It’s day 6 of the #flatschallenge hosted by Cloth Diaper Revival. I totally skipped my blog post for day 5, because it was Friday and it was an awesome day of family time at our local lake. I was just too tired to write anything after that. Fear not, though, Day 5 with flats was awesome too! I did put up pics and a video on instagram and facebook. Now for Day 6, I will share with you what is working for me, and what isn’t, during the challenge.
What’s Not Working
I always like my bad news first, so let’s start with what isn’t working for me. There’s only one thing!
Daily washing
I’ve decided that washing my diapers daily, by hand, uses too much water compared to our regular twice weekly use of my High Efficiency Washing Machine. I did the math, and the amount of water I’d be using with my daily hand wash routine (for 7 days straight) is 265 litres. That is versus the 181 litres I would use in twice weekly diaper washes (quickwash and then heavy duty) with my HE washer. That’s no small difference.
I didn’t figure this out until day two, though. So I have washed Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for a total of 152L water so far. The challenge ends tomorrow night and I will need to wash one more time once I’m done for the day.
What’s Working
It’s amazed me how much I’ve enjoyed this challenge. I’m certainly not planning to switch to handwashing full time, nor will I say goodbye to my other styles of diaper, but flats have definitley secured their place in my stash. We have had lots of exerience with flats before the challenge, so I’m already well first in folds and such, so I’ll talk about some other things I’ve discovered during the challenge that work for me.
Overnight Flats
I’m really loving my all-flat overnight solution. I use one Osocozy Bamboo flat in Origami Fold, with a padfolded Flannel Receving Blanket. Then add an applecheeks fleece liner, secure with a snappi and slide a Disana wool cover on top. Boom! 12 straight hours of pure leak-free diapering. I wish I could say wake-free, but we are still nursing twice a night here. This mama is way too tired for midnight changes.
Sunning Stains
Perhaps my favourite part of this challenge is drying my diapers outside. I rarely do this- being in Alberta it is frigid cold half the year. I guess I just got used to the dryer because winter sucks. I never care much about stains before, because I know my wash routine is epic and my diapers are totally clean. But I have to say, watching mother nature kick a poop-stain’s butt is incredibly satisfying.
#flatschallenge #bringingflatsback
It’s kind of like how your dishwasher operates more efficiently.
did you read about the other mama who uses grey water for her wash routine? That would definitely be a better way to help cut back on overall usage.
I admire everyone participating in the challenge. I like knowing that I can do it if absolutely necessary, but I’m not volunteering for it! LOL It does make me curious about using flats though.