This is the culmination of  the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I have used only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 45o participants from all over the world!

This last entry is late coming in. Being this is a holiday weekend and my husband is home, we’ve spent a lot of family time together this weekend. The blog posts are being written later & later. We took our flats and swim diapers out to the water park today so I’m just getting to this tonight. 🙂 Hey, DH isn’t in the Middle East, it’s all fair game, especially on a weekend  like this one.

I really wish I had tried this challenge last year. But you can’t change the past so I am really glad I did do it this year.

For those that don’t already know I am also a Circle Leader for the Real Diaper Association. There has been a tremendous amount of discussion about helping the less fortunate in our respective communities spurred most recently by Giving Diapers, Giving Hope, the non-profit Kim from DDL is making a donation to at the end of this challenge. Direct diaper donations are not within the mission of the RDA. However, some really smart people have found a way to work with other, well-established organizations to educate & donate to these families in our communities.

I began taking donations to start a similar program here during The Great Cloth Diaper Change in April. While thinking about what to teach before the diapers are distributed I decided that I had to take part in the flats handwashing challenge. I could talk about the economical value  and how to use flats, no problem, but I didn’t feel like I could talk about handwashing diapers without having any practical experience. I’ve only been doing this a week but I can see a few applications. There’s camping & vacations, lack of power, transitioning between homes, & not having a washing machine in the home. Even if you can get to a laundry mat once a week or every 2 weeks, washing by hand at home in between is absolutely a viable option. Yes, it’s hard work & yes, it takes some time & yes, there was a day or two I didn’t want to do it this week. But it can be done. And now, if I ever have to help a family learn to wash diapers by hand, I can say I know first hand how it’s done.

The last load of flats were washed after we returned from our watery adventure this afternoon & is still out on the deck in the dusk, drying. Am I ready to put my diapers back in the washer, yeah, a little bit. But I’ll say it again, I’m glad I made the decision to take part in the challenge this year.  I’m honored to take party with so many dedicated cloth diaper advocates & enthusiasts. Take a minute to read the reflections of other participants by clicking the link below. And thanks for following along this week. 😀

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 45o participants from all over the world!

So we’ve made it to about the half way point & things are going ok. I still haven’t replaced my plunger yet so I’ve been literally washing by hand in the bucket. Truth be told on day 2 we didn’t have any diapers because the wee nymph who allows us to wrap her in the fluff (if I say her name it’s all over, you realize this, right?) successfully used the toilet for over 24 hours. Day 3 wasn’t as lucky, but I still only had a few diapers to wash. I’m so glad I picked up gloves to save my hands or I’m quite sure I would be miserable at this point. I did manage to stab a finger last night just before going to bed with the pin. Tired much?  I wouldn’t say washing by hand is a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not impossible.

It’s been rainy & humid making even flats dry slowly but they’ve still dried much faster than prefolds or fitteds would. I had a straggler prefold & fitted in the first wash that didn’t make it in the washer before the challenge started. Holy Dampness Batgirl! I could wring the flats a little tighter or roll them in a towel & press extra water out & that would be helpful. But with said wee nymph so busy, it’s hard to care out dedicated wash time. The process happens in bits & chunks. Much like writing the blog. It’s a wonder any of this makes sense. But I’m still chugging along.

Check out how others are doing & click the button below.

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 45o participants from all over the world!

I remember folding & pinning diapers to my little sister back in the late 70’s, vinyl pants and all. My mom showed me how to do it & I just did it. It wasn’t scary. So why have I avoided flats for the better part of my 12 years of motherhood except to use as an emergency burp cloth? Enter peer/societal influence. Convenience is the name of the game and according to the majority of people around me, flats are in no way convenient & are way too hard to deal with and too time consuming!

Wrong.

Folding flats is only as difficult as you make it. In fact, I only FINALLY figured out the kite fold after a year of trying at our recent Circle Meeting. I had a complete block, but one of the other mommas was just folding away & had an AH-HA moment. I followed her lead & finally, success. Granted, with the advent of sites like You Tube & the proliferation of cloth diaper sites & blogs you can get your folding questions answered rather quickly without ever leaving your house.

Diaper on the left is Origami Fold & the right is Diaperbag Fold.

We use wool soakers for the most part so we pin & cover. My go to fold is the Origami fold. My older kids love it too. This is good because DH gets this glazed look on his face trying to do it. He will do it but a bit begrudgingly so having the older ones able to fold the diapers is a huge plus if my hands are busy (and when aren’t they?).

I discovered the Diaperbag fold on the DDL site while preparing for our last Circle Meeting & I really like this one too, but it’s not “look, no hands” fold yet. I still need to reference directions for it. One leg it has up on the Origami fold is I feel like it’s more Snappi friendly for some babies. With plain old woven flats (oh whoa is me) the thin material makes me leery to use a Snappi more times than not. But you can fold the Diaperbag fold so there are more layers for the Snappi legs to catch & I worry less about pinching or poking the baby.

Want to know how others fold their flats? Click the button below.