Cloth diapers - washing routine.

In case you missed it, here is my post on what our cloth diaper stash is like.

I sometimes get asked by people who don't cloth diaper about my washing routine and when I explain it, they realize that it's not nearly as yucky as one would think. So, I thought I'd tell you about it.

Wipes: Since we use cloth diapers we also use cloth wipes when at home. I do not pack cloth wipes for when we're out because I use wipes for a lot more than just wiping bottoms. We use disposable wipes for cleaning the kids' hands and faces after they've eaten, cleaning hands after playgrounds, etc. So, I just keep disposable wipes in the diaper bag. But, this is what my wipe stash at home looks like (I made them all from flannel (monkey, giraffe and plain yellow) with microfiber terry on the reverse):I use soapy bottom wipe solution cubes from Sweet Sydney Bean. And I LOVE them! I made my wipes the correct size to fit in a standard wipe container and used an overedge stitch so the flannel doesn't fray.

Pail: I use a dry pail method and have a pail right next to Rachael's changing table in her bedroom upstairs and I also have one in the garage. I keep a wetbag (I have one from Petunias and one a friend made as a gift) in the diaper bag and whenever we are out and I have to change a diaper. The changing table is just out of view to the left and the red trash can is for the few disposables we use.

Poop: When Rachael was exclusively breastfed, no rinsing was required because breastmilk poop is completely water soluble. Now that she eats solids (mostly table food) that is not the case. There is a difference in how I get rid of the poop depending on what kind of diaper she is in.
* If she has on a prefold, I do actually rinse the diaper in the toilet. To do this I put on a pair of rubber cleaning gloves, rinse several times until all solids have been removed, then wring out the water and toss it into the pail. I then scrub my cleaning gloves with soap and HOT water!
*If she has on a pocket diaper (BumGenius, Mommy's Touch, Rumparooz) that has a micro fleece or suede cloth lining, then the poop can usually just be flicked off into the toilet (no rinsing) then tossed into the pail. It only sticks to this kind of fiber if it's runny...

Washing: I typically wash every 2-3 days. As I'm loading the washer I pull out all inserts from the pocket diapers. I also try to start my wash at night before I go to bed so they can soak over night.
* Fill machine with cold water, about 2 T. of Bac-Out, let agitate and then soak over night. (My machine doesn't have a soak cycle option, so I set it to a regular cycle then leave the lid open, it will stop and soak after it's finished agitating).
* In the morning I close the lid and let it drain and spin -which takes about 1 minute (since I don't have the soak option, I stand by my machine, it stops for about 5 seconds in between the spin and drawing for the rinse, so this is where I open it again). Then I reset the machine to start a new load on heavy duty with a hot wash/cold rinse.
* I put in 1/2 a scoop of BioKleen free and clear powder detergent with 1/2 a scoop of OxiClean and let it wash like normal. (I only use the BioKleen on my diapers because it's pretty expensive, so we use a different free and clear detergent for our clothing BUT the box of BioKleen that I have has lasted me a whole year!!)

Drying: Everything except my covers goes into the dryer. I dry on high heat with NO softeners. I hang the covers on clip hangers on the rod in my laundry room and they are typically dry in about 20 minutes.

The only other thing I do is when everything is dry and I'm folding it all to put away, I go ahead and stuff all of the pocket diapers. This saves a ton of time when you're trying to change a wiggly baby - just grab the diaper and fasten it on, no stuffing necessary.

Cloth diapering - an update!

Let me just say that cloth diapering is such an awesome thing! People who have not researched it probably think we're nuts, but with the options out there today, it's really not much different than using disposables.

Here is a link to all of my other posts on our adventure into cloth diapering. It is the progression of when we started with Eli (he was nearly 2) and on to cloth diapering Rachael who is now almost 11 months old. Eli is finally potty trained - though he does wear Target brand pullups at night because he refuses to wear anything cloth and I refuse to change sheets in the middle of the night since he isn't night trained yet - we're working on it.

We almost exclusively cloth diaper Rachael. The only times I put her disposables are when she will be in a nursery or someone else's care and need her diaper changed (church nursery, MOPS nursery, gym child care, babysitter, etc.). If we are going out and I'll be the one changing her, I just pack a couple extra cloth diapers and a wetbag. We go thru a little less than one small size package of disposables at month (Target brand costs just over $6).

So, here is what we currently have in rotation:
* 10 one-size BumGenius 3.0's (just yesterday purchased 6 of them from a craigslist ad and just started using them today, so we've only had 4 in our stash until now)
* 2 Thirsties pocket AIO's in size medium
* 12 diaper service quality infant prefolds with 3 Thirsties covers (size medium) - I would love to have one more cover though, because I frequently run out of covers and still have clean prefolds...
* 1 one-size Rumparooz
* 1 one-size Mommy's Touch
* 1 one-size Baby Kicks fitted (it's a fitted so I use a Thirsties cover with it)
* 12 Motherease fitteds with 2 Motherease covers (these were purchased for Eli from a craigslist ad and I only use them with Rachael if I'm doing a load of diapers and out of everything else because they don't fit her very well)

While I'm at home, I mostly use the prefolds with a cover. For naptime, I wrap a microterry doubler inside it for extra absorbency.

Night time is always a one-size diaper. My favorite for night time is the Mommy's Touch because it has snaps and she doesn't have to wear shorts over it when it's hot since she can't unsnap it, but I only have one of those, so I use whatever is clean (Mommy's Touch, BumGenius or Rumparooz). Rachael is not a very heavy wetter so I don't even double up the soakers.

Other than night time, I try to make sure I always have a couple one-sizes available for outings simply because they are faster to change. If I don't have any available, I usually go ahead and prepare a prefold in a clean cover so I don't have to do the folding with a wiggly baby (because she is VERY wiggly)!

I'll wrap this up for now and do another post on our washing routine in a few days.

**I was going to add a few photos in Rachael in some of her diapers but she would NOT cooperate with the photographing.**


Updated: Here's a subsequent post I wrote about my washing routine.

Shampoo Free, Do-Over

I did it! I've accomplished going shampoo-free!! If you don't remember my first attempt, here is my fail post.

I had lots of problems figuring out what mixture worked for me and the time it was taking to get it applied to my scalp/hair, so I gave up. Then, a few weeks later I realized I can't stand shampooing my hair every day and the way my hair gets so dependent on shampoo, otherwise my scalp turns into an oil slick. So, I decided to give it another go - that was on May 19 and I haven't looked back.

I finally found what works for me. I know this will seem like a lot of baking soda, but I have fairly thick hair. I use between 1/2 and 2/3 of a cup of baking soda. Using a funnel, I pour the baking soda into an old 13 oz. conditioner bottle, then fill with hot water - then shake to mix. Once my hair is wet, I slowly pour the mixture over my scalp while massaging it in with my other hand.

This method seems to work wonderfully for me. I have been washing every other day (except a few days when I was in Florida and had been at the beach and needed to clean on my off day) and then on the days I don't use the baking soda mixture, I rinse my hair really well with hot water. I have had no adjustment issues or oil problems and my eczema completely cleared up within a week of going off shampoo!!

I am still using a super moisturizing conditioner and a leave in cream on my ends because I haven't been able to quit those due to breakage and severe split ends - even with trying the apple cider vinegar rinse and other options I found.

As of right now, I am extremely happy with my scalp and this new cleaning method and plan to continue it indefinitely.

* Since I've been going thru quite a lot of baking soda I started buying the bulk (10#) bags at Costco and it seems that one bag will last between 4 and 6 months, depending on how much baking I do*

Garden update

I thought it was time I give you all an update on my garden. The following photos were taken about a week ago and everything is a bit bigger now.

* In the back, on the far left and just left of center (the tallest plants) are all tomatoes. This year I started them from seed in my kitchen window - they are all large red cherry and there are 5 plants. I started them a little later than I should have, but was still able to transplant them in mid-May. They have done really well so far and have a lot of fruit on them, I imagine they will be starting to ripen soon!
* In the back, just to the right of the tomatoes are 2 jalapeno plants but you can't really see them because they are hiding underneath the giant tomato plants. They are producing nicely and I'm harvesting about 2 peppers per week.
* In the center (the staked plants) are potatoes. I started them on my own from organic red potatoes - I did not use seed potatoes so I have no idea how they will turn out - it was more experiment than anything... They have not been hilled properly but they are quite tall and staked up to save ground/walking space.
* In the back right corner are Elite White peas that have not done well. I planted them mid-May also and they still aren't very tall and definitely are not producing. I haven't yanked them yet because I'm just waiting and I don't need the space yet.
* Just below the peas is a patch that has lettuce and cilantro. Yum! The cilantro is just about finished and I pulled up all but 2 plants today. The lettuce continues to be wonderful!
* The bushy section in the middle right in front is carrots. These are doing wonderfully, as well. I have dug up carrots 2 times since this photo was taken so they are starting to get a little sparse. I realize now that I really should have thinned them when they first sprouted because they are quite interesting looking. Some are curly and squished together and some are even twisted together because they were too close. They still taste yummy, though!
* Just to the left of the carrots is a strawberry plant. It's a bit hard to see because of the squash leaves. It's a very pretty plant that has grown nicely, but has only produced 3 strawberries, all yummy, but I'm not sure what's up with it...
* The last thing I want to tell you about is that squash plant. Here's a better photo:

YIKES! It's out of control. First off, this is actually only 2 plants. And they are from some seeds that Eli planted in a cup as a preschool activity. When he brought them home, I never in a million years thought they would amount to anything. But, then it sprouted and began to grow, so I transplanted it into the garden and apparently it REALLY likes it there! It was suppose to be a "pumpkin" plant (at least that's what the cup said), but it turns out it's yellow squash. It is producing nicely with about 10 squash on it right now. We will never be able to eat it all so we will be giving some of it away. Right now, there's one that needs picking that is nearly the diameter of a basketball and oval shaped. It doesn't have the long neck that squash usually have, but it's definitely squash and NOT pumpkin!

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this squash plant grows at least an inch a day!

Garden time!

Here is a photo of what my garden looked like 2 days ago:


First row (starting in the back):
* 3 tomato plants
* 2 pumpkin (don't know what kind b/c Eli planted these in a cup at preschool and they actually came up so I transplanted them) - however one of them already has a bloom on it so I'm sure I'll find out soon!
Second row (starting in the back):
* 2 jalapenos
* 1 more tomato
* 1 strawberry plant that survived the winter and is thriving!
Third row (starting in the back):
* 5 potatoes, but only 2 of them have sprouted (can't really see them in this photo)
* 2 small rows of carrots
Last row:
* Peas (not doing very well - only a few of them have sprouted and they seem to be fizzling)
* Cilantro
* Lettuce
* 2 small rows of white onion

Outside the garden:
* 2 pots of peas (again not doing so well)
* small pot of cilantro
* small pot of chives that I think got drowned and never sprouted
* planter of lettuce (this is where the wind blew some of the seed from last years plants that I left in the ground too long, the seeds apparently made it thru the winter and then sprouted!) I had no idea the seeds had even gotten into this planter, just had some sprouts one day! BONUS.

I'm not sure how well the tomatoes will do because it snowed into mid-May and I couldn't put them out (started them inside) until just a few weeks ago. They are looking better, just not great. Maybe they just need some TLC.

What does your garden look like so far?

In honor of Earth Day

I thought I would just give a little run down of how we are doing our part to be good stewards of what God has given us.

Here are some things we do:
* Cloth diaper Rachael (about 90% of the time) and use cloth wipes, as well
* Mama cloth (if you don't know and really want to know, I'll tell you....)
* We grow a garden and it provides most of our veggies during the summer months.
* I am learning to can fruits and veggies
* Most of our food is home cooked from scratch, very little is prepackaged and we don't eat out much
* I make Rachael's baby food (with the exception of cereal and a few snacky type things)
* Breast fed my babies as long as was possible in my situations
* Recycle and only put out 2-3 bags of trash each week (the recycling can is usually full)
* Buy in bulk when possible, this not only saves money, it reduces packaging and waste
* I use reusable shopping bags and try not to use the little plastic produce bags

These are just the things I could think of on the spur of the moment

EDIT TO ADD: I wash and reuse all ziploc type bags until they die/get a hole, etc.

Shampoo free: Weeks 2 and 3

I realized that I never gave you the gist of what my hair type is. My hair is moderately thick, medium brown (all natural), approximately 6 inches below my shoulders, semi-curly, but also easily straightened, and in DIRE need of a trim. Even before I stopped using shampoo, I was having to flat iron it just to get it to be un-fuzzy on the ends (I think that's a pretty good sign you need a trim), but haven't been able to get an appointment because Michael has been working 12 hour days and taking all 3 kids with me really isn't a viable option, so I wait...

If you missed last week's post about my first week of going shampoo free, you can read it here.

Here's how this week went:

Sunday - no wash because I knew I was going to the gym Monday morning (I typically wash at night)
Monday afternoon - baking soda wash with vinegar rinse
Tuesday night - baking soda wash and I went back to using conditioner on the ends because of the whole desperate need for a haircut issue; then I brushed it out and let it air dry; also, I used baking soda again today because it seemed and looked insanely oily
Wednesday night - HOT wash, conditioner and leavin cream; brush and mostly air dried (finished it off with the blow dryer so I could go to bed)
Thursday - no wash
Friday - baking soday wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out , air dried completely then only used a comb until next wash.
Saturday - baking soda wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out and blow dried

At the end of this week I am seeing decent hair. It seems/feels a bit oily, but doesn't really look oily and I know a little oil is normal so I'm not too worried about it. All-in-all I think my scalp is reacting nicely and I'm not feeling like an oil slick. And my scalp is completely clear of eczema!!! Hooray!

The only issue I'm really having is how time consuming it is to 'wash' my hair. I've played around with different dilution/solution of the baking soda and water mixture and the mixture that works best for me is a very thick paste. Then I section my hair off (like you would if you were flat ironing or blow drying with a round brush) and rub the paste into my entire scalp section by section. I've tried just dumping it on and rubbing it in, but that doesn't seem to get very good coverage and I end up with spots that aren't clean, so the section method seems to be the best for me and it's extremely time consuming. It takes me approximately 10 minutes (usually 15) just to get my scalp covered in the mixture and rubbed in. I've tried doing it after I've gotten in the shower and wet my hair, I've tried drawing a bath and rubbing it in with dry hair and with wet hair and I've tried just standing in the dry shower and rubbing it in dry hair and can't seem to find a method that's any faster....

Week 3

Sunday - no wash because of gym Monday morning
Monday afternoon - baking soda wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out and air dried
Tuesday evening - FAIL - I gave up. I absolutely couldn't stand how long it was taking me to wash my hair. So I will be open to suggestions! I really think my scalp was doing well and I liked how my hair was responding, so I'm willing to go it again if someone can help me on the time consuming factor.

Side note - I did finally get my hair trimmed on Friday afternoon!!!

Shampoo free: Week 1

Well, I have taken the plunge and am no longer using shampoo! I know, you're probably thinking I'm crazy, but let me assure you I am still "washing" my hair!

For a very detailed post on the how's and why's, you can go here. The basics are washing with a baking soda and water mixture and conditioning with an apple cider vinegar and water mixture every other day to begin with (with a plain hot water wash on the other days). Then moving to only washing with baking soda when you actually need it.

And for a few extras, you can go here.

My reasons for making the switch are pretty straightforward. Sure, environmental factors played a part, but the most important reason for me is eczema. I have pretty bad eczema on my scalp and NOTHING I have tried (and I have tried all sorts of shampoos with herbal treatments, eczema shampoos, organic/natural, etc.) has had long term success. In fact, a lot of shampoos made it much worse. I figured this method was as close to natural as I'm going to get because the ultimate goal - once your scalp has been weaned off of traditional shampoos- is only washing 1-2 times per week!!

This week was my first week of shampoo free living. I'm still weaning my hair and scalp off of conventional products so the first few days I continued to use conditioner on my ends.

Sunday evening - baking soda paste, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Monday evening - HOT water wash, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Tuesday evening - baking soda paste, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Wednesday afternoon - HOT water wash, no conditioning
Thursday - no wash
Friday afternoon - baking soda paste, condition with apple cider vinegar rinse
Saturday evening - baking soda paste, apple cider vinegar rinse

Also, Saturday evening was my first attempt at letting my hair dry with out brushing it while wet.

Results after week 1:
* My scalp is a tad oily, this is just my body trying to figure out what my natural oil production should be.
* My hair dries faster
* I have softer hair once it's dry.
* Finger picking thru my hair to get out major tangles doesn't cause nearly as much breakage as brushing
* Letting my hair dry is hard to do, but the texture of my hair is so much better when it's air dried

My natural hair type is fine, frizzy and semi-curly. I'm hoping that the frizzies are tamed once my natural oils are spread to the ends and my hair will actually be the nice kind of curly, rather than the crazy kind!!!

Recycling tip

Since my trash collection company started a new and much better recycling program a few months ago, I have been having the issue of making a zillion trips into the garage to dump items in the cart.

I originally had a plastic grocery bag hanging on the pantry door and would just place items in there until it was full and then I would take it out and dump it. However, this wasn't working extremely well because the pantry door is on a 90º angle to the right of the garage door. This made the garage door collide with the plastic bag full of things each time it was opened, thus creating clanging and banging and just an annoyance.

I realized something had to be done and started scouring the house for an alternative and came across a plastic bag/bin thingy that I was using for as a temporary home for paperwork and other things that needed to find their way to their home upstairs in the filing cabinet.

This is what my trash area looks like now. The orange container is the recycling and I now only make 1 or 2 trips into the garage to dump it each day. It's working really well and even the boys are getting the hang of it and learning what can be recycled!

Be sure to stop by over at Tammy's for more wonderful tips.

Recycling

I've been recycling (albiet, half heartedly) for a few months. I'm all for less in our landfills and doing more to help the environment and all, but my trash company only collected 3 categories (newspaper, plastics 1 & 2 and aluminum) and they required it to be separated into paper bags and in a special bin.... So every few days I would have to take my pile of things out to the bin and dump them in the appropriate paper bag. I realize this isn't that difficult, but it was kind of annoying - and lets not talk about the fact that if I chose I could also recycle other items at local places, but I have 3 kids and driving around to make drops at the different locations just didn't seem appealing.

UNTIL..... my trash collector changed their recycling program. I came home 2 weeks ago (on trash day) to discover my recycling bin gone.... ugh. Then I found a flyer on my front door detailing their new no-sort program, that also has a new bin!! In addition to what they already accepted, here's what's been added:
* Corrugated cardboard
* Paper board (ex. cereal boxes)
* Office paper
* Phone books
* Plastics 3-7
* Steel/tin cans
* Empty aerosol cans (with the sprayer taken off)
* Glass bottles/jars
* Magazines

So, I immediately signed up for the program. The new bin is actually a green cart (on wheels), just a smaller size than my trash cart. I'm still waiting on my bin, but it should be delivered this week sometime!

After I see just how much this changes how many trash bags I put out each week, I'll either change my service to be every other week or will do a smaller cart (you're billed differently based on how much trash you put out).

Going green, well a little anyway

What kind of changes, large or small, are you making to better the environment, produce less waste, and be a little more green?

Here's my list:
* I am now solely using canvas shopping bags when I go shopping. I already had a few from various places and couldn't really find them anywhere recently, until I was at Walmart 2 weeks ago and what'dya know, they now sell them and they're only $1 - too bad they say Walmart on them.. oh well, that reduces my plastic bag usage by A LOT and they also hold tons more than a plastic bag.
* I also don't put my produce in those little plastic bags they offer.
* Changing our lightbulbs as they burn out to the new compact flourescent ones.
* We have a digital thermostat and we keep it set to 65 degrees 90% of the time right now and we live in Colorado!
* We plan on switching to cloth diapers when the new baby arrives.
* I buy as much organic and naturally procuded, whole foods as I can afford.
* We don't have a/c in our house, so there's no temptation to keep it cold in the house during the summer.

This is a very small list and it's not much at this point, but we are currently doing what we can. There is still lots of room for improvement.

Here's my list of goals for the future:
* Recycle - I currently don't do this AT ALL....
* When our washing machine dies and we have to replace it, we'll buy a front loader. They use less water and are more energy efficient.
* As I use up my cleaning supplies, start switching to 'earth friendly' versions.

What am I missing? Are there other small, less expensive changes that I can be making that I'm just not thinking of? Help me out here and also let me know what your family is doing.