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Monday, February 8, 2010

The L word (no, not love)


Don't be afraid...


...of Laundry Day.


It's really not that bad!

Every time I inform someone we have switched to cloth, among the many rumble grumbles of, "You're crazy," comes the comment-- "Oh it's SO much laundry. And it's gross."

Well, SO much laundry is really about 3 or 4 loads per week. And 3 or 4 loads per week is not a lot of time! I stick it in around 8 p.m. so that we get the drying process going before too late, and if it's not done by bedtime, it gets fluffed up first thing in the morning.

And, for now at least, it is not gross and it hardly smells because Gabe only gets breast milk. But even when it will smell more, the amount of time to carry the bag and dump them into the washer is so nominal. I am not afraid.

Here are the dirty details:

1. Store dirty diapers in a foot-pedaled trash can with a pail liner (A PUL bag with elastic at the top-- basically a reusable 'trash' bag). Once your stash has been seriously dented, it's time for washing. (For us, this is when our bumgenius 3.0 pile is down to 1 or 2-- we have 6, and we only use them double-stuffed overnight, on the go, or during morning nap time-- and we only have 2-3 prefolds left--we have 11, and I love using them with flips or thirsties duos. For more info on our stash, go here.)
2. Grab your pail liner, and dump the contents into the washer, turn the liner inside out, and lay on top.
3. Do a cold rinse.

4. Add whatever the appropriate dose of your chosen detergent to the load. This is usually 1/4 the normal amount for a load. We use Rockin Green right now (review of RG coming soon), and we sprinkle 2 tbsp. of the powder.
5. Wash HOT. Rinse COLD. With Rockin Green, this is where the washing ends.
6. Move the inserts and dryer-friendly items, such as contours and prefolds, to the dryer. Tumble dry low.
7. Hang/Line Dry the covers and bumgenius 3.0s. (Right now I hang them in the laundry room. In the summer, they'll go outside for some sunbleaching sometimes.)



3 comments:

  1. A pail full of soiled disposable diapers is equally gross and smelly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just joined your blog, and it is so great to find another mom who is cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and all of that, etc. :) We also use Bum Genius pockets plus some Fuzzi Bunz and Thirsties covers/prefolds. For us, the Bum Genius are the most leak proof. We also double stuff overnight! During my pregnancy, learning about cloth diapers was *overwhelming* and a bit scary with the laundry aspect. BUT, in real life, it has all been happy and easy once I figured it all out :) And a plus is that Bum Genius pockets can outlast a disposable any day!!!
    The Pure Baby http://thepurebaby.blogspot.com
    Please stop by :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so happy to be meeting other like-minded Mommies!! I totally agree-- bum genius diapers are fantastic, and double-stuffing overnight does the trick. Thirsties Duos are also really good. I love cloth diapers; I find I have to restrain myself from purchasing more now that our stash is workable. I just want to try them all. I'll definitely check out the pure baby asap!

    ReplyDelete