Once a week... Is it possible???

Flyinbyfaith · March 2013

Hello there.

This is my first time writing on the Cloth Diapers board. I'm seriously considering CDing and have become obsessed with blogs and vlogs on the subject. But I haven't really found any information regarding my situation. And to be honest, I'm a little discouraged when I see moms who "stretch" their washings to 3 days call themselves being lazy. Embarrassed

I live in an apt. with no laundry facility. Prior to getting pregnant I was able to go to the laundry mat once every 2 weeks. NO PROBLEM.

Once I got pregnant, it was a bit overwhelming having to lug the heavy bags in and out of the car. So I made adjustments to my schedule and am now going once a week. This is working out for me.

So here's my dilemma... How to I add washing CDs into that routine? I CAN NOT get to the laundry mat more than once a week. It's a struggle to do it now, I just fight to make it work.

So I'm wondering if I rinse and dry the diapers daily, before storing them for wash, will this make it possible?

I can not even begin to imagine how many diapers I'll need to last a week. In all my research, due to our tight budget, I believe prefolds and covers... maybe pocket diapers will be best.

I appreciate any input you may have. I really want to CD. I just need to find a solution. Since I have no experience, I figured I turn to those who do.

sarenu1 · March 2013

I would say no. You'll end up growing mold with wet diapers sitting around for a week.

3 days is usually a stretch.

amarissa85 · March 2013

I haven't started yet but it sounds like you are going to need A LOT of dipes. Most of the ladies here I think wash EOD or so.

Corleyrae · March 2013

I haven't started yet, but I feel save to say you'll get responses along the lines of "You won't want to go a week with dirty diapers". But good luck, I hope you find something that works for your situation.

tokenhoser · March 2013

No. It won't work - they'll mold and retain stink and be impossible to get clean.

If you CAN NOT get there twice a week, you either need to use a cloth diaper service or you could use disposables for half the week and cloth for the 3 days before you do laundry.

Or buy a little portable washer. Smile

sarenu1 · March 2013

Not only the stink and mold issue, but newborns go through 12-18 diapers a day. That would be 84 -126 diapers. You would need to do 4 - 5 loads of diaper laundry after a week of waiting.

Even as a toddler they generally go throu 8-9 diapers a day. So 56 - 63 diapers in a week. Which would still be at most 3 loads of diaper laundry to do in one sitting.

I can't even imagin storing them that long.

Look into a diaper service. You can hand wash the covers and hang them dry.

Or look into flats, you can probably hand wash those easily.

candlequeen · March 2013

If it were me, I'd do a portable washer.

zaraceligon · March 2013

I live in an apt,too and before i got the portable washing i did a hand wash.I think the best solution is to get a portable washer they are very good.I go Haier 1 Cu.Ft. Compact Pulsator Washer

t my at target

dande2129 · March 2013

sarenu1:
I would say no. You'll end up growing mold with wet diapers sitting around for a week.

3 days is usually a stretch.

This.

And, to go a full week without a wash, you'd have to have a ridiculous amount of cloth diapers to even make it that long.

sunkissed7804 · March 2013

Go with a portable washer!! Not only will you then be able to CD but you can wash all of your other clothes at home too which will make your life even easier once your little one gets here! Good luck!

veruca5839 · March 2013

Definitely not.

I'd invest in a portable washer or use a diaper service.

jasherlove · March 2013

I haven't started CDing yet but I would trust these ladies. Use a portable washer or here is a post on hand washing. (I saw this link off of another link posted by someone earlier today)

https://change-diapers.com/2011/04/cloth-diapering-without-a-washing-machine-guest-post-by-alyssa/

ABColeslaw · March 2013

Have you looked into the cost of a diaper service?

tjkdlhb · March 2013

You've got a few options:

1. Get a portable washer (it's still cheaper than disposables)

2. Use flats and covers or prefolds and covers and handwash every 2-3 days, You can still do one load a week at the laundromat, so they are still being washed in the machine once a week. They are the cheapest option anyway and easiest to get clean, esp once baby stops pooping all the time. A diaper sprayer or disposable liners would take care of most of the poo.

3. get a diaper service (but it's still cheaper to get the portable machine than that)

4. use 'sposies for Sunday-Wednesday and cloth the rest of the week. That would still be cheaper than using all 'sposies.

sarenu1 · March 2013

softskate31:

Technically - yes you can - diaper services do it with prefolds all the time.

You will have to be more diligent with your wash routine to avoid stinkies and ammonia buildup.

I would suggest rinsing the poopy diapers and overnight heavy pee diapers too. Letting them dry out might not be a good idea b/c you'd set stains - but they don't need to be sopping wet either.

I would only do this with prefolds and I would bleach (real bleach) them often - at least 1x a month to make sure you aren't harboring any bacteria.

Honestly - lugging 70 prefolds to the laundromat with a newborn in tow sounds like torture. But it is possible.

Buying and storing 70 prefolds would be more than enough toture for me.

KellersPrag · March 2013

I'm in an apartment. I hand wash in the tub every 2 days. When I go three, it's a lot less pleasant. I wouldn't try to stretch it much more.

ETA: I use mostly pockets (for daycare and other caregivers) and prefolds.

leece21 · March 2013

Look into getting a Wonderwash portable. It allows you to wash the diapers in your bathtub. Good luck!

littleredfish · March 2013

sarenu1:
Not only the stink and mold issue, but newborns go through 12-18 diapers a day. That would be 84 -126 diapers. You would need to do 4 - 5 loads of diaper laundry after a week of waiting.

Even as a toddler they generally go throu 8-9 diapers a day. So 56 - 63 diapers in a week. Which would still be at most 3 loads of diaper laundry to do in one sitting.

I can't even imagin storing them that long.

Look into a diaper service. You can hand wash the covers and hang them dry.

Or look into flats, you can probably hand wash those easily.

This was exactly my first thought. The math on washing all of those diapers in one sitting is astounding to me.

Also, though prefolds and covers would be your cheapest, easiest to clean and easiest to store option for that many diapers; what if you find you don't like prefolds? I love them, but there are women on here who don't and what if you are one of them? Then you've bought 2-3 stashes worth of prefolds, covers and wetbags and you hate it.

I'd also think that if you are in a smaller space like an apartment it would stink after a week of storing dirty diapers. My house is small and I can't imagine where I'd keep them all. Hang a ton of wetbags? The logistics just don't make sense to me. And I'd never want to risk ruining my diapers by leaving them in filth for so long.

Lennongirl · March 2013

It's possible. I know someone who washes once a week (on the weekend) and it works fine for her. She has a ridiculously large stash though and it takes her the whole day to get the cloth diaper laundry done, since she has to do 2 - 3 loads and she does looooong cycles with a ton of rinses to really get them clean.

So keep that in mind.

If I were you I'd either get flats and handwash or look into a portable washing machine.

Mandan914 · March 2013

We use AI2 diapers exclusively. SoftBums, RockaBums.

with AI2 diapers you are able to reuse the shells and just change out the soakers throughout the day. With a newborn we were able to reuse shells 1-2 times, and go through 8-10 soakers, now that ds2 is 10 months we reuse the shells 3-4 times aday and only go through 2-3 shells and 4-6 soakers.

That being said yes we wash once a week no problems: I always spray our poopy diapers with a diaper sprayer that is attached to our toilet, then they go in a wet bag, the wet diapers just get tossed in a diaper pail in our nursery.

I use tide original powder to the 1 line on a heavy duty hot wash fast spin, and then I do a normal hot wash no detergent but 15 drops of GSE (grapefruit seed extract) to kill any bacteria or yeast or viruses still on the diapers. Sometimes I do a cold rinse.

Our diapers never stink, or cause rashes or have any buildup problems.

Now I dont wash them at the laundry mat so their washing machines might work better or worse at getting them clean in one wash that you would have to expirement with.

Good Luck Mama, hope that helps!

MyNameWasTaken · March 2013

Eek. You could, but it doesn't sound pleasant. In your situation, to keep things easiest, I'd go with flats and covers, and hand wash every couple of days and line dry (inside or out, doesn't matter, though the sun will get rid of stains). Prefolds are thicker and will take longer to wash/dry without a washer and dryer; flats are pretty quick on both accounts. PUL covers are easy and quick to wash; I used a soft toothbrush to gently clean around the snaps or Aplix and around the elastic (otherwise, I never got the poop out of those spots!).

Flyinbyfaith · March 2013

Ok, so I've read everyone's responses. Thank you very much.

I did find a link for the Wonder Wash, but haven't read great reviews, if any, about washing CDs in it. If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know.

I'm glad to see there were a few like me believe if a diaper service can do once a week so can I. Yes

I'm beginning to think maybe I will hand wash EOD and then have a full load at the laundry mat. My laundry mat is great in that they have larger load washers including 9 load capacity washers. I have used it to wash loads that include all of our comforters. It's wonderful.

So I may go with both options. Hand washing (maybe Wonder Wash) & laundering at the mat. Like it was mentioned, at least they would get a washer washing once a week.

I will continue to do my research and look forward to any more input.

THANKS!!! Smile

Flyinbyfaith · March 2013

Mandan914:
We use AI2 diapers exclusively. SoftBums, RockaBums.
with AI2 diapers you are able to reuse the shells and just change out the soakers throughout the day. With a newborn we were able to reuse shells 1-2 times, and go through 8-10 soakers, now that ds2 is 10 months we reuse the shells 3-4 times aday and only go through 2-3 shells and 4-6 soakers.
That being said yes we wash once a week no problems: I always spray our poopy diapers with a diaper sprayer that is attached to our toilet, then they go in a wet bag, the wet diapers just get tossed in a diaper pail in our nursery.
I use tide original powder to the 1 line on a heavy duty hot wash fast spin, and then I do a normal hot wash no detergent but 15 drops of GSE (grapefruit seed extract) to kill any bacteria or yeast or viruses still on the diapers. Sometimes I do a cold rinse.
Our diapers never stink, or cause rashes or have any buildup problems.
Now I dont wash them at the laundry mat so their washing machines might work better or worse at getting them clean in one wash that you would have to expirement with.
Good Luck Mama, hope that helps!

Thank you so much for this response!!! I appreciate you taking the time with the details. I am gonna copy this post and save it somewhere. AI2... I was wondering about these. Another lady who's blog I follow uses Flip covers and inserts. Kinda the same idea I suppose.

This is looking like the way to go in terms of which diapers to use.

Thanks again!!!

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