Day 4 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!  

So, we are onto our fourth day of the challenge and our third day of having to wash. The washing itself doesn't seem that hard to me, however it is not built into my routine, so getting going is a bit tough. I think, if this were something I had to do, I would want to own about six more flats. I think that would really allow me to only have to wash every other day.  I also think I would get into a groove, habit would take over, and it wouldn't be so difficult to get started. I have noticed, however that all my other "chores" have gone by the way side. The beds are unmade, the house is untidy, and dishes start to pile up during the day. Maybe getting into a groove would help that. Maybe knowing that I wasn't just going to go back to using the washing machine in four days would help that. But seeing these other things slip really shows me how much effort is being spent on these diapers. 

I have mentioned a couple of times that I have a few "surgery drape flats". It probably sounds pretty strange and maybe a bit macabre. Well, here's what they are, they are medium sized (compared to a regular flat) rectangles of dark blue, loose weave cotton fabric. These particular ones are like the ones used in hospitals for mopping up blood or framing the area of the body to be ministered to. I say "like" because these ones were never used for those things. They did come from the hospital, but my husband assures me they were never used! I was totally creeped out when he first brought them home. He thought they would make good dish towels. When they first came home, they went right into the washing machine! When they had been washed and dried, I let them sit around for a while, and then we ran out of clean dish towels. I picked one up, and have loved them ever since. After a short while, I realized that if they could be used as towels, they could be used as diapers, and they have found their permanent home on the clean diaper shelf.

Because they are smaller than a flat, I use two. I lay the first flat out and fold it down to adjust the rise, and then I lay the second one, padfolded, in the center. The whole thing works like a prefold