Who's the stiff?

I lately relocated from the Adirondacks to Utah. Utah is much dryer. So much dryer, in fact, that I can easily dry a rackload of cloth diapers in the BASEMENT in less than 12 hours. One upside to gas-forced-air heat. In the Adirondacks, I had to run dehumidifiers in my house even in the winter, so drying indoors on a rack was pretty tough.

Thick diapers dry in less than 12 hours in the desert. Even in your basement!

Since the biggest energy-savings of cloth diapers by far comes from air-drying, getting away from the electric dryer is the way to go. My kid poops in a toilet, so the lack of sunshine isn't a big deal because the diapers don't smell when they come out of the wash.

The main undesirable outcome of indoor air-drying - especially with the dry gas-forced-air heat in such a short amount of time: stiffness.

Incredible house of diapers. Made only of structurally-dried cloth diaper jerky.

You can twist and yank these crusties immediately before use, or you can throw them all in the dryer with a tennis ball on no-heat for ten minutes. Not perfectly soft, but no longer usable as a building material. In any case, tough diapers will encourage your kid to get out of them and onto the pot faster...

How to fold cloth diapers

Here's my first ever video blog! Here, I demonstrate how to creatively wad cloth to staunch the flow of pee and whatnot that comes out of a small human.

Bear in mind that I'm not demonstrating the textile origami needed to turn a huge square of flimsy cloth into a diaper. I start with prefolds. They're way easier and worth it. Prefold is a funny name because they're really manufactured multi-layered cotton pads of varying size. I suppose that some folding is involved somewhere in making a prefold, but you really can't see the magic by looking at one.

The other misleading thing about prefolded diapers is that you still have to fold them to use them, and they don't come with instructions. In the video below, I demonstrate what I learned through trial-and-error about how to fold and use a few different size prefolds with a Thirsties Duo diaper cover.

Also demonstrated in the video is how to make-do with three sizes of diapers by changing how you use them for different size kids, night/day use, and different size diaper covers. Enjoy!

Cloth diapers cure depression

Economically, that is. Birth-to-toilet (isn't that a sublime turn of phrase?) the cost of disposable diapers is $2500. Compare that to as low as $500 for cloth. We got some as shower gifts - and I think I might be in the ball-park of $300 spent, plus whatever two or three loads of wash each week set you back (maybe $2-$2.50). If your kid is in diapers for 100 weeks, that's another $250 for washing and drying. You can cut that in half with line-drying instead of electric. Here is a cost/load calculator I found: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html

Here's a good story on diaper parties that describes the effect of the economy on diapers, as well as some well-worn fears of cloth diapers. #1 fear: poop. Surprise.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139234779/diaper-business-does-well-in-down-economy

Also, here's some info on the life-cycle cost of a new washer from the California Energy Commission. Short version: as much as $850 over the life of the washer. Before you run out and buy one on credit, make sure you're not going to cough up $850 in interest on the payment plan...

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/washers.html

gDiapers, marketing, and Green Fatigue

Good story from NPR about gDiapers. Describes them pretty well and discusses some marketing points.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88461868

Bigger Diaps, Colder Water

Month 20 has arrived, and we have a couple of pees in the potty, so there's a yellow-y light at the end of the tunnel...

In the meantime, a subtitle for this post could be called "bigger boy, more pee." We've got the next size of the Thirsties Duo (there are only two sizes, which have adjustments so each size can be three sizes, for a total of six, if you follow). My experience with the Thirsties has been largely good, though at the margins of the sizing in the Duos (starting out when the Boy was very small - then transitioning to the Duo Size 2) there's some compromise. When we made the size leap, the size ones looked a little like bikini briefs, and the size twos were a touch big even on the smallest setting. The offspring has admittedly slender thighs, which has been an issue with all gussets.

I would recommend hang-dry only for your Thirsties - the velcro wears out really fast if they make it into the dryer. I was hoping to get some mileage of my Size ones when offspring 2 happens by, but some of the size ones aren't going to make it, I'm afraid. The threads also blew out - I think also related to throwing them carelessly in the dryer.

We got some big organic cotton prefolds called 4-8-4's which means they're pretty thick in the middle - the numbers refer to the layers of cotton in each third of the diaper. The pace of diapering has changed, so we have a couple dozen big diapers, and only ordered 6 of the Thirsties Duo Size Two - and that all seems to be plenty.

As for the G-diapers - I applaud the reverse-pointing velcro tabs as difficult for the willful toddler to remove, but I can't recommend the G-diaper cloth inserts for anything. I have used them sort folded up in another diaper to extend the night-time soakage factor - but that's so ridiculously bulky I stopped. Basically, one good whiz from Mr. Whizzer will soak a G-diaper cloth insert completely through. Then it kind of wads up in the diaper and does nothing.

I remain a HUGE fan of the G-Diaper flushable inserts, which can be doubled up into a large cover (Thirsties or whatever) for super-soakage, long drives, whatever you might need it for - I've even done that overnight.

Along with this change in size has come an improvement in communication and a toughening of the butt, eliminating the need for much, if any diaper cream. Poops are speedily identified and disposed of before they can get mashed around. Mostly, they happen once a day, and I find that the whole cloth-diapers-are-better-for-the-skin thing really comes into play at this point. The difference between two or three hours in a cloth diaper and a few hours in a disposable is pretty dramatic in terms of the happy-looking skin under the cloth, as opposed to the squashed and sweaty-looking skin that appears from under a disposable.

As a result of the swifter poo detection and the absence of diaper cream, cold water wash seems to do a great job once more. I have switched soaps for diaper washing. I was using Seventh Gen laundry soap (they make a concentrated one for diapers that I never did use). I picked up a bottle of Method super concentrated laundry soap and a refill bag. Avoid the "Lavender Cedar" scent - it's kind of patchouli inflected - the other scent is something bland like Mountain Air or Fresh Breeze and it smells more or less like laundry. It was a touch pricey but really easy to use, reusable dispenser, refill bag - incredibly low-waste and because low volume, lower carbon footprint to transport. I found mine at Target.

I'm going to post a video of me folding up some diapers and putting them in the covers, since I couldn't really find information about that and had to make it up myself. 

Water Water Everywhere!

If you read the last post, you'll know that our battle against diaper rash has caused an escalation of unguent. Since the heavy-duty creams are harder to wash out of the diapers (though they have succeeded in staving off the rash), I have had to "break down" the diapers - meaning wash the s*** (literally and metaphorically) out of them. I do this by using a hot wash or two. That works pretty well.

I have been washing the diapers on cold only - heated water being the second-most energy intensive part of cloth diapering next to heated drying. So I tried an experiment - not to break down the grease film, but to expand the time between break-downs.

Normally after a cold wash in a small amount of water (adequate for the entire first 9 months at least) a film, or ring of diaper-grease would form around the inside of the wash at the top of the water line. The cold water couldn't keep the residue dissolved until it drained - so it stuck to the washer instead (as far as I know, the inside of the drain pipes look like Dick Cheney's femoral artery...). This film was also indicative of what was left on the fibers of the diapers.

There are two ways to increase the carrying capacity of the water to dissolve the solution: increase the temperature of the solution, or increase the amount of water. So I'm experimenting with washing the diapers in the next-higher water setting. Seems to work so far - no ring around the washtub.

Of course, which of these methods you use might depend on where you live. If you live in an arid area, but you have access to passive solar - use hot water from the roof! If you live in a cold area (like me) with more water than you know what to do with - and you have to heat it with $3.50/gallon #2 heating oil - it makes sense to try using a little more cold water.

Hope that was refreshing!

Tao of Poo

Funny thing about having a kid, a job, and another blog: you don't get much time to write (or reflect).

Mr. Whippersnapper is nigh on 14 months now. Much has changed - especially the consistency of his poo - which, now that he is eating more human food, is more like the kind of poo you step in on the sidewalks of NYC than the innocuous cheezy custard of his early months.

Current solution for removing sticky, sat-in poo from a diaper: old rubber spatula in a jar behind the john. Works pretty well. I'm still laundering the same way more or less: less line drying (hard to time everything out with the job and the sunny days). Mobile kids also eat up more time and 14-month-olds are awake a lot more, so that's even more of a jam.

The sticky older baby poo also seems to increase diaper rash problems, which requires the use of more heavy-duty cream - I use A&D Ointment - a combo of lanolin and vaseline, basically - for the base layer, and then a thick paste of off-brand Desitin - essentially 40% strength zinc oxide.

It helps.

I've also virtually eliminated the bowl of warm water at this point. The frequent wetting and rubbing of the bum exacerbated the rash problem. Instead, in the event of a poo, I use off-brand scentless, alcohol-free wipes (note: these say "flushable", but I accidentally put one through the wash, and it came out in perfect condition. Wouldn't flush these if you really care about your plumbing - definitely a no-no if you're on septic).

After the wipes, I smear on gob of A&D which works like a make-up remover and odor-eliminator. I wipe some of that off and then apply the zinc cream. I have to do this pretty much every time because he's a pretty regular kid, and you never know when he'll drop the bomb.

If he pees and things look pretty good, I just reapply some ointment and cream and go with it. That seems to cause less damage than all the cleaning.

The use of the heavier creams has made the laundry a little scummier, which brings me to the title of the post. Rather than subscribing to some formula for getting things clean, listen to your diapers. Watch your washer. They are telling you a story about poo and goo. Go with the flow - use different amounts of soap, switch between hot and cold water if you think it's necessary. Don't wash your wife's pretty things right after the diapers.

If you can, line-dry. It's still the best energy saver and smell-and-stain remover.

May the poo be with you. Always.