Dirty diaper storage

This is one topic that I have not devoted a post to yet that I think is fairly important.  So just where do you put all of those smelly dirty diapers?  Well you will need a waterproof bag of some sort to hold the diapers, and a trashcan.  This doesn't have to be an expensive ordeal, but think about what room the dirty diapers will be stored in.  I put ours in the kids bathroom.  The reason being, is that if a diaper has poo, I spray out the diaper into the toilet and I want to put the diaper in the pail as quickly as possible.  But if you have a new born who is breastfeed it is possible to keep your pail in the baby's room, because these poopy diapers do not need to be sprayed out unless you want to.  If your baby starts formula or on solids you will definitely want to spray out their poo in the toilet. 

There are 2 types of home diaper storage solutions that I will tell you about today.  One is the hanging bag.  The hanging bag will hang on a door handle somewhere, thus there is not a need for a trash can.  Here is the one that Planetwise offers for $29.99.  This is a pricey bag but they offer cute patterns that you could match to your child's nursery.  The second type of dirty diaper storage is using a pail liner inside a trash can with a lid.  This is what I use.  I found a trash can with a lid at the grocery store for $7 and my pail liner by a company called Bummis for $16.  I have heard wonderful things about Planetwise's pail liner and theirs is $16.50. 


So think about where you are going to place your dirty diapers, and what solution will work best for your house.

Now there are some smells that can escape from your dirty diapers occasionally.  A good way to knock out those smells is to use an additive to your pail, like Rockin Green's pail freshener.  I have heard wonderful things about this product.  I have not tried it yet though.  Right now I add 1/2 cup of baking soda to my pail, and that works wonderfully.  I buy a huge bag, 13.5 lbs, from Costco for cheep cheep, that lasts us for a very long time.

Our pail with the Bummis liner full of dirty diapers

The Bummis bag has a draw string.  This is the size Large bag for $16

Striping your Diapers

Now what do you do when you have finished washing your diaper and they are coming out of the wash still smelling, or the moment your baby pee's there is an overwhelming smell of ammonia, or worse yet, your child gets a horrible rash? Then you might to use more rinse cycles. Or your problem could be build up. If you are not using a detergent made for cloth diapers you might have to strip your diapers.  Striping your diapers refers to washing/soaking your diapers to remove build up left from detergents or water minerals. Some detergents work better than others, which is why I chose Rockin Green.  Rockin Green gives you the choice of 3 different formulas.  The formulas are designed for either hard, soft or regular water.  In San Antonio we have hard water so I use the Hard Rock formula.

If you decide to purchase Rockin Green then you will probably want to strip your diapers right away. You could purchase Rockin Green's new product formulated especially for striping out that amonia called Funk Rock. This will ensure that your diapers are free of any detergent or ammonia build up. I have not had any ammonia issues since I purchased my first bag back in May (2010). Before Rockin Green I was striping my diapers once a month. So what you will do if you dont have Funk Rock, you can use your Rockin Green detergent to strip your diapers, what the company likes to call Rockin a Soak. Here you can either use your washer if it is a regular washer, or your bath tub if you have an HE washer. In your regular top loader add 3 table spoons of detergent and put your CLEAN diapers in, and fill your washer up with hot water and let that sit for 3-6 hours. Then wash your diapers like normal with out using any soap. Then do a cold rinse. And dry your diapers like normal.

If you do not have any Rockin Green you can buy samples for $.75-.80 which has 4 table spoons in each bag, with $1.00 shipping.

Things to remember:

• Do not use fabric softners in the washer, or drier sheets in the drier
• You can use a dryer ball
• Do not use a diaper rash cream, or medicated ointments with out a barrier like a flushable liner, Kushies, IMSE liners, Grovia
• Or if you do use a diaper rash cream make sure it is for cloth diapers like this one Magic Stick
• Wash your diapers every 2-3 days.  Any longer than this you will have build up issues.

My Review of Sun Smarties Adjustable Swim Diaper

Originally submitted at One Step Ahead

Save money and save Mother Earth, with our adjustable, reusable swim diapers! Nothing contains leaks better, thanks to its personalized custom fit. Best of all: no more soggy (expensive) disposables! Made of soft, peached microfiber, with an absorbent terry lining and waterproof inner coating. UPF ...

Sun Smarties Adjustable Swim Diaper

Great swim diaper

5out of 5

Gift: No
Pros: Lightweight, Breathable, Strong Seams, Soft, Easy To Put On
Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

I am a cloth diapering momma and this diaper most closly resembles a diaper cover. Though it is shaped the same and even appears to be made of PUL (water proof material cloth diapers are made with) it is not waterproof even with a prefold on under it. Not that this is what I wanted to use it for but I want other cloth moms to know that.
But the function of the diaper as a swim diaper is wonderful. It has gussets which hold in the poo nicely. It is easy to put on and take off. If you are trying to decided between this and the reusuable pull up type swim diaper, consider this; if your baby poops with the pull up kind of diaper you are going to have to pull down making for one messy diaper change, especially if their poos are on the soft side. Go with something that can be removed more like a diaper because it will be a lot easier to change the child.

Rocking Green Cloth diaper detergent REVIEW

A picture of just beginning a soak in Rockin Green Hard rock. These diapers were all "clean" before I put them in the hot water with 6 tbs of Hard Rock. The water was also clean and clear when I filled the tub. Then when I started to throw in the most stained and smelly diapers, and the water immediately got cloudy, yellow and smelly! I will post an after picture as well of the clean diapers and dirty water.

Well, I am finally getting a chance to review the Rockin Green Cloth Diaper detergent line. I started out with 2 samples of Classic Rock, in Vanilla Buttercream and Peppermint Mocha. When they arrived I found that the two scents had come to smell very similar. But I read later on their facebook page that this was common to happen when the samples are mailed together and in the small sample bags. But from what I could tell both were pleasant fragrances and mild. They wern't as strong of smells as I was hopping for but still were nice.
The night that I got the samples I took every cloth diapering product that I had and did a gigantic soak in the bath tub full of steaming hot water. I had some very stubborn synthetics that I was on my last rope with, and had discontinued their use because of staining and smell, and really had no hope for. So Rockin Green put them to the test!
The soak lasted about 3 hours and I used half of the bag on them which was about 7 tbs! This is a huge tub that had over 50 diaper pieces to be cleaned, in hard water, so a decent amount of detergent was needed. After the soak was over I took all the diapers to the washing machine for another hot wash. I used no detergent on the first wash cycle. But on the second wash cycle I used 3 Tbs. I transferred the things that can be dried in the drier and the rest hung dry.
I waited in anticipation of the results!
When every thing had finished drying I put them to the smell test! Every thing smelled wonderful. My synthetic inserts were still discolored but they have never smelled so good! I think they probably still need a few more good washings to really become as absorbent as they can be but I think at this point they are usable again. I now use prefolds and love them so I wouldn't use the synthetics for anything other than a booster (more absorbency).

Next in line to test is Rockin Green's newest addition, Hard Rock. Hard Rock has been formulated for hard water, which Houston has. I was so excited for this detergent to come out because this was my initial draw to this company in the first place. With Hard Rock I only need 1 TBS per load vs 2-3 for Classic Rock, and now I can cut out using Calgon water softener with each load, saving me more money.
On a whim I ordered Hard Rock in Grape Soda, which has fragranced my laundry room with a lovely smell. I think I will like any fragrance that they make in this line. Next order I think I will go with Mango Sorbet, sounds nice and summery :)
Again I have not been disappointed with this formula. This has worked just as well on the diapers. My diapers do not come out smelling like the particular fragrance but they have no smell at all which is a good thing when it comes to cloth diapering.
When washing my diapers I do a quick rinse on cold. Then my second cycle is a hot cycle with 1 tbs of Rockin Green. Simple as that. My old washing instructions, though they worked, had a few more steps . So this has simplified every thing a little bit.

My over all opinion I am in love with this soap :) I think you will like it if you give it a try. Remember if you are not sure about diving in head first with the stuff they have samples you can buy for $.85 with $1.00 shipping. On the big bag the shipping was around $5.00. Hard Rock is $15.95 and Classic Rock and Soft Rock is $14.95. I do know why there would be a price difference in the two but it could be the price of the ingredients or it could be, because it is new. Anyways pick the formula that works for you water type and go with it. To help you determine your water type Rockin Green has these great test strips for $0.60

Line drying

So now that spring has arrived and, summer is looming, I was inspired to try out line drying. I hadn't really considered it, because our climate tends to be rainy, but we definately have some sun shiny days. I picked up a retractable 8 foot line and clothes pins from the grocery store, for a few dollars the other day, and decided to give it a go. I hung the line in the corner of our yard and screwed it into the wood posts.

I was thinking that line drying will be yet another way to cut costs. With our summer heat comes very high electricity bills, so the use of the drier 2-3 times a week for the cloth diapers will help to reduce costs.

Another benifet of line drying is getting rid of staining on your diapers. I dont really have problems with stains because I use a diaper sprayer on those poopy diapers. But that new born poop will stain and the sun can fade a lot of that out.

So far so good with the line drying. My prefolds are not going to be quilted and fluffy like they are when I use the drier. Rather they will be flat and stiff. But in the end it doesnt really matter how stiff they feel when you use a fleece liner on top of the prefold, for wicking away moisture.

Introduction in background about me

Welcome to my new blog, Saving Cash by Using Cloth! The purpose of this blog is first and foremost introduce you to the world of cloth diapers. Secondly how to do it in the most cost effective way. Many people are drawn to using this form of diapers to do their part in helping the environment one diaper at a time. And yes this is an after effect, but my motivation stems from our situation in life. I first started dappling in using cloth diapers when my second child was 18 months old. My husband had just been accepted into medical school, after being in the job market for 4 years, and I knew that we would be taking a serious cut in the amount of money we would have to work with. So I did things that seemed drastic at first but are now just second nature.

First, I learned how to cut my husbands hair which saves us countless dollars bi-weekly! And I also cut my own and children’s now. The next biggest monthly expense we had was diapers. I have to say my husband was not on board with my choice to cloth diaper one bit! In fact his stance was if the child was wearing a cloth diaper then he would not change it. Which at first I don't blame him. The diapers I had were messy and not efficient or very absorbent. It took a while to find the diapers that could go a few hours between changing's and hold in the messiest of messes.

It has been trial and error from that first moment up until my 3rd was born. At this point I got serious with the diapers. My husband was now in medical school and my two other kids were completely diaper free. So I resolved to not buy many if any disposable diapers. I bought one box that was never opened for my second child, because he potty trained at the age of 24 months before he needed them.

Starting out I was given a bunch of size 1 diapers for baby #3 so I made sure we used those up before I started him on the cloth because they are only in those little sizes for a few weeks. By the time he was ready for a size two diaper is when I started with the cloth. At that point most size small cloth diapers are going to fit perfectly. I find it to be expensive and a waste to invest in the tiny tiny cloth diapers because they grow out of them so fast unless you have a very adjustable diaper. Those newborns bottoms will be much smaller than you will ever expect them to be.

I will have a series of posts on picking a diaper, cleaning and care of the diapers, and websites and links that are helpful. Ok on to my recommendations.

Defining the diaper choices (updated 7/7/10)

When first starting out in the world cloth diapering you will find it can be some what over whelming! There are a few different types that I will introduce you to; All-in-one, pocket, prefolds with a cover, fitteds with a cover, and the newest kind: the hybrid flushable diapers. I have tried all of these diapers and many brands. They all have pros and cons but what has helped pushed me towards certain diapers has been the price and effectiveness of the diaper.

First let me define each type of diaper, and at the end of each description I will have a short You Tube video showing you how to use each diaper. If you are like me, you will want to see the diaper in action since these are not sold in stores it is hard to get a good idea of what you are trying to buy just by looking at a picture and a description. So I hope this helps you with your choice.

All-In-One

I will start with the most popular first timer diaper, the All-In-One. The All-In-One is a diaper that comes as one piece. So it has a water proof cover and all of the absorbent material sewn into it. Many people like this diaper because it is the closest thing to a disposable diaper. I got lucky and some one was giving away a huge amount of these for free on free cycle, along with some other types I will talk about later. The brand of all in ones was Kushies . A company out of Canada manufactures these. Walmart sells them on line only.  There are three sizes in the Kushies, Newborn Infant, and Toddler. Infant fit Nolan when he would have been wearing a size two disposable diaper so it wouldn't fit right away. Depending on how often you want to wash them every day to every 3 days, plan on needing 7 diapers a day. Now I liked these pretty well and for an all in one the price is right. They don't hold the most pee of all the choices, but they held in all the new born poo’s with very few leaks. So I give them an “A” for ease of use and an “A”for price and “B” for effectiveness. There are other all in ones out there that I haven't tried. I think what I didn't not like about them was that they take longer to dry than others do.

All-In-One video tutorial

Pocket Diapers

Next the Pocket diaper. This one is also a very popular choice but seems to be the most expensive of all of them. I have tried 3 brands of pockets, Bumgenius, Fuzzi Bunz, and Mommy's Touch. If you decide to choose a pocket choose one that has an adjustable rise like the bumgenius, meaning that the diaper can go from newborn to toddler with just one diaper. Fuzzi Bunz and Mommy's Touch now makes a one size but I have not tried this new version. There are 2 companies that I have found that offer pockets at a much more reasonable price.  Go Green, they sell their regular sizable diapers for $9.99 a piece, theirs are made in China and sold in the USA.  Go Green also has a made in the USA line called Mud Butt, made by a very talented work at home mom. A pocket diaper is a diaper with a water proof cover, with a liner sewn in on it with an opening in the back to “stuff” it with an absorbent material like a prefold. Some times the diaper closes with Velcro like a disposable or with snaps which in the long run seem to last longer and hold up to frequent washings. I give these an “A-“ for ease of use “B-“ for price and “A+” for effectiveness.

Pocket Diaper video tutorial

Prefolds

I will tackle the prefolds next. A prefold is what your grandmother would think of as a true cloth diaper and believe it or not my #1 choice! Typically a good prefold is made out of a thick 100% cotton. I choose to buy mine from Green Mountain Diapers.com. They have an amazing prefold. It very absorbent, thick, soft, and cheep. Now you will have to buy the size you need for your babies size, sort of, but I will explain. When you think of what grandma diapered your mother in you think a piece of cloth with safety pins! But luckily for babies today some one came up with a better solution, a snappi. A snappi is a fastener that replaces the safety pins. It is shaped like the letter Y and holds the prefold on. Then in order to keep the wetness and mess in you but a water proof cover on, which I will “cover” next. So when I said you don't necessarily have to have the size for the size of your baby, you don't. Some people, like me, fold the prefold into thirds making it super thick and lay it right into the cover and then Velcro the cover on. (My #1 favorite method, also the cheapest!) 

Prices for prefolds:

Green Mountain diapers:

Newborn: $1.75 each, $21 a dozen

Small: $2.00, $24 a dozen

Medium: $2.25, $27 a dozen

Large: $2.67, $32 a dozen

Toddler $3.00, $36 a dozen

Cotton Babies:

Chineese Prefolds:

Infant (newborn-15 lbs): $1.50 each

Regular (15-30 lbs): $1.75 each

Premium (15-30 lbs thicker): $2.00

Indian Prefolds:

Preemie (4-8 lbs): $1.00 each

Infant (11-15 lbs): $1.50 each

Regular (15-30 lbs): $1.75

Premium (15-30 lbs thicker): $2.00

Kits

• Now the cheepest packaged system I have run across is the Econobum, by Cotton Babies also the makes of BumGenius.  They run $50 for 3 covers and 12 prefolds.  
• Bummis sells a more complete cloth diapering kit from $136-169, (they offer either size small 8-15 lbs or medium 15-30 lbs kit) depending on size of baby, includes 18-24 prefolds, 4-6 covers, 1-3 biosoft liners, 5 stay dry liners, and a wet bag.  So you really are getting just about everything you will need to use prefolds with this kit.  I would suggest ordering 4-5 more covers.  But this is a pretty complete set, just missing the detergent and the trash can to put the wet bag in.   

Prefold tri-folded with a cover video

Fitteds

If the prefold with the snappi just looks like too much some people go with a fitted. Which is a diaper that looks like disposable that is not water proof. Then you just put a cover over the top. I have a hand full of fitteds that I got from the lady that gave me the all in ones. I like the fitteds but it is tough to get on some time if your baby is wiggly. But will hold it all in for sure. Kissaluvs fitteds are the nicest around. They are very soft and super absorbent. They come in 3 sizes, new born, size 1 and size 2. But there are lots of others around. A fitted like Kissaluvs makes these diapers very expensive. I think prefolds is a much better way to go and seem to absorb the most.

Prefold with a Snappi and a cover video

Fitted with a cover video

Covers

Now the essential covers! Ok as you can see I love the prefolds but with a good prefold you need a cover that is just as quality. I have tried 2 that I really like the design for and are all about the same price, so go with the color and pattern that you like best because they are all effective. Another perk is that you can re use and re use the cover until it is soiled so you don't have to buy many. If it hasn't been soiled in two days and just peed in I go ahead and wash it. First there is the Bummis brand. They have two main versions. The Whisper wrap and the Super Bright. The Whisper wrap seems to be thicker and there is no exposed PUL. PUL, otherwise known as polyurethane laminated fabric. A fabric that is laminated so that it becomes water proof, the main secret in most cloth diapers. In the Super Bright the laminated section is exposed, this is not a bad thing but just different from the Whisper wrap. The next brand is Thirsties. Thirsties has two different kinds as well. First the Version 2 (V2) is almost identical to the Bummis Super Bright but I feel that the Bummis is thicker. The other Thirsties cover is unique to every cover out there! This is an adjustable cover with just 2 sizes. This is called the Thirsties Duo Wrap. Again I was disappointed with the thickness of the PUL but it still seems to be holding up well after many washes. If it were me the prefold with a cover is what I choose because it is the cheapest and they hold in every thing.

Hybrid

The last diaper I will cover is the hybrid. These are all relitivly new diapers.  There are 3 brands out there that I know of in the Hybrid category the G Diaper,  the GroBaby, now rebranded as GroVia, and the Flip, the same company that makes the BumGenius.  The Hybrid is unique. It has a liner that you can either throw away for it to bio degrade or flush down the toilet! And If you choose not to use the flushable liner you can use a prefold in the diaper, or in the case of the GroVia they have a snap in insert.  So basically when you are home use the prefolds/liner included, and when out and about or on vacation use the flushable liners. But the only dilemma I ran into here was that the liners are pricy over time, but if use occasionally and not full time than can be a good purchase. Also the flushable liners do not hold nearly the same amount of pee as a prefold will so you will have to change more frequently. Because of the price of the liners,  I gave it a “C” for price because if you use the flushable full time you might as well use a disposable diaper because they are close to the same price.  But as far as effectiveness I give them an “A” and ease of use a “B”.

Price Break down for Hybrids

• The GroVia one size kits will run $24 per diaper with one soaker insert included, extra soaker pads for a 2 pack are $16.95, and the disposable inserst are $7.99 for a 20 pack. 
• Each G diaper in 3 different sizes is $16.99 that includes 1 snap in liner. Washable liners are $30 for 6.  Disposable liners cost $14.95 for 32-40 liners 
• Each one sized Flip cover costs $13.95.  Each flip stay dry liner is $4.95 (for more than 12 the price goes down to $3.95)  Their organic liner is $7.95 the price also goes down when purchasing more than 12 to $6.95.  I really like their disposable liners, they are really soft and cheep.  They are hard to find right now but usually cost $4.95 for 18.  G Diaper video

Now you have a choice to make, will it be A, B, C with option 1 or 2, or D. I know it is a lot to look at and research but I spent 6 months or more on my research and testing of the 4 main types of diapers so hopefully this simplifies the choices.

Now if you are having a hard time choosing I found a wonderful resource Diaper Swappers. com This is a message board where you can buy used diapers from other people using a pay pal account, or you can swap a diaper for diaper. Also there are message boards for just about every diapering topic you can think of. I have had nothing but good experiences with the site, and it has helped me try out lots of diapers for cheep.

My next post will be on preparation of new diapers, care and cleaning of your new diapers.

Washing your Cloth diapers (Updated 8/10/10)

Video of using a diaper sprayer
Making a diaper sprayer: here is the link to making your own diaper sprayer. I did find that this sprayer fit only on ONE of my toilets. The other toilet was older and would have needed a larger T fitting to fit properly. Which you won't really know until you get home to set it up unless you are a master plumber and you know the size of the connection to your toilet supply line. Most likely it is 3/8" but it could be larger. Now if the idea of finding the parts for this sprayer makes your head spin there is another option but it is more expensive. The do it your self option cost me roughly $12-15 to make, or you can purchase one for $40-50.
Another sprayer from Rockin Green detergent
Bum Genius diaper sprayer (this is the one I am currently using)

Next I will talk about washing those dirty diapers. Now this was the scariest part for my husband and I. When we began this cloth diapering journey we did not start out  using a diaper sprayer and just used one those eppi bottles you get from the hospital after having a baby. Which works ok if you are on the go or on a short vacation, but not full time. Anyways I never felt like I was getting those diapers completely clean in the washer either, until I did months of trial and error.  Here I have instructions for washing your diapers in a regular top loader, and also in an HE machine. 

Washing

Regular washer

• 
  
  Step one is to put your dirty diapers in a diaper pail. Make sure that you spray out any poo into the toilet using a diaper sprayer before puting the diaper in the pail.  I use a bag made out of PUL by Bummis in size large as a liner in my pail. This size holds 2-3 days of diapers no problem. I put this bag into some kind of pail with a lid, like this one from Sterilite that I got from the grocery store for $7. When your pail is full take out the drawstring bag full of dirty diapers and take to the washing machine.
• I then dump the dirty diapers into the washer and turn the wet bag inside out so that it can be cleaned too.
• The first rinse cycle is short using just warm water  This will give the diapers a good rinse and will rinse out any particles left behind. 
• When the first cycle is completed, lift the lid of the washer and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of laundry detergent made for cleaning cloth diapers. You will want a detergent made for cloth diapers so that your diapers will get as clean as possible.  My recommendation is Rockin Green.  They have 3 formulas to fit your water type.  In Houston and San Antonio we have hard water so I use the Hard Rock Formula.  Also here is a blog that has a great chart of many types of detergents. They are rated as to how well they work for cloth diapers. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO NEVER USE A FABRIC SOFTENER ON YOUR CLOTH DIAPERS!
• After you have added your detergent you will do a hot wash. I set this wash to be long and include a second rinse.
• And if you seem to be having ammonia issues try adding one more rinse cycle. 

HE Washer instructions:

This is a direct quote from Kim, the creator or Rockin Green detergent.  I agree with every word.  I had an HE washer and I learned pretty fast that you have to use a lot of water to truly get your diapers clean.  I would even add to her directions, to use your diaper sprayer for every diaper, wet or poopy.  This will get out a lot of the pee that sits on the diapers until wash day.  Also this helps with smell. 

"Don’t skimp on the water!!!!! If you have a front loader, replace the word “Rinse” with “Wash”. For example, if you have a top loader, you normally do a rinse, a wash, and a rinse. For a front loader, I would suggest a wash, a wash, and a wash. You are still not going to be using the same amount of water as the top loader folks, but you really need to have the water because that is where the ammonia buildup comes up for the most part. For example, if you are washing 15 pocket diapers in a front loader, each insert will hold about 8 oz sometimes 15 oz, and if you think about it that is a lot of urine in each insert. Let’s say each of the 15 inserts holds about a cup of pee, you put the diapers in and your inserts in the front loader a lot of times the front loader does not put that much water in, so you are washing with a 50/50 mix of water and urine. That will not be rinsed out all the way, so if you do the 3 washes you will be more likely to get the urine flushed out. So, Wash Cold (no detergent), Wash hot (w/ detergent) and Wash Cold (no detergent). The first wash will get most of the urine, so your next wash you will be washing in clean water. This is what I suggest when someone is having stink issues with a front loader, I believe to attack it at the front and not the end."

Drying

• When this cycle is completed put your inserts and prefolds and all in ones in the dryer and set to medium-high heat. And depending on the amount of diapers you have in the dryer will depend on how long you will dry them. I usually have to do a 45-50 minute cycle on a 3 day load. NEVER USE A FABRIC SOFTENER SHEET IN THE DRYER WITH DIAPERS!  But you can use  a dryer ball.  Hang dry your covers, pocket diapers and your wet bag to drip dry either in your laundry room or out in the sun, and they should by dry in the sun in the amount of time your inserts are in the dryer. All three of these have PUL that are exposed to direct heat and will warp and not last as long if they are put into the dryer.
• Some people choose the hang dry all their diapers, including inserts, in the sun. Which will do 2 things. 1. If there are stains on the diapers the sun will bleach them. 2. This will save you the electricity. Your prefolds will not be quilted looking if hung dry but will still be just as effective.