Day 3 of the Flats and Handwash Challenge

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!  

 I mentioned in my first post that I was concerned about not having enough flats so that I would only have to wash every other day. I had almost enough flats. I had to pull out two more flannel receiving blankets and two small, homemade, flannel doublers to make it. But I am pretty sure that was only because it took 7 hours for my flats to dry! I guess with 86% humidity that's only to be expected. I also ended up ironing dry an evening diaper and a nighttime diaper.

Iron drying is a really cool tip I learned from the tips list at Dirty Diaper Laundry, but again, with 86% humidity it took me a long time (like 20 minutes each) to iron them dry as well. So, this morning I was thinking I would just wash the nighttime diapers to tide us over to our real wash day tomorrow, but I just ended up throwing all the dirties in the tub. I am not sure I will have to wash every day, but I will have to wash a lot more than I was hoping!

Yesterday, I washed and lanolized all my wool covers, and now that they are finally dry as well, I am happy to be trying out different folds. Previously, I was just pad folding the flats and using them in gDiaper pants. My favorite these days is the Neat Fold with Jelly Rolled legs. I like this system because it is simple, fits well, and can be fastened with one pin. For some reason I do actually prefer pins. I guess they are the most familiar to me, because that's what my mom used when we were growing up. I also really like the way they look.

Here's how to do the Neat Fold. (You'll have to forgive me because the orientation of the pictures makes this a bit complicated. Just remember that the lower right corner of the pictures is "down" and it will end up being the front of the diaper. The upper left corner is "up" and ends up being the back of the diaper.)

1. Lay diaper out flat.

2. Fold lower right corner up to the center. "Bottom fold"

 

                                                                                3. Now, fold the top left corner down to the center. "Top fold"

   






 4. Now, fold the lower left corner so that the edge which is parallel to the bottom of this ^ picture is perpendicular to the other folded edges. The point of the corner actually ends up touching the top fold.

 

 












5. Fold in the upper right corner just like the lower left corner.
It looks like a Chinese food container.

Ah, that's better! 

6. Lay in your doubler.

7. Roll up the left  and right sides and tuck them under the doubler.

                                                          
 9. Lay your baby down, and bring up the front of the diaper.

10. Bring the sides around and pin!

Action shot!

This is a "Target Flat", a flour sack dish towel.