First there was Newborn. Then came the One Size. Then comes the Toddler....

So I have been a bit MIA lately. I just recently returned to work and it has taken a bit to re jig the schedule to fit everything in.... oh and sleep.

Well my little man passed his first birthday and the 35" mark in his height and he is fast approaching that magical 30lb mark when many OS diapers stop fitting well.

As it sits right now Happy Heiny Pockets, most BumGenius diapers, sized Charlie Bananas and Fuzzibuns are basically the diapers that fit him OK. The BumGenius are on their way to be too short in the rise though so I decided to branch out a bit.

As we approached the toddler age and B has started to hold in his pee and then flood the diaper I am finding myself leaning more towards fitteds and prefolds.

I recently re-did my stash at home and have switched over to prefolds and fitteds. I am really loving my Motherease OS and Sandy's fitteds. The OS fit perfectly and have a fair bit of room to grow. They come in 4 fabric options including 100% organic cotton, cotton terry blend, bamboo, and stay dry inner on a cotton blend outer.

The great thing about Motherease products is that they last through several babies. They are one of the most durable and reliable diapers on the market in my opinion. This one has seen 3 babies through potty training and still works amazingly well. I do use a snap in booster as the core is a bit thinned out but still really absorbent and soft.

I am also loving my Sandy's fitteds also by Motherease, especially for overnight. They are available in 4 sizes, newborn, small, large and toddler. The larges are still a great fit and the toddler ones have enough room that they can easily last until potty training.

This is a bamboo Sandy's in a size large 20-35lbs. The snaps are at the side and honestly it took me a few tries to get the snapping technique down pack. But now I find them as easy as any other diaper. These again are really sturdy and will see you through several children before needing to be replaced. You can also purchases added booster to give you more absorbency if you need it.

In the prefold department I am favouring my Grovia and Bummis ones the most. The Grovia is a bamboo cotton blend and it stays amazingly soft even after many washes and line drying. They are available in 4 sizes to fit all the way up to 40lbs. With Bummis, I like that they also fit big enough that they can still be snappied. They are 100% unbleached cotton. Both of these ones clean up really easily, are not super bulky and are crazy thirsty.

I am a bit sad to say goodbye to most of my Hybrid fitteds. I really loved all of them and de-stashing them was next to impossible. BUT they started getting too small and not working without a cover. I managed to get down to 14 that I just love too much to part with. I kept my heavy duty hard shell windpro from TimButt2oos and Gray Star Boutique. These are 2 of my favourite WAHM's. Both of these ladies make a toddler size windpro. I love these for overnight and nap times as well. Many moms can use any windpro but I prefer the heavier weight hard shell ones. I can use these cover-less.


So this just left 1 small issue. Daycare.  They are cloth friendly but requested an All In One or a pocket. Well, even though they fit well, I am not loving Fuzzibuns and Charlie Bananas at the moment. I did like the smalls and mediums but there seems to be a HUGE size difference between the medium and the large. The mediums are 15-30lbs and the larges are supposed to be 25-45lbs. Well the hip to waist ration on the larges is not working for us at the moment at all and the mediums are way too short. Like plumbers butt short.  So I am experimenting with other options. I got a pair of Xlg Motherease All in Ones and they are awesome. They are for babies over 35lbs but fit like a glove on the smallest setting.  I took them into daycare and they are totally willing to use them as long as I still supply the flushable liners. I was a bit worried that the side snaps, like that of the Sandy`s fitted, were going to put them off. I will get a review up once I get a few more in the rotation and use them for a bit longer.

I also looked into the large baby size pockets designed by Hip Huggers diapers. These are a pocket diaper for babies 20-50lbs with a nice gusset at the legs to help hold things all in. I am excited to see how they turn out.

Timbutt2oos

So here is another one of my favorite WAHM made diapers. Timbutt2oos! 

This awesome lady makes several different styles of diapers including pockets, fitteds, hybrid fitteds and covers.

I first got one of her pocket diapers because they have a slightly higher rise than other one size diapers and with my super tall son that is definitely a feature I look for.

 

 

This diaper has 4 different rise options using the snaps on the front of the diaper. This still fits my son well at 35" although he is on the tallest rise setting now.

 

There are 4 snaps on each of the flaps giving you a large range of adjustment in the thigh and the waist.

The inside is a super soft fleece which draws the moisture away from your baby's skin making it stay dry. The pocket opening is at the back and it is generously sized so that you can stuff it with whatever you want. I like using cotton flour sack towels or bamboo prefolds best. I like that I don't have to squeeze my hands in to stuff the inserts in flat.

I like the overall fit well too. It is not too bulky if you stuff it with a trim insert but it does give you good coverage so that it's not like your baby is wearing a diaper thong.

The second style I tried was her hybrid fitteds. These quickly became one of my favorite and most absorbent diapers.  They are a OS diaper with a fold down rise to adjust the height of the diaper. She has recently added a bigger size as well for toddlers or older children who are still potty learning. I believe the tiny newborn size is in the works still.

This, like other hybrid fitteds, has a hidden layer of fleece so it is like a fitted and a fleece cover all in one piece. I can actually go coverless in these for a few hours where as my other hybrids get wet through in about an hour or so. This is the old style soaker, the soaker snaps into the back of the diaper and the booster just lays inside. She has recently changed the design to a snap in snake style soaker and a snap in booster. The inner is a soft cotton velour.

Even without the booster these are super thirsty. The ones I have are made of bamboo and bamboo fleece. I use them without the booster for everyday use and with the booster for nap times. If I am going out I do put a cover over it.

Then I tried her night time bamboo fitted and OMG! It is absorbent, soft and trim fitting. I was really impressed. It has the same snake style soaker with the added booster.

The inside is the same nice plush cotton velour that is used in the hybrids. This isn't stay dry but it is super soft against the skin and it stays soft even with repeat washes. These are so squishy and soft I just want to hug them.

 

The fitteds are also a OS diaper with a fold down rise to adjust the height of the diaper. These need a cover.

 

If I knew then, when I was building my stash, what I know now, I would have gotten most of my fitted stash from Timbutt2oos and Diapers by Chris (another one of my favorite WAHMs).  I truly appreciate that this WAHM is willing to work with me  as I need some sizing adjustments to accommodate my tall baby. The diapers are made from high quality materials and the workmanship is great.

 

I only have 2 complaints about Timbutt2oos.

 

1. I only need so many diapers and she keeps getting super cute prints for diapers.

and

2. US Post and Canada Post take too long to get them here! It is only about 2 weeks shipping but man it is like torture!

 

Check out her facebook page and her store on Hyena Cart for details on prices, shipping, group and custom orders.

 



My Top 5 Pet Peeves with Cloth

So everyone has their own pet peeves about various things, I have to say that my CD pet peeves really bug me. Like sky rocketing blood pressure bug me. I would like to share my top 5 of these with you all.

5. Complicated Wash Routines

This one can really get under my skin. Cloth diapers are supposed to be easy and convenient. Adding a bunch of things into a routine just complicates things  too much. If your detergent isn't doing the job of cleaning your diapers you are either not using enough detergent or you are using the wrong one. If a detergent wasn't cleaning your laundry well you would switch detergents right? So why not with diaper laundry?

4. Unnecessary Additives

Things like Dawn, RLR, Vinegar, Washing Soda ect drive me nuts!!! You don't need them. If you have a build up from soap what is the point of adding more soap to the mix? RLR is good for removing mineral build up but at the end of the day you still have to do repeat hot washes to get it all out of the fibres so why add it in? A few hot washes on their own will remove build up just the same. Then there's washing soda. It is hard on fabrics and it is a major skin irritant. If it is not all rinsed away correctly it can cause major rashes and you may have fixed one issue but you now created a new one.

This ties into the above too in that if your detergent isn't doing the job you expect then why add in oxyclean, bleach or whatever? Why not just switch to a detergent that works.

3. Dawn to strip soap build up

This one deserves it's own point because this one makes me boil. Dawn is a degreaser, so it is great if you got a greasy non cloth safe diaper cream on your diaper and need to get it off. But if you are having stink issues and need to remove soap build up why on earth would you add Dawn to the mix. I know many moms use it, swear by it and get really heated about this. That's ok, you can use what works for you but it is not necessary and I don't have the time to mess around with rinsing all the Dawn out of my diapers. Using dishsoap in your wash machine can also void your warranty too so keep that in mind if you have a new machine.

2. Tide

This is touchy. I know many people use and love Tide I get that, I don't use, love or recommend it usually. I stopped using it for moral reasons and have kept from using it because it turns out my youngest is sensitive to it. He breaks out in blisters if he is exposed to fabric washed in it.
Tide is full of additives and harsh chemicals that can cause cancer and genetic disorders. I cloth diaper to be  green and help the planet so why would I dump poison into the water each time I wash laundry? I don't mind if you use Tide, it is your decision. It does drive me insane when people behave as if Tide was the Holy Grail, The end all be all of detergents. It's not. You can cloth diaper without stains, stink or issues and not use Tide.

and finally:

1. When Bloggers suggest outrageous and unsafe things to do with your diapers. This would include using Fish Tank Ammonia Remover for stink and Iron Out for stains. I am baffled that so many people follow blogs and never take a second to look into things a bit deeper. Do you know what is in the product you are about to use on clothing that goes against the most sensitive area on your baby? Do you know the side effects of exposure to these ingredients? Do you know what happens when these things get dumped into the waterways? Is it tested safe for human use? You don't know? Then don't use it! You need to be an educated consumer and know what it is you are buying into.
You should do some homework too because I have come across cloth experts who never cloth diaper they just repeat what they read on other blogs, or ones who only cloth diapered part time for a few months, quit, but are now dishing out advice.

These are my top 5, what are yours?

Diapers By Chris

So here is another WAHM whose diapers I tried.  Diapers By Chris is hand  made by Chris Fannin out of the US.  She makes pockets, AIO, and Fitteds.

I tried out her pocket diapers first. They are a one size diaper and would fit really well if my little one wasn't so tall in the torso.  Because of his height he outgrew most OS diapers already and he is only 26lbs. I did love these pockets while they fit. They were really nice and trim and the pocket was wide enough to stuff with a variety of inserts. I don't like microfiber so I usually use either bamboo or cotton inserts. The inner is suede cloth but I believe she can make them with fleece instead of micro suede.

 

 



I like how the flap opening is nicely finished unlike Fuzzibunz or Happy Heineys. I also like the snap placement, I always got a good snug fit.

 

 

Then I tried her bamboo fitteds for night time

 

 

 

This is also a OS diaper. Now because my son is so tall, Chris was nice enough to add a bit extra to the rise of the diaper to fit. This is all bamboo. After it is fully prepped it is a super trim and absorbent option for overnight. Pair it with a good cover and you are all set.

 

 

 

The soaker snaps in at the back and it is a long snake style so that you can fold it in a number of ways to boost the absorbency where you need it most. In the morning the front would be wet but the back half dry. It cleans up really well and it is easy to care for. Some of my other bamboo fitteds like to hold onto the stink but this one is great. The only thing I didn't like about it that after a 12 hour night the front would be wet and it would get really hard. It didn't seem to bother my baby but occasionally he did have a red mark on the inner thigh.  I recently got a second one of these from Chris and after I mentioned that it was getting hard she suggested adding cotton velour to the inside of the diaper and the top of the soaker. She also added a bit more to the rise of the diaper. I LOVE it. It is super soft and absorbent.

 

The diapers are all very reasonably priced and are an excellent quality. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a night worthy option. Check out her page on Facebook, you won't regret it.





K.I. Baby Blues

After the first few months of cloth diapers a friend introduced me to WAHM diapers and covers. A WAHM is a Work At Home Mom. Most of these ladies have online stores set up with Etsy, Hyena Cart of facebook. One of the very first WAHM products I ever got my hands on were fleece covers made by K.I. Baby Blues. K.I. Baby Blues operates mostly on facebook and she makes fleece and wool covers, shorties and longies and other fleece and wool items.

Fleece covers, shorties and longies are basically a fleece diaper cover. Fleece is easy to care for, after each use just toss into the wash with your other diapers. You do not need to lanolize it the way you need to with wool. It is a synthetic material but it allows for better air circulation than the traditional PUL diaper cover.

 

This is one of her fleece soakers. It fits like a diaper cover over a fitted or a snappied prefold. I use these overnight over my Sandy's fitteds or my Little Fancy Pants fitteds. 

 

 

 



On the inside there are 2 options. She can make them as a single layer of fleece and extra reinforcement in the wet zone or she can make them like this, with a double layer of fleece. I like mine with a double layer because my son is a really heavy wetter overnight. He also sleeps about 11-13 hours. I have never had a leak with these. I love how soft they are.

 

 

Here is an example of her wool soaker. This is made out of a wool sweater and it has extra reinforcements in the wet zone.

 

 

The soaker comes to you ready to use. Because it is wool it needs special washing and lanolizing. You can't just toss this into your washer the way you can with fleece. Wool is a natural fibre, is naturally antibacterial and it can hold up to 30% of it's weight in fluids. Wool also helps control the temperature around your baby's bottom. This makes wool a great choice for summer time.

 

To order from K.I. Baby Blues check out her facebook page with all her fabric options. You select the fabric, the colour of the waist bands, the height of the waist band and the size. She provides excellent customer service and stays in touch with you through out the process. My son is really tall in the torso and not only did she make my soakers based on my sons measurements she also went above and beyond and found me specific fabric.  Her turn around is a few weeks because I am in the far north and she is in the US but these are well worth the wait. The soakers are under $10-12 plus shipping and that is a really great price, especially for the quality. I cannot say enough nice things about these.

 

Here is my little man in his custom Finding Nemo soaker, all ready for bed.

 





Cloth Diapers meet the Older Sibling

So I often hear moms on cloth diaper groups talk about "daddy friendly" diapers and getting hubby on board and all that. Well let me tell you some of my best cloth stories don't involve my husband. They involve my 11 year old daughter.

She is a big environmentalist. She organizes garbage clean up days, Earth Day projects, she advocates for animal rights (she is 1 reason Tide no longer lives here) and I dare you to say anything bad about Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherds in her presence.  She was totally into the cloth diaper idea. Now she has actually called dibs on some of her brothers diapers for when he is done with them. She has also tried to get me to buy diapers for my son because they would go well with the décor in her room....  hmm  don't know about that one.

In the beginning she was a little nervous about changing diapers in general. For her I had my trusty BumGenius 4.0 pockets and Freetimes with Velcro. Well then she got a hang of it and it was all good. She didn't do poopy diapers though. 

One day she was playing with her brother and I hoped in the shower. She comes and tells me he needs a change and that she can do it as long as it is a pee diaper. I said OK go for it.  a second or two later I hear "MOM!!!!!!!   HELP!!!!!!" I am thinking O my God the baby fell or something awful happened. So out I jump from the shower with shampoo on my head grab a towel and go running into the nursery. To find what?  Well a confused looking baby on the change table with his diaper half off with his sister looking mighty green beside him. Turns out as she was opening his diaper he was in the middle of a poop. A big one! Yup he pooped on her hand as she was wiping his bum. I can't NOT laugh... then she says in a most matter of fact manner " This child S**T on me!"  Not poop, crap, doodoo, nope s**t.  At that I lost it. I was laughing so hard I cried.

After a few more months she decided that poopies were not that bad after all. Maybe because we started solids so they were more plopable. Or because she liked the diaper sprayer. She insisted on spraying all the poopy diapers. Hey not arguing with that one. One time she was doing just that as I was getting baby dressed to go out and I hear a scream from the bathroom and we go running in. She had the head of the sprayer pointed so that when it sprayed it sprayed the wall not the diaper.  So she cleaned my bathroom wall but not the poopy diaper. 

In general I have to say I am blessed with an amazing girl, after all how many sisters get pooped on and then go back for more diaper changes?

If you have any stories about older siblings with cloth diapers please share. Someday's we just need  a laugh.

If I knew what I know now... One Year of Fluff

Well I know lots of you reading this are new to cloth diapers and to you I would like to say Welcome! It has been one year since I started cloth diapering and I have learnt so much in that year. This is a bit of an if I knew what I know now type of post. These are some of the things I wish someone would have told me when I started out with cloth diapers.

First off, regardless of what you read on blogs, forums and manufacturer websites the detergent you use isn't going to make your diapers blow up into a fiery inferno. You can use what ever detergent you want to on your diapers as long as 1. your baby is not sensitive to it and 2. you are comfortable using it. While some detergents void some diaper warranties and there are many detergents with less than favourable ingredients the choice is yours. If you are using the right amount and in the right way you shouldn't have issues. Some ingredients are best avoided because they are proven to cause issues like brighteners and softeners but even so it is your personal choice. You need to be happy with the results and feel good about using it. I tried many detergents and I always make suggestions based on what my experience has shown me. I prefer natural detergents to chemical ones even if I have to source it and order it but that is my choice for my family.

Secondly, KEEP IT SIMPLE. An over complicated routine with baking soda, vinegar, bleach, oxyclean is a sure way to get in trouble. You shouldn't need any additives if you use the right detergent and have the right routine. I find that a warm rinse, a hot wash with my detergent and a cold rinse to end is all I need to keep things going. Some moms have such over complicated routines it makes my head hurt. If you use baking soda in your pre-wash, detergent and oxyclean in your main wash and then vinegar in your rinse at the end how do you know where the problem is when it arises? If your detergent alone isn't cutting it maybe you need another detergent. This being said many with hard water find that adding calgon to help soften the water is needed and that is ok. Or if you use mainly cotton and find that it is really stiff after you dry it a touch of vinegar in the last rinse is again no biggie.

Third, Please don't reach for the additives the moment you have an issue.  Really, DON'T. 99% of the time a small tweak in your wash is all that is need. You have stains... sun them before you reach for the oxy. If your overnight diapers are a bit stinky... rinse them in plain warm water before you  throw them in your pail before you think Bac Out, not totally clean diapers after the wash.... try warm rinses first. This list can go on and on but you get the point. RLR, Dawn, Vinegar and baking soda all have their place in the cloth world but not as a regular part of a routine.

Fourth, If you need to strip your diapers start with hot water washes. You don't need RLR, Dawn or whatever else people may tell you. Again these things have their place. RLR, great for removing hard water mineral deposits, don't need it to strip soap build up. Dawn, amazing if you get a non cloth safe diaper cream on your diapers, again don't need it to strip. Stripping is removing built up residues from diaper fibres so why add things in if you are trying to work them out?

Five, if you have to strip on a regular schedule there is a problem. I have not had to strip for anything other than new to me diapers or when I switched detergents. If you are stripping frequently maybe you aren't using the right detergent or the right amount.

Finally number six, diaper laundry is really just laundry so don't over think it.

In the last year I have run into issues twice. Once during my cold water experiment but as soon as I switched back to hot washes it was all good. Second more recent when I realised that I wasn't drying my prefolds thoroughly enough and they were getting a musty icky smell as a result. I was washing them and the doing one cycle in the dryer then hanging them on the line. Well my clothes rack was in the basement where there must be more humidity and less air circulation than the rest of the house. As soon as I moved the rack upstairs problem solve. So in a year no real issues, and I don't use Tide, bleach, BacOut, Dawn, RLR or anything special. Just me and my washer and the detergent. That's it.

I would like to close by saying a big thank you to all the wonderful and amazing women I met through cloth diapering in the last year. You ladies are truly an awesome bunch!

Happy Fluffy Journeys.

Clean diapers shouldn't smell like a barn

So I love everything about my fluff. One of my favourite things is smelling the diapers when they are just clean and dried. I love the smell of clean fluff. But what happens when you open the dryer door and you are hit in the face with what smells more like hay and barn animals then clean diapers?  Well you my friend have a problem. Not hard to solve but a problem non the less.

Barnyard smell in your diapers means that they are not clean. End of story.  Thankfully it is simple to remedy.  Whenever someone has stinky diapers I suggest that they first clean their wash machine. It is good practise to clean your wash machine periodically even if you don't cloth diaper. Think of all the stuff that the machine deals with. To clean it you can buy commercial wash machine cleaners but it is not necessary. You can do the job with either 2 cups of regular chlorine bleach or 2 cups of white vinegar. Simply run a hot wash with vinegar or bleach and no clothes added. Finish with an extra rinse and you are done.

So you cleaned your washer now what? 

Barnyard can be caused by one of two things. First the diapers are not getting clean enough because you are not using enough detergent. This is common because the cloth community seems to advertise low dosing detergent. So if a regular load uses 2 tbsp. of detergent they will tell you to use 1/4-1/2 of that... um 1/2 tbsp. of detergent to wash pee and poop?  Don't think so! I always suggest using the recommended amount for your machine. So if a regular load uses to line1 on the scoop use to line 1. Now that being said people with soft water may need to use less and people with hard water may need to use more. As a safe starting point though, go with what is instructed on your detergent.

The second common cause of barnyard stink is because either you use the right amount of detergent but it is not rinsing away or you are using a bit too much and again it is not rinsing away. if the detergent is not rinsed away it stays in the fibres along with the pee and poop residue causing the stinkies. So what do you do and where do you start? Here are my recommendations try them in the order given changing nothing else:

1. Clean your washer.
2. Swap out the cold rinse at the end of your cycle for a warm rinse or warm wash. The warm water helps remove trapped particles better.
3. Add an additional rinse to the end of your routine. Those with HE machines or front loaders may need to add water to increase the amount of water going through the diaper.
4. Increase your detergent amount slightly. ( if you have been using to line 1 go to line 2, if you use 2tbsp use 3). Keep up with the rinses from before.  If you are using the amount recommended for a large or heavy load and you are still not getting the right results maybe that isn't the right detergent for you.
5. Switch to a cleaner rinsing detergent. My favourite detergent are Country Save and Nature Clean powder. Both are super clean rinsing and very gentle.

If you are still having issues you can email me at whitehorsefluffproject@yahoo.ca and I can troubleshoot with you.

The Tummy Flu vs the Fluff

So kids get sick. It is unavoidable. I have never felt as bad and helpless then when my kids were sick and beyond giving them some meds to help with their fever or whatever all I could do is try and comfort them. It is an awful experience. Another awful experience is dealing with a stomach bug when your little one is in diapers. 2 words... Blow Out. With my daughter and disposables it was a nightmare! Being that I had to go back to work early and she was in daycare full time since she was about 6 months old there was a LOT of tummy bugs. With my son I managed to avoid all that until now. I go back to work in about a week and he started daycare 2 weeks ago. After his first week we got sick!

Poor little man had the works. Fever, vomiting and runny poops. Well there was NO way I was going to use my nice hybrid fitted stash or my favourite pocket diapers while he was going through all that. I also didn't want to go and get disposables because I know how often those blow up, not kidding, blow up.  So what to do?  All I can say it thank goodness I have a healthy stash of cotton prefolds and Flour Sack Towels and covers.

While we were going through the tummy issues there was a day were we went through 11 diapers. Normal I need about 6-7.  I used prefolds with a snappi and a cover as much as I could. That helped contain the messes a lot better that any pocket would have. Once I ran out of prefolds, I only have about 6, I used a tri-folded Flour Sack Towel. That was not as great but it did the trick. I also rinsed every diaper in warm water before I tossed them into the pail.

For washing I didn't change too much in the routine other than rinsing everything in warm right away. Once B got over the bug I did add 1/4 bleach to my hot wash just to sanitize the diapers before I put them away.  I think if I stuck to my hybrids and pockets I would have been sunning a LOT. Not to mention possibly changing outfits more often.  Thankfully prefolds and FST clean up really easily and seem to be pretty stain resistant. 

Moral of the story?  Prefolds may seem simple in design and not the most attractive, but are pretty mighty in function. Don't pass them up because you never know when you are going to need a simple, not so pretty alternative.

When your baby grows more like a bean stalk...

So ladies and gentlemen my son is destined to great heights. I mean it. My hubby is well over six feet and at 5'6" I only have about an inch on my 11 year old. So it should be no shocker that my 11 month old son is 33.5" tall and in the 98th percentile for his height.  This does represent a tiny bit of an issue with the average one size diaper though.

As my little weed grew I soon realized that not all one size diapers are created equal. They all advertise that they fit from 8-35lbs so birth to potty training, but what happens if your 25lber is too tall for the one size diaper? Well at the ripe old age of 11 months quite a few OS diapers don't work for us anymore. My favorite AIO the BumGenius Elemental is a no go. As are Tot Bots, Bummis Bamboozles ( there goes my trusty night time option), Fuzzibuns and a few others. So what am I going to do until potty training?

Well, Charlie Banana OS, BumGenius 4.0 Pockets,  BumGenius Freetimes and Happy Heinys still fit well at this moment in time but they are on the tallest setting for the rise so I am really not sure that they will last all the way through.  I also tried Kawaii and Alva diapers but I am not a big fan of them and their fit.

I recently got introduced to hybrid fitteds like Little Fancy Pants, Diaper Donks and Gray Star Boutique.  These diapers offer a OS option that still seems to fit well but they also have a toddler size that I may need to trade up to depending on when we potty train. These are a fitted diaper with a hidden fleece layer that acts like a fleece cover. Many families can use them coverless for the most part but my little fireman can soak through them quickly so I use a cover.  That being said some covers work better over these than others. My favorites include Capris, Blueberry and Thristies covers. All three of these offer a nice tall rise that has a fair amount of room to grow still.

I also really like sized diapers. At 25lbs the medium Fuzzibuns and Charlie Bananas still fit awesome!  The size guide show mediums to fit up to 30lbs and larges to go from 25-45lbs. I have a few larges and they are still too big on my little man.

So if you are faced with a bean stalk instead of a little weed give these a try:

BumGenius 4.0 pockets
Happy Heinys pockets
Charlie Banana sized pockets
Fuzzibuns sized pockets
Bummis sized prefolds and covers
Little Fancy Pants hybrid fitteds
Diaper Donks hybrid fitteds
Sandy's sized fitteds

Mama, It's Time to Strip!

So stripping diapers is a topic that you hear lots about. Everyone seems to be an expert at when and how to do it. So what is a rookie to do?

Well lets talk about the when to strip first. If you have a good wash routine you shouldn't need to strip as a regular thing. I repeat... Stripping is not a routine thing with cloth diapers.
How do you know that it is that special time?  If you are having issues like ammonia stink or leaks, it is time to strip. If you are switching detergents, it is time to strip. If you got second hand diapers it is time to strip.  So why would you need to strip in these situations?

Ammonia stink and leaks can be caused by a build up of detergent in your diaper fibres. These trapped detergent particles make it that pee and poop gets trapped in those fibres and don't wash away. This buildup causes stinkies and makes the diapers less absorbent over time. Stripping your diapers removes the buildup and in most cases fixes your smell and leak issues. 

The same principle is true when you switch detergents. You may have your old detergent trapped in the fibres and this can cause issues if you just start using a new one. In some cases the two detergents don't react well together and cause stink issues and/or rashes on your baby. Stripping the old detergent out of your diapers before starting the new one makes sure that your diapers are at a nice clean starting point.

The third reason to strip is when you get new to you diapers. Because you don't know what type of water and detergent the other family had you want to make sure to remove anything that may be in the diaper before using it on your baby. A good strip and a sanitize is needed. I always treat new to me diapers like they have the plague.

Ok so how do you strip?  Well there are a tons of methods out there advertised by cloth diaper retailers, manufacturers and bloggers. It is mind blowing! The most common ones are bleach, blue dawn, RLR and hot water.  Let's break these down.

Bleach is a great disinfectant, but it is harsh on your baby and the environment. You do not need bleach in your everyday routine. I do use bleach if I am dealing with a yeast diaper rash or new to me diapers. I always assume the worst with used diapers. Once any buildup is removed I wash them with my regular detergent on hot water with 1/4 cup of bleach. I double up the rinse to make sure all the bleach is out. Use regular chlorine bleach. While regular bleach is simple enough if you really don't want to use it you can use Oxygen Bleach. Add the full recommended amount to your hot wash cycle and let it agitate for a few minutes and then pause the cycle for about an hour to let things soak in. Then finish the cycle and double the rinse.

Blue Dawn is often suggested for stripping diapers. It is even recommended by diaper manufacturers and I find that so unbelievable. Here is the thing with dawn... it is dish soap and first and foremost it can void the warranty on your washer. Here is the second thing... it is a degreaser. A degreaser is great if you got a non cloth friendly cream on your diapers but really pointless to remove build up. Adding soap to fix soap build up really doesn't make much sense does it? Now if you got diaper cream on your diapers that you shouldn't have, use a bit of dawn and a toothbrush to scrub it out and rinse well in hot water before washing the diaper but for anything else keep dawn in the kitchen to wash dishes with.

RLR is a laundry additive to remove buildup.  Great right?  Well yeah but it is made to remove build up from minerals in hard water. According to the package it is supposed to help loosen up detergent residue but again you are adding soap to soap. It suds up like mad so you are going to be rinsing forever! No joke. I used 1/2 pack on a load of really dingy inserts once and it took 10 rinses to get the suds out. I suggest RLR if you suspect you have mineral build up from hard water but not for anything else.

Hot water.  Sound simple right? It is. Hot water helps break up soap better than cold water. So if you suspect soap build up or want to remove anything stuck in the fibres of your diapers wash in hot water without anything added and keep checking for suds. It will work out any built up soap and anything else that may be trapped in your diapers.

Any idea what my preferred method of stripping is?  Yup plain old hot water!  You don't need to use any special additive to strip diapers. In most cases 3-5 hot washes will do the trick. After you do your hot washes and have clear water in your rinse cycle you are done. In most cases this alone will fix your issues.

So now that you are a pro ... dare you to tell your partner that you are spending your afternoon stripping and make sure you take a pic of their face.

Traveling with your Fluff

So the topic of cloth diapering and travel comes up often, especially as we head towards summer.

I have so far travelled with my fluff twice. I don't find it anymore cumbersome than using disposables. I hate disposables so they are really an absolute last resort, like when my moms wash machine broke down. A few tips to help you with your travels:

1. Are you going to be able to wash while you are on your trip? If no, then you can either swallow big and buy a pack of disposables or.... try the disposable inserts made by either GroVia or Flip. I used both at different times and I like them both. The GroVia has really great leg gussets to hold in messes but I don't like messing with the sticky tabs to put them into the cover. The Flips are thirsty and easy to change but they can shift in the covers. The nice thing is that the covers can be washed by hand and dried easily, so access to a wash machine is not needed.

If you are able to wash then you can pack pretty much what ever you want. I like pockets better for trips because they dry faster than AIO's but it is totally up to you. I would suggest that you take your detergent with you just in case you can't get any while you are there and maybe have a look at the water hardness. You can get a hardness test from most cloth retailers or from Rockin Green for about $1.00.

2. Are you driving, camping, in a hotel or with family?  This can also effect the type of diapers you take with you. I usually drive so again the disposable inserts are great. If I was flying I could just use my regular diapers and wash when I got to my destination. We normally use the disposable inserts on the drive and then wash our regular diapers the rest of the time.

If you are in a hotel you may or may not have access to a wash facility so call ahead and check. With family, it is also a good idea to check that they are cool with you washing at their home.

3. Do you want to do diaper laundry?  Well if you don't then sit back and enjoy your trip and use disposables. The world will go on and you can go back to your usual routine once you get home.

When packing I take about 2 days worth of diapers or 5 covers and enough Disposable inserts to see me through, laundry detergent (sample packs are great), disposable wipes ( I like the GroVia ones), and a wet bag or two.

Regardless of how you diaper on holidays....Enjoy your time and make memories.

Daddy Diapers

First of all to all the sceptics out there... Yes men change diapers, even cloth ones! I want to give a HUGE shout out to all the cloth diapering dads. They are not as present as the cloth diaper mommies but they are out there. Dads everywhere have embraced not only diapering their babies but all things involved with babies. If you have a dad to be who is still on the fence about cloth diapers this is for you.

OK first of all, gentlemen, you are about to become a father. Since we now live in 21st century you better get ready because the sidelines are not where you are going to be. You are going to be drooled on, spat up on, puked on, peed on and yes even pooped on. Yes pooped on, regardless of what type of diapers you use.  You are going to encounter some of the grossest things EVER and have the chance to experience the greatest responsibility, raising a helpless infant into a responsible independent person. This journey will be one of the hardest things you will take on but it will be rewarding and filled with love.

With that said why would you want to give cloth a try?

1. It could save you thousands of dollars. Imagine having $2500 to put into an education fund for college. You can. If you buy a modest stash of cloth diapers and stick the money you would spend every week on Pampers into an RESP, you did just that. If you have more kids the savings can be even more.

2. Chances are good your little one will have less rashes. Less rashes means less sore tushies and happier babies. Happier babies also make happier mommies.

3. Generally speaking cloth diapered babies can potty train sooner so ultimately you have to deal with diapers for less time.

4. You are doing good for the environment. You are not sending 6000 disposable diapers to the landfill to sit and well, fester for hundreds of years. There's a great thing to hand your kids, 500 years of garbage.

My husband was on board with cloth but not totally, until.... The road trip. We travelled to see family for a week and had our fluff with us. My moms washer broke the second day we were there so washing for the rest of the week was not an option. We had to get sposies. The only thing hubby remembers is how bad our son smelled every time he peed in the Pampers. He was a convert and now is one of my biggest advocates.

The truth about cloth is that they do NOT leak, they do NOT smell, they ARE easy to use and they ARE a thousand times cuter than sposies.

To make life easier and the transition to cloth painless try diapers that are similar to sposies. Lots of dads prefer All in Ones with velcro closures. Mine doesn't really have a preference to brands and actually found he likes snaps better. When dad is with baby I use a bumGenius Freetime or Elemental with a flushable liner. No spraying off poopy diapers and no unstuffing. Here are some of the most dad friendly diapers:

bumGenius Freetime AIO ( available in snap or velcro)
bumGenius Elemental AIO ( snap)
bumGenius 4.0 pocket (snap or velcro)
Thirsties AIO ( snap or velcro)
Thirsties Duo ( pocket diaper but the insert aggitates out, snap or velcro)

Your man might surprise you though. I have a friend who was sure her hubby would want AIO, turns out he and his siblings were cloth diapered in flats and prefolds.

Taking on the impossible.... Cloth diaper at night

So you made the decision to cloth diaper and you did your homework. You now know that you should change baby every 2 hours or so and all that good stuff. But what about night time?  Are you doomed to have to wake baby every 2 hours to make sure he wakes up with dry sheets?  HECK NO!!!!

There are nighttime options for every family, you just have to test out a few to see what works well for your family.

My son sleeps on his tummy, about 12 hour stretch every night. He used to wet more when he woke up at night to feed but the diapers still held up.  Here are my faves:

1. Sandy's Fitteds. These are made by Mother-Ease and are available in four sizes, newborn, small, large and toddler. They come in a variety of fabric including bamboo, cotton and a cotton terry.  The new retail on these is about $13-15. I LOVE these for nighttime. The larges that I am currently using hold 15oz of liquid and you can add a booster that holds an additional 7 oz.  These may look like granny pants but they work awesome. Paired with a good cover they have been bullet proof. They are not stay-dry on their own but you can get stay dry boosters or add a fleece liner.

2. Bamboozle Bamboo fitteds by Bummis.  These bamboo fitteds are a OS diaper fitting from about 9-35lbs. They are made with super soft bamboo rayon and are super thirsty. They are also really trim so your baby doesn't have a basketball for a bum. They come with a snap in booster but you can add another one if you need to, but I found that it was totally not needed. Again with a good cover these are great at night. They retail for about $22-24 new.

 3. Flip Organic insert topped with a Flip stay dry insert. Now I was not a big Flip fan but the 100% organic cotton insert is super thirsty on it's own. I add the staydry microfiber insert for the stay dry effect. These fit right into the Flip cover and have been bulletproof for us. In fact the back of the inserts it often dry in the mornings. The retail price can vary a bit depending on where you buy but a cover is about $16, an organic insert $10 and a staydry insert $5. I have also taken the Organic insert and stuffed a pocket diaper with it for nighttime successfully.

 

 

4. Bumgenius Freetime AIO. This may not work for super heavy wetters but for us it works just fine. I do add a hemp booster under the 2 flaps so there is a 2 layer hemp booster and 5 layers of microfiber. I live that this is staydry on it's own so I don't need a fleece liner. This would be about $16-18 new.

 

 

5. Little Fancy Pants Fleece Sleepy ( or Little Fancy Pants Windpro Sleepy)

This is like a great fitted with a fleece cover all in one. Many families can use this without an added cover. I do find that this is a bit bulky compared to the other options but it does work. I was not able to go cover-less in them yet because my son sleeps on his tummy and tends to squeeze the moisture through the front of the diaper. These are available new for about $36-39 new.

6. Although I no longer use prefolds and covers, many families use doubled up prefolds like this with a cover and get great results. Prefolds can be made out of cotton, hemp or bamboo.  You can just lay it in a cover like this or use a snappi to fasten it on baby and then cover it. Prefolds are not staydry on their own so you may want to add a fleece liner to pull moisture away from baby's bottom. Prefolds are usually pretty inexpensive with a 6 pack of mediums around $20.

7. Last but not least is the Wizard Duo.  This is also made by Mother Ease. The covers some in 2 sizes and there are a variety of insert options available. My favourite is the nighttime stay dry insert. It is a synthetic fibre, but it is super absorbent. The only issue I had with this diaper in general was that the rise was too short for my tall baby and he outgrew it height wise before he hit the top of the weight range. There is a nighttime pack available on the Mother Ease website for about $60, including 1 cover and 2 inserts.


If you are using something different at night time and would like to share I love to hear comments of what works for other families and what doesn't.



Cold Washing Final

So last week I said that I was going to dial up the heat of my wash to my warm setting and keep all the other variables the same. Well, me being the co-ordinated and non-klutz that I am I knocked the entire container of Charlie Banana Soap into the mop bucket. Which was full of water. of course. So I went back to my favourite detergent, Country Save.

I still rinsed and soaked my over night diapers in water until wash day. I did a cold rinse, a long warm wash with 1 scoop of Country Save dissolved in a bit of warm water and an additional cold rinse.
This week I had no stinkies at all.  So I am going out on a limb saying that hot or warm washes are the best way to get your diapers clean without any fuss. Now that being said if you are only able to do cold washes try these tips to help tweak your wash routine.

1. Rinse your diapers well before storage
2. Try a wet pail for your prefolds, inserts, flats and some fitted and use a dry pail for anything with PUL.
3. Don't delay washing for longer than 3 days because the smells and stains really get set in and can be stubborn to get out.
4. Don't wash more than about 18 diapers in a load.
5. Use the longest cycle you have available on your machine, and use the soak function if you have one. If you have no soak function try letting your machine go a few minutes and then stop it so the diapers can soak in the detergent for an hour or so.
6. Use an appropriate detergent. My favourites in cold washer are Charlie Banana Soap, Nature Clean liquid, Nature Clean powder, and Country Save. (I was really not blown away by Tide Coldwater)
7. Make sure you rinse well because at colder temps the detergent can be harder to rinse out
8. Try doing 1 wash a month on hot water.

I found that the diapers that were hard to get clean were the ones made out of synthetic fibres like microfiber and fleece. Cotton, Bamboo and hemp seemed to clean out better. Now I did not focus too much on what fibres made up my stinky diapers so I am not 100% sure on it.

If you are looking at washing in cold to save money here are some stats from Applecheeks website:

Based on 2008 Hydro Quebec rates it will cost you:

• $0.38 for a hot wash
• $0.18 for a warm wash
• $0.03 for a cold wash

A dryer cycle  will cost you a grand total of $0.17 cents!

So washing your diapers every three days will raise your energy bill by a grand total of approximately $68.80 per year!

If you wash all your other laundry in cold water diapers will cost you an extra $68 a year. That's not too bad. Especially because to me, having to rewash and the extra fuss to get diapers clean with cold washes is not worth it time wise... but that's just me. If you have a cold wash routine that you have been using and are happy with the results please feel free to comment below. I would love to hear them. Please include your washer type ( top or front loader, HE or non- HE), water type if you know it, detergent and amount, type of diapers you use, and your wash routine.

Stains on my diapers? NEVER!

OK, so we all know that diapers, cloth or disposable, have one purpose. To catch poo and pee. So does that mean that you are destined to deal with poop stained diapers?  Not in this household! Yes stains happen and really they are not that big of a deal. But, I do show off my cloth often and there is nothing like showing a non cloth diaper using, sceptical mom your super cute Charlie Banana diaper with a massive poops stain inside. Kinda gross, don't you think? So what the heck are you to do to make sure that you have as little staining as possible?

1. Get a liner

Fairly simple. Using either a flushable (some brands are better than others) or fleece liners in all your diapers keeps stains at bay big time. A fleece liner is super easy to rinse off and washes clean. They are really inexpensive too. You can buy a 10 pack of Bummis fleece liners for about $5 or make your own by buying the thinnest fleece you can get and cutting it to the size you need.



2. Deal with the poop

Simple laundry 101. The longer a stain sets in the harder it is to get it out. I rinse all my poopy diapers ASAP with a diaper sprayer and if the stain is bad I do pre-treat right away.



3. Switch to a warm pre-rinse

Stains come out best at the temperature they were created at. So poop stains tend to come out better with warm rinses than with cold ones. My machine only does cold rinses so I normally start my wash routine with a short warm wash cycle. The warm cycle also helps deal with super stinky diapers.



4. Diapers don't worry about skin cancer

I was totally sceptical about this before I cloth diapered, but yes the sun is amazing at bleaching out stains.  You don't even need a clear sunny day. You need direct sun light in the form of UV rays, and there are plenty of those floating around.  This means you can sun your diapers in the winter when it is below freezing. I live in Northern Canada so believe me when I say it gets COLD! Like -40 Celsius cold in the winter.

This is my way of sunning in the winter. I hang my clean and wet diaper on a coat hanger using clothes pins and then hang the hanger off the curtain rod. Yes I probably get a few stares from passerbyers.



5. Lemon juice makes awsome sunscreen

Well maybe not for people but for diapers it is a great helper. On stubborn stains squirting half lemon juice half water as it dries in the sun help lift out the stain.



6. Stain Treatments.

There are tons of options here. I used a few on my diapers with great results. Don't use them all together of course.

Buncha Farmers Stain Remover.  This is great stuff. You wet the stick and rub it into the stain before tossing the diaper in the pail. I use this on all kinds of stains from cloth pads, food and greasy work clothes.

 

Nature Clean Oxygen Bleach. I add about 1/4 cup to my pre-wash or first rinse. This is 100% Natural and will not harm your diapers. You can also add 1/4 cup to your wet pail if that is the storage method you are using.  For keeping stains at bay a wet pail is a better option but keep in mind that PUL doesn't like to soak. If you are going with a wet pail I would only use it for inserts, prefolds, flats and maybe fitteds depending on what they are made up of. I personally find a wet pail more cumbersome than what it's worth.

Nature Clean Oxy Stain Remover. This is basically a powdered version of the oxygen bleach. About 1 tbsp in the prewash or first rinse usually does the trick. You can also add this as a detergent booster to your regular laundry.

And last but certainly not least, good old Baking Soda. I use about 1/4 cup baking soda to 1 gallon warm water and soak my diapers for a few hours or overnight then wash as normal. I found this baking soda also works great on new to me diapers that smelled a bit, well, off if you get my drift.

Now some diaper fabric do stain more easily than others. Cotton like the insides of a GroVia AIO or a BumGenius Elemental are examples. These do sun out really well though. At the end of the day stains will happen. If all else fails they will get lighter and lighter the more you wash the diaper.

 

 

Cold Water Wash Week 3

Well we are three weeks in and I am really on the fence with this one. I am having no issues at all getting my pocket diapers clean in cold water but my fitteds are another story. It seems that I HAVE to soak those before washing or I end up with stinky diapers.

This week I tried only soaking my overnight fitteds in warm water and a tiny bit of detergent. After all those are the ones that are on the bum the longest and should be the ones with stink issues right. Well turns out the fitteds I did not soak were a 50/50 hit or miss. It seems that some of them would come out clean and some wouldn't.

I could fix this is I soaked all my fitteds but I really don't like having a wet pail. Soaking 2 overnight diapers in an ice cream bucket in the laundry room is no biggie but all my fitteds would be a pain.

I tried adding 1 tbsp Funk Rock by Rockin Green to my pre-rinse but it did not seem to help. I ended up having to rewash my fitteds in warm every time. After the warm wash they were fine. It is likely that the warm water is needed to help the detergent do its job well enough to penetrate all the layers of the diaper. Fitteds usually have lots of layers which is great for absorbency but it is a bit of a challenge if you are not washing on hot water. According to some of the research I did there is a 50% drop in the effectiveness of your detergent for every 10 degrees your water temp drops below 45 degrees Celsius.

This week coming I am going to dial up the temp to warm washes, in my machine that is about 30 degrees Celsius and we will see if it makes a difference. I will keep using the Charlie Banana Soap and continue to soak the overnight diapers, to keep all the other variables the same.

Diapers are a poopy matter

The first question I get asked ,immediately after the "you really use cloth diapers?" is " What do you do with the poop?"

Well when you use cloth diapers, just like disposable diapers, you will come face to face with poop. Let me tell you, after a few diapers it really won't be a big deal. With disposables most families just toss the diaper and it's contents into the garbage. Did you know though that in quite a few places you are not supposed to dispose of human waste in the garbage? You should check your local bylaws. You are supposed to dispose of human waste in the toilet and then toss the diaper.

So with cloth, what do you do? You dispose of poop in the toilet. There are a few methods that you can use to do this.

1. The Diaper Sprayer

This is a funky little shower head that attaches to your toilet tank and uses the water from the lines. You basically use the shower head to spray off the soiled diaper into the toilet and you are done. When I told my husband that we are going to cloth diaper, this was his requirement. While I would cloth diaper without my sprayer, I love it and it is one of my can't do without accessories. I purchased the BumGenius Diaper Sprayer for $50 and it was the smartest $50 I spent. You can purchase less expensive brands also on Amazon or Ebay.

2. The Flushable Liners

Biodegradable, flushable liners are available from several brands including Bummis, GroVia, Charlie Banana and Applecheeks.  These come on rolls and you lay them into your diaper. When you change the diaper the liners simply get flushed down the toilet and then the rest of the diaper goes into your pail.  The solid poop stays on the liner and no need for a diaper sprayer. Wet liners may also be tossed into a compost pail instead of the toilet. Most brands are safe for septic tanks, but always double check.  I use these when we travel and I will be using them with daycare. I do find that some of the liners like to stick to my sons bum but they all do their job. If you are breastfeeding exclusively you won't reap all the benefits of these as breast fed poop is really runny and will go straight through the liner.

3. The Dunk and Flush

I have tried this once or twice and it is not my preferred method by far. It is basically what it sounds like. You dunk the diaper into the toilet and flush repeatedly to get the poop off. I found this to be the least effective and messiest method. I would rather spend the $6 on a roll of 100 Bummis liners.


 4. The Wash Machine

This is ONLY for exclusively breast fed babies.
Human breast milk poop is water soluble. You do not need to rinse poopy diaper off just store them in your pail. The initial rinse cycle in your wash routine will take care of it for you. If you wanted to you could run a cold or even a warm short cycle without any detergent added instead of just a rinse.  Breastfed poop can stain more but it also suns out the easiest.

Cold Wash Week 2

For those of you who have been following, I decided to test out cold water wash routines for the month. Cold washing is not the norm for cloth diapers but many families do not have the option to wash on hot. There is very limited information on the net about cloth diapers and cold water washing. Most sites and discussion groups will tell you that you have to wash on hot to sanitise diapers. Well based on the research that I did before I started, the average home wash machine does not get hot enough to sanitise. If your machine has a sanitise setting you may get hot enough but it will melt your PUL.  My hot water comes out at 50 degrees Celsius and that is not hot enough.

I have been washing on cold for 2 weeks now and so far so good. I have a mixed stash of pockets and fitteds. I am finding that straight cold water washer are OK for my pockets, I have no smell issues and no staining. My fitteds are mostly OK also, the only ones that seem to need more TLC are the fitteds I use for overnight.

This week I tried out a combination of a wet and a dry pail. I normally use a dry pail only. I used a wet bag for my covers and pocket shells and a wet pail for my inserts and fitteds.  I had the wet pail in the bathroom with some water and 1 tbsp of detergent. It worked well and even my overnight fitteds came out clean and fresh. It was a pain to deal with though. It was heavy, and if it wasn't in the bathroom I would have dropped it after day 1.

This week I also ran out of Tide, so I switched to Charlie Banana Laundry Detergent.

This is relatively new on the market. Charlie Banana introduced it in September 2012 and currently it is only available off the Charlie Banana website. The tub says that it does 80 loads but with hard water and an old style top loader I need 2 scoops per load so a tub is about 40 loads. It does not list its ingredients all it says is that it is made of coconut oil based cleaners, natural washing soda and sodium silicate. It does not contain phosphates, dyes and fragrances. It is hypoallergenic, safe for sensitive skin and completely biodegradable. It is formulated to dissolve well in cold and warm water as it is made for Charlie Banana diapers. I was surprised that this did not give my son rashes because normally he is super sensitive to all things made with coconuts. Well , I gave it a go. I was very impressed that it got all the stinkies out and my diapers came out smelling clean and fresh. I did find that it was not as great on stains as some of the other detergents that I have tried, but that really was not a big deal because I can sun them out easily enough. I used 2 scoops ( 2 tbsp) in my long cold wash.

So far things are going well overall. I am thinking that I will wash my pockets on cold and my fitteds on warm since I am not 100% impressed with how they come out after cold washes.

Stay tuned for next week...



Enzymes, and Brighteners, and Dyes, Oh my!

So if you ask what detergent you should use on your diapers you will get about a thousand replies. So what is a new cloth diapering family to do?  Well there are things you should stay away from in your detergent.  Enzymes, brighteners, dyes and fragrance can cause irritation in babies and softeners reduce absorption in diapers.  The detergent that you decide to go with must work for you. If a detergent is working well and you are happy with the results then by all means stick with it. If something is working then don't fix it.

I have used several cloth diaper safe detergents and a few not cloth diaper safe ones, and I am still in the process of testing some more, here are my findings on the ones I have tried to date:

Nature Clean
It is made by a Canadian company without Enzymes, Brighteners, Dyes, Fragrance, Phosphates and SLS.  This detergent is cloth diaper safe and is available in a liquid and a powder format. I prefer the powder format but they both do a really great job. I had no stains or smell issues while using this detergent. It works well in all water temperatures. I did find that the powder made some of my natural fibre diapers a bit stiff because it is made with corn starch based ingredients. You can soften up stiff diapers by throwing them into the dryer on low for a few minutes after you take them off the line. This would be one of my top recommendations. It is readily available at most Loblaws grocery stores.

BumGenius Detergent
This is made by the makers of Country Save. It contains no enzymes, brighteners, dyes, fragrance, phosphates or SLS. It is made specifically to work with cloth diapers. I found it does a really great job on diapers. I do use 2 scoops per load as I have hard water and a top loading machine. It is available at most on line cloth diaper retailers. I found this worked well in hot and warm water but you should dissolve it in warm water if you are using it in cold water.




Rockin Green
Made to work specially with cloth diapers. This is one of the most recommended cloth diaper detergents available. It comes in 3 formulas made for soft, regular, or hard water. You really need to know where your water sits so that you get the correct formula. It works awesome. It is a bit more expensive and you have to order it on line but a bag really lasts a long time. I really like this detergent and I was very impressed with the customer service provided by Rockin Green. They will work with you one on one to trouble shoot any issues you may run into.

Nellie's Laundry Soda

My son is sensitive to most coconut based ingredients so unfortunately we got a reaction with this detergent. It is also a Canadian Company and it is an all natural detergent.  I was not too blown away with how it did on stains but stains can be sunned out. I do like that it dissolves well in cold water so if you are washing in warm or cold this would be on my suggestion list. I did like how it did on my regular laundry. This is a cloth diaper safe detergent.

Country Save

This is by far my favourite! It works amazingly well on both diapers and regular laundry. Out of all the detergents this is the cheapest at $5.99 per 40 load box. It contains no additives and is 100% natural. I had no stains, no smells and nothing but clean diapers with this detergent. I do dissolve it in warm water before adding it to my load regardless of the temperature of the wash. I have slightly hard water and this stuff rocks in hard water even if you are washing in cold water. I am switching over to this full time. This is a cloth diaper safe detergent and it seems to be one of the most recommended ones out there.

Seventh Generation Free and Clear

This detergent received some mixed reviews. Some moms LOVE it and would never use anything else others say that they got major stinkies with it after a short while. I found that I was not happy with how it did on stains in my water conditions. I would use this if I had nothing else available but this would not be my regular diaper detergent. Honestly I was not too impressed with how it did on my regular laundry either. It does contain enzymes and it can void some diaper warranties.

Tide

I know, it has all those things you are told to stay away from. That being said it did get voted cloth diaper detergent of the year in 2012 on the Padded Tush Stats and it is recommended by a few cloth diaper manufacturers. Lots of moms swear by it and it does rinse out quite well. I was a Tide user all my life up until I started to cloth diaper. I did use this on my diapers for the first while and I was happy with the results. No stains, no stinkies and no rashes. That being said lots of babies are sensitive to it and it will void some diaper warranties as it is not considered cloth diaper safe. I have decided to switch over to natural detergents since I cloth diaper more for environmental reasons than anything else. I feel that if I am trying to be more environmentally friendly by reusing diapers I shouldn't add chemicals into the waterways. I did find that it worked better than other detergents that I have tried in cold water washing. If you are limited in detergent choices I would say give this a go before any of the other mainstream brands like Sunlight and Purex.

Regardless of what detergent you decide on the key is that it works for your water and you are happy with the end result. Clean diapers are not optional, they are a MUST!

 

 

Bum Wrappers Diapers

BumWrapper Diaper is made by a stay at home mom in Grand Prairie, Alberta.  They are a One Size pocket style diaper, so they typically fit from about 12-40lbs. You can purchase them online at clothdiaperkids.com.

I was fortunate enough to test these diapers in the first round of testing as well as the final phase. The first thing that caught my attention was that the diaper has a minky inner in some fun colours. Pretty much all of the diapers I have seen out there are either white fleece, micro suede or a black charcoal bamboo. But none of them come in green, red, orange to name a few.  I like that. The minky is super soft and I was actually pleasantly surprised at how easy it cleaned up. No stains.

 

 

The other thing I really liked about these right off the bat it that they had leg gussets to hold in all the messes. The pocket opening is at the front of the diaper, another feature that is a bonus in my books.

 

When I got my diapers they do not come with inserts as they are testers. I didn't mind though because I prefer to use cotton flour sack towels or hemp as inserts in my pockets anyways.



This is the phase one tester of the diaper. It has 2 rows of snaps on the front giving you three different rise settings and 3 snaps on each flap at the waist. I found that the rise snaps were just a tad bit off on this and having it on the smallest setting would have been awkward. I did like the way the snaps are set up on the waist band. I did notice that the front flap of the diaper was lower than the waist band and some of the inner part of the diaper was exposed when you snapped it up. I never had a leak though. The only other thing that

was a bit odd on this phase was that then inserts I had all seemed to be too long for the diaper, so I had the insert sticking up past the waist band at the back of the diaper.

 







Recently the final phase testers were done and I got one to try out. The issue with the inserts not fitting and the rise snaps being odd got fixed so I was really excited to try it out.



This one has 4 snaps on each flap and has an option to cross over the front flaps so you can get a great fit on even the thinnest babies. I actually prefer the snap set up of the phase one better, but that is just a personal preference. It does not effect the function of the diaper.

The main features of the diaper are still the same as before. I love the minky inner, the fun colours, the front pocket and that it will fit my tall baby for quite some time. I stuffed this one with a cotton flour sack towel also and it is super trim under my son's clothes. The pocket is generous enough, though, that you could add additional inserts if you needed to boost the absorbency. The only issue I had with this diaper is my snaps seemed weak and they were a pain to snap closed and then they did not seem to want to stay closed. I did contact the seller and they did have some issues with the snaps on this batch but have made adjustments to correct it.

Here is Mr. B modelling the final phase.

Cold Wash Week One

So it has been 1 week, 4 diaper loads since I decided to try cold water wash routines. I originally decided to only change the water temperature in my routine so I still stored my diapers in a dry pail, washed every other day, but after a bit of research I decided to use a detergent that was made for cold water use. I had a partial box of Tide Coldwater powder from before I quit using Tide that I figured I might as well use up. I know my son is not sensitive to Tide, and Tide has a great track record for cleaning in cold water. I know it is not the best option from an environmental point but I can't stand letting that box go to waste either.

I have a mix of pocket and fitted diapers.I rinse out my overnight diapers in warm water before storing everything in my pail liner until wash day. For the test period I will rinse out all my diapers. The cold setting on my machine is just below 10 degrees Celcius.

I started with a cold rinse, followed by a long cold wash and an additional cold rinse. I used Tide Coldwater to line 1 on the scoop and I dissolved it in a bit of warm water before adding it to the machine. Filling the scoop to line 1 worked really well in hot water when I was using Tide before. I also did a hot water strip on all my diapers before starting this to make sure there was no residue of any kind left over that could cause stink issues.

After the first wash my pockets and inserts came out clean, most of my fitteds came out clean but my overnight diapers smelled. Not like pee, but musty. I rewashed the load in warm and it was fine.

The second wash I added a soak. I still did a cold rinse but then I added my detergent and started the long cold wash cycle and raised the lid to stop the machine after a few moments of agitation. I let things sit like that for about an hour before finishing the cycle and then running another rinse. This load was almost all pockets and 2 overnight fitteds. This load came out fine. No smells at all.

I repeated the second wash process for the third wash. This load had more fitteds in it and B had a very busy day with lots of poopy diapers. The pockets came out fine but again a few of the fitteds were a bit musty smelling. No stains though.

For the final wash this week I had mostly fitteds in the load. I added 1tbsp of Funk Rock by Rockin Green to my first rinse. I was not able to let the diapers soak today so I did increase the detergent to Line 2 on the scoop. According to the box you are supposed to use to line 2 for a medium load so I was under dosing in the previous washes. This load came out clean except for the overnight diapers. The 2 Sandy's fitteds again smelled musty.

So what I learnt so far....
1. Cold water washes work fine for pockets and inserts but a bit of TLC is needed on fitteds because of all the layers.
2. If you can, letting the diapers soak an hour or so before washing helps get them cleaner.
3. Rinsing out your inserts before storing them in your pail also helps them get cleaner.

For next week I am going to stick to the same routine of rinse, long wash, rinse all on cold but I am going to see is using a wet pail on my fitteds and inserts can cut out the soak. When I go back to work I won't have the time to mess around with soaking before washing. I would love to make cold water washing work but if hot washes are more convenient then I will go back to that. So this week I am going to separate my inserts from my covers and pocket shells. The covers will go into a dry wet bag and the inserts and fitteds will soak in a wet pail with water and 1tbsp detergent. Stay tuned for the results.