Complete Cloth Diapering Guide

I absolutely love cloth diapers. I love that I'm not contributing to the 7.6 billion pounds of diaper trash that ends up in landfills each year (in the U.S. alone) that will take up to 500 years to completely decompose. I love that I'll never run out of diapers and be forced to make a last minute trip to the store. I love that I'm not puting harsh chemicals against my baby's skin. Harsh chemicals like dioxins which the EPA recognizes as being highly carcinogenic. I love that cloth diapers don't smell (I find that disposable diapers have this nauseating chemical-like smell to them) and even though I hate doing laundry, oddly enough I love doing diaper laundry (I find it satisfying). Best of all, I love that I'm not spending a ton of money on what is essentially garbage. 

I get asked about cloth diapering a lot and what I've found is that some people decide not to do it because they wrongfully believe that cloth diapering requires a huge upfront investment. The truth is, is that it really depends on what kind of cloth diaper system you decide to use. The method I chose, prefolds and covers, is among the cheapest and most versatile methods available. 

Cloth nursing pads

I was perfectly happy using the disposable nursing pads by Lansinoh but after I calculated that I was paying approximately 13 cents per pad (2 changes a day = $15/month!), I went on the hunt for a cloth alternative.

Off to the store I went where I purchased the only cloth nursing pads they had in stock. They were from Medela, they were lumpy, and I leaked through them in minutes. Needless to say, I went back to disposable pads while I broadened my search. I wasn't sure what I was looking for but I decided that if my daughter can wear a waterproof cover over her cloth diaper, that I should be able to find a cloth nursing pad with a similar waterproof cover built in. I came across some waterproof pads by Bamboobies that sounded good, but I wasn't about to spend nearly $10 per pair. Right when I was about to bite the bullet and purchase from Bamboobies, I found the waterproof bamboo nursing pads by BubuBibi. Each order includes two pair of nursing pads in your choice of print and ships for free. They average out to be just over $2 a pair! I have 16 pairs of these and I wash them along with my regular laundry. They are very absorbent and very cute!

BubuBibi waterproof bamboo nursing pads

Homemade laundry soap

I set out to find the perfect homemade laundry soap to use for cloth diapering and what I ended up with was soap so good I use it for everything. This is a pretty strong statement as I used to be a devoted Gain user. This soap also works wonders on cleaning bathtubs and removing stains from clothes. For stains, I like to dissolve a little bit of soap in a bucket of just enough water to cover the clothing item and soak overnight.  Now, onto the recipe!

The contents of my laundry room cabinet.

 

• 6 cups Borax
• 6 cups Washing Soda
• 3 cups Baking Soda
• 1 bar Fels-Naptha, grated

Mix well and keep in an empty ice cream bucket. Use one tablespoon per load or two tablespoons for heavily soiled or large loads of clothes. It really doesn't take much of this stuff to get your clothes clean since it lacks all the fillers commercial laundry soap has. I like to leave a measuring spoon in the bucket at all times to make life that much easier.

Turning one gallon of milk into two!

In search of finding ways to further decrease our spending at the grocery store, I came across this little trick. Being that I'm not a big milk drinker and only use it on cereal and in recipes, I was willing to give it a try and potentially ruin a perfectly good gallon of milk. I was shocked by the results and can honestly say that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between reduced fat milk and this stuff. Please keep in mind that since this involves watering down the milk, it will decrease the nutrients and calories per serving, making it a poor beverage choice for children. 

You'll want to start with a gallon of WHOLE milk and an empty milk container. 

Divide the milk among the two containers. No need to be completely accurate. Just use your eyes to determine whether or not they're equal. 

Add one teaspoon of sugar and one half teaspoon of salt to EACH container. Top off both containers with cold water, replace caps and shake.

Now, sit back and enjoy the fact that you have just created a second gallon of milk for free. Take that, increasing milk prices!