
•Rinse all diapers in luke warm water making sure to scrub any stains with a little soap.
Oh, I wash with blue Dawn.
•I do a preliminary wash with the soap applied to the stains and minimal aggitation effort
•Allow soaking
Usually at this time I am needed to assist with some household duty, or need to nurse Turtle-Love.
•Aggitate and then drain the water and wring out the flats and squeeze the covers
•Add a less than pea sized amount to each flat and work it in, scrubbing any stains well
•Aggitate them individually, as a group, repeat repeat repeat
•Add in a few scrubs per flat, specially addressing the stains
This part takes a while. It just does, I want to make sure they are clean. CLEAN clean.
•Drain the water, wring the flats
•Plug and add more water using teh water to rinse the flats as the sink fills
•Continue with the aggitating process
This is as much a second wash cycle as it is a cycle to remove some of the suds.
•Repeat
•Repeat
At this point almost all of the bubbles are gone.
•Fill sink one more time
•Aggitate each flat individually while dunking and swishing to ensure all suds are gone
•Rinse and wring each flat
•Hang to dry on teh rack
DONE!
I know it seems like a lot. It really isn't, it is just a lot to explain.
In the morning the flats are mostly dry. They are definitely dry when I get home from work. I snap and russle each one before folding it origami style and putting it in the diaper bag or setting it out for use.
This is a picture of our flats and covers soaking. For the third time because my arms were too tired... So I decided they needed a little extra soak here and there...
Also here is a picture of Turtle-Love eating pizza in bed in his flat and Thirsties cover. Life is hard!
Check out what the other bloggers participating in the challenge think of handwashing!
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