Fast forward four months and my husband had lost his job, so I decided to take a look at cloth again. People at some point in our history were without disposables and washing machines, so what did they do? I was determined to find a way to switch to cloth! After looking around the web and coming across some information on the 7 Day Hand Washing Challenge, I decided to dive in head first and exclusively hand wash my diapers. I was so gung ho and excited to say I was making it work despite the obstacles in front of me. So here I am, 6 months later and still going strong. It struck me recently about how difficult it was for me to find information and support from other hand washing mamas, so here is my routine.
The Detergent: I have only used Rockin Green, but so far I have had no problems so I say; if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! I did switch to Hard Rock after realizing we had hard water, but I have yet to see a major difference.
The Equipment: I literally said to my husband, “Go to Home Depot and get me a 5 gallon bucket and a sturdy plunger with a longer handle.” I have seen women who have drilled holes into their plungers to help the water move through, which I think is a great idea. I have not been able to do that and I think it works just fine. I also have enough extra baby hangers to hang everything on to dry.
The Routine: My wash bucket also serves as my diaper pail, so after a change, the diaper gets rinsed off in the sink or toilet depending on the severity and thrown in the pail. I try to wash every day, the smaller the load the better. I dump the bucket, put the detergent in and fill it up with very hot water. I add in the dirty diapers and start to agitate with the plunger. I do it for 5-10 minutes, dump and fill again with hot water and agitate for another 5 minutes. If they are really dirty I will do another hot cycle, otherwise I do luke warm water, agitate 3-5 minutes, dump and repeat 2-4 times, depending on how sudsy the water is. When they seem good and rinsed, I hand rinse and wring out each item separately and hang to dry over the bath tub. Sometimes a fan will speed up the process but I think it makes the prefolds a little stiff.
I think clothing diapering without a washer and dryer is completely do-able. Don’t feel discouraged if your situation is not ideal. I am very happy that I decided to find a way to save money when we really needed it. It takes time and effort, but it can be done!
15 comments:
For hanging diapers to dry, I found I could use the flat (space-saver) hangers with clothes pins on them. I hang flats between 2 hangers and put 4-5 on each set.
I applaud your hard work, although I think this would be a little hard to commit to for moms who work outside the home.
Still - good for you!!!!
This is so inspirational. It goes to show that anyone can cloth diaper.
I am so so so happy to see this post! I've been doing a lot of research on cloth diapering and all that I have seen says "no washer, no way". This is the first bit of hope that makes me feel like this is a viable option for me. Thank you so much!
Yes Laura it is hard but you can do it! I recommend going with natural fibers and prefolds/covers. That is the simplest and easiest to clean! Good Luck!
how much detergent did you use? washing everyday and making the loads smaller would mean less detergent right?
how much detergent did you use? smaller loads mean less detergent right? BTW this article took forever to find! thank you for posting it! Apartment dwellers everywhere are forever indebted to you!
I'm in Chicago! So great to hear this; you're a life saver!
I'm n Chicago! This is great; you're a life saver!
Another tip: If you are able to spend a little more money, you can buy a counter-top clothing spinner to wring them out. Then you can hang them any where without worrying about them dripping. I love mine! :)
I'm so glad to see you prepped your diapers by boiling as it's something I've considered. I have a washer but no dryer, and I've heard that while prepping you should always use a dryer to quilt the diapers up. I was thinking about boiling for 10-15 minutes then throwing in the washer for a long hot cycle, hanging to dry, then running what I hope will be my normal wash cycle to complete prepping. I also feel like I won't have to worry about absorbency since a newborn won't pee too much at a time, and by the time their bladder is bigger the diapers will have been washed enough times to be fully absorbent. Thanks for your story!
Thanks for this! I have been using cloth and hand washing since December! Amy I shake my prefolds out before folding them and that softens them up a little.
I use the same method of washing. I even found that using an old Aussie shampoo bottle with a pump for my detergent means two pumps is the perfect amount of detergent every time. I only have to do one rinse cycle.
I've never had a washer or dryer for my 26 months of CDing. In the summer I tend to wash by hand because the water temperature is bearable but in the winter I use boots (no hot running water, rough on the hands). I pre-rinse diapers using rinse water from the last load, then wring and toss it in the bucket with water and soap, get my boot(s) and squish squish swish swish, get a good glute/hamstring workout, rinse using the same method, & wring. I love using the boots, I can't imagine doing the plunger method, sounds hard on the back.
Love this post! I'm surprised I don't see that much written about hand washing diapers. In order to make it cost effective for us, having to do our laundry outside of the home, I had to learn to hand wash the diapers. Too many advices on what not to use left me questioning.
Post a Comment