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.)

I'm gonna be an econobumgenius.

I am pleased to announce that all systems are go--
We are switching to cloth!


I am so pleased, excited, and well, terrified. There were so many things to consider when signing on with cloth diapering. I am going to spill the beans here, letting you know what went through my mind and what we decided to do.
What type of diapers do we want to use? ...cloth with covers, and if cloth with covers, fitteds, flats, prefolds or contours? which covers? which fitteds? which prefolds? which contours? how do I close folded diapers? ...all-in-twos? which ones?...all-in-ones? which ones? ...how about a combo of everything? hmm, what is the RIGHT combination for our baby, for our laundry needs, and for my husband not to run away?
Where do we purchase these diapers? ...there are so many helpful online retailers...

How much do we want to spend and how do we maximize what we are spending? ...wouldn't we love to strictly be saving money here? ...and even though we will have used disposables for the first three months, shouldn't we still be able to save almost $2,000 by cloth diapering?

What accessories do we need? ...wet pail or dry pail? which pail or just a trash can? which pail liner? where do we buy this? ...which wet bags? do we need travel wet bags, as in, will we cloth diaper when out of the house? ...do we need disposable liners? actually, what are disposable liners? ...what is a doubler and do we need that?
What in the world does this mean for our laundry?
...how do I choose a detergent? ... and which of the detergents that are choose-able will not make the diapers stink?

Oh,
crap.

I didn't know there were so many CHOICES involved here. I have not blogged since Tuesday because every second my child slept in daylight hours and/or my husband was home, I was busy reading, reading, reading diaperpin.com, the eco-friendly family blog, and the cloth diaper report to get a better picture of what cloth diapering entails and just what each choice in cloth diapering will mean for our family. So I did a lot of listing, a lot of number crunching (moneywise), and a lot of review reading, and we decided to purchase the following (and a what's what of our buys):

12 Contours (15-35 lb.)
8 Chinese Prefolds (15-30 lb.) 3 1-size Prefolds (econobums) 2 bumgenius bamboo fitted (15-22 lb.) - 3 1-size econobum covers 3 1-size flip covers 1 bummis super whisper wrap (to 30 lb.)
1 thirsties duo wrap (to 18 lb.) 1 thirsties duo wrap (to 35 lb.) -
4 bumgenius 3.0 1-size pockets 2 fuzzibunz size small
2 fuzzibunz size medium - 3 bumgenius doublers 200 bioliners
4 snappis -
1 Wahmies Pail Liner 2 Kushies Wet bags Trashcan
Rockin Green Cloth Diaper & Laundry Detergent (unscented)
Rockin Green Pail Freshener
Wooden Detergent Scoop (Teaspoon)

Diapers and Covers

12 Kissaluvs Contour Diapers ($77.88)

These diapers are shaped just like a disposables so they fold right around your baby without doing anything fancy at all. You just have to close them with a snappi. We chose to buy 12 of these so that there would be a stash of easy-use cloth diapers-- no folding necessary. These do not scare my husband, and I figure they will be a good diaper/cove option when we are in a rush or out of the house. They are also almost the same as a fitted diaper-- the difference is simply in the closure (contours need a snappi or pin while fitteds snap or velcro shut), but they are much more afforable. And let's be quite clear here-- money matters.


8 Diaper Service Quality Chinese Prefold Diapers ($1.75 each)
are the diapers that do scare my husband, and they intimidate me, too. Are they going to be excessively bulky? Will I be able to effectively fold them? How do I fold these with a squirming baby? Won't these be messy? I am figuring there will be quite a learning curve here, but I am hoping to get the swing of this diaper. We only bought 8 of them, thinking that I only will use just a couple of these per day while we are at home. I am ready for the challenge. And why Chinese over Indian prefolds? According to what I have read, for just about 25 cents more per diaper, the Chinese wash up cleaner and last longer. And I want these to last. I chose to use some of them because it would save us big bucks.

2 Fitted bumgenius Bamboo Diapers in Size 15-22 lb. ($7.77 each)

These fitteds have wonderful reviews and they are being discontinued. I could not even find them in a bigger size than the 15-22 lb. So they are super soft, and I would like for our little one to have a little luxury-- I think about him having a diaper rash or maybe on a rough reflux night, and I like the idea of having something disgustingly comfortable for him-- and for something like $7.77 a piece, we can afford to have these little fitteds for him.

3 Econobum One-Size Diaper Covers with 3 One-Size Prefold Diapers ($9.95 each)

As I understand it, the econobums are fairly new to the market and are made by cotton babies (the makers of bumgenius). For $9.95, you get a 1 one-size prefold and a 1 one-size snap-closure diaper cover that should last us from now to the end of diapering. The reviews are decent, though not amazing, but because we are also purchasing a few other "more expensive" diaper covers, it seems worth it to have these in rotation.

3 Flip System Diaper Covers (13.95 each)

These are also newer on the market from the makers of bumgenius, and they are a snap closure, one-size fits all cover. I figure they will be durable (snaps rather than velcro that can destroy itself) and last until the end of diapering, hopefully even onto our next child. This cover has rave reviews in many places. In order to purchase the cover without the system with inserts, you have to order from cottonbabies.com.

1 Bummis Super Whisper Wrap in Size Medium (15-30 lb.) (Free) This came for free with the Kissaluvs, and I figure it should last us awhile, and the reviews on diaperpin are decent. I also like the idea of having both snap and aplix closings on the covers, which leads me to my purchase of...

1 Thirsties Duo Wrap in Size 1 and 1 Thirsties Duo Wrap in Size 2 ($12.75 each)

They have good reviews, cute colors (I chose meadow and honeydew), and aplix closures. Case closed.

All-in-Two Diapers

4 Bumgenius 3.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers (Paid with Gift Card...)

These diapers have wonderful reviews, other than a few warnings about the material stinking after long-term use (wait for my detergent choice). I have read they are great for overnights with doublers as well long car rides. They are all in one piece so they will be very handy when out of the house, too-- just take it off, shake it out, and put it in the wet bag and pull out the next as if it were a disposable.


2 Fuzzibunz (7-18 lb.) and 2 Fuzzibunz (15-30 lb.) (Paid with Gift Card...) I liked the idea of a sized pocket diaper for easy use, too. I figure this way we will have 2 go-to diapers for his size, so as not to kill the bumgenius diapers with overuse. We also had a gift card to Target, and it seemed worth it to make the investment now.





Accessories

3 Bumgenius Doublers ($4.95 for pack of 3) I learned quickly that these 'double' the absorbency of diapers, and I figure this will be great for overnight, long car rides, or when baby is sick and explosive. We may need to purchase more of these, and I actually am thinking now we definitely will, but for now, we will have 3.

4 Snappis ($4.99 for pack of 2, but we got them on sale for 2.99 for pack of 2) These are the modern gal's diaper pin. They are y-shaped 3-part hooks that hold a prefold or contour together underneath a cover. I ordered 4 regular size for now, and I know I will need more later, especially when he moves to toddler size. Oh, it was only 2 weeks ago when I did not even know what these were.

200 Bio-Soft liners ($6.29 per 100-liner roll)
They line diapers to help with the whole poop situation of things. They are flushable and compose IN 8-20 DAYS so now bio-hazard there. While I don't really need these until Gabe starts solids (exclusively breastfed babies' poop doesn't need to be dumped out before washing), it seemed a good idea to purchase them now.

1 Whammies Pail Liner
We needed a liner for the trash can that will house thee dirty diapers, and this one came in seaspray. Pretty and Poopy at the same time.

2 Kushies Wet Bags ($9.98 for 2, but used gift card)
I really wanted to order a cute one from etsy.com, but this was a great deal for 2 not-so-bad looking bags. Definitely worth it.



Laundry Detergent

First of all, choosing a laundry detergent to order was insanely hard to do. I read lots of reviews, including this informative guide to detergents. I was about to order Planet, but then I read it leaves a nasty smell after awhile. Then, I was all about Charlie's Soap, but I read it can cause out-of-this-world diaper rash. And then, I read all about Rockin Green, and my fears were allayed.

Rockin Green Cloth Diaper and Laundry Detergent (softrock- Unscented)
($21.95 for the bundle of soap, freshener, and wooden scoop)
No dyes, enzymes, scents, phosphates, or fillers. It claims and is reviewed to kick butt on microfiber stink (alla bumgenius). Great for sensitive skin, and $.13/load. Worth a shot!! Maybe this will turn into household detergent?

A NOTE ON OUR CHOICES

Total Spent: $233.93 (and that's diapers plus accessories!)
(Remember, we had some gift cards, and I found some coupon codes.)
Purchases made from...
cottonbabies.com, thanksmama.com, amazon.com, target.com, rockingreensoap.com
In approximately 11 weeks, we are strictly saving, and next week, our household waste production PLUMMETS. Nope, we will not be sending over one ton of non-decomposing waste into the world after all.

These purchases reflect our needs for now until Gabe is done with diapering. We did not purchase diapers with the thought of using cloth on a newborn because a)Gabe is not a newborn-- he is almost 14 lb. and b)I do not think I will use cloth on any newborns in the future-- I just do not see myself making that kind of effort while I am healing the way I was with Gabe. I also know we may need more diapers (contours, fitteds, and/or pockets) as Gabe gets bigger, and we are ready to make those purchases should we need to do so. For now, I hope we are all set.

What we chose to purchase was based on our current suspected needs, our budget, my willingness to try certain things and MAKE THEM WORK, and my husband's comfort level. This is by no means a map for anyone to follow, unless it somehow matches perfectly for you, and maybe it will.


taking the
PLUNGE.