Day 3
This morning it was time to wash the load of diapers. I soaked them in the pail in cold water with about a tablespoon of detergent. I’m thinking next time to use a bit more detergent, or even maybe some vinegar and baking soda. The soak water was pretty icky. I drained out the bin and rang out the diapers and wipes. I then filled the tub with hot water and detergent and swished all of them around. Then with running cool water I began rinsing them all. The whole process probably took an hour. My hands were very sore, but I did it. One thing I have to do the rest of the week is to make sure all diapers are rinsed after use. Poop needs to be completely rinsed out and give the pee diapers a quick rinse. This will really help minimize the buildup in the tub and make it easier to get them clean. Some of my diapers do have stains though. Most of it is from Michael’s poop. I have two drying racks in the house for hanging. I’m really bummed that the sun isn’t out. So for now I had to fold them in half and hang three per bar. I’m down to only 8 diapers for the two babies for right now until my diapers dry. I’m not sure how fast they are going to dry. So we may have to get creative. I do have a few prefolds which could be used. Not sure if that is against the “rules” but I will have to figure something out if they don’t dry in time. I do have a stand up fan blowing on the bigger rack trying to help them along. In total, I washed 35 diapers and 13 wash rags. Okay so that math may not add up, but I must confess that I didn’t use a rag at every diaper change. So the biggest question remains, “Do I wash every day or stick to every other day.” I have night diapers for two nights, but as it is now, two of them are in the pail from last night. I guess I should have washed them this morning. Hm, I could still wash them this afternoon so that they will be ready for tomorrow.
I am very upset; my diapers have that lake water fish smell which means only one thing: I failed. Yup, I failed at washing my diapers. They did not get clean enough. The receiving blankets are fine, but the unbleached cotton flats are funky. I’m not re-washing 33 diapers again at this moment, so maybe I will have to wash every day. I’m thinking I may wash again tonight to let them dry overnight too. It was like watching a pot of water boil. I was so antsy to have those things dry because I was running so low on diapers. I ended up spreading the diapers apart and had to take some off of the racks. I took 13 diapers off so that I could open the rest up. So I had some hanging in the bathroom and on the clothes lines above my washer and dryer.
I put the kids in their night diapers (which hemp does not line dry very well, pretty stiff) then tossed everything into the tub. I did a hot soak (no cold rinse because I had been rinsing out all the diapers as I changed them) with detergent. I gave it all a good swish and let it soak. I’m not really sure how long I let it set; enough time to cuddle the babies in hopes of putting them to bed (yeah didn’t happen). I went back to the diapers and gave them another good swishing, drained tub and rung out the diapers, wipes and tossed the two covers into the sink. I filled tub with cold water to rinse, swish and ring again. Then I had a final cold rinse and tossed the covers back in too.
So, during my first rinse/ring out session, my husband and I began talking. He saw me knelt down and bent over the tub with my hands in this mass of diapers and he asked me how I was doing. It was actually going well. It was easier than the first time. Before I had 35 diapers this time it was only 13 diapers, 2 prefolds for night, 2 covers, and 1 fleece liner. I continued to swish and ring and he asked if I would recommend this to someone who didn’t have a machine and honestly I wouldn’t. I can’t honestly suggest to someone to hand wash diapers the way I’m doing it. I have no equipment to aid me. Already I’m struggling with stink issues. If you take a look at the progression of washing (and I haven’t done any deep historical background check so take me with a grain of salt) women always had some sort of tool to aid them in cleaning their laundry. Before running water they used a free flowing river or lake where they never had to replenish their water and used a rock to scrub on. Then there were washboards and then hand cranked washing machines and ringers which later had motors or some sort of electrical power added on to it. Then the rest is history. I was trying to keep it simple, but in fact it is actually making things harder. So, the only way I can honestly recommend cloth diapering to a family who doesn’t have machines or can’t afford the laundry mat is that along with the diapers they need to have some sort of washing tool whether it be a camping bucket with plunger or a hand cranked machine.
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