Life on the Road

One thing I’ve been persuing in my quest to be thrifty is changing our laundry soap.

The first thing I tried was a make-your-own-detergent kit from Soaps Gone Buy, to make this recipe:

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light loads, use 2 tablespoon. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.

Obviously the pre-grated soap and all is more expensive than buying everything totally from scratch, but it seemed like the best compromise for trying it out - and it’s still cheaper than the brand name stuff.

I liked it, especially at first…  But I had the feeling it was just not doing all it could be. 

Did I mention that the water here is disgusting?  It’s very hard, and it’s also nasty well-water with all kinds of yuck in it…

Miss J was still in diapers during the early parts of this quest, and we were having trouble with an amonia smell whenever she wet, as well as varying degrees of diaper rash that looked almost burn-like. 

The consensus of opinion was that this could all be attributed to detergent residue.  Too much detergent, or a “bad” one (for the siutation, at least), so it wasn’t getting rinsed out completely - in spite of a complete extra wash/rinse cycle to re-re-RE-rinse the diapers.

Home-made detergent, as I’d made, is one of the common “good” choices.  Rats.

So I tried ordering some Charlie’s Soap online.  Again, I liked it; again, especially at first.  Over time it seemed to still build up.  And by “over time” here I’m talking about two to four washings, not months or years…

Then I tried Purex, another popular cloth diapering choice.  Same result.

By now I was very frustrated.  I guess that’s not bad, since probably nothing but that level of frustration would have gotten me to shell out for Allen’s Naturally (although it is still supposedly a good value, since you use so little).  And…

It works!

Jewel is out of diapers, so R.T. may just have different chemistry.  But we’ve been using this for over a month now, and I’m still happy.

I also just found another option, though.  Someone from a cloth diapering online community discussed diaper laundry wuth a friend who is a chemist.  She (the chemist) looked at what was out there, then created this recipe:

1 55 oz. box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Mule Team Borax
2 Cups Oxygen Cleaner-She recommends Sun ($5 @ Dollar General)
1/2 cup Simple Green
1/2 cup Calgon Water Softening Powder

Empty all into a bucket and mix together with your hands. Use 1 heaping scoop (1/8 cup) for diapers, 2 scoops for regular laundry. After we’ve used this for a while some have had to increase to 2 scoops for diapers, 3-4 for regular laundry….you will probably have to experiment a bit to see what works best with your water.

I chuckled when in her comments she said “this should work comparably to Allen’s.”  Made me wonder if I shouldn’t just stick with Allen’s…  But someone sent be a baggie full to try, so what the heck. 

Check these out:

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature’s Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Let me start off by saying that my local La Leche League leader is just really cool!  (Check out her website: Kristin Jayd - belly masks, organic produce, photography…).

She recycles old wool sweaters into the most gorgeous diaper covers…  She sells her “booty sweaters” on her Etsy site, Booty Boutique, but check out the one she made for RT (and his Papa, Wolf!):

And furthermore, I also always thought of wool as hot…  maybe that’s just because I’ve typically seen it in sweaters.  :)  Actually, as a breathable natural fiber, it keeps R.T.’s skin much cooler in our tropical weather than the modern “waterproof” fabric diaper stuff we have.

In case you missed it, I am now a huge fan of wool.  I tried raiding our local Goodwill for wool sweaters, to learn the “booty sweater” craft for myself, but I guess in this climate people just don’t have ‘em.

If you happen to be cleaning out your closet, remember us!

Not only transitioning to using them, but making them, too.  I guess I’ve never been one to do anything by half measures, but… whew!

I was lucky enough to be referred to a great online group of diaper seamstresses, so I was able to get a lot of information and a lot of specific questions answered in short order.

As I mentioned in my last diaper post, I got my hands on some fabric and a couple of patterns, so all that was left was to take the plunge.

The first “plunge” involved getting the sewing machine out, cleaning it up, and figuring out how to use it again (it’s been… six years, at least?).  Kudos to Viking, it runs like a champ (although I’m sure somewhere in its little sewing machine brain it’s wishing I would take it in for a maintenance service appointment).

For my first attempt, I used a pattern called the “FattyCakes Diaper”, designed by one of the ladies on the sewing forum, made up as a cover (rather than a “diaper” per se).  I used white PUL (the waterproof stuff) for the outer layer, and purplish suedecloth for a lining.  You can make them with just the waterproof layer, but with Jewel’s sensitive skin I thought that wouldn’t be wise.  This is a sized piece, so it was made for J.

Here’s the result after the bulk of the work is done (no fasteners yet):

And here’s the way it looks in use, over a prefold diaper on a 2.5 year old - who, I might add, was delighted with the idea that Mama had made a special diaper just for her!

Although I had some questions about where to place the fasteners, since it was designed for snaps rather than hook and loop, I have to say that for a first attempt I consider it a big success.

The next plunge was getting the serger unpacked, cleaned up, and ready for use.  This proved trickier, as it was much dirtier, had many more moving parts, and was somewhat the worse for wear.  But this, too, was accomplished.

To practice serging, I cut up a Goodwill shirt from Nick’s outgrown pile  (100% cotton waffle weave), and serged the edges to make cloth wipes - a whole bunch of ‘em:

But now it’s back to diapers.  I’m going to put together an adjustable-sized pocket diaper from the KCK One pattern, which claims it will be usable on both Baby Blessing and Jewel - and of course, therefore, be usable throughout Baby’s diapering career.

Got to keep getting as much sewing done as I can…  Things are going better, but there’s still no telling when Baby will decide to make her appearance! 

Went to the midwife on Sunday for my routine prenatal visit, and things are even ickier than I thought.

She basically called it “borderline pre-eclamptic.”

My blood pressure was too high, although after some discussion she sent me to sit in the (not stifling hot) lobby with a glass of water for 10 mins, and it came down some (not nearly to my norm).

The swelling in the ankles is getting worse, not seeming to be helped by the alfalfa they recommend (I’m up to three tablets three times a day, so you’d think it would be working if it was going to).

They also found some protein and keytones in my urine sample, so I had to do a 24-hour urine catch (yesterday morning to this morning), and now have to drive the big sample jug back to them - over an hour each way, and an icky drive into Miami, so that’s NOT an appealing prospect.

I guess the “good news” out of this is that at 37+ weeks with a 3rd baby, she basically said that with the added stress there was a better and better chance that my body would just decide it was time, and the baby could come “early” (both the others were within 2 days of “the date”)…

I’ve been having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions (never did with the other 2), and even pain in the cervix (man, that sounds funny).  Sundy at church another pg mama said, “Oh, wow, look, you’ve dropped!”  So who knows?

At this point, I would be much relieved to have the baby any time…  I’ve even gotten over my desire to wait until my mom gets here (scheduled vacation & cross-country flight = no flexibility on that).

But……. if she (I say she, we don’t know!) shows up today, or this week — she’ll have NO DIAPERS!!!  I wanted to make today into “Sewing is Job #1″ day, but in addtion to icky and achey, I’m feeling kinda paralyzed, I guess…  Bleah!!

Your prayers are appreciated! 

Well, today’s the day…  I am going to sew a cloth diaper!

Wolf found my sewing machines, which had been buried with all our stored stuff, and I cleared off my desk to use temporarily as a sewing table. 

I have been accumulating the fabric, patterns, and notions I need from various sources.  I’ve tried to be very frugal about getting the materials together, searching for people selling off their excess, stores with cheap shipping, and so on.  And of course recycling our old t-shirts and towels into the mix takes a big bite out of what the budget would be to buy everything new.

• I have PUL fabric for the waterproof outer layer, which I bought as an assortment of remnants from someone online.
• I have a pattern for an adjustable one-size pocket diaper that will work for the new baby as well as Miss J, as well as a couple other varities of patterns I got free online.  Since it’s a .pdf file and I can just print out more copies as needed, I’m not going to worry about transferring it onto a more durable medium right now (lots of people apparently love using clear vinyl “tablecloth” stuff for that).
• I have polyester thread and ball-point sewing machine needles from WalMart.
• I have the specialized notions from an online vendor (same place I got the pattern) - Fold-Over Elastic and polybraid elastic (for different kinds of diapers), and TouchTape (harder-working type of hook & loop) for the fastener.
• I have a good-sized piece of suedecloth for the inner “wicking” layer of the dipes, purchased at JoAnn’s Fabrics with my 40% Off One Item coupon.
• For absorbant inners, I have the prefold diapers we’re already using, for covers, or “pocket” diapers that get stuffed each use (but are easier to wash and dry!), plus the Goodwill pile to raid for styles that have absorbant layers sewn in.
• And I have the basic basics already in my sewing kit - pins, marking pencil, good scissors (although it seems a wheel cutter is the popular thing for this), stitch ripper (who me?  mistakes??), etc.

All the fabric (and elastic) has been pre-washed and dried.  The sewing machine is threaded.

Now all I have to do is…  Do it!

Well, I guess it’s a little Dickens -

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I got a great deal on a bundle of diapers (some new, some lightly used) from a blogger I ran across who was clearing out her inventory in preparation for a move. 

(Some of these are linked, just so you can look and see what they are if you’re curious.  They aren’t affiliate links or anything else I have a stake in.)

• Some Rumpsters all-in-one diapers for Jewel
• Some all-in-one diapers for the baby
• A number of infant size prefolds
• A few regular size prefolds
• A few “Trickle Free Trainers” which J will presumably need… some day
• Some Snappi fasteners for prefolds

Whew!

So the Rumpsters we could use right away, but the prefolds weren’t much help until we got some covers.

We went through one round of wearing them, then tossed them in the wash and put on (gasp) a disposable.  I “line” dried them (on a drying rack in my bedroom, actually), and everything went swimmingly. 

Then I ran across the Miracle Diapers loan program.  Having lost our business this year, and been on the road, and being pregnant, I am on WIC and qualified for their program as well.

They sent me a package for Miss J that included a dozen prefolds, 3 waterproof (PUL) covers, 3 infant size prefolds for doublers, and 6 cloth wipes. (They’ll be sending along a package for the baby with more and smaller goodies in a couple of weeks, too!).

So we were all set with the prefolds, as well, and enough diapers to wear while the rest were washing.  No more ’sposies for us!

A few wrinkles to iron out soon made themselves apparent, however.

• While the Rumpsters didn’t bother her at all, Miss J is chafing on her inner thigh from the the PUL covers.  Apparently, when they get damp, these produce an unhappy friction.  Hopefully this will be simply solved by changing more often (thus removing the “damp” factor).
• When I washed and hung the Rumpsters the next time around, apparently the ambient humidity in my room was a lot higher.  Things didn’t dry, and didn’t dry…  And then they got mildew spots!  Eeeeew!!  (Needless to say that started another round of laundry - including extra sani-washing).  Looks like my plan to save money by not drying them in the electric dryer has been foiled before it even got off the ground…

Stay tuned for the next exciting eposode. 

Miss J has apparently decided that she has no interest in being potty trained by the time the new baby comes, which had been my goal.

In the interest of everyone’s sanity, I have decided to let the issue go, and go back to the potty training philosophy that actually matches the rest of my parenting model:  She will be ready at some point, and then it will happen naturally.

One thing I decided, though, was that the $40/month or so for disposable diapers had to stop - especially in light of the fact that it would shortly be doubling.  At that rate, it seemed like I could pretty quickly amortize the hefty-seeming startup cost of making the move to cloth diapers.

I did cloth with Nick for a while, but used a diaper service.  I just tossed all the diapers and (cloth) wipes into the pail, and once a week (or was it twice?) they came by and swapped out the dirty ones for a bag of clean ones.  POOF.

No “poof” in Homestead, Florida, I’ve come to understand, so I’m on my own.  I’ll actually have to deal with rinsing stuff off in the potty, and laundering it all … and of course with our electric dryer, I’ll definately want to be line-drying something as thick as diapers - which means I’ll need to have a larger stock and/or do laundry more frequently, since the laundering process will take longer.

It didn’t take me long to get a little overwhelmed…  There are SO many options out there these days, things that weren’t even dreamed of when I did this over a decade ago!

Prefolds, Fitted, Pocket Diapers, AIO, Bio-Friendly, DSQ, bleached or unbleached, knitted soakers, pins or clips or Snappis…  Whew!

I’ll keep you posted - and in the meantime, all advice is welcome!