Flats & Handwashing Challenge- Day 7

 

Day 7: Overview of the Challenge- What did we learn?

 

 

First and foremost we wanted to do this challenge for 4 reasons:

To create awareness of cloth diapering by way of using flats & shells an easy to use and clean system. 
We did this to show those who think cloth diapering is hard and or unsanitary that it's not or doesn't have to be with the right supplies.

We also did this challenge to show you how to your cloth diapers while camping or in natural disaster type situations where you don't have access to a washer & dryer.  

Finally, we wanted to show our SoftBums users and anyone interested in learning that it can be done using our shells, AND it can be fun, clean, and easy.

Did we accomplish our goal?
Yes, it was a long 7 days but we did it, and we surpassed our goal of just doing flats & handwashing at home. We also took them on the road and on a 3 day camping trip.

Was it fun?
Yes, it was a lot of fun learning all the different ways to fold a flat. It was also fun to hand wash them. It was so interesting and educating to learn how they really get clean. Because you are the one who is actually working the soap and water through the fibers.

Was it easy?
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be for both using the flats and snappi's and handwashing..
It was easy process to clean the diapers and although it was hard work it was not something that you could really mess up. It would be easy to see or smell that the diapers aren't clean.

Did we have leaks?
Yes, there was a learning curve when using flats and folds for the first time. Ultimately the problem was the absorbency wasn't enough using just one flat for our 13 month old. We had to sneak in a half flat with every change to last us a couple hours (2 flats for overnight). But by day 4 we were successfully leak free.

Was it unsanitary?
 No, I would say it isn't any dirtier than washing cloth diapers in a washing machine, because all the dirty work is really the wiping of the butt and removal of solid's into the toilet, which you have to do with any diaper. If you use the camp style washer for washing diapers the rinse cycle is not gross because you don't have to look or smell the mucky water (that of course is depends on how well you pre-rinsed the dirty diapers) If you use a tub for washing then using a rubber glove so you aren't in contact with the dirty diapers and mucky water. I had to do both during this challenge & I would consider the tub style a bit more physical labor not anymore messy.


What did you learn about camping with cloth?
Bring enough diapers to use in one full day and a half, any more would be excessive for your pack. Washing every morning is the best routine.  You get a early work out and your diapers are ready to use in about an hour after washing (depending on the weather). Use fleece liners! It will save you a lot of time pre-rinsing your dirty diapers. Try making a make-shift diaper sprayer by either bringing a hose and a sprayer nozzle, or bring a nice pro quality spray bottle. Another way to pre-rinse would be to bring a 3 gallon water jug with a spout and run the water over the diaper and catch the solid's in it with the bucket below. Kids love to help wash the diapers.. So let them, as long as they are making an up and down motion the diapers will get clean. It saves you from doing it everyday and gives them something new to do for a while.

Yes, they even fought over who got to clean them.

How did you like using SoftBums for this challenge?
They worked great! The microfleece lining keeps the flats in place & every fold we tried fit wonderfully in our Echo & Omni shells with some tucking. We did echos during the day with an airplane or origami fold and for nights we did a pad folded and stuffed and then another flat pad folded and layed on top. We really liked these combinations!

What was your biggest challenge this week?
Using more complicated folds and snappi's with a very wiggly 13 month old was difficult to handle. But with practice we were able to get them on without much struggle. But if we were in a hurry we did just throw a pad folded flat in the shell and throw it on him.



Is this something you think you consider doing again?
To be honest this challenge has really been eye opening to us who are so accustomed to using "modern cloth diapers" 100% of the time & washing in a machine. We never considered it to be a luxury but more of a way of saving money, imagine that. Now that we have been educated on the financial diapering struggles of 1 in 3 families, I can honestly say it can be done. Even if its only part time, that would greatly reduce the cost of diapering a child and it really wouldn't be that hard.

What do you take away from this challenge?
We will definitely continue to use our flats in our current cloth diapering routine. They are a great solution to use under clothes that your child is on the brink of outgrowing, because of their uber trimness. We will absolutely use our flats and handwashing skills again for our camping ventures which are frequent during the summer and fall months. Learning to handwash was also something I will take away from this challenge, not just for cloth diapers but for anything. I never had to hand wash anything before, but now I know how, and feel confident to do it again when needed. Finally, if ever we are in a situation where we are in dire need of a diaper and cant find or afford any we will know how to make our own from things we have in our house (sheets, shirts, towels, etc) and will know how to fold them into a diaper & wash them appropriately & efficiently.

We want to thank everyone for following us on this journey and we hope you gained some new flat folding or handwashing skills as did we!

Please don't forget why this event was started:
Each year Dirty Diaper Laundry hopes that this event will spark a fire in others to do more about the diaper need problem.  So what can you do to help families facing this struggle everyday?  Educate:  Educate others using your online or local influence.  Donate: Donate your used diapers or make a monetary donation to the national cloth diaper bank Giving Diapers, Giving Hope.  They are a non-profit that send cloth diapers to low-income families for the cost of shipping if they meet the requirements.  Share: Share the information about affordable cloth diaper solutions such as this post and video: Cheap and Easy Cloth Diaper Solutions.

Flats & Handwashing Challenge -Day 6

Day 6: Camping with Cloth!

It just so happens that we were going on a camping trip during this challenge. So today's topic is on how to go camping with your SoftBums & Flats.

What you will need:

15-20 flats (depending on how often you need to change, and how often you want to wash)
4-5 shells
Snappi's
Cloth diaper safe & environmentally friendly detergent. (We use Rockin Green)
Rubber gloves (bring both!! Lol)
Washing bucket & plunger (or 2 buckets one for washing one for rinsing to save time)
A bucket to hold dirty diapers, or a wet bag, but a bucket with a lid is easier to wash & dry.
4-7 Fleece liners
10-20 cloth wipes
Clothes line & clothes pins
Diaper rash cream
Diaper sprayer (either a hose with a sprayer nozzle, or a nice large spray bottle)
A bag to organize your diapers & accessories- optional. (I use a thirtyone organizing utility tote.)
Pot for boiling water
Access to water, or bring a couple gallons of water.

What you need to do:

1) Once your baby dirty's a diaper after you change them into a fresh one. If its a wet diaper toss the flat in the washing bucket and hang the shell to dry on the clothes line. If its a poopy diaper start with using your diaper sprayer (bottle) to spray off the solids into the washing bucket.

2) Place your dirty diaper in the other washing bucket or if you only have one put it in a plastic bag until you dump the solids out of the washing bucket.

3) If you are camping a place with toilets accessible bring your bucket with the solids and flush. Rinse out your bucket and then place the dirty diaper in it till wash time.

4) Once you have enough diapers dirty and ready to wash. Start by boiling water on the camp stove or over fire in a pot. Then while your waiting for that to boil, fill your bucket with cold water 3/4 full and agitate with your plunger. This will remove anything you couldn't get off with the sprayer previously. Dump the water again in a toilet if its really nasty water or if its not too bad just dump on the ground in a place your not going to be walking in. (If you have dogs dumping the solids on the ground will attract them... Eww)

5) Add the boiling water to your bucket a little over 3/4 full again & 1 tbsp of detergent. Then take plunger and agitate the diapers using an up and down motion, all around the bucket for about 5 minutes.

6) Then let the diapers soak for about 15-30 minutes.

7) Agitate the diapers for another 5 minutes.

8) Drain & fill with clean water cool or room temp.

9) Agitate for another 3-5 minutes & drain.
(Repeat this step if soap bubbles, smells, or mucky water is still present).

11) Dump out the whole bucket and run each diaper, wipe, and cover under running water individually and swirl and wring out the excess water. & line dry.

12) Once everything is dry, they will be a bit stiff.. You can beat each flat individually, or throw a couple of them in a pillowcase with a tennis ball.

First day camping with cloth was so much easier than I anticipated especially after this week of practice with flats we had. Although we did get a lot of looks from other campers, but I don't care they can think what they want. Lol

I will update this again once we're done camping if I have anymore tips to add.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day of the challenge!! We will take the whole week and summarize it in a post on Monday evening & also announce the winner of our Flats & Handwashing Challenge Giveaway!! If you have yet to enter it follow the link now: http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html

As always the heart of this challenge is to shine a light on the fact that there are families struggling to provide clean diapers to their babies and to offer an alternative solution not often discussed when the major media outlets cover these stories. There are diaper banks that can help families get started with cloth diapers for free or little cost. If you know a family or are a family in need please visit Giving Diapers, Giving Hope- the only nationwide diaper lending program that ships to any approved family in the US. I encourage anyone touched by this challenge to donate to their organization and help them provide more diapers to more families.

Flats & Handwashing Challenge -Day 5

What is working, What is not? Day 5:

What's working?

1. Trim, trim trim.. Flats & SoftBums are a very trim combination!
2. Flats & handwashing has far less staining & smell cleaner & wash up nicely.
3. It's easier to know if they are clean (sud free & not stinky) because you visually see them washing out vs periodically opening the washer.

What's not working:

1. Poop on the floor! Not once but 2x this week so far. Reason, not having enough covers - 1 more shell would be ideal, then I wouldn't be waiting for one to dry while our son decides to soil the carpet!
2. Not having enough absorbency at night- 2 flat's are ok but its bulky and we are used to our SoftBums OS Bamboo and a mini pod.
3. Washing at night, bad idea.. For starters I am already exhausted from trying to get our kids to bed. Then trying to handwash is a workout in itself. Washing in the morning works much better then they have all afternoon to dry in the sun.
4. One flat (I am guessing these Target FST are not the best quality you can get) last us about 1 hour, So I have been having to add half a fst pad folded as a doubler. With this combo he will last about 2-2.5 hours which is good timing for our schedule.

Folds that are working and not:

1. Pad fold is the best, far less messy poop, easier to clean. Easy to stuff in the Omni for bed.
2. Airplane & origami & others are great and look very nice under our SoftBums but they do require time to fold them and a cooperative child to put on the diaper it can be frustrating.
3. The diaper bag fold is nice and convenient to pre-fold and have ready in the "diaper bag" imagine that.. lol

Its really hard to get action shots of this 13 month old.

 Whoa! Only 2 more days left!! This week is actually flying by, must be from all the fun we are having.. lol

Don't forget there are 3 days left to enter our Flat's & Handwashing Challenge Giveaway HERE:

http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html

As always thanks for reading!!

 

Flats & Handwashing Challenge Day 4

Day 4: Handwashing & Line Drying

Well we had our second night of handwashing last night and it went a lot better because I got to use the camp style bucket washer. The first night I had to wash everything in the tub, drain the tub, rinse and repeat.. That was a timely task. Especially since my tub is HUGE.. I didn't take all that draining into consideration when I started washing the diapers in there.. Heres a picture..

 

So if you don't have a bucket and you use a tub to wash them here's a wash routine:

• Start with a cold rinse, Fill tub with cold water and add diapers. If the diapers are really soiled, you can let them soak for a minutes, then swish them around using your plunger or hand (using a glove).
• Next drain the tub, add hot/warm water to the tub, detergent and diapers. Scrub the diapers by rubbing or moving the diapers back and forth between your hands or agitate again with the plunger 
• Drain the tub and add warm water to rinse the diapers out until you see no more bubbles.
•  Swirl & wring out the excess water and hang dry on a drying rack/ shower curtain rod or clothes line.

I have really bad carpel tunnel in my right hand so wringing out the flats truly frightened me. Thankfully I had been reading up on last years event and I saw someone post they used the stomp method to wring out the diapers by throwing them in a clean dry towel and stomp the water out, I know this challenge is technically called "handwashing challenge" not foot washing challenge, but sometimes you need to do what works best for you. lol

 

 If you are using a camp style bucket & plunger to wash the diapers here is a wash routine:

• Pre-rinse poopy diapers immediately after I change them, just a cold rinse under the faucet in the tub with my bucket underneath to catch the chunks and I have been flushing that in the toilet. If you were camping I would bring a couple gallon jugs with a spout on them for pre-rinsing and again let your 5 gallon bucket catch the solids and find a place to flush it. (so your not smelling or stepping on old poop, or your dog will try and eat it, sorry TMI but its true)  That's if your camping somewhere they have toilets.

• Ready to wash, start by filling the bucket with room temperature water a little over 3/4 full. Then take plunger and agitate the diapers using an up and down motion, all around the bucket for about 5 minutes.
• Then let the diapers soak for about 30 minutes.
• Drain the water while pushing the diapers with the plunger to get out as much water as possible.
• Next, fill the bucket with hot water a little over 3/4 full then add yourdetergent andagitate the diapers for another 5 minutes.
• Drain the water again and fill the bucket with room temperature water a little over 3/4 full. 
• Agitate the diapers for another 5 minutes.  (Repeat this step if soap bubble, smell, or mucky water is still present).
• Dump out the whole bucket and run each diaper, wipe, and cover under running water individually and swirl and wring out the excess water. & line dry.
• Once everything is dry, they will be a bit stiff.. You can beat each flat individually, or throw a lot of them in a pillowcase with a tennis ball, or try ironing them to soften them up.

It has been a typical week in May here in Minnesota. Cold and Rainy. That makes it this challenge extra challenging. But we didn't let that get us down. We just improvised.
Having to line dry inside:

My sears wall mount drying rack holding 7 flats & 4 covers and 4 fleece liners

I opened the window and these flats took about an hour and they were dry

Another example of indoors air drying

Here are some more handwashing tips from Dirty Diaper Laundry:

Roll your covers in a dry bath towel and apply pressure (by kneeling) to take out as much water as possible to expedite air drying.
Line dry your flats in a well ventilated area if at all possible.  Outdoors if it isn’t humid or indoors under exhaust or ceiling fans.
Iron your flats if you need them to dry faster.  This can also kill leftover bacteria that may not have washed out.  Think of it as sterilizing while making them pretty too.
Use a light hand with the detergent- too much and the extra rinses will be time consuming.  Remember the volume of you washer/sink is likely a lot less than your washing machine.
Rinse with warm water.  According to a laundry expert warm rinses=easier to wring out more (or spin out more in machine)
Let the water work for you- if you can leave soiled flats in a SAFE place to soak then do so to remove waste.

Don’t use wet bags.  Store dirty diapers in your bucket or sink because handwashing the bags will take valuable space.
Wash daily or at every change.  Washing larger loads means harder work, longer work, and the potential for the diapers to get less clean.

Got stink?  Probably not enough detergent or not washing long enough.  Set a kitchen timer because a few minutes handwashing can feel like a lot longer.

 

 

Thanks for following us on this journey! Tomorrow I will be discussing what is working and what is not in this challenge..

 

 

In case you haven't yet entered our giveaway to win a SoftBums Starter Pack for participating in our Flats & Handwashing Challenge here is the link to go enter:

http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html

About the challenge: We're participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. This event aims to bring awareness to the challenges that low income families face when trying to diaper their children. There are not publicly funded programs that supply diapers to families in need. Using cloth diapers and handwashing is an affordable way to families to diaper their children. Flats are the most inexpensive of commercially available cloth diapers; receiving blankets, flour sack towels, cut sheets, and t-shirts can also be used as flats making these diapers available to all families.

 

Flats & Handwashing Challenge Day 3

 

DAY 2: FOLDING YOUR FLATS!

 

 

Here are some styles of folding a flat, it may look intimidating at first but I promise if you play around with them a bit you will see its just a square piece of fabric. Nothing scary about that!

 

Lets start with the easiest and probably most common fold, and work our way down in the number of layers from most to least, I will also list where the most absorbency is on the fold and what type of baby it works best for. Keep in mind the size of all flats aren't the same, so a 29" square might have less absorbent layers than a 36" square or bigger.

Pad Fold:

#12 layer - Same absorbency throughout, good for girls and boys, easy to adjust to fit narrow or wide diapers in the crotch.

 

Airplane Fold:

#16 layers, Most absorbency in the front, great for boys and heavy wetters.

 

Diaper Bag Fold:

#12 layers, Most absorbent in front, great for boys and people who store them in a diaper bag.

 

Gaynor’s Fold for Girls:

#9 layers, Most absorbent in the middle, great for girls and newborns.

 

Origami Fold:

#8 layers, Same absorbency throughout, good for both girls & boys, easy to add a doubler if needed.

 

Bat Fold:

#8 layers, Same absorbency throughout, great for newborns and boy & girl, could add a doubler as well.

 

Ro Fold:

#8 layers, Most absorbent in front, for boys

 

Maria's Fold:

#6-8 layers, Most absorbent in front, for boys

 

Jo Fold:

#6 layers, Same absorbency throughout, good for girls and boys & newborns

 

Twist Fold:

#6 layers, Most absorbent in middle, good for girls!

 

V Fold:

#6 layers, Most absorbent in middle, good for girls.

 

There are also the Kite fold, Corners fold, Triangle fold, & Neat fold but all of these have less than 5 absorbent layers and would only be suitable for a light wetting newborn or infant.

NEW this year Ava fold: by Cloth Diaper Addiction: #9 absorbent layers in the front/ middle, great for girls & boys, contains messes & easy to remove solids.
http://www.clothdiaperaddiction.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-ava-fold.html?m=1

 

 Since we have a boy who is 13 months we mainly like the pad fold which is great for stuffing in the Omni's for nights, airplane fold and origami fold with a doubler (for this challenge I am using a FST that is cut in half and pad folded).

 

Airplane fold

 

Check back tomorrow to see how our handwashing is going... dondondon..  :)

 

 

Oh, don't forget to enter our SoftBums Flat's & Handwashing Giveaway here:

http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html


Whoa Now, Go check out Dirty Diaper Laundry's Flat's & Handwashing Challenge Day 3 Open topic!! Practicing Elimination Communication!!
http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge-day-3-open-topic-linky/

 

As always the heart of this challenge is to shine a light on the fact that there are families struggling to provide clean diapers to their babies and to offer an alternative solution not often discussed when the major media outlets cover these stories. There are diaper banks that can help families get started with cloth diapers for free or little cost. If you know a family or are a family in need please visit Giving Diapers, Giving Hope- the only nationwide diaper lending program that ships to any approved family in the US. I encourage anyone touched by this challenge to donate to their organization and help them provide more diapers to more families.

SoftBums Special Print Reveal Blog Hop

For over a year now SoftBums has introduced a Limited Edition print or solid color shell each and every month as part of our Calendar Bums promotion. 

 

What started in Feburary 2012 as a fun little campaign has turned into a nail biting, page refreshing, frenzy around the first of the month every month for SoftBums fans.

 

Not only is it fun & exciting for our fans to predict and guess the next print or color will be weeks leading to the reveal. But on the day of the reveal it is certainly fun to hear everyone's opinion on what they like and dislike about it. Yes, its true not everyone is going to like every single color or print, but that's ok. We know our customers come from different backgrounds, states, & countries. We know they either have a boy or a girl or some of each. We know that some are dads and some are moms who decide what cloth diapers to buy. So as you can tell it would be really hard to pick the right one for so many different peoples styles each month. But we seem do alright and everyone is still super excited each and every month for the next reveal!

 

It has been a ton of fun so far and we really have had a blast with it!

 So for the June Calendar Bums Release, we want to do something special, because after all its going to be our most exciting print yet!!

Blog HOP!

We have decided to have our blogger friends help us this month with the reveal. Several bloggers have been given the opportunity to help us promote this giveaway.

 

Want to WIN $100 in SoftBums Product's? 

 

Here's what you need to do:

1. We encourage our fans to visit all the participating blogs and read what they are saying about Calendar Bums. You can find the Blog Hop Linky below, and remember more bloggers will be added daily. 
2.  If you follow one or more of the blogs participating in the blog hop, you can get extra entries daily into our giveaway.
3. Enter the Rafflecoptor Giveaway Below

We want to give all our fans and bloggers and their fans a chance to get in on this awesome giveaway and SoftBums Special Print Reveal so we will be leaving it open all month till the big day on June 19th at 10am!!!. Its gonna be epic!

 

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More bloggers added daily

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Flats & Handwashing Challenge SoftBums Style Day 2

 

Day 2: Supplies; Where to get them, How you made them, How much did they cost?

Here is our list of supplies we are using for this challenge.

 

Notes:

Keep in mind, we just used stuff we already had around the house, I love that drying rack & I used it every time I wash diapers. But if you are on a low budget there is certainly cheaper solutions for drying your diapers.  I would just hang them in the bathroom on the shower rod. Also if it wasn't raining constantly here I would of course just line dry them outside in the sunshine which would dry them faster and also act as a natural disinfectant from the sun. Also as far as detergent goes, I just bought a sample size of cloth diaper detergent to use a tsp for each load. It would be much more economical to buy a larger bag or box of cloth diaper safe detergent for everyday use.

 

Homemade items:

The fleece liners: This is optional but also very handy to have when rinsing dirty diapers. Solids don't stick to them and so rinsing is a snap and your done. They also create a stay dry layer which keeps babies bottom dry.  I picked up a yard of anti pill fleece a while back and I just used the scrapes cut into 3.5x 9" rectangles to use as the liners. If you don't have the money to buy fabric you could also just use old clean fleece blankets cut to size.

 

Cloth wipes: I was given a bunch of receiving blankets when my first was born. We rarely used them but I kept them anyways. I pulled them out of storage and cut them into 16- 7x7 wipes each from blanket. So essentially these wipes were free. You could also use any soft cloth fabric you have, (old clean t-shirts, sheets, blankets, towels, wash cloths to make wipes)

 

Flats: We did buy our flats from Target for this challenge, a 5 pack for $4.97, which is about a dollar for each flat. But there are other cheaper ways to make flats from things you already have in your house.

Here is a tutorial on how to make flats from t-shirts:

• http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/cheap-and-easy-make-two-t-shirt-flats-from-1-xxl-shirt/

You could really use any cloth material that is absorbent such as, sheets, burp cloths, baby wash clothes, old clothes, receiving blankets. Tomorrow i'll show you how to fold them into a absorbent diaper.

 

Plunger Washer: You can easily make an inexpensive reusable & portable "camp style" washer following this tutorial: using a 5 gallon bucket & lid, plunger and some drill bits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSPyAqPU4_g 

Now that you can see everything we are using, its easy to see $110-$130 could be all you would need to cloth diaper your baby, using & reusing the shells throughout the day and washing every 2 days.

Don't forget to Enter our Flat's Challenge & Giveaway here: http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html

Check back tomorrow to read about all the different ways you can fold a flat to best fit your child!

5 gallon bucket

flour sack towel

receiving blanket wipes

SoftBums Echo with pad folded FST

Super Cute & Trim!

About the challenge: We're participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. This event aims to bring awareness to the challenges that low income families face when trying to diaper their children. There are not publicly funded programs that supply diapers to families in need. Using cloth diapers and handwashing is an affordable way to families to diaper their children. Flats are the most inexpensive of commercially available cloth diapers; receiving blankets, flour sack towels, cut sheets, and t-shirts can also be used as flats making these diapers available to all families.

Flats Handwashing Challenge SoftBums Style Giveaway & Winner!

Yep its that time again,

What is the Flat's & Handwashing Challenge you ask?

Cloth Diapering families all around the world vow to use only flats (diaper flats, flour sack towels, burp clothes, t-shirts, towels) and waterproof covers to diaper their child (or children) for a whole 7 days. Not only that but vow not to use a washing machine or electric dryer to clean the diapers for those 7 days. They must clean them by means of handwashing and line drying and /or pressing with an iron.

WHY???? Seriously Why?

Actually its for very good reasoning. This event aims to bring awareness and educate cloth diapering families and beyond about the benefits and feasibility of using flat cloth diapers, the most basic of all diapers, and handwashing. Why? Because there are families who struggle everyday with diaper need. There are no federal or state funded assistance programs to help families buy diapers. This can result in babies being left in diapers too long or families reusing disposable diapers; both options pose serious health risks for the baby. Dirty Diaper Laundry's goal has always been to prove that, when necessary, a small number of flat cloth diapers, covers, and a simple bucket washer or tub can be all a family needs to provide clean and sanitary diapers.

Why flats? Why not just use modern cloth diapers?

Flat cloth diapers are simple, easy and more importantly quick to wash & dry & easier to get clean. They are very absorbent and when used correctly is a very trim option for stuffing your "modern pocket diapers" aka your SoftBums Omni's. They are simple to use and folding styles are abundant. For example: pad fold, origami, kite, diaper bag fold, and the “jo” fold.  Knowledge and practice are key when it comes to flats, and thanks to youtube it literally takes 10 mins to learn all the styles of folding a flat cloth diaper to best fit your baby. Gone are the days of diaper pins so no worries about poking yourself or your baby. Now we have the option's of Snappi's or Boingo to hold the flat together before covering with your waterproof cover or shell.

Do people really do this?

"Yes, in this world on a daily basis there are families that actually DO THIS. And even more who could save a lot of money by handwashing flats even on a very part time basis as a way to stretch the disposable diapers they have for other places such as daycare.
Last year 260 families participated and 73% felt this was a viable option for families in need. In 2011 over 200 families joined and 80% said that others could “absolutely” use this method!" - According to Dirty Diaper Laundry.

Why are we participating?

Honestly, when I first heard of this I thought that it seemed backwards to me.. Cloth diapering like my granny did??? BUT once I started reading more into it and learned about all the families who can barely afford disposable diapers who think that is the only option. They are spending up to $60 a month on diapers & wipes that they are just throwing away when they could be using affordable reusable cloth diapers and using that extra $60 a month on food for their family or to pay for bills.

• We are doing this to help create awareness to the world that this can be a solution for any family, especially for those struggling to make ends meet while raising a family.
• We are doing this to show those who think cloth diapering is hard and or unsanitary, or pointless because their parents told them horror stories of bleach buckets, leaks, plastic pants and pins..
• We are also doing this to show you how to your cloth diapers while camping or in natural disaster type situations where you don't have access to a washer & dryer.  
• Finally, we want to show our fans and anyone interested in learning that it can be done, AND it can be fun, clean, and easy (well as easy as handwashing dirty diapers can be)! The BEST part is we will show you how to do it using SoftBums shells :)

SoftBums Echo Shell & a Ikea Flat

SoftBums are an ideal cover to use with your flats.  The Echo shell will hold the flats perfectly in place thanks to the super soft microfleece, and the super trim fit of the cover and the flat will fit wonderfully under any clothing. The Omni with the optional pocket is amazing for stuffing your flats! You can stuff several flats in the generous pocket which is perfect for nighttime use!

Stay Tuned for tomorrows post on what supplies were using, where we bought them, & how much we paid to complete this challenge!

Thanks everyone who participated with us. The winner of the SoftBums Starter Pack has been announced!

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Garage Sale Tips HTF Giveaway! Winners!

       The weather is finally warming up in our part of the country. You know what that means, Garage Sales!! Everyone took our spring cleaning advice and got to work cleaning out their houses, but now they have a bunch of stuff sitting in the garage that they don't need anymore. Time to have a garage sale!!

This weeks blog post is all about Garage Sales Tips & Tricks.

If you have ever had one before you know how much time and effort it takes to host a garage sale at your house. Long hours tagging items, figuring how much to price things reasonably. Next comes setting up signs in the neighborhood to advertise your sale and setting up all your things on tables and racks. Then the actual day of the event is the real time suck. Waking up at the crack of dawn, set out the nice stuff in an eye catching location for those "drive by buyers" and sitting in a lawn chair all day hoping you get some takers.

Worth your time?

Every sale I have ever had you sell about half the stuff you put out. So is it worth it? I'd say yes because otherwise how else are you going to sell those things and actually make money? eBay or any online auction site you have to pay fees & shipping.

Tip:

There are now groups on Facebook specifically to sell garage sale type items for a local area. You just search for "your city" garage sale group" and there is most likely one already set up. People will post all the stuff they would be selling at a garage sale on these groups in albums and majority of the time the items are priced appropriately. If you don't want to spend all the time & effort having a yard sale at your house or you cant because you live somewhere that doesn't allow for garage sales, such as an apartment building. Then online local garage sale groups are totally the way to go! Just be sure to meet up in a public place to buy or sell the items, such as a grocery store parking lot or inside a coffee shop.

Ok now that we have spilled our guts on one of our tips, we want to hear some of your tips for selling or buying at a garage sale, because you never know when you will find something that is HTF!!

Just an example, of what you may find at a garage sale. (not actual prizes)
 

Congrats to the Winners!! Jennifer & Christiannah

Please email at info@softbums.com to claim your prize!! 

Thanks everyone who participated in the giveaway and 108 of you who submitted your amazing garage sale tips & tricks!        

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