I haven't purchased a single thing to take this challenge, and that's proving a wee bit challenging. I'll explain in a minute.
My stash shot doesn't exist, as I didn't think ahead enough to take one before we started the challenge. I have 21 flats. 12 of them are birdseye cotton flats, 6 are size 2 swaddlebees flats, and 3 are Flip organic day inserts. I have a bazillion covers, so that wasn't really an issue, though I only went through a total of 3 yesterday. 2 for Squiggle (she pooed on one), and 1 at night time for Bobble. I will probably use a total of 5 or 6 covers between the two children for the duration of this challenge, so I would say my cost was about $150 total. That is assuming the covers are $15 each. A couple were, a couple were more, a couple were less. It evens out.
I don't have a utility sink, I don't have a bucket and plunger, and I don't have one of those hand crank machines. In fact, I don't even have a washboard. Instead, I am using my diaper pail as my bucket (which, honestly, needed a good clean!), and my hands. To ensure the water got hot enough for cleaning, I used the hottest water possible (there is a temperature cap set at our house). I tried to handle the diapers at that temperature, too. This resulted in sore, burned fingers. In fact, typing this hurts. Perhaps a plunger wasn't such a bad idea.
I agitated with my hands and arms after a 30 minute hot water soak. The next 'cycle' I added some (dissolved) soap and did the same for a while. I churned the items with my hands over and over. If I had used the actual bathtub, I would have just used my feet. Unfortunately, our bathtub stopper is broken (same with the sink!). Otherwise, I would have totally gone "I Love Lucy" on those diapers! (Remember the grape/wine episode?)
After a bit, I emptied and filled with warm water to do my rinse. I pulled the covers out first since I was scared I would damage them on the inside of the diaper pail (it has four plastic sections that stick in a bit at the bottom, and I didn't want to tear the PUL!). Then I left water running as I rinsed then wrung each item. I didn't leave the water pouring out, mind you, just enough to use.
I don't remember using so many diapers yesterday, but my goodness! I think I might stick to washing as I go. It felt like hours! It was really only a total of about 30 minutes, though. They got nice and clean (I think), but I suppose we will have to see how it really worked when I put them back on the kids!
Thankfully, I have 2 of those awesome octopus hangers from IKEA (thanks, Bonnie!), though I really needed a third. Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain on and off all day, and I won't be here to bring them in if it does. I don't have a shower rod to hang them from since I have a (very annoying) sliding glass door, so I improvised. I don't know how well they will dry hanging from my curtain rod, but we'll find out! The covers I hung in our mud room, opposite our washer and dryer. This is where I normally hang my covers while doing diaper laundry.
If you're taking the challenge, how are you doing it?
No comments:
Post a Comment