Well, we did it. We are now officially going to cloth diapers. We found a great company, with a fabulous package of diapers and covers, and we ordered them Friday. They arrived last night when my hot UPS man knocked on my door. He brought them inside as it was still raining.
We checked the order, and set up Captain Chaos' new Alphabet/Number Interlocking mat that his Grandmother (MIL) sent him for his birthday. It's pretty cool...all bright colors, and its that thick foamy stuff that they use for the fancy mats in workshops and at Costco. He loves it and has been walking around with letters in his hands (they come out of their squares) saying "E-I-E" and is actually recognizing about 1/2 of the letters! I am so impressed with my son...I could brag for hours...but that's not what this post is supposed to be about.
After setting up the mat for the boy, to keep him occupied, we unpacked the box, found that all but one item was there, and I read up on the instructions for their system. Not too difficult, and the diapers only have to be washed twice before we use them which is not bad, as some reviews from other company sites talked about washing them 5 - 6 times...YIKES! At any rate, I now know how to wash my cloth diapers, the wraps/covers, and am in the process of finishing the last load of regular laundry so I can use the washer to wash the new diapers. Of course, I made the decision to open the large box of disposable, rather than getting a small package, and now have 3/4 of a box of diapers to use up in the next 2 - 3 days...not sure I can do it unless I change her like every 90 minutes...that oughtta get me through the 72 remaining diapers...of course I am not going to do that, as that would be even more frivolous than continuing to purchase cloth diapers.
Now, for all you folks out there who think I am crazy, let me tell you that these are NOT our mothers' cloth diapers...the diapers themselves are probably the same, but the process is so much easier...the wraps have these nice, giant, super-strong Velcro closures (hook and loop tape for those of you who don't buy name brands!), and are a soft t-shirt like material (cotton jersey, I believe is the technical term) coated with some sort of plastic/vinyl that can actually be wiped with a damp cloth. They are supposed to be able to be used with up to 3 wet diapers before you need to get a clean one. Now this makes me happy for 2 reasons. One is that I didn't have to buy a dozen in each size and I don't have to wash them every day!
We also have some disposable, flushable, biodegradable liners that are like over-sized dryer sheets. They lay on the diaper, and let the wet pass through, but keep the solid from the diaper. That way, you can just life the liner off, put the whole kit and kaboodle in the toilet and flush the mess away! This is good because it means I don't have to swish and rinse the diaper in the toilet, getting my hands in toilet water, and the diaper gets less solid on it, meaning it shouldn't stain as easily!
For those of you who are laughing at my not wanting my hands in the toilet water...let me assure that I have NEVER in my life cleaned a toilet without a brush, rubber gloves or both...I don't care if the water doesn't have waste in it until after someone goes to the bathroom, and that it gets fresh water every time you flush...it still sits in a porcelain bowl in which someone's bodily waste has been. ICK!
The nice thing is that the diapers don't need any special things to wash them...no bleach, no special detergent...no ironing...just wash them with half the detergent I'd normally use for that size load, an extra cold rinse, and throw them into the dryer on medium heat! I can hang them dry and that will take out any stains, and most odors (according to the pamphlet), and then just toss them into the dryer for a little bit to soften them! No fabric softener or dryer sheets...
I'm excited to get started...
Speaking of dirty diapers...I need to go change the Tiny Princess, as I think she just went poo...
No comments:
Post a Comment