Some of you may have seen the recent article in the news about parents trying to save money by leaving their children in dirty diapers. Parents should not have to put their children's lives at risk in order to save money. As a family struggling financially, I was pleased to see Dirty Diaper Laundry host the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. To show parents you can safely diaper your baby, change them as needed, and still save money, for one week we are going to use only flats to diaper our children, and hand wash them. That's right folks, no washers or dryers! We want to prove that cloth is the cheapest and healthiest route when diapering on a budget, and we would love to have your support. I will be participating in this challenge to prove to myself that no matter how tight money gets I can always keep G in a clean cloth diaper. Yes, it costs money to buy cloth diapers just as it costs money to disposables, but, did you know that you could potentially diaper your baby for under $20? That's right, you read that correctly! This challenge talks about using flats, but did you also know that a flat is basically a flour sack towel? Like those found as 5 for $5 in the kitchen department at WalMart? Yes. And for just $20, the same price if not less than the price of a package of disposables, you can diaper your baby for the life of the towels, more than likely from birth to potty-learning. Anyone can wash clothing by hand, so why not take one more step and wash your baby's diapers by hand? Help us show others it can be done! All you need to do, is take the flats and handwashing challenge from May 23 to May 30, 2011.
From the Dirty Diaper Laundry Blog:
Here are the rules:
- You MUST use Flats.
- You MUST handwash them. How is up to you. (bathtub, sink, large wash tub, portable non electronic washing machine, or camp style washer (bucket and plunger- think churning butter)
- You MUST air dry them. (indoors or outdoors, makes no difference)
- You MUST limit your number of covers in rotation to 5 or less.
- You can use any detergent you want. (Keep in mind that you still want cloth safe detergents)
- You can still use your nighttime diapers but I ask that you try to make flats work. Maybe try a prefold wrapped in a flat.
- You can use disposable liners.
- You CAN’T use a diaper sprayer. I thought long and hard about this one, but at an average cost of 40.00 this is one diaper accessory that is out of range for many families. Dunk, swish, flush, or scrape!
- You MUST start the morning of May 23 and end the evening of May 30.
I will be posting as much as I can during the challenge, and I would love for you to share your experience with me as well.
Diaper Junction has provided our family with one dozen flats to use during the challenge. You can also check out this article on Diaper Junction's blog and this one on Cotton Babies blog with further information about cloth diapering on a tight income.
