Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Cloth Diaper Anniversary

Six months ago this week I started washing my first batch of cloth diapers. Ah, what a great change that was! Other than a brief hiatus when the prefolds we had were far to small, we've hardly used any disposables at all. And I have loved just about every minute of it.

Even when Mathias started solid foods, it still wasn't so bad. Yes, I didn't like the toilet swishing, but we found a solution for that.

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Thanks to the internet, and this site, we managed to find instructions on making our own diaper sprayer. All it took was a kitchen spray hose and some brass fittings, and we were ready to get spraying.

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We did make a change to the original instructions. Hubby got a needle valve (per the Lowe's salesperson's recommendation) and installed it after the filter connector splicer. With that, we didn't have to get the compression connector. However, I would recommend getting a ball valve instead of a needle valve as you don't have to turn it as much to get maximum pressure.

Oh, and asking for help at the hardware store? Priceless. (Just make sure you and they know what you are talking about. Home Depot didn't, but then neither did I.)

Next in the cloth diaper scene? Visuals of some of the amazing diapers my sister-in-law made for us.

5 comments:

Delirious said...

What a GREAT idea! The only time I had cloth diapers with my kids was when I had a diaper service. We just put the soiled diapers in a plastic sack inside a diaper hamper, no rinsing. They did all the cleaning and returned them to us folded. It was cheaper than disposable, but I'm not sure it was any better for the environment because I think they had to use super strong detergent to clean them. It was very convenient though. But this sprayer is ingenious!!!

Bridget said...

Awesome. We had a sprayer like that on our toilet in Syria but it was for other reasons. It makes sense for diapers, though!

Cailean said...

Congrats Sarah! You've done what many just don't think they can do, including me. And great idea about the sprayer thingy!!! We love asking for advice and agree - Home Depot employees just have no clue more often than not. We love ACE but will have to try Lowe's!!! :)

Unknown said...

That last line "visuals of some amazing diapers..." that line was conjuring up something completely different than cute, homemade diapers...

Laurel said...

http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=751119 I found this tutorial today on making fitteds from prefolds, it's different than I do, but might work great for you because it doesn't take a serger. Good luck, I just finished the last diaper in your upcoming package last night, so be on the look out for the next round.