By: Jessica Dunn
Today’s topic for bloggers participating in the Flats
and Handwashing Challenge is our second open topic for the series. I asked
followers on my facebook page and members of some cloth diaper groups I’m
active in what they would like me to talk about. The consensus was clear, how
to fold flats, how to fold a t-shirt flat, which flats are best, and how my
road trip went this week. I also had a fan send mBe a message asking how I clean
my wash bucket, so I’ve decided to answer all of these questions.
How to wash &
disinfect the wash bucket
This is a great question and I can’t believe I didn’t
quickly cover it on day 4 when we talked about laundry. It’s actually really
easy and this will work for you even if you’re washing diapers in the bathtub.
You can disinfect your tub and storage bucket this way.
I rinse it out then add a couple
drops of detergent and fill it with 2-3 inches of water. I put the lid on it
and swirl the water around. Then I drain the soapy water and rinse the bucket.
I spray the bucket with homemade citrus vinegar to disinfect it. If you have a diaper
sprayer you can use that to rinse the sides of your bucket, if you don’t
have a diaper
sprayer, you can use your shower head, bath tub faucet, or garden hose. Use
what you have available and make it work.
Citrus vinegar recipe:
Fill a jar with orange peels (any citrus fruit works), pour in white vinegar and put the lid on the jar. Let sit for 2 weeks. Drain the citrus vinegar into a spray bottle.
Citrus vinegar recipe:
Fill a jar with orange peels (any citrus fruit works), pour in white vinegar and put the lid on the jar. Let sit for 2 weeks. Drain the citrus vinegar into a spray bottle.
How
to fold flats
I’m a huge fan of the philosophy
work smarter, not harder. Rather than create videos for you, that probably
won’t be the greatest quality since I’m just learning how to do videos, here
are the videos that I found most useful. I like these because they have a bird’s
eye view angle so you can actually watch the diaper being folded.
2.
The Origami Fold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bpovez8_1M&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
3.
The Angel Wings Fold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcAUyO5adl8&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
4.
The Neat Fold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OwD9nCLZBE&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
5.
The V Fold
6.
The Corners Fold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEmFylZ3VZw&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
7.
The Twist Fold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keai5u2ZoGA&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
8.
The Kite Fold
9.
Gaynor’s Fold for Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cROuJ7yVRcc&list=FL69hnCniexmyRRwYz1_tCdQ
10. Pad Fold
11.
How to fold a t-shirt
flat
12.
Mini Kit Fold for
newborns
Flats Comparison
I used three different types of flats for the challenge: Osocozy
Birdseye flats, flour sack towels from Target, and flannel receiving
blankets.
My favorite are the flour sack towels because they stay
square after shrinkage, making the folds easier and faster. They are pretty
absorbent on their own and I only needed a doubler or a second flat when using
them for naps or bedtime. These are also the softest and since Emma diversion
to different materials and textures this is a huge plus. They are also easy to
fasten.
My second favorite are the Osocozy
flats. They are just as absorbent as the flour sack towels. They are
slightly rectangular after shrinkage, so the folds take just a little more
time. They are soft, but not as soft as the flour sack towels. They are just as
easy to fasten as the flour sack towels.
My least favorite are the receiving blankets. They are
rectangular which means folds take longer and need some modification. They are
difficult to fasten. These are best used for pad folding or as doublers. These
were my go to for use as doublers.
Road Trip
Emma and I left on Thursday morning to go visit my parents
for a night and so I could get my hair done. (Yes, I’m one of those crazy
people who refuses to find a hairdresser closer to home; I can’t help it;
Tracey is my second mom and no one else is touching my hair.) I packed all our
flats and covers and loaded up my car. I had pre-folded the flats so they were
ready to be put in the covers and when we got to my moms, I set up 5 changes to
make it easy for her if she changed Emma. I found that using flats all day
while we were out of town was easy, but I decided to wait and wash diapers at
home on Friday since I had enough changes to last until we got home.
Well, those diapers were stinky when we got home. I had
stored them in a wet back so when I unzipped it, I was struck by the smell of
heavy pee. Yuck! I think if they were in an open bucket it wouldn’t have been
so strong. I also had too many diapers to fit in my bucket and give me room for
agitation, so I decided to wash in the bathtub instead of doing two loads in
the bucket.
Overall, with enough planning and preparation traveling with
flats isn’t any more difficult than traveling with other cloth diapers. The
same is true with handwashing. If I had just take 30 minutes to do it, we would
have been fan, but going a day and a half really wasn’t bad.
Cold rinse/soak
Soapy soak before
agitating and scrubbing with hands and plunger
Honey, you can help
me.
Scrubbing
Drain so I can rinse
each diaper as the tub fills with cold water and do a final cold soak
Wringing the diapers
out after the rinse
1 ½ days of flats and
covers drying on the rack
About the author: My
name is Jessica and I am the author of Parenting and Living Our Way
blog. I am a busy stay at home mom to a 9 month old daughter who has recently
learned how to crawl and is keeping me on my toes. I was invited by Kissed by the Moon to be
their guest blogger for the week documenting my experience. I am so excited about this opportunity and
look forward to sharing my experience with you. If you’d like to read more
about me, my family and our life, you can read our blog Parenting and Living Our Way. We
can also be found on facebook.
I am posting throughout the day on facebook
and twitter about how our
day is going, so you can follow along.
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