The Cloth Diaper Carnival #2- What is your Wash Routine?

What's under my stairs? I wish I could say something cool like Harry Potter's bedroom, but nope it's just the laundry room. If you read my "My machine is Rockin' Green" post, you would know that a lovely smell now hits you as you walk in the room. So the windowless dungeon has become quite a bit more pleasant, but nevertheless if I'm down there it usually means work.

I am a full-time working mama and I am so lucky to have a day care that encouraged cloth diapering. OK, so it's also my mama, but I am still lucky because not all grandmas will change cloth diapers! Everyday I send diapers, cloth wipes and usually an Imse Vimse wet bag for her. At home, I have a large Bummis wet bag in the bathroom. If we are out and about I have a smaller Bummis or a Bumkins wet bag to use. Most of the time all used wet bags go in the bathroom, but sometimes we leave one in Tate's room.

Every 2-3 days is cloth diaper laundry day. This summer I have changed my wash routine up a little since I can use the clothesline outside. As soon as the last diaper is changed for the day and Tate is asleep, btw- that's the trickiest part of the whole process, I tote the wet bags down the stairs. I push the wet bags inside out, while trying desperately not to inhale and voila, all the diapers are in the washer without having to touch anything!

Since we have a HE washer, the first cycle is cold/cold, normal to heavy soil (depending on the ammonia smell or the number of poopy diapers) with an extra rinse. It takes about 64 minutes. I delay wash my second cycle so it will be done in the morning. I set it hot/cold, always heavy soil and extra rinse. While inhaling, I add my Rock'N Green flavor de jour. Other detergents we have tried: Mountain Green, Seventh Generation Baby, Purex free and clear and Dr. Bronner Unscented Castille soap with a tablespoon of Borax. But Rock'N Green is my favorite by far because since I started using it I haven't had to do another full rinse or wash cycle.

My son likes to get up with the chickens. So bright and early the day after diaper laundry day, we are out hanging up clothes on the clothesline. The earliest we have been out was 5:15 AM and he IS the neighborhood rooster as he tests out how his voice echoes between the houses. If my husband is off, then he can watch Tate, if not, I strap him in the swing or I let him roam around the yard. If the weather's bad, then I hang the covers and wet bags in the basement and the rest goes in the dryer. It sure adds some color to the decore.

If you ask my obsessive-compulsive husband, he will tell you when it comes to housework sometimes I can be pretty lazy. (Duh- it's the whole reason I have a husband with OCD! I don't need to trade my husband for a housekeeper; although he doesn't dust, do bathrooms or windows.) I suppose the proof is in the picture... the bottom half of the basket was Saturday's laundry and the unstuffed top half is Wednesday's laundry. Rest assured that since documenting this, they have since found their way home.

Now seriously this is neither disgusting nor does it take a lot of extra time. Those are two excuses I hear from other moms. If my sister, Taylor, can make a commitment to cloth diapering anyone can! She was so hesitant because she couldn't even keep up with the laundry she already had. But I am proud to say that she has been going strong for about 2 months (just a guess) now and using cloth 100% of the time on her youngest and about 50% of the time on her middle child. We still haven't managed to get a picture of all 3 cousins in their Smartipants at the same time, but we are working on it.

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