Day 2: My Flats and Covers Stash

Whew! I survived the first day of Dirty Diaper Laundry's Flats and Handwashing Challenge.  It was easy using flats and the first night of hand washing them wasn't as bad as I expected.  As I commented yesterday, I enjoy trying different diapers and therefore have a lot of different kinds in my normal stash.  I tried not to buy a lot of diapers for this challenge but I also wanted to try a few different kinds of flats so that when I did my trial I could have different ones to compare.  I especially wanted to make sure that I had traditional flats, speciality flats and then other materials that are used by a lot of people as a flat (e.g. Flour Sack Towels and Receiving blankets).

 

The Flats in my “Stash”

I have heard a lot about using Flour Sack Towels (“FST”) by people that want to cloth diaper but also save money.  I actually have a ton of these in my house because I love to use them to dry dishes but I bought a set of 5 at Wal-Mart to use specifically for the Challenge and my Diaper Trial.  They cost $5 for a set of 5 towels, so $1 per flat.

I have also heard people recommend using receiving blankets that you already have laying around the house.  Most people find that (especially once baby is a little older) they have an excess of receiving blankets.  I wanted to try these out as well so that I could compare to the actual flats that I would be using.  I had a pack of 5 that were still in the package.  I found them a few months ago while cleaning out my daughters closet and realized they would be perfect for the challenge.  I looked up the price and they are about $10 for a set of 5, so $2 per flat.

Next I knew I wanted some traditional flats to try out.  I had heard in a lot of CD chat groups, blogs and message boards that Osocozy makes great birdseye flats, so I knew that Osocozy flats had to be included in the trial.  I have 12 Ososcozy birdseye flats that cost about $2 each. 

Last I wanted to try some bamboo flats, especially for night time.  I love bamboo inserts for my diapers and because I have not previously used cloth diapers on my girls at night I knew that bamboo for night would be necessary.  I have 2 Imagine Bamboo Flats that are $26 for a set of 6, or about $4.33 each. 

 

The Covers in my “Stash”

As I said, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on flats and covers that I may not use again so for my covers I used 2 that I had already, borrowed 2, bought 1 and made 2 more, for 7 total covers.

 

I already owned a Thirsties cover size Medium ($10) and a Bummis cover size small ($13).  I purchases a Sweet Pea Cover ($11) about a month before the Challenge.  From a friend I borrowed a Blueberry Capri Cover ($17) and a Thirsties Size 1 cover ($11).  Lastly I made two covers from PUL that I had already from other diaper projects but all the materials for (about $8 each).

 

All together I have 24 different squares of material that can be used as flats (plus 4 “half flats” that I will cover tomorrow) and 7 covers.  After the first day I would say that this is more than plenty flats and covers if you are washing every day (which is easier when hand washing).  In total, if you bought everything at full price, the cost of the stash I am using is $125.