No more paper towels!

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the Freedom of Cloth Carnival hosted at Natural Parents Network by Melissa of The New Mommy Files and Shannon of The Artful Mama. This year’s carnival will run from Sunday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 9th. Participants are sharing everything they know and love about cloth diapering, including how cloth has inspired them.

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No more paper towels! Looks of bewilderment like I've gone insane or become a hippie.

No, really!  It makes sense to not use paper towels because they only fill up landfills and hurt our trees.

My husband and I stopped buying paper napkins and paper towels months ago, about the same time we started cloth-diapering. I honestly got tired of buying them at the store only to use them and throw them in the trash. We were already using cloth diapers as part of an effort to "going green."


My family was supportive of our decision to do cloth diapering when they saw how cute the modern options were. But when we had family members visiting, there were looks of concern that maybe we had gone too extreme with cloth. My grandmother actually bought us paper towels on purpose and left them in our kitchen one time when she came to stay the night one time to help out when RaeRae was born. She is almost 5 months and that one roll of paper towels is still sitting on top of the fridge. 


I'm not here to point fingers but I do want to say that since we started doing cloth diapers, we have been inspired to think more about the other products we use in our home. While we still use toilet paper, we use cloth napkins and towels everyday. I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago about D.I.Y. cloth napkins. I learned how to use a sewing machine and sewed about 50 cocktail sized napkins with my kitchen colors. They are easy to use and wash! See that blog here. We also use cloth wipes--the same sewing concept as cloth napkins if you were to D.I.Y.


The only thing I don't quite like about the cloth napkins is if I need to microwave something that requires you to cover the item with a paper towel. I have put cloth napkins in the microwave if it was under a minute and it was fine. But I'm not sure of how safe it would be for longer periods of time.


I someday want to try family cloth. I haven't tried mama cloth yet because I haven't needed to, yet. That will be another world to explore. I am at least open to it.


But for now, I encourage all my readers to consider trying or adding cloth napkins into your home for the effort towards going green.

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Visit
Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carnival!

 

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day:

• Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
• Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents' individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering "style" that best suits their families.
• Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
• Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on Natural Parents Network. Link up your own Wordless Wednesday post there!
• Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their families throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
• Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
• Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become "greener" overall.

200 Facebook fans giveaway!

Since we have now reached 200 fans on my facebook fan page (yeah you!) and had enough interest for another small giveaway, here it is!

I am just starting out so I am giving away another sample of Tiny Bubbles Cloth Diaper Detergent.

And for the first time, I am trying out Google Docs for the giveaways. Comments are welcome, but they are not entries. I just hope the doc works!


If anyone has any trouble, pls do email me at jenniferc at diaperparties dot com. Good luck!! Giveaway will end when I reach 300 fans.

Mandatory entries: Follow me via GFC publicly (see on the right side of blog) AND follow me on Facebook at Diaper Parties by Jennifer.

Extra possible entries:

(1) Follow me on Twitter at DeafDiaperParty (Leave your twitter handle in the extra entry info on form)
(1) Follow Everything Birth, Inc on Facebook.
(1) Subscribe to my emails.
(1) Vote for me on Picket-fence.
(1) Share this giveaway on your facebook, tagging Diaper Parties by Jennifer.

Finding our cloth style

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the Freedom of Cloth Carnival hosted at Natural Parents Network by Melissa of The New Mommy Files and Shannon of The Artful Mama. This year’s carnival will run from Sunday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 9th. Participants are sharing everything they know and love about cloth diapering, including how cloth has inspired them.

***

Our cloth diaper journey began when I was just a few months pregnant with RaeRae. Hubby and I knew we wanted to try cloth-diapering because it was good for the environment and better for the baby's bum.

Starting with prefolds...

We first started with prefolds from a local diaper service and covers that we bought on our own. We had received a gift certificate to get started so we thought we might as well try it. The diaper service brought us clean prefolds once a week and took away the dirty ones to wash for us. This was a great solution since we lived in an apartment complex with coin laundry. I started shopping around for covers on the web and reading posts on Baby Center in their Cloth Diaper Group. I participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt in November 2010. I read as much as I could, asked questions on boards and facebook pages, and even had a few friends who cloth-diapered and gave me advice. 


RaeRae will be 5 months on July 6th and we have been cloth-diapering her bum she was 10 days old. I would have started from Day 1 but I felt too overwhelmed with the demands of being a new parent and recovering from labor and delivery pains. When RaeRae's umbilical cord stump fell off at 10 days after birth, I felt ready to start trying the prefolds. 


The first time I put a prefold on her bum was exciting yet I didn't like the "bubble butt" that it created. We got used to that quickly though. We still stuck with disposables at night time because we weren't quite confident with folding the prefold with a snappi when it was dark and we were tired from waking up every two hours for feedings. It took a couple of weeks until I felt ready to take the plunge to go cloth full time. It became easier with practice.


Prefolds were easy to tell when they were wet because all we had to do was just touch a part on the side of the diaper under the cover and if it felt wet, then we changed her diaper. We changed her diapers about 10-14 times a day then it reduced as she got older.


Let's try pocket diapers...

When she was about 5 weeks old, she started sleeping longer at night. I decided to try pocket diapers very part time to increase absorbency with extra inserts and to have that "stay-dry" feeling from the fleece. I slowly bought more pockets over time based on reviews and sales. 

When RaeRae became three months old, I had bought enough pocket diapers to go full-time and stop our service. I also learned how to wash them using the coin laundry machines on our apartment complex. That is another story to tell, but to this day in a basic summary, we do a cold wash with no detergent, hot wash with Rockin Green detergent, then a rinse. The rinse is already part of the wash. Then I either line-dry everything if it's warm enough or put just the inserts in the dryer and line-dry the covers/pockets. 


I fell in love with pocket diapers for their convenience and more print options. I still love them to this day. Our stash mostly includes bumGenius 4.0, GoGreen Pocket Diapers, and one to two of other brands. and I bought some unbleached prefolds to use occasionally though.


A few things I have learned about pocket diapers:
-Aplix is easier for my hubby, esp at 2 or 3 in the morning if she needs a change.
-One-sized pocket diapers are the best instead of sized options. They last longer and have more flexibility in sizing and absorbency. 
-I'm trying hemp inserts along with microfiber for night-time diapering and it works well.  But still learning on what works best.

New options?

We are now trying a couple of fitteds for the hot summer days although we still use pockets full time. 


We have yet to try All-in-ones and maybe someday I will try one or two. We do have some hybrid diapers in our collection but they aren't my go-to diaper because I don't have a lot of the inserts for them yet.


Our cloth-diapering journey continues.


"Hi, my name is Jennifer and I'm a fluff addict."

***

Visit
Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carnival!

 

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day:

• Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
• Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents' individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering "style" that best suits their families.
• Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
• Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on Natural Parents Network. Link up your own Wordless Wednesday post there!
• Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their families throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
• Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
• Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become "greener" overall.

Project: Diaper Sprayer

I am excited to report that we have successfully installed a diaper sprayer in our bathroom! (Well, my hubby did since I was nursing RaeRae in our cool bedroom...yep, a new window A/C. Will write about that soon too). 

For new cloth-diapering mamas or my readers not-so-familiar with cloth-diapering, a diaper sprayer is a tool that hooks up to your toilet quite easily. It's like a mini-hose that shoots high-pressure water to help get off baby poo. It also can be used a personal bidet or for postpartum rinsing (although the pressure seems a bit too hard for the latter in my opinion).


From Everything Birth, Inc.'s page, the description for this diaper sprayer says this:

Cleaning diapers has never been so easy! Simple instructions to attach this shower directly to your toilet.
No need to dunk in the toilet water again!

Cloth Diaper Sprayer - Great for rinsing off soiled cloth diapers in the toilet instead of dunking and soaking. The easy to handle, multi-hole, jet spray is perfect for rinsing even the most heavily stuck-on soiled diapers. 
Hand Held Bidet - The Mini Shower allows you to comfortably sit on the commode and enjoy the gentle and soothing benefits of cleaning your most sensitive areas with cool fresh running water. 
Feminine Hygiene - Fresh water cleansing is the most soothing and enjoyable way to achieve the highest level of freshness for total personal hygiene. 
Hemorrhoids - Tissue paper can be irritating and even painful. Doctors recommend a cool water rinse for any type of edema or swelling in the rectal area. New and improved quality made solid brass, chrome plated Tee connector with long lasting, ABS, ceramic core, 1/4 turn valve, easily connects to commodes with out tools or plumbers.

Easy clip spray wand holder on side of tank.

Mini-Size, clear hose stays supper flexible under pressure and is less noticeable in bathroom.

Quick connect hose fittings allows you to cut the 6 ft. hose to any length for right or left handed use.

Adjustable Water Pressure - Multi-hole jet spray with pressure control valve makes personal hygiene, commode cleaning, and even cloth diaper rinsing quick and easy.

Quick and Easy Installation no plumber needed and installs in just minutes. Tools are not usually needed for installation. Note: Toilet must have a flexible water supply line.
Made in the USA


RaeRae is EBF (Exclusively Breast-fed, for those of you unfamiliar with the term) so that means her poo is water soluble and her diapers can go straight into the washer without a diaper sprayer. However, since she is approaching 5 months, her poo-plosions are getting bigger and I was just tired of dealing with those yellow stains. Even though sunning helps, they were getting to the point where there was just too much poo for the diaper to contain and I wanted to make washing earlier. 
We are also going to be introducing other foods to her when she reaches 6 months. I had the opportunity to buy one through Everything Birth, Inc. , of which through Diaper Parties is associated. 

My hubby said it took him just about 10 minutes to set it up after reading the directions. The plastic tubing for the water flow can be trimmed based on how far/tall your toilet is from the ground. We decided to leave the plastic tubing at the length because we will be moving really soon.
Here is a pic of the diaper sprayer set-up in our bathroom:

The "sprayer" is on the left side of the toilet tank and comes off when ready to use. It's connected to the long plastic tubing of which the water flows through. The water flows through when I turn a little knob with the blue mark (looks like a button in this picture) to the right. We turn the knob off when we are done using the sprayer. Then squeeze the sprayer to relieve any remaining pressure in the hose (to prevent leaking).


If you need a diaper sprayer, I happen to sell them! You can buy them here. 
Just make sure to put my full name in at the page where it says "How did you hear about us." If you need help ordering or have any questions about it, feel free to comment here or email me.  I'm always glad to help someone out. 


Meanwhile, I will occasionally comment on how the diaper sprayer is working for us. I am feeling optimistic about it. I tried it for the first time today and I was honestly amazed how well it rinsed off the poo.


For my CD mamas, do you have a diaper sprayer? If you do, what do you use? What do you like or not like about it?

DIY: Cloth napkins

Over the last few weeks, I had been busy with a project:

Do-it-yourself cloth napkins.

Thanks to my good friend "Y," I learned the basics of a sewing machine and also borrowed her machine to sew about 50-ish cocktail sized cloth napkins in different colors to use for both my Diaper Parties and at home. (A note about "Y," she is truly amazing. I met her when she was just a beginning ASL student and now she graduated from her local interpreting program last year and works at two colleges as an interpreter. She also interpreted for RaeRae's birth--stayed all three days---truly an amazing friend and I'm forever grateful).

I always wanted to have some cute cloth napkins to use at home because I was tired of buying the paper napkins often, even it was for cheap at the Dollar Tree store. I had found some large white cloth napkins at Target but I wanted something smaller and that matched our kitchen theme. For my Diaper Parties, I thought I would offer to bring a set to use at each party because we were already focused on the theme of growing green through the use of cloth diapers. The napkins could be rewashed without a problem!

1. Fabric Store visit

The process of D.I.Y. cloth napkins began with a trip to a local fabric and craft store called Jo-Ann. It is similar to Michael's but I liked Jo-Ann much better because it was bigger and had more options (or at least the location I went to). When I walked into the fabric selection of the store, I was amazed with the hundreds (probably thousands) of options of fabric to choose from. So many colors, prints, and also different blends of material. I focused on getting 100 percent cotton because I knew that's what I wanted and thought it would be more absorbent than a polyester blend. For colors, I picked out three different prints in red, black, and white (our kitchen colors). I got one yard of each fabric on recommendation from my friend.

2. Measuring and cutting each napkin

After washing the fabric, I got them all ready to be cut through ironing them and laying them flat. I had my materials ready: scissors, measuring tape (from sewing kit), and a little bag meant for disposing extra thread and pieces of fabric so it doesn't get all over the place.

For cocktail-sized napkins, I measured squares of fabric 6" by  6" so it would give an almost 5" by 5" napkin, but I wasn't too strict on the measurements as long as they pretty much looked the same in size. It was my first time so I knew it wouldn't be perfect in size. I wanted the napkins to be double-layer though so I would have two sides. Instead of cutting two individual squares (one for each side of napkin), I cut one long piece that could be folded in half.

3. Preparing each napkin

After the cutting was done, I prepared each napkin for the sewing machine by using needles to hold them in place. These needles would be taken out as I sewed along the sides. I sewed the squares inside out (like in the picture) and left one side open so I could open it inside out after sewing three sides.

 
4. Sewing machine time!

I'm not going to explain how to use a sewing machine here, but this part was fun! Click-clack fast on the track! It took some practice to get the right speed and keep the thread straight on the fabric. But I got better at it with each napkin I finished.

Sewed inside out on 3 sides

5. Sewing continues (outside part). 

For the last side, I folded the edges inside so the frayed part didn't stick out then sewed along all four edges again so it looked nice and was sealed.

6. Finished product!

I have several of these following beautiful colors! I love them! I think they turned out great. We have an extra wetbag to use in our kitchen to put used napkins and wash when they are done! I like how they are small enough for simple use and the colors too.

I had much fun and thank you to my friend "Y" for helping me learn how to use the sewing machine and having patience with me during the lessons. =)