Flats & Handwashing Challenge Day 3

 

DAY 2: FOLDING YOUR FLATS!

 

 

Here are some styles of folding a flat, it may look intimidating at first but I promise if you play around with them a bit you will see its just a square piece of fabric. Nothing scary about that!

 

Lets start with the easiest and probably most common fold, and work our way down in the number of layers from most to least, I will also list where the most absorbency is on the fold and what type of baby it works best for. Keep in mind the size of all flats aren't the same, so a 29" square might have less absorbent layers than a 36" square or bigger.

Pad Fold:

#12 layer - Same absorbency throughout, good for girls and boys, easy to adjust to fit narrow or wide diapers in the crotch.

 

Airplane Fold:

#16 layers, Most absorbency in the front, great for boys and heavy wetters.

 

Diaper Bag Fold:

#12 layers, Most absorbent in front, great for boys and people who store them in a diaper bag.

 

Gaynor’s Fold for Girls:

#9 layers, Most absorbent in the middle, great for girls and newborns.

 

Origami Fold:

#8 layers, Same absorbency throughout, good for both girls & boys, easy to add a doubler if needed.

 

Bat Fold:

#8 layers, Same absorbency throughout, great for newborns and boy & girl, could add a doubler as well.

 

Ro Fold:

#8 layers, Most absorbent in front, for boys

 

Maria's Fold:

#6-8 layers, Most absorbent in front, for boys

 

Jo Fold:

#6 layers, Same absorbency throughout, good for girls and boys & newborns

 

Twist Fold:

#6 layers, Most absorbent in middle, good for girls!

 

V Fold:

#6 layers, Most absorbent in middle, good for girls.

 

There are also the Kite fold, Corners fold, Triangle fold, & Neat fold but all of these have less than 5 absorbent layers and would only be suitable for a light wetting newborn or infant.

 

 Since we have a boy who is 13 months we mainly like the pad fold which is great for stuffing in the Omni's for nights, airplane fold and origami fold with a doubler (for this challenge I am using a FST that is cut in half and pad folded).

 

 

Check back tomorrow to see how our handwashing is going... dondondon..  :)

 

 

Oh, don't forget to enter our SoftBums Flat's & Handwashing Giveaway here:

http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html


Whoa Now, Go check out Dirty Diaper Laundry's Flat's & Handwashing Challenge Day 3 Open topic!! Practicing Elimination Communication!!
http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge-day-3-open-topic-linky/

 

As always the heart of this challenge is to shine a light on the fact that there are families struggling to provide clean diapers to their babies and to offer an alternative solution not often discussed when the major media outlets cover these stories. There are diaper banks that can help families get started with cloth diapers for free or little cost. If you know a family or are a family in need please visit Giving Diapers, Giving Hope- the only nationwide diaper lending program that ships to any approved family in the US. I encourage anyone touched by this challenge to donate to their organization and help them provide more diapers to more families.

SoftBums Special Print Reveal Blog Hop

For over a year now SoftBums has introduced a Limited Edition print or solid color shell each and every month as part of our Calendar Bums promotion. 

 

What started in Feburary 2012 as a fun little campaign has turned into a nail biting, page refreshing, frenzy around the first of the month every month for SoftBums fans.

 

Not only is it fun & exciting for our fans to predict and guess the next print or color will be weeks leading to the reveal. But on the day of the reveal it is certainly fun to hear everyone's opinion on what they like and dislike about it. Yes, its true not everyone is going to like every single color or print, but that's ok. We know our customers come from different backgrounds, states, & countries. We know they either have a boy or a girl or some of each. We know that some are dads and some are moms who decide what cloth diapers to buy. So as you can tell it would be really hard to pick the right one for so many different peoples styles each month. But we seem do alright and everyone is still super excited each and every month for the next reveal!

 

It has been a ton of fun so far and we really have had a blast with it!

 So for the June Calendar Bums Release, we want to do something special, because after all its going to be our most exciting print yet!!

Blog HOP!

We have decided to have our blogger friends help us this month with the reveal. Several bloggers have been given the opportunity to help us promote this giveaway.

 

Want to WIN $100 in SoftBums Product's? 

 

Here's what you need to do:

1. We encourage our fans to visit all the participating blogs and read what they are saying about Calendar Bums. You can find the Blog Hop Linky below, and remember more bloggers will be added daily. 
2.  If you follow one or more of the blogs participating in the blog hop, you can get extra entries daily into our giveaway.
3. Enter the Rafflecoptor Giveaway Below

We want to give all our fans and bloggers and their fans a chance to get in on this awesome giveaway and SoftBums Special Print Reveal so we will be leaving it open all month till the big day on June 19th at 10am!!!. Its gonna be epic!

 

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Flats & Handwashing Challenge SoftBums Style Day 2

 

Day 2: Supplies; Where to get them, How you made them, How much did they cost?

Here is our list of supplies we are using for this challenge.

 

Notes:

Keep in mind, we just used stuff we already had around the house, I love that drying rack & I used it every time I wash diapers. But if you are on a low budget there is certainly cheaper solutions for drying your diapers.  I would just hang them in the bathroom on the shower rod. Also if it wasn't raining constantly here I would of course just line dry them outside in the sunshine which would dry them faster and also act as a natural disinfectant from the sun. Also as far as detergent goes, I just bought a sample size of cloth diaper detergent to use a tsp for each load. It would be much more economical to buy a larger bag or box of cloth diaper safe detergent for everyday use.

 

Homemade items:

The fleece liners: This is optional but also very handy to have when rinsing dirty diapers. Solids don't stick to them and so rinsing is a snap and your done. They also create a stay dry layer which keeps babies bottom dry.  I picked up a yard of anti pill fleece a while back and I just used the scrapes cut into 3.5x 9" rectangles to use as the liners. If you don't have the money to buy fabric you could also just use old clean fleece blankets cut to size.

 

Cloth wipes: I was given a bunch of receiving blankets when my first was born. We rarely used them but I kept them anyways. I pulled them out of storage and cut them into 16- 7x7 wipes each from blanket. So essentially these wipes were free. You could also use any soft cloth fabric you have, (old clean t-shirts, sheets, blankets, towels, wash cloths to make wipes)

 

Flats: We did buy our flats from Target for this challenge, a 5 pack for $4.97, which is about a dollar for each flat. But there are other cheaper ways to make flats from things you already have in your house.

Here is a tutorial on how to make flats from t-shirts:

• http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/cheap-and-easy-make-two-t-shirt-flats-from-1-xxl-shirt/

You could really use any cloth material that is absorbent such as, sheets, burp cloths, baby wash clothes, old clothes, receiving blankets. Tomorrow i'll show you how to fold them into a absorbent diaper.

 

Plunger Washer: You can easily make an inexpensive reusable & portable "camp style" washer following this tutorial: using a 5 gallon bucket & lid, plunger and some drill bits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSPyAqPU4_g 

Now that you can see everything we are using, its easy to see $110-$130 could be all you would need to cloth diaper your baby, using & reusing the shells throughout the day and washing every 2 days.

Don't forget to Enter our Flat's Challenge & Giveaway here: http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-handwashing-challenge-softbums.html

Check back tomorrow to read about all the different ways you can fold a flat to best fit your child!

5 gallon bucket

flour sack towel

receiving blanket wipes

SoftBums Echo with pad folded FST

Super Cute & Trim!

About the challenge: We're participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. This event aims to bring awareness to the challenges that low income families face when trying to diaper their children. There are not publicly funded programs that supply diapers to families in need. Using cloth diapers and handwashing is an affordable way to families to diaper their children. Flats are the most inexpensive of commercially available cloth diapers; receiving blankets, flour sack towels, cut sheets, and t-shirts can also be used as flats making these diapers available to all families.

Flats Handwashing Challenge SoftBums Style!

Yep its that time again,

What is the Flat's & Handwashing Challenge you ask?

Cloth Diapering families all around the world vow to use only flats (flour sack towels, burp clothes, t-shirts, towels) and waterproof covers to diaper their child (or children) for a whole 7 days. Not only that but vow not to use a washing machine or electric dryer to clean the diapers for those 7 days. They must clean them by means of handwashing and line drying and /or pressing with an iron.

WHY???? Seriously Why?

Actually its for very good reasoning. This event aims to bring awareness and educate cloth diapering families and beyond about the benefits and feasibility of using flat cloth diapers, the most basic of all diapers, and handwashing. Why? Because there are families who struggle everyday with diaper need. There are no federal or state funded assistance programs to help families buy diapers. This can result in babies being left in diapers too long or families reusing disposable diapers; both options pose serious health risks for the baby. Dirty Diaper Laundry's goal has always been to prove that, when necessary, a small number of flat cloth diapers, covers, and a simple bucket washer or tub can be all a family needs to provide clean and sanitary diapers.

Why flats? Why not just use modern cloth diapers?

Flat cloth diapers are simple, easy and more importantly quick to wash & dry & easier to get clean. They are very absorbent and when used correctly is a very trim option for stuffing your "modern pocket diapers" aka your SoftBums Omni's. They are simple to use and folding styles are abundant. For example: pad fold, origami, kite, diaper bag fold, and the “jo” fold.  Knowledge and practice are key when it comes to flats, and thanks to youtube it literally takes 10 mins to learn all the styles of folding a flat cloth diaper to best fit your baby. Gone are the days of diaper pins so no worries about poking yourself or your baby. Now we have the option's of Snappi's or Boingo to hold the flat together before covering with your waterproof cover or shell.

Do people really do this?

"Yes, in this world on a daily basis there are families that actually DO THIS. And even more who could save a lot of money by handwashing flats even on a very part time basis as a way to stretch the disposable diapers they have for other places such as daycare.
Last year 260 families participated and 73% felt this was a viable option for families in need. In 2011 over 200 families joined and 80% said that others could “absolutely” use this method!" - According to Dirty Diaper Laundry.

Why are we participating?

Honestly, when I first heard of this I thought that it seemed backwards to me.. Cloth diapering like my granny did??? BUT once I started reading more into it and learned about all the families who can barely afford disposable diapers who think that is the only option. They are spending up to $60 a month on diapers & wipes that they are just throwing away when they could be using affordable reusable cloth diapers and using that extra $60 a month on food for their family or to pay for bills.

• We are doing this to help create awareness to the world that this can be a solution for any family, especially for those struggling to make ends meet while raising a family.
• We are doing this to show those who think cloth diapering is hard and or unsanitary, or pointless because their parents told them horror stories of bleach buckets, leaks, plastic pants and pins..
• We are also doing this to show you how to your cloth diapers while camping or in natural disaster type situations where you don't have access to a washer & dryer.  
• Finally, we want to show our fans and anyone interested in learning that it can be done, AND it can be fun, clean, and easy (well as easy as handwashing dirty diapers can be)! The BEST part is we will show you how to do it using SoftBums shells :)

SoftBums Echo Shell & a Ikea Flat

SoftBums are an ideal cover to use with your flats.  The Echo shell will hold the flats perfectly in place thanks to the super soft microfleece, and the super trim fit of the cover and the flat will fit wonderfully under any clothing. The Omni with the optional pocket is amazing for stuffing your flats! You can stuff several flats in the generous pocket which is perfect for nighttime use!

Stay Tuned for tomorrows post on what supplies were using, where we bought them, & how much we paid to complete this challenge!

Are you participating in the flats challenge? Want to join us??

If you are doing the challenge with Dirty Diaper Laundry or just part time with your SoftBums shells and flats during the day but still handwashing, or if you aren't a pioneering man or woman and don't have time to handwash but your still trying the flats only for one week with your cloth diaper shells.

We want to reward you for taking the plung! Were giving away One SoftBums Starter Pack to One lucky participant on Monday May 27th at 12:00 pm CST Enter Now!!

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Garage Sale Tips HTF Giveaway! Winners!

       The weather is finally warming up in our part of the country. You know what that means, Garage Sales!! Everyone took our spring cleaning advice and got to work cleaning out their houses, but now they have a bunch of stuff sitting in the garage that they don't need anymore. Time to have a garage sale!!

This weeks blog post is all about Garage Sales Tips & Tricks.

If you have ever had one before you know how much time and effort it takes to host a garage sale at your house. Long hours tagging items, figuring how much to price things reasonably. Next comes setting up signs in the neighborhood to advertise your sale and setting up all your things on tables and racks. Then the actual day of the event is the real time suck. Waking up at the crack of dawn, set out the nice stuff in an eye catching location for those "drive by buyers" and sitting in a lawn chair all day hoping you get some takers.

Worth your time?

Every sale I have ever had you sell about half the stuff you put out. So is it worth it? I'd say yes because otherwise how else are you going to sell those things and actually make money? eBay or any online auction site you have to pay fees & shipping.

Tip:

There are now groups on Facebook specifically to sell garage sale type items for a local area. You just search for "your city" garage sale group" and there is most likely one already set up. People will post all the stuff they would be selling at a garage sale on these groups in albums and majority of the time the items are priced appropriately. If you don't want to spend all the time & effort having a yard sale at your house or you cant because you live somewhere that doesn't allow for garage sales, such as an apartment building. Then online local garage sale groups are totally the way to go! Just be sure to meet up in a public place to buy or sell the items, such as a grocery store parking lot or inside a coffee shop.

Ok now that we have spilled our guts on one of our tips, we want to hear some of your tips for selling or buying at a garage sale, because you never know when you will find something that is HTF!!

Just an example, of what you may find at a garage sale. (not actual prizes)
 

Congrats to the Winners!! Jennifer & Christiannah

Please email at info@softbums.com to claim your prize!! 

Thanks everyone who participated in the giveaway and 108 of you who submitted your amazing garage sale tips & tricks!        

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