by Jessica on January 4, 2011
Well, it finally happened: we killed our washing machine. The poor thing just couldn’t keep up. We do a ton of laundry, especially diaper laundry. Our machine is probably ten years old and came with the house- it doesn’t have an extra rinse cycle, so it has to run through 2.5 wash cycles to do one load of diapers. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked okay. Last night, I noticed that my clothes were still really wet when I went to move them into the dryer. It seemed the spin cycle wasn’t working. Crap. I had a huge load of diapers to do, so I figured I’d do them anyway and just wring them out and hang dry them. Um, not so much. Turns out (once the dozens of nasty diapers are in the machine, of course) that not only is the washer not spinning, it’s not agitating at all. So basically, it was filling up with water, sitting there, then draining. That’s it.
This was bad news. Really bad news. We NEED a functioning washer, especially considering we’re low on clean diapers. Luckily, I was reading my favorite blog Young House Love yesterday, and they were talking about the amazing deal they scored on a new Whirlpool Duet Washer/ Dryer at Lowe’s. What a happy coincidence! The washer is an HE frontloader, which I know some cloth diapering parents despise, but I’ve heard several people say they work fine, you just have to fine a routine that works with them. Anyway, the deal was that they were priced online at $399, which is amazing, since they’re normally $599 online and $699 in the store. What was better is that Lowe’s is currently offering 20% off of the pair if the washer is energy star rated. I called around and no store near us would honor the online price plus the 20% off. Boo. Plus, no one had the washer in stock.
I loaded up our grotty diapers in the car this morning with every intention of washing them at my mom’s house today. Of course what did I forget? The Charlie’s Soap. Dang it! What a waste of time lugging that heavy bag for no reason. Now the wet diapers will be chilling out in my car for the rest of the day in a trash bag. I bet my car is going to smell AMAZING by the time I leave today.
LUCKILY I headed to our local Lowe’s this morning at 7:30 with Knox to figure something out. By chance, the only person in my vicinity was the store manager, glorious man that he is. I started to tell him about this deal that I read about and the set I was interested in. He said the 20% was factored in some weird way, so he couldn’t do it on top of the online price, but he would honor the online price. They didn’t even have the washer left on the floor, but he showed one on his computer as being damaged. He said it was probably cosmetic damage only and that he’d check the back and could work with me on the price. He wheeled it out and sure enough: two teeny dents qualified this washer as damaged. They were barely even noticeable! And because there were two, he discounted it to… wait for it… $299! What?!! I couldn’t have purchased an off-brand washer for that cheap! Since he knew I was in a bind, he also made sure it would get delivered today, along with the matching dryer (our dryer has been acting up, too, and takes two cycles to dry… this sale was timed really well!).
Ours don’t have the pedestals, but they are BOGOF at Lowe’s right now, too.
While we did not want to spend this money, it was kind of necessary, and two Whirlpool Duets for $698 total?? That’s almost like getting one for free! Our emergency fund is officially at $0. Awesome. Hopefully we can figure out a good cloth diaper wash routine in this new machine- if you have experience cloth diapering with a front loader, please share!
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by Jessica on August 2, 2010
If you read this blog, you know that I love cloth diapering. Considering my affinity for all things cloth, I was thrilled to review a new kind of cloth diaper.
Real Nappies is a New Zealand based company, where their brand is number one in the cloth diapering industry. Their diapers are prefolds, which is a style I had yet to try. I was a slightly apprehensive about how well they would absorb and how they would hold in leaks, but I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. They absorbed just as well as our Bumgenius! pocket diapers do, which was pretty awesome. Knox’s skin also wasn’t as wet as it was when we tried out fitted diapers, which I was also concerned with. Of course a pocket diaper is super easy to put on and wicks away moisture from the skin, but these prefolds are definitely nothing to sneeze at. They did a great job, and are a great option (and a less expensive one!) for those wanting to try out cloth.
To use them, you fold the insert and lay it inside of the cover, then top with the biodegradable liner (optional).
There are different folds that work better for different babies, but I honestly think any of them would work fine. I did the “boy fold” which gives more absorption up front where boys need it. One small adjustment turns it into the “liquid poop” fold that contains, well, you know. Here is the procedure:
And there you have it! Easy peasy, cute as can be and NO leaking!
They have a variety of colors, too, so you can mix and match however you like. Real Nappies also sells their covers separately, if you just need covers for your own fitteds or prefolds.
For those of you that would LOVE to win your own starter set (includes one diaper cover, one cloth diaper and one bio liner), just do this:
1) Visit the Real Nappies Web
site and tell me what color cover you like (one comment)
2) Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs
here and tell me you did so (one comment)
3) Like Real Nappies on
Facebook or follow them on
twitter (one comment for each)
Good luck- you can enter through midnight on Thursday! The winner will be posted on Friday morning.
by Jessica on July 16, 2010
Now that Knox is eating solids, we have to be more, erm… “hands-on” with the poop situation. No longer can the water-soluble breast fed poo diapers be thrown directly into the washing machine. Nay, now the poop has to be scooped. In the old days, they would swish dirty diapers in the toilet before washing them to get the poop off (hence the looks of shock I get from some older women when I say that I use cloth). Now, there are basically two options for this job 1) a diaper sprayer or 2) disposable liners. Well. I have ordered our diaper sprayer, but I figured the disposable liners would be easier to use for work.
I could not have anticipated the mess that followed this decision.
Knox’s poop is still the same consistency, he’s not eating that much rice cereal, yet, so that’s understandable. He had the most foul poop explosions (and the first we’ve had since using cloth) yesterday and this morning. I do believe that liners are not so effective with runny poop. They kind of wedge themselves into his little cheeks and prevent a straight shot, if you will. Let’s just say the mess is diverted to the sides. I can see the beauty of them with a hard turdlet (aren’t you SO glad that you chose to read today??), but I am henceforth retiring them until Knox’s bathroom situation “firms up.” I guess I have to just rinse them all once I get home from work. That sprayer needs to get here pronto. Speaking of, I didn’t get an actual diaper sprayer; rather, I ordered a hose 
Our bathtub is directly next to the toilet in Knox’s bathroom, so I bought a sprayer that hooks onto the shower head (rather it shares a water supply with the shower head) with a six-foot long hose. It was $17, and I do believe it will work. At least I hope so.
This weekend we are off to search for a highchair, as well, since the little guy is not a fan of eating in the Bumbo chair. I can scarcely believe that today he is SIX MONTHS OLD! Where does the time go?
by Jessica on June 24, 2010
Next Friday, we leave for vacation for one glorious week. I will be partying with my homie, Harry Potter, and eating whatever I want to without remorse (sounds nice, huh?). Here is my question: what do I do about diapers? I was planning on using cloth since our rental house has a washer and dryer, but Trevor acted like I was a nutter for not using disposables while on vacation. Here’s the thing, though… I hate disposables. Seriously. I remember the days of blowouts and leaks, and I don’t miss them, folks! However, it would be nice to not have to do laundry every other day on vacation. What to do, what to do? If any of y’all use cloth, what do you do when you travel? And the only eco-friendly disposables I’ve used were 7th Generation and they felt about as comfy as a paper bag, so give me some recommendations if you love your “green” diapers.
by Jessica on April 7, 2010
So far, I am seriously loving cloth diapering. Truly, I adore it. Aside from being ridiculously adorable (proof in the picture below complete with billowing baby fat rolls), they are super absorbent and surprisingly easy to deal with. I just got into another six in the mail yesterday because we only had 13 of them (wanted to make sure I liked the bumgenius! 3.0 before buying a ton of them) and washing every day, well, SUCKED. I figure we’ll do 24-ish diapers, then see if we need any more depending on how lazy I am with how often I wash them. I’m still waiting on the other six to come in because I ordered from two different places (I had a store credit at one place, but the other place ships super fast- like warp speed. This place, if you’re interested).
I love that we’re producing a TON less garbage, too. I really love all things natural and eco-friendly, and I have to tell you, not buying diapers every five seconds is pretty nice, too. I know we probably spent $300 on diapers in his first 9 weeks of life, I kid you not. Every time I turned around the kid was wet or pooped out of his pants. We will spend a total of around $430 on his entire cloth diaper stash. See the appeal?
AND no more poop explosions! Knox packs some serious power behind his poo (aka major GAS). It creates a sort of thruster effect, if you will, for the poop, and it shoots right out of there, up his tiny tush and totally out of a disposable. Yet, his poop thrusters are no match for the bumgenius! 3.0, let me tell you. They keep those suckers contained!
They’re super soft inside, too, kind of a fleece feeling. Good for the tush. If y’all want to know anything about them, feel free to ask. CDing can be overwhelming when you first start looking into it, but it is really not tough to do, and the laundry is not as bad as you’d think. The worst part about laundry is folding, yes? No folding required! See? It’s totally easy. You can do it!
Is it bad that I want to blow up this picture and hang it over our mantle? I’m sure Knox would appreciate that when he’s twelve or so.
P.S. Please do yourself a favor and go read t.bird’s blog entry on her childhood nail polish phobia. I nearly died. It was totally hilarious!
