In my 7 years of blogging, I’ve encouraged people to give cloth diapers a try even if their budget is tight, or there’s no washer or dryer. This year, I figured it was high time I put my money where my mouth is.
So I’m taking Dirty Diaper Laundry’s Flats and Handwashing Challenge this week. Six years strong, this is a week-long event that aims to prove that pretty much anyone can cloth diaper. After all, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had no choice in most situations, and they rolled right along with their boiling pots, washboards and trusty lye soap.
To take Kim’s challenge, families commit to using flat diapers (cheap and easy to launder) for one week, to launder the diapers by hand and air dry them. Simple, “old fashioned” diapering like this is a great testament to the fact that most any hurdle can be overcome.
In other words, I don’t want to advise a family to try something that I haven’t done myself. Period.
So here goes!
Stay with me this week as I share our experience with flat diapers and handwashing with a bucket and plunger. It’s bound to be interesting! Tomorrow we’ll take a peak at the diapers and supplies I’m using. There will also be a giveaway mixed in one day this week, so look out for that, too.
Are any of you taking the challenge? Have you joined in the past? Share your thoughts and experiences with me in a comment below!
ooh! I am definitely interested in seeing how it goes. Can’t wait for you to update during the week.
Thanks for following along! Hope I learn a lot. ~Anne
What an interesting challenge! I certainly remember my mother washing my brother’s cloth diapers.
What a great challenge. I love using flats, super budget friendly and easy to launder. Takes me back to the time my grandmother talked about how it was when she cloth diapered. She loves how modernized it is! I will be watching the blog for updates to see how it goes!
I always wanted to do a hand wash challenge! Maybe next time!
I love the mission of proving to the world that cloth diapering is a viable option for pretty much every family! The hand washing challenge using flats is a good way to show that cloth diapering can meeting ANY diapering budget as well as accommodate any laundry situation. LOVE!!!
Not taking part in the challenge this year. I’m a cloth diaper noob, so I don’t want to mess anything up, or make my life harder. You are brave! Hopefully I’ll be brave enough next year to try the challenge.
Brave lady! Not a challenge that I am willing to undertake, but certainly interested to follow your experiences. Thank you for sharing this challenge.
I took the challenge this year. I tried ladt year but was so sick (Very bad 24/7 morning sickness) i couldnt do it. This year i llove using flats but the hand washing part is hard. With two young kids i am having a hard time finding the time.
I should do this challenge with my MIL who watches LO during the day. Shes got a laundry sink with built in washboard and a great clothesline I could use and bring our wetbag over too. When I went back to work I split our flat and cover stash between the houses. We already do the first rinse in the sink and scrub the EBF poops before laundering. And we line dry when its nice out. But we’d have to hide the prefolds and pockets for awhile from DH.
That laundry sink sounds fantastic, and a washboard is still to this day a very useful thing to have! ~Anne
I thought about doing the challenge this year but chickened out! I do love flats though!
Cant wait to see the update!