The Flats and Hand Washing Challenge

Why I am doing it and how I am preparing?

(I was going to post this a while back ago but my grandmother died and it spaced my mind. So here it is finally!)

I first heard about the Flats and Hand Washing Challenge and I was interested! I read an article a few weeks prior about families who have to leave their babies in diapers for long amounts of time and even wash out DISPOSABLE diapers to reuse them! At the time I read the article I thought "Why don't they just rewash cloth diapers?!" I understand why some families don't want to or don't even know about cloth diapers. When I first heard about diapers I thought "EW! I am not going to do that! That is gross." Then I found out about modern cloth diapers. I looked through a few different brands and the price is what drove me away. I was broke at the time and having to spend $15-$20 on ONE diaper?! NO I could not afford that.
So I understand (kind of) why some families don't want to do cloth diapers. Whether it be the grossness factor or the start up cost. The start up cost CAN be expensive BUT it doesn't have to be! These poor families who rewash disposable diapers could EASILY do cloth diapers if they just knew about them! I am so glad Kim from Dirty Diaper Laundry has set up this challenge. This is a great way to help spread the word about cloth diapers and how easy they are/ can be!

So why am I doing it? To help spread awareness about cloth diapers. I LOVE them and I know that even a family who is struggling to afford food or diapers can do this. I was in the same place when we first started cloth diapering. I still had to buy disposable diapers and try to save up money to be able to afford one cloth diaper every few weeks and it was hard! If I had known that cloth diapering could have been cheaper I would have gone the cheaper route first. I want to show those families that you don't have to spend a fortune every month on diapers! You CAN diaper your baby and not have to break the bank!

How am I preparing? I have 12 huge flats from Diaper Junction and 3 flour sack towels from Target. I am not going to be using a lot because I really want it to be realistic. (All though we will see how it goes after the first few days. I may buy one more package of flour sack towels) I will be using 2 fleece covers, one wool cover, one RumpaRooz cover, and a large Charlie Banana pocket diaper for a cover. (I have the 'Goodbye Disposable, Hello Cloth' diaper and it's way too big to use as a diaper so I am going to get as much use out of it by using it as a cover : ) It's way too cute to just let it sit there!) The wool cover will be used mostly at night. Fleece covers are a great cheap way to go for covers. They are more breathable than PUL covers and are usually cheaper/just as cheap. The RaRz cover it the only real cover I have so of course I'm going to be using that too!

I've practiced folding my flats and pinning them/snappi-ing them. I LOVE it! I don't know what it is (maybe the simplicity of it all) but I love pinning flats. I love folding them! I was very scared about doing all of this but the more I do it, the easier it gets. The thing I'm worried about it washing them. I am planning on washing some in the sink by hand. I believe my mom has a bucket style washer (like Kim from DDL showed you how to make). So if I decide I hate it, I can go and get hers. She told me she paid about $15-$20 to buy. I will try to find where she bought it.

I will also be washing my flats with normal detergent just like a normal family would (Cheap liquid detergent and powdered Tide). I will not be using cloth diaper safe detergent because I know when you are struggling for money and can not diaper your baby, you sure as heck don't have enough money to pay for extra detergent (and the shipping costs too!). I really would like to make this as realistic as possible. I will be drying them a few different ways. In the bathroom, outside (Attached to hangers and hung up on my balcony), and any just hung up on hangers in the house. I dried one of my flats the other day outside and it took about 30 minutes or less to dry! It was hotter and windy so it dried SO fast!

I really hope this challenge will bring light to families who do not know about cloth diapers. I hope these families who are struggling to afford disposable diapers will be able to see that cloth diapering is easy and cheap. I also want to say to anyone who is struggling, there are programs to help families in need. There are people out there who will donate diapers to families in need. If you need help, ask for it! I try to donate to families as often as possible because when I was starting up, someone helped me and it made a world of difference. I was able to cloth diaper my baby full time and I could finally stop using disposable diapers. So if you have extra diapers you, please consider donating them instead of selling them!

GoGreen Pocket Diapers Review

GoGreen has generously given me a diaper to review. It is a OS Pocket diaper with snap down rise settings. It is one of their print silky diapers. It will fit 8-35+ pounds. It is soft PUL on the outside and suedecloth on the inside (like what BumGenius is on the inside) and comes with one microfiber insert. See more FAQ here

At First Glance~

It was very similar to other pocket diapers that I've tried. It has cross over snaps for smaller babies which is really nice! I liked everything about this diaper from the start and was excited to try it out.

How It's Held Up~

I've used it a lot and during the day, I've never had a leak. We both loved it! I've used it for nights twice and both times it leaked. BUT the ONLY thing that works for my super soaker is fitteds and wool. He can not wear any other diaper at night (even disposable diapers leak for us).

The Fit~

I was able to put my 13 month old on the first snap setting. He is skinny but he normally he is on the second snap setting on my OS diapers. I put it on the second snap setting and it worked just as great as the first snap setting. I love the fit. It is a little bulky (like most OS diapers are) but it didn't bother me and it didn't bother him. For a one size diaper, it was pretty trim though!

Would I Recommend It?

OF COURSE! It's only $10-$15 which is such a great price! If you are on a tight budget this is the diaper to buy! Or even if you aren't on a tight budget, this would be a great diaper for anyone. I love all their prints and colors.

**4** out of **5*** Stars

The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it doesn't seem like it would fit really small babies well and it didn't work at nights for us.

Sorry these aren't the best of pictures. But you can see it's pretty trim for being a One Size Diaper!

Cross over tabs! I love these.

Cute print :)

On the smallest snap setting.

Side view of the smallest snap setting.

Largest setting. It was pretty big!

I tried to show how big the legs can go. They go even bigger when it's stretched onto a toddler!

You can buy it here.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Winner was Jessica Peirce! Congrats!!!

To win a GoGreen Pocket Diaper~

Required:

Like Ramblings of a Cloth Diaper Addict AND GoGreen Pocket Diapers on Facebook. Then comment here telling me you did it (AND leave your Facebook name. Entires that do not leave their FB name will be deleted). Make sure you show GoGreen some love for sponsoring this giveaway!

Extra Entires (Post a separate comment for EACH of of the extra entires you do):

1) Share on Facebook (once) and leave a permalink (Make sure it is open for EVERYONE to see! If you have questions on how to do this, please ask me on my wall!) You can post this once on your wall and once on your business wall if you have one.

2) Go to GoGreens website and tell me which diaper you like the best.

Giveaway will end on May 18th, 2011. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at addicted2clothdiapers(at)hotmail.com or on Facebook.

Dryer Balls. Which Are My Favorite?

What is a dryer ball? Dryer balls are a natural alternative to dryer sheets. Did you know dryer sheets can cause repelling on cloth diapers or even towels? There are also chemicals in them that take the fire retardant out of children's sleep wear. Dryer balls are all natural and made out of wool. No harmful chemicals and will never make your clothes or diapers repel. I never thought about chemicals in products like dryer sheets before I started cloth diapering. Once I researched it, it kind of freaked me out to be honest. (Chemicals are the whole reason I started using cloth diapers) I gave away my dryer sheets and bought two dryer balls.

My first dryer balls I bought were Bouncing Woolies. I started out with two (even though the recommended amount is 4) because that is all I could afford. The first time I used them was on a load with my biggest blanket and my sheets. We have an older dryer so it would take 2 loads to dry the blanket (and one and a half to dry any other normal load). I put in my two dryer balls with the load and it was completely dry after one cycle! I was amazed! I would buy one extra one every time I could afford a new one. (I was REALLY broke at the time plus trying to build up my cloth diaper stash. We were just starting out) *See more FAQ here*

It has been 10 months ago that I bought my first dryer ball and they are still holding up! I have never had one come unraveled or misshapen. I have tried a few different brands of dryer balls and Bouncing Woolies are by far my favorite. Hers are the biggest and heaviest (which is very important. The heavier, the better. It makes the clothes dry faster) than any other brand. Her FUNKtastic woolies are SO cute! I have 2 of them and I love them! I love the look of them. They are a really cute original design. I also have one of her customs. WOW!!! I have no clue how she does it but she has some REALLY amazing work that you can see here or here.

I have bought 3 different brands and I had one of them come undone and the other one was a little smaller and lighter than these. I ended up giving the other brands to my mom (which is why they are not pictured). The one pictured here is much smaller and MUCH lighter than the Bouncing Woolies!

I also have a car freshener and I love it as well. It's SO cute and makes me smile when I'm driving. You can also use them in a closet for an air freshener. They are multipurpose.
You can purchase any of her wonderful products here! Trust me you will LOVE them!

*Disclaimer* I have not been paid or endorsed for this review. All opinions are my own**