Day 7: Flats and Handwashing Overall Experience

Today is the final day of the flats and handwashing challenge and as this was my first year I really think it was a success.  I have been using flats for the past month so that I could report the results of my flats diaper trial but of course the hand washing was completely new to me.  Today blogger are covering their Overall Experience so I figured I would cover some pros and cons from the experience as well as any tips and tricks I have learned this week.

 

 

Using Flats-

Pros:

     - Easy to use and easy to wash

     - Relatively trim, especially in one layer

     - Very inexpensive

     - Easy to customize absorbency

Cons:

     - Not as daddy or babysitter friendly (although mine did figure it out)

     - Require more laundry folding time to prepare for baby's use

 

Hand washing compared to machine washing:

Pros:

      - Inexpensive

      - Faster than using my washing machine

      - More control over each cycle, you can actually see what is going on as you wash

      - Good work out :)

Cons:

      - Loads need to be smaller so potentially washing more frequently

      - Longer drying time

      - More time consuming

      - Labor intensive, hard on back and tiring

      - Flats not as soft as when put in a dryer

 

Tips and Tricks:

Here are some of the things that I have learned this past week.  I started thinking about what changes I would make if I was going to be using flats and hand washing for the long term and wanted to share them here. 

 

1. Keep it simple, I like to just pad fold so that I don't have to struggle with a squirmy baby or worry about getting it right.  You also don't need a fastener if you pad fold.

2. To make it easier for other people that may be changing your baby, have a few covers with flats in them and ready to go and your other flats pad folded and read to be placed in a cover.

3. Buy real flats.  Based on my diaper trial I would say that its worth while to spring for some real flats (but it can't hurt to have some FST or blankets for back up).

4. Buy a Mobil Washer, this contraption was amazing and I never had any problems getting my diapers clean.  My flats come out of my washing machine still folded in half but there was so much agitation with the Mobil washer that they were completely unfolded when I was done.

5. Change the handle on your Mobil Washer so that you can stand up straight and agitate.

6. Buy or make a diaper sprayer, getting everything rinsed off right away will make your washing easier.  I also would rinse REALLY, REALLY well with my sprayer.

7. For the long term I would want to wash every other day so I would buy a second bucket and keep the first days diapers in the first bucket and the second days in the second bucket.  Then when I am ready to wash just put both buckets in your tub and perform the same steps on each.  It will take a little longer to do each "cycle" but at least you have every other night free.

8. I used a drying rack which didn't have a lot of room for more than 7-8 flats, so I would get a line or something else that holds more to dry.

 

Overall I really think that hand washing is very doable.  Maybe I just has crazy expectations, thinking that it would be miserable, but I didn't find it to be exceptionally hard, time consuming or gross. 

Day 6: Results of the Flats Trial

Today is Day 5 of the Flats and Handwashing challenge and an open topic blog day.  When the Challenge was announced a few months ago I knew that this was not only a perfect opportunity to see if I could handle the hand washing but also a perfect time to do my diaper trial on different kinds of flats.  I have put almost every style (just need to do fitteds now) through my trial but had yet to try flats so I was excited to see how they perform.

Bummis Cover with a Imagine Bamboo Flat - so trim!

 

As I noted in my flats and covers stash post, I wanted to include both flour sack towels (FST) and receiving blankets in the mix since I see those frequently recommended as inexpensive diapering options.  I was curious how materials not meant for diapering (FSTs and blankets) would stack up against traditional cotton and bamboo flats.  I started using the four types of flats I had for the challenge about a month ago so that I would have enough time to report full results of how they did.  I also did something a little different this time and used the various flats I had at night.  Both of my girls sleep from about 7:30pm to 7:30am, so all results are for a 12 hour period. So without further ado.....

 

Traditional Flats
 

OsoCozy Birdseye Cotton Flats
Number of day uses: 7
Number of night uses: 13
Number of day leaks: 0
Number of night leaks: 1
Longest wear without a leak (day): 5 hours
Big Booty factor : 2
Best Use: Day time, night time doubled up, out and about

Pros:
·        These are a very nice size and thickness
·        Very absorbent and easy to wash
·        Best "bang for your buck" at only $2 each they are a great choice for any budget

Cons:
·        Stain easily (this is very common with natural fibers and specific to these flats)
 
These flats are amazing.  For daytime they are perfect and will easily last 3 hours or longer.  I would just pad fold them and they fit easily in all of the covers I had. Even pad folded they looked really trim on my girls and when I did try different folds they were even trimmer!  I previously only used disposable diapers on my girls at night but since trying these out I have been using these at night (doubled up for my heavy wetter) and have less leaks than with disposables so I am one happy mom!  I listed staining as a con because I honestly couldn't think of one.  All natural fibers stain easily and with the OsoCozy flats they stains washed out within a few cycles.

Imagine Bamboo Flats
Number of day uses: 4
Number of night uses: 8
Number of day leaks: 0
Number of night leaks: 2
Longest wear without a leak (day): 3 hours, 15 minutes
Big Booty factor : 3
Best Use: Night time use

Pros:
·        These are very soft and larger than my other flats
·        Nice absorbent bamboo that works well for night time

Cons:
·         Larger than my other flats so I had to fold them down a bit to be able to pad fold them.

I only had 2 of these flats so I didn't get to use them as much as the other types but I had good results.  I noticed that I relied on these for night time a lot so they were frequently dirty when I wanted to use them during the day.  The leaks were both with my heavy wetting toddler so not very surprising (and were also not doubled).  I actually really love these at night now with a "half flat" that I made.  I will be buying more of these for night time for sure!  The only downside for me was that since they are larger than my other flats I had to fold them more (4 layers instead of 3) to get them to fit inside my covers and I also had to fold down the back so that it wasn't too long.  This made them slightly more bulky in the covers.  Overall though, this is a great flat, especially for night time.

 

Non-Traditional Flats

Flour Sack Towels
Number of day uses: 8
Number of night uses: 4
Number of day leaks: 1 (at 3 hours)
Number of night leaks: 2
Longest wear without a leak (day): 3 hours
Big Booty factor : 2
Best Use: Day time, around the house

Pros:
·      These are definitely the cheapest option at only $1 a piece
·        The material is relatively thin so its still very trim pad folded

Cons:
·         Not as absorbent

Overall FSTs were just average for me.  I honestly was surprised that they lasted as long as they did averaging about 2 hours which for any cloth diaper is good. After being washed these maintained their square shape and so that are easy to pad fold and fit into any cover I have.They are the cheapest option and the easiest to find as pretty much any large store should carry something similar but in my opinion I would rather spend the $2 and get the OsoCozy birdseye flat. 

Receiving Blankets
Number of day uses: 10
Number of night uses: 5
Number of day leaks: 1
Number of night leaks: 2
Longest wear without a leak (day): 3 hours
Big Booty factor : 2
Best Use: Day time use, around the house

Pros:
·        Readily available
·        Can be more fun (with different colors and patterns) than other white flats
·        Softer than other flats

Cons:
·         Least absorbent of the flats I tried
·         At over $2 a piece I think there are better options for the cost

I think the biggest benefit to receiving blankets is that most parents will already have them and in my experience you receive more than you can use as actual blankets.  They are also available at any large store so they would be easy to find.  These were my least favorite though when considering how well they worked but are perfectly suitable, especially in a pinch.

Conclusion
I honestly didn't think I would like flats at all but after using them for the past month I actually love them!  My original plan was to donate all of the flats I used for the challenge to Giving Diapers Giving Hope but I have decided instead to keep them and send a check in the amount of the value to GDGH instead.  These will be my current overnight solution and I am so pleased that I found not only a great daytime option but also something to finally use for night with my girls.

Day 5: The Flats Experience

Today is Day 5 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge.  Before using flats for the first time a month ago I was skeptical that I would like them at all but I have been proven wrong and actually love them!!  I have found them to be really absorbent (my trial results will be posted tomorrow) and easy to use.  I also have found the handwashing to be pretty easy and not as gross as expected. 

 

 

 

In the beginning I tried out different folds but I honestly just find that padfolding them is pretty trim, very absorbent and the easiest for me.  After they come out of the dryer or off the drying rack I just padfold them right away so that I can put them in my diaper drawer all ready to go.  Having them pad folded also makes it easy to just throw a few in the diaper bad although this is not my favorite style for out of the house.  I love that you can customize flats so easily with the different folds, doubling them up and adjusting where the most layer of material is for your child's needs.

 

One of the downsides (which isn't really a downside) is that with only 6-7 covers they turn into a utility and not an accessory.  If you have been following my blog or know me in person you know that I love all of the different colors and prints.  I love to coordinate my diapers with outfits or holidays and doing this is part of the fun of cloth diapering for me.  Of course this is not the point of the Challenge but for me it does take some of the fun out of it. 

 

Overall I have enjoyed the challenge, I love to see how clean the diapers actually get with hand washing and its fulfilling to dump out all of that gross water and actually see the results.  Before we started I was worried that I would be putting diapers on my daughter that were not as clean as I would like them to be and this gave me a little anxiety but I can honestly say that hand washing gets them REALLY clean.  I am already thinking of ways that this skill will be useful (e.g. vacations, hurricanes, etc) and I am also hoping to be able to talk to people about how easy it is to cloth diaper even without a washing machine.

Day 3: DIY Flats and Covers

Today is day three of Dirty Diaper Laundry's Flats and Handwashing Challenge.  Today is an open topic day and this wouldn't be a crafting blog if I didn't cover some ways that you can DIY your flats and cover stash.  I purchased (or borrowed) a lot of the items I am using for the challenge but if you want to save some money you could easily sew a lot of items yourself. 

 

Flats

You can turn almost any absorbent materials into a flat!  Old Cotton or Flannel sheets can be easily cut up into the desired size (27x27 inches is standard) and then turn under the edge and sew or serge the edges.  Diaper Sewing Supplies sews beautiful bamboo terry material that would make soft and luxurious flats (I use the bamboo terry for all the diaper inserts I make).  In a pinch you can also cut the arms and neck off of a T-shirt and have two flats.  The beauty of the T-shirt flats is that they don't require any sewing to finish the edges because the material won't fray.  One of the things that I did DIY for the challenge is "half flats" (I just made up this name).  I wanted something that I could use as a doubler without having the bulkiness of actually using a second flat so I cut some of the flats that I had in half, serged the edges and they have worked great so far as doublers.

 

Covers

 

After buying some covers and not being thrilled with the choices I decided to make some of my own.  I used a free pattern that I found online that included front snaps as well as front and back flaps to hold my pad folded flats in place.  The tutorial and pattern are actually really good and I made two covers out of PUL that I had already.  These covers are now my favorite out of the 7 covers that I have.  For each cover they took approximately 1.5 hours to complete and cost me about $8 each. 

 

Accessories

Some of the accessories that I either had or made for the challenge included cloth wipes and fleece liners.  I love using cloth wipes and I make mine with one side terry cloth and one side flannel.  These so far have been easy to handwash but they are very slow to dry since they are thick.  If I was making wipes just for handwashing I would probably just do one layer of terry cloth and serge the edges.  I normally use disposable diapers on my daughters at night but in preparation for the Challenge and my Flats trial I actually started using my flats on them at night.  Because I didn't want them to feel the wetness for 12 hours at night while sleeping I cut some fleece liners.  I have micro fleece remnants from making diapers and I just cut them large enough so that I can wrap them around a pad folded flat. 

These are my favorite DIY crafts for the challenge and I like most of them so much I plan on using them as part of my regular stash even after the challenge.

Day 1: My Top 5 Reasons to Take the Flats and Handwashing Challenge

 

This is the first year that I will be participating in the flats and hand washing challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. Leading up to the challenge I have had very mixed emotion.  One on hand I am terrified that I won’t be able to keep up or finish, on the other hand I love a good challenge.  There are many reasons that I decided to participate this year but here are the 5 biggest reasons that I will be taking “the Challenge”.

Can I do it?
One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to participate this year is just to challenge myself and see if I can do it.  I love to test myself and put myself out there to try new things.  I always figure that if I can do it anyone can do it, so hopefully my success will inspire others as well.

Hand washing as a working mother
I am a mother of two young girls and I also work “part time” (30 hours a week) so a big part of my interest in taking on the challenge is seeing if a working mother can handwash diapers.  I always tell people when promoting cloth diapers that the washing isn’t very difficult so I am curious how I will feel about handwashing and keeping up with my busy schedule.

I’m spoiled!
I realize this isn’t the most flattering thing to call yourself but the reality is that when it comes to cloth diapers I am spoiled.  I love to buy new diapers and thankfully my husband enables supports my addiction so I have quite a few diapers in my normal stash.  I wash every other day but sometimes don’t even fold my diapers and put them away until a weeks’ worth have accumulated. Cost savings is not one of the reason that I cloth diaper, it’s just a side benefit, so I wanted to better understand the perspective of a lot of cloth diapers users that have a minimalist stash.

I have never used flats before
I have pretty much every diaper style out there in the past year with the exception of flats, so I was really curious just to try them.  I started about a month early so that I could also do my diaper trial on the flats I will be using (results to be posted later this week) and I am surprised how much I really like them, especially for night.

Spread awareness
I am always surprised how little awareness there is for cloth diapers when it comes to diaper shortages for low income families.  I want people to know that there are other options and that you can provider better diapers for your child for very little money.  If just one family decides to cloth diaper because of my involvement in this Challenge I will consider it a huge success!

 

I hope everyone is excited as I am to try out flats and experience hand washing this week.  I appreciate your support this week and I hope you enjoy my posts.