Monday, January 19, 2009

Diaper washing update

I have been washing diapers with the new method for awhile now and it is working really well so far. If there is a smell in the morning it's not as bad as it was. I kind of figure that after 10+ hours pee is going to start to smell. She is pretty wet in the morning so I'm going to start working on some better night diapers...someday! Anyway, I did modify the plan a little bit. I have a little pail in the bathroom for the poopy diapers and then one by the changing table for the wet ones. My modification is that I do a cold rinse with just the poopy diapers first since I use a dry pail. By doing only those diapers I only need to usually do an extra small or medium water setting instead of extra large (my machine has these three settings...why not just call it small, medium, large?!)

Since that was working so well I thought I would try to take it a little further and do the poopy diaper cold rinse, all the diapers hot wash/cold rinse with vinegar in downy ball. I have washed them once this way but haven't had a chance to see if it's worked yet.

I have mostly been drying them on a drying rack in the bedroom over the heat vent. I wash and hang them right before bed so we use less diapers during the drying time since they take so long. They are usually dry around lunchtime this way. They are really, really stiff when dried indoors! Last summer when I did them outside they were crunchy, but not like this. I pop them in the dryer on fluff for 15 minutes and it helps a little. Since they are so stiff I have been still drying them in the dryer every other time.

All of this diaper washing stuff has made me think about simpler diapers, ones with less layers for stink and bacteria to get into. I have been trying to find information on how people used to wash diapers, like my grandma would have for example, but I can't really find anything. If anyone knows I would be interested. I did read somewhere that they were basically just rinsed and dried but I don't know how accurate that is. Those would have been flat diapers, one layer folded into more. Easy to wash quick to dry. I kind of have an idea for a minimal layer diaper that I will try someday. Anyway, that's probably enough for now. I have finished a few projects that I will post once I get the pics uploaded! Also need to post a kitchen update!

2 comments:

  1. Nate's grandma cloth diapered 8 babies, 6 of whom were about 15 months apart from the next....

    She has talked about washing her cloth diapers in her bathtub on a washboard. I would assume with some sort of bar soap...fels naptha or Ivory something.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know my great-grandma boiled her diapers every so often. For a thinner diaper, I've been playing with the idea of a 2-layer flannel/terry square...big enough to fold but maybe not as big as flats.

    ReplyDelete