Last month, we asked our Parent Review Panel to get cozy with prefolds.  Many people love prefolds, but many shy away from them perceiving them to be difficult, messy or slow to get on a fast moving baby.  After hearing from our Parent Review Panel on Facebook and some of their responses and observations about prefolds, we hope that you now have a different view of these simple beauties!

What are prefolds you ask?  Here is the short & sweet 411.

1. Prefolds are made from several layers of unbleached organic cotton twill.  They are sewn into rectangles which have three panels – a thicker panel down the middle and thinner panels on the edges.  They are flat so often folks want to know what’s up with the “pre-folded” name?  Those panels, they are pre-folded for you into thinner and thicker sections.  That’s the pre-folded part.
2. They are very versatile and to some this can be overwhelming – too many options can cause fear.  We teach parents how to use prefolds at our Cloth Diaper Workshops  Snappi them on or Fold & Lay.  Simple, simple, simple.  The Snappi Method requires a bit of practice at the outset but the fold and lay system is very easy and fast.  To get a good visual of how it all works, check out our tutorial in our Video Learning Series.

Based on our experiences as parents and “Diaper Therapists”, these are some recommendations about prefolds:

• Newborn prefolds are tiny.  They don’t often Snappi on well as they are too small but they are great for keeping a trim bottom and fit perfectly under the newborn Super Brites.  Once they are outgrown, they can be used as extra absorbency inside of infant or baby sized prefolds or if you want to upcycle them into another use all together, the owner at Bummis told us they make great pads for moms going the reusable menstrual pad route.
• For younger babies with runny poop, parents often love Snappi’ing them on.  These babies are often not yet mobile and are patient with parents as they get on their Snappi Groove.
• For the ultimate in ease, the fold & lay method wins for older babies that have less runny poop and are on the go.
• For younger babies we recommend having 3-4 covers per day, more with the fold & lay method, less with the Snappi method.
• For older babies, we recommend having 2 covers per day.

Here is a picture tutorial on how to fold prefolds in many different ways addressing different wetting and functional needs of babies.

It seems that everyone is decluttering, downsizing, simplifying.  Why not try the same with your diapering collection.  Start or boost your collection with prefolds – they are beautifully functional and wonderfully inexpensive.

Check out Newborn, Infant or Baby Prefolds now.

Check out the infamous Snappi Cloth Diaper Fastener now.

We are continuing with our N&G Expert Panel and addressing an issue that is in the forefront of many new parent’s minds – SLEEP!

Jennifer Garden the founder of Sleepdreams, an unsurpassed team of professional sleep consultants.  We highly value Jennifer’s expertise and asked her for advice to share with our New & Green families.

N&G: When working with parents to be, what are the top 3 things that you tell them to expect about their newborns’ sleep in the first few months?

Jennifer: 

1. Go with the flow, it’s important to establish breastfeeding and so feed often and sleep when your baby sleeps.

2. Keep the temperature in a sleeping environment cool (research suggests between 18-19 degrees Celsius). In order for us to get to sleep our body temperature needs to drop slightly, a cool room will help with getting a baby to sleep.

3. Based on sensory information we know about how the body interprets information, one very good ‘trick’ to getting a baby into a crib drowsy is to put them bum down first and head down last (tipping them the other way alerts the brain and wakes them up!)

N&G: Often “newborn” families want to establish a rhythm in their day with respect to sleep. Do you have any tips about establishing a rhythm for babies in the first months?

Jennifer:

1. Help your baby get to know the difference between daytime and night time by keeping their environment quiet and dark at night (even when feeding) and stimulating (except at nap time) and bright during the day.

2. Language skills won’t come for some time (at 10 months they understand 20 – 30 words). A consistent routine before bed/naps will help children understand when bedtime is.

N&G:  We get asked a lot about wet diapers interrupting a baby’s sleep.  Can you help us understand if a baby will lose sleep over a wet diaper?

Jennifer:  Sometimes babies interpret touch differently. Some children may excessively register a ‘wet’ sensation from a diaper and are always aware of the feeling of wetness against their skin, they are said to be hyper-sensitive to touch. Other children are hypo-sensitive to touch and do not register when their diaper is dirty or wet. If you have a baby who is very aware of a wet diaper they may be much happier if you change it frequently.

*Note from N&G – To decrease a wet feeling/sensation to a touch sensitive baby, you may want to consider using a diaper that has a stay dry interior or lay a stay-dry microfleece liner inside your natural fiber diapers at night.

About Jennifer Garden: Jennifer is a paediatric occupational therapist (OT) specializing in sleep for infants and children.  Jennifer is a mother of twins and a university instructor who has presented at several national conferences on sleep and is actively involved with a sleep research team in Vancouver.

Find out more:  www.sleepdreams.ca

We are always interested in finding out why families choose cloth diapers.  We think Mama K summed it up nicely:

“Cloth diapers blend my two favorite things- form and function! They contain everything that my two heavy wetters have thrown at them and they are absolutely adorable. Modern and they work.”

Thank you Mama K for your insight. We agree, not only do cloth diapers excel in terms of function, but they look pretty darn cute as well!

Baby C. is checking out his Bamboozle Stretch fitted diaper. These diapers are trim, absorbent and super soft. They pair up nicely with any of our waterproof diaper covers.

Photo Credit:  Vairdy Photography.  Vairdy is a Vancouver Photographer who works with newborns, children & families.

We asked our customers why they love working with New & Green and this is just one of our very kind reviews:

 ”I was first introduced to New and Green when my sister enrolled me in a cloth diaper workshop. The workshop turned out to be the most informative prenatal class I took. The woman who ran the course was so knowledgeable! I was totally convinced cloth diapers would be the way for us to go. I was also convinced that there could be no better service in the lower mainland. I also appreciated the fact that when I would go to pick up the diapers, I was able to ask questions and get great explanations. New and Green has the best customer service!”

Thank you L.  We are happy to help and to provide you with all the information you need to put little D into cloth diapers! 

Baby E. is wearing one of our favourite night time choices – the Aristocrats Wool diaper cover.  These 100% wool covers are naturally absorbent and breatheable, allowing for dry beds and happy mornings!  Pair this cover with a bamboo or hemp fitted diaper for a super trim and ultra thirsty combination.

Photo Credit:  Vairdy Photography.  Vairdy is a Vancouver Photographer who works with newborns, children & families.

This year, we are going to continue to bring you lots of great diapering info to help you along your way but thought we’d also draw on some of the experts that we’ve met over the years.  We’ve got some great information lined up for you to help you with your day to day parenting.  We can’t wati to share!

First up, we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Dierkes of Urban Doula.  We chatted with Chloe and asked her to share with us some common themes from her experiences working with brand new parents.

N&G: When working with parents to be, what are the top 3 things that you tell them to expect in the first weeks with a newborn?

Chloe:

1. Expect breast-feeding to take some time to establish.  Read a book on breast-feeding during pregnancy so that you are not trying to learn while caring for your newborn (you will not have the time!).  Attend a local Le Leche League meeting (http://www.lllc.ca/get-help) before the birth so you can talk with and observe breast-feeding moms.  Be sure to get lots of support immediately following your birth.
2. Expect your sleeping patterns to change drastically.  Newborns are often awake more at night than during the day.  This will soon reverse, but until it does, you will have to make up for lost sleep with many naps throughout the day (your total sleep time should add up to the same number of hours as before).
3. Expect your emotions to be fragile.  Be gentle with yourself and your partner.

N&G: When visiting a family post-partum, what are the top 3 things that families tell you they were surprised about?

Chloe:

1. How quickly newborns change.  This requires constant adaptation since every solution is temporary and often once new parents feel things are figured out, something else becomes difficult.
2. How nervous and unprepared they felt.
3. How difficult it is to get 3 meals and enough sleep in each day.

N&G: What is your favourite piece of wisdom to share with parents to be about the first days and weeks with their new baby?

Chloe: Before your baby arrives, arrange for support from friends, family and/or a postpartum doula.   In our society it is custom to shower new parents with lots of toys, clothes and physical gifts, but in retrospect parents often feel that practical support would have been much more beneficial.   Have a close friend arrange a “meal train” for you, where each night for the first few weeks you have someone deliver you a healthy meal.  Set your own parameters based on what you like to eat and make sure you have boundaries outlining the rules (for example, “please come at 5:30pm, stay for no longer that 15 minutes and do some tidying before you leave”).  Set up your support systems before baby arrives.

About Urban Doula: Chloe Dierkes is a birth and postpartum doula in Vancouver, BC who offers guidance and care for pregnancy, birth and newborn families.  She has worked in childcare for almost a decade and thoroughly enjoys supporting families and helping them to find creative solutions.

Find out more: www.urbandoula.com

If you’ve ever hunted for information about cloth diapering, you’ve likely run across the instruction to “strip your diapers.” Some sources make this sound like a dire emergency, while other sources ignore it completely. So we thought we’d take a quick look at what stripping is and when it’s useful.

What is Stripping?

“Stripping” merely refers to an easy process that strips any lingering residues from the surface of your diapers.  Residues can build up if you use a detergent that has additives or fabric softeners, if diapers aren’t fully rinsed after each wash, or if you have hard water in your area.

Why Should I Strip? (And How Often?)

Stripping isn’t a routine maintenance sort of thing – it’s only something you need to do if your normally soft and absorbent diapers are suddenly leaking or if there’s an undesirable odor that lingers in your diapers even after they’ve been washed and dried.

So, HOW Do I Strip?

There are various methods for stripping your diapers depending on your type of machine. And obviously, regardless of method, start with non-dirty diapers or you’ll have a whole new set of problems to deal with!

HOT water with no detergent (top-loader): Wash your diapers in the longest cycle your machine will allow using the HOT wash cycle and either HOT or WARM rinse. Lift the lid every once in a while to check for soap bubbles -  you need to rinse until you no longer see soap bubbles or a film on top of the water during the rinse, which may take as many as 3-4 rinses. But once the soap bubbles no longer appear, your diapers are fresh and fully stripped!

Rock-a-Soak (top-loader & HE): This is a super-super-effective way to get rid of lingering funk and residues. In a top-loader, fill the tub with hot water, add 3-4 tablespoons of Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer, toss in your diapers, and let them sit for an hour or so. After the soak, run them through a hot wash and rinse cycle 2-3 times.

In a front-loader, add your diapers to the basket and put 3-4 tablespoons of Funk Rock in the detergent area of the detergent drawer. Start a quick wash cycle and hit “stop” or “pause” as soon as you notice that the Funk Rock has been washed into the basket and the water has been added in the cycle. Let this sit for an hour or so, then start a long, hot wash and rinse without adding anything else. You will likely need to wash and rinse 2-3 times.

Vinegar (top-loader & HE): You can also add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of vinegar to one of the rinse cycles. This is a gentle way to neutralize the acids and odors lingering on your diapers and it will help lift away the residues. You can add this via the detergent drawer or if you have a Downy ball, just place the vinegar inside and toss it in on top of the diapers.

Dawn dishwashing liquid (top-loader only): In a top-loader, you may also add one squirt of Original Dawn dishwashing liquid to the wash cycle. Dawn has been formulated as a degreaser, so it does very well in lifting off oily residues. (If your child has recently discovered Vaseline or petroleum-based diaper creams and smeared them all over his or her diapers, Dawn is also a very effective way to deal with that laundry issue!) Dawn creates lots of suds, however, so if you want to use this method with a front-loader, you’ll need to scrub the diapers with Dawn by hand and rinse them out before putting them into the washer. As with all the other methods, once the diapers are in the machine, wash on hot and – you guessed it – rinse, rinse, rinse.

So, as you can see, stripping your diapers doesn’t take much more effort than a regular load of laundry and doesn’t need to happen often. The best way to prevent needing to strip in the first place is just to make sure you’re using a long rinse in your normal wash routine or by occasionally adding a second rinse to your routine.

Happy diapering!

Photo Credit – Brooklyn

A diaper pail is an essential part of cloth diapering, although unlike its counterpart for disposable diapers, a diaper pail in a cloth system doesn’t need to be anything more than a pail with a lid. (Simple is good!)

Today we’ll walk through a few considerations to keep in mind as you set up your diaper pail system.

why dry pail

In bygone days, it was standard procedure to toss dirty diapers in a pail of water to allow the diapers to presoak. However, with modern washing machines that do a bang-up job of pre-rinsing diapers, it is no longer necessary to lug that heavy pail to the wash or have “poop soup” sitting around. Also, many modern cloth diapers have synthetic parts (elastics, velcro, PUL, etc), which break down by sitting in water.

Thus, we merely recommend “dry pailing” your diapers. Just place a waterproof bag in your pail, toss in the dirties as you go (dumping solids in the toilet first, of course), and then let the washing machine do the work of rinsing and prepping your diapers at the beginning of the wash cycle.

choosing a pail

You don’t need anything fancy for a pail – any container with a lid large enough to hold 2-3 days of diapers will do. Tall garbage can-size totes and round plastic storage bins with a lid and locking handles are especially popular among parents. These can be found inexpensively at any local general store or mass merchandiser.

where to put your pail

Put your pail where it’s convenient and a bit out of the way. Some people put it next to the change area, some put in the washroom next to the toilet or under the sink, and some have a small pail in each location. You just want to choose a place where it’s convenient for you and where pets and toddlers can’t get into it.

use a bag

If you’re in a small space or don’t have room for a pail, consider using a hanging bag instead. A “hanging pail” can be hung on a doorknob or wall hook and frees up floor space. A zipper replaces the need for a lid and keeps everything tidy. Large hanging wet bags can be part of your decor, too, as they come in various fun colors!

Setting up an organized system to deal with the dirties is easy and inexpensive. What tips do you have for keeping it simple?

Photo Credit – Vancouver photographer Amber Strocel who crafts a beautiful parenting blog, too.

We’ve talked lots here on the New & Green blog about organizing your diaper bag and how to cloth diaper when you’re away from home, but what about those times (that we all dread) when you’re caught unexpectedly and you aren’t prepared to change a dirty diaper when your baby really needs it?

An emergency diaper change kit to keep in your car is an excellent solution. Here’s a list of items to keep in your emergency diaper kit and a few tips for keeping it ready.

What to Stock in Your Emergency Change Kit

First, get a waterproof storage container. You’ll need somewhere to store all the items that will stay clean and dry no matter what the conditions in your vehicle. Containers such as a gallon-size Ziploc or a plastic storage container with a tight-fitting lid are excellent choices.

Inside your storage container make sure you pack:

• a travel-size wetbag
• a bottle of water (for wetting wipes and for an emergency drinking supply!)
• a few wipes
• 1 diaper per child
• a change pad

Tips

Choose an older diaper to keep in your kit. Remember this is just for the times when you are left unprepared, so this doesn’t need to be fancy (just practical) and can be an excellent use for a diaper that’s seen better days but isn’t ready to face retirement yet.

Keep the kit “up to date” with the right size diaper. If you put a small diaper in the kit when your child is 3-months-old, but don’t end up using the kit for nearly a year, the diaper in the kit will be too small for your baby. Make sure you check it every month or so to keep the right size in stock. This can also be a great place to use a one-size diaper – that way you can be assured you’ll always have a diaper that will fit adequately without having to double check regularly.

Make sure to replace anything that gets used. If you use the wipes to clean sticky, melted ice cream off your child’s hands, make sure the kit is re-stocked with new dry wipes. If the diaper is used, put a new diaper in its place. This may seem obvious, but sometimes in the shuffle of a busy life, it’s easy to forget these little details, but that’s not so helpful the next time you’re in need of a clean diaper and there is none to be found.

If you’ve got more than one child in diapers, make sure your emergency kit has one diaper per child. Whether you use sized diapers (small, medium, large) or one-size diapers, make sure there’s one diaper per child. You may be caught in a situation where both children need to be changed, and you’ll want to be prepared.

Consider keeping a large prefold as a change pad in the kit, as it can double as a diaper if you’re really stuck for a long period of time!

Have you ever been caught unawares while away from home and had to do some “creative diapering”? We’d love to hear your story!

It may seem from our title that we’re talking about food today, but as is inevitable in any conversation about diapers, today we’re actually discussing poo. (Sorry if we got your hopes up….) As any pediatrician or naturopath will tell you, watching your infant’s stools change from liquid to solid is an important, significant transition, and sometimes that can mean changing your diaper selection as well.

The Newborn Days

In the early days of life, your baby’s gut is immature. For the first few days, it’s excreting all the lovely, tarry meconium that is a by-product of life in the womb, and for the first few weeks is incapable of holding food for long. And obviously, the only food intake is in liquid form, so with all these factors together, you can count on a liquid-y, poopy diaper after every meal. (Diaper liners are a welcome accessory during this period!)

As for color and texture, due to the colonization of the gut with all the good bacteria it needs for nutrient absorption, you can watch the stool go from black to various shades of yellow and green. Your doctor or midwife will likely ask you at some point about the stool’s color and consistency as an indication of the baby’s health, especially if the baby has been jaundiced.

In terms of diapering, all of this liquid stool in the early days means that the most important factor to consider in choosing diapers is containment. You need a diaper or a cover that has good, snug elastic around the legs and waist to keep all the poo exactly where it belongs. Popular choices from New & Green parents tend to be a prefold, Snappi, and cover combo, a Kissaluvs size 0 + cover combo, and the (super cute) TiniFit All-in-One.

Regularity

At about 6-8 weeks of age, your baby’s stools will begin to change. While at the beginning poo tends to be runny, at this point it will begin to hold together and take on a firmer, more tacky texture. The upside to this is that the stool can be easier to shake off into the toilet, as well as that food is now moving more slowly through the gut, so it’s entirely possible that your baby will only move his or her bowels once or twice a day, sometimes at the same time each day. (Wahoo!) And as the months go by and as your baby begins to eat solid food, the poo will continue to solidify.

So as poo becomes more – shall we say, regular – containment is no longer the highest priority for a diaper, but absorbancy. Poo may not be as frequent, but the baby’s bladder is getting bigger and he or she is eating more.

Thus, parents’ favorite diapers tend to change: many still love the prefold + cover combo and the EasyFit All-in-One, but other favorites for this period include the Bamboozle bamboo fitted, the AMP hemp fitted, and BumGenius pocket diapers.

Watching your baby grow and change can be an incredible, joyful experience. We certainly hope that cloth diapering on that journey helps you celebrate the joy of watching your child grow and seeing the miracle of all the changes that your baby’s body goes through, including the myriad type of messy diapers.

And care to share your experiences? We welcome hearing your stories about how you have dealt with your “poo problems,” as questions about how to deal with poop are among our most frequent at our Cloth Diapering 101 workshops and here on the blog. Real-life stories are fantastic!

We asked parents why they loved working with New & Green and this is what the Dad of this family told us:

“New and Green offers a fantastic mix of informative and responsive customer service and great products.  We attended the Diapering 101 course and then did a follow up with one of the staff to help us find the best options for our family and lifestyle.  We appreciated the guidance and ease of the service.”

Thanks D, T and Baby E.  We love the opportunity to work with families like you!

Baby E is sporting an infant sized Organic Cotton Prefold Cloth Diaper with a Royal Blue Snappi.  In this photo Baby is just a couple weeks old.  Organic Cotton Prefolds are the absorbent part of your two piece diapering system.  Baby E needs a waterproof cover over top to complete the system.

Photo Credit:  Vairdy Photography.  Vairdy is a Vancouver Photographer who works with newborns, children & families.

Check out the photo gallery at the end of this post to see how other parents have made their change areas work for them!

Diaper changes – perhaps surprisingly – can be a delightful bonding time between parent and child. However, if you’re not organized, sometimes the change time turns into more of a game of hide-and-seek for diapering accessories than it does a game of peek-a-boo with your little one.

Here are a few tips for keeping yourself organized.

Keep it simple.

The only “need” in organizing diapers is to have everything in reach. This is not only to make it easy on yourself, but once your baby is old enough to roll, it’s for safety too. You want to be able to keep one hand on your baby and still reach everything you need.

Also, separating your diapers according to type (pockets, prefolds, all-in-ones, etc) can keep things simple too – that way you can grab exactly what you want, especially if you’re in a hurry to get out the door or you’re bleary-eyed from lack of sleep. Just remember to keep your wipes handy too!

A change table doesn’t have to be a change table.

There are as many types of change tables as there are parents (well, almost, at least). There are certainly many styles of change tables that are designed exactly for that purpose, but there are lots of other options too. Some parents place a pad or a blanket on top of a dresser, a wide shelving unit, or a long countertop in the laundry room or bathroom. Others repurpose other furniture, such as a TV stand, for that purpose. Find what works for you, your budget, and your space.

Make it pretty (or at least pleasant).

Find bins and containers that fit your style and your space and that make diaper changing time enjoyable. These can be baskets, decorative bins, hanging shoe and shirt organizers, shelves, decorative hooks and bags, dresser drawers – anything that makes the job easy for you and that makes you feel good about your system.

Gather your accessories into one central location.

Keeping all your diapering and baby care accessories together, such as snappis, diaper balms, and nail clippers, will help little items from disappearing. Designate a decorative drinking glass, a basket on a shelf, or a clip-on basket on a hanging rail for this purpose.

Create a Mobile Change Unit (MCU)

For the times when you end up changing diapers on the bed or in the living room, or if you want to forgo creating a change table altogether, create what we at New & Green affectionately call a “Mobile Change Unit.” This is a canvas bag or handled basket that is easy to grab and take with you anywhere in the house and has everything you need for a diaper change – a change pad, fresh diapers, wipes, a bottle of wipes solution, extra snappi’s, diapering balm, a toy for distraction, and a bag to temporarily hold the dirties.

The best part is, all you need to organize your diapers are a bookshelf or dresser where everything is easily grab-able when you want to restock your MCU. Easy as pie!

Want ideas? Here are how other parents have organized their change tables:

Using dresser drawers…

from Liz

Using decorative baskets and bins…

from Christine

Using a bookshelf…

from Scott

Using a wide shelving unit with cubbies…

from Emily

Re-purposing a TV stand…

from Scott

Using a dresser top…

from Jon

Using lots of baskets and a hanging rail to dry covers…

from Mrs. Faber

Do you have ideas for organizing a change table? What has worked for you? We’d love to hear your ideas!

Photo credit for main photo – supafly

Many thanks to the close to 100 respondants that gave us the virtual thumbs up, wholeheartedly stating that they would recommend us to a friend.  We appreciate your kind words and are working through some more continuous improvement projects to ensure that we are delivering the best customer care possible.

We’ve randomly selected a winner for the Shake it Up Pail Freshener and if it was you, you’ve been emailed.  Because we chose not to collect names with our survey and to protect everyone’s email from spam bots we will not be publishing the email address of the winner.

But if the winner would like to head to facebook and let us know what you think of the product, we’d sure like to hear.

Again, thanks so much for your efforts in helping us to continue to improve and thank you for choosing us to support you through your diapering days.  Customer care is the centre of our business and it’s what we love about what we do!

Hey all you Rockin Green Fans,

If you’ve purchased a bag of Rockin Green from N&G lately, you could be a winner.  We started delivering orders from the batch of detergent that was being randomly packed with Green Tickets.  We’ll be getting one more shipment of detergent that may have winning tickets in it, so make sure you check your bag and let us know if you are a winner!

Here’s how it works:

• Purchase a bag of Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent
• Open up the detergent bag (stop and smell the aroma of course), and look to see if you have a green ticket!
• If you’re a lucky winner, then redeem the ticket using the printed code for a chance to win up to 150 prizes ranging from a bag of Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent (scent of choice), a Shake it Up!, a Rockin’ Green Bundle…or one of two grand prizes
  • Two concert tickets to the Ticktmaster event of your choice (event value up to $250)
  • A year supply of Rockin’ Green!

If you didn’t find a green ticket – fret not, play again. The tickets are going in bags at random so you never know when it will be your chance to win!

So let’s get this party started! Be sure to spread the word on Facebook too to make sure all your Rockin’ Green family and friends are up on the good news!

Kind of reminds us of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory.  Oompa, Loompa….

No matter whether you have a front loader or a top loader, you’ve likely tried a few different things to get your wash routine just the way you like it.

Today we’re posting four hacks to help you know your machine even better.

For Top Loaders

Don’t be afraid to change the amount of water you use. Often it’s tempting to just set the machine on “extra large load” so that you’ve got tons of water for washing and swishing and rinsing. However, if you’re washing only a day or two or diapers, especially if you use lots of pockets, it can make a big difference to reduce the amount of water so that the diapers aren’t just swimming around, but are instead rubbing against each other, which is what gets them really clean.

Change the temperature of your water heater, not just the dial on your washing machine. Many detergents activate most efficiently between 55-60° C (130°-140°F), including Rockin’ Green, which is also the range at which most bacterias are killed. If you reduce your water heater to this temperature range, you’ll not only save money on your monthly bill, but you’ll get the most efficient wash as well.

For Front Loaders

The secret in the detergent drawer… Many HE washing machines arrive in your home set to use liquid detergent. Some cloth diaper manufacturers even tell you that liquid detergent is the only way to really get your diapers clean – but you already know the right temperature, enough water, and an appropriate wash time is a dynamite combination with any type of detergent, as we’ve discussed several times in our laundry science series.

It’s easy to change your machine to accommodate a powdered detergent, such as Rockin’ Green or Country Save. Just open the detergent drawer and either pop out the detergent cup or raise the bar that’s there and you are now equipped to just scoop your powdered detergent straight into the detergent slot – no more fussing around dissolving your powdered detergent in warm water! Fantastic!

Check out the Front Loader Database. We’ve written several posts on how to tweak your wash routine to make life easy with a front loader, but the owner of Rockin’ Green Soap has taken it even a step farther. She has put together a database of different brands of front loader machines and specific wash routines that tend to work with each model. Check out the database, use the information, and submit your own routine if your own works well for you!

Photo credit – apdk

As the days are getting warmer and we enjoy the long summer days, it’s easy to get inspired to line dry your diapers rather than rely on the dryer to do the work. The sunshine is great for your diapers, you can save money, and there are many ways to make the task work for you.

Inside or Outside?

Whether you choose to dry your diapers inside or outside doesn’t matter – they dry equally well. When you dry your diapers outside, they get the benefit of the UV “bleaching,” but they also can become stiff if they are dried in the direct sun. Drying inside minimizes the “stiffness” factor, but can be slower to dry. Basically, the slower the drying time, the softer the diapers will be (not to mention fresh!), so if you’re drying outside and don’t need to benefit of the sunbleaching, either stick the diapers in the shade or double them up.

A Rack to Fit Every Family

A drying rack – There are many varieties of drying racks, which you can find at pretty much any retailer from IKEA to Amazon.com to your local hardware store. Some offer multiple rods on which to hang your diapers, while others offer “shelves” of a sort on which to lay items flat.

The advantage of a drying rack is that they are completely foldable, making them a “must” in small spaces and very versatile for where you can use them.

Here are just a few varieties to give you some ideas:
(Please note, New & Green does not have any connection with any of the companies or individuals listed nor do we endorse any of these products specifically. These links are provided for the sake of illustration only.)

Tall adjustable rack with folding shelves
Metal folding rack
Wood and vinyl folding rack
Metal and vinyl folding rack with “wings”
Sandwich-board style folding rack
Upside-down “double-V” folding rack

A clothesline -This very traditional way to dry clothes outside is a perennial favorite among line-drying enthusiasts. The plus is that there is nothing to store, but you do need to have sufficient space to string a line.

A clothesline can be as simple as a heavy rope tied between two trees or two chairs or as complex as a pulley system with heavy-gauge wire. A stationary, swiveling clothes rack outside can also be useful, especially if you don’t have many places to afix a line. Whichever system you choose will only be dictated by the space you have available and your personal preferences.

And of course, creativity is the name of the game. Sometimes, especially when traveling, you just have to use whatever is available! (Click through to see how one clever mama made do in her family’s hotel room – thanks to Flickr user medigerati for the wonderful photo.)

Line Drying Accessories That Make the Job Easy

Clothespins – Clothespins (also known as clothes pegs) are extremely useful, especially on a clothesline. If you make sure you have them ready and handy, say in an old handbag hung on a hanger or in an empty coffee can you can move along with your feet, hanging your diapers will be a breeze (not to mention they won’t blow away in a breeze!). Clothespins come in various materials – metal, wood, bamboo, etc. – and in a variety of styles – slide on, clip on, pinch-grip, etc. They’re generally quite cheap – $5-6 for a couple of dozen, though obviously that will vary according to material.

Spray bottle – a spray bottle is useful too when line drying. If your diapers are getting too “crunchy” while they dry or are drying too fast, spritz the diapers with a fine mist. This will soften the outside while the middle continues to dry.

What are your preferences when it comes to drying your diapers “au naturel”? What has worked well for you?

Photo Credit – simplyla