Category Archives: Cloth Diapering

Changing Diapers: Review and Fuzzibunz Giveaway!

Kelly Wels is on a mission to change your diapers.

Ok, maybe not your diapers. That would be silly. :lol:

She’s on a mission to change the type of diapers you use. Unless you already use one of the many, many varieties of easy-to-use and uh-freakin’-dorable modern cloth diapers on the market–then she’s on a mission to make you feel like the coolest mom on Earth.

Either way, I think she’s succeeding. After reading through her new book, Changing Diapers: The Hip Mom’s Guide to Cloth Diapering, I’m feeling pretty hip and eco-fabulous, and if I didn’t already love cloth, the fluffy bums pictured in the book would change my mind for sure! :D

Have you ever considered using cloth? Have questions? Come on – admit it. You’re wondering what happens to poop in your washing machine, right? Or maybe you’re worried about the “stink factor.” No matter what your questions or concerns might be, you can bet Kelly addresses them in this book.

I wish I had had a guide like this when I first started out. The choices were mind-boggling. Prefold? All-in-one? Pocket? Fitted with a cover? Hemp, bamboo, microfleece, PUL? What did it all mean? I was sure I wanted to try cloth, but also very sure I didn’t want to waste my money trying 25 different types before I landed on one I liked.

This book addresses that very issue perfectly, along with every other issue pertinent to cloth, in a relatable, understandable, friendly voice. The voice of another mother who really wants to make a difference. You’ll learn how to choose, how to clean, how to deal with nighttime, as well as details about different brands, accessories, the eco-benefits, helpful cloth diapering bloggers and so much more. Plus, you’ll find tons of fluffy baby bottoms that are reason enough to give cloth a try!

It’s hard to explain the heartwarming feeling of hanging your cute little dipes on the line to get some sun, or the feeling of knowing that your child’s most delicate parts are not wrapped up in toxic chemicals and plastic. With modern-day cloth, wet, poopy diapers actually verge on fun. No joke.

Join the movement! Just click the banner below (or the button on my sidebar) and get your very own 248 full-color pages of pure fluffy love! ….makes a great stocking stuffer or shower gift!

Have I convinced you to try cloth? Are you already a fluff addict? You’re in luck! Kelly has also offered one lucky reader ONE FUZZIBUNZ ONE-SIZE DIAPER and one “I’m a hip mom and love cloth diapers” ECO-FRIENDLY TATTOO!

Enter to win using the simple Rafflecopter form below.

The only mandatory entry is the first one on the form: Leave me a comment below telling me why you love cloth diapering OR why you’d like to give it a try. Make sure to leave your email address!




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Filed under Cloth Diapering, giveaways, Green Living, Parenting & Family, Product & Restaurant Reviews

Look out, Potty! Here we come!

I knew this time would come…eventually.

My 23-month-old son has shown quite an interest in the potty for a while now, peeing occasionally, and throwing lots of paper in when we aren’t looking.

But now? We have POOP!

Not every time, but often enough to know that he’s well on his way to learning how to use the potty full-time.

So, why do I feel a stinging twinge of sadness?

Because I’ll miss my FLUFF!

The stash I researched so diligently and worked so hard to build (building a community of like-minded friends along the way, I might add! Bonus!) The stash I painstakingly laundered and sunned, sniffing to make sure they were as fresh as a spring breeze for my sweet baby’s bum.  They might be poop-catchers, but there’s nothing quite like a pile of freshly washed, stuffed and folded diapers in a rainbow of colors!

I surely don’t have the most impressive collection, and I’ll admit that we never did quite get to the point where we gave up our little stash of disposable inserts (GroVia rocks, by the way!) , but there’s just something about making that choice – the economical choice, the ecofriendlier choice, the healthier choice - that made me feel like I was doing my absolute best as a mom.

Ah, cloth. How I love thee! It saddens me that our time is coming to an end, but I have hope that someday I’ll unpack you and fall in love all over again!

Thanks for the memories!

Until next time…

(I just wonder if I’ll feel the same way about my mama cloth when I join the menopause community:| )

Wow. Did I just say menopause?! Can you tell I’m feeling the clock tick away? Come on Baby #2!

_____________________

To all my cloth diapering readers: did you miss your fluff when the potty took over? Were you sad to see the transition begin?

 

 

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Yoreganics Laundry Trio: Review and Giveaway

In a recent post, I mentioned that I’m in the process of eliminating toxins not only from the food my family eats, but from the products we use in and around our home, too. That includes health care, beauty care, and of course, laundry products.

I’ve heard a lot of buzz about soap nuts, and while I’ve been curious, I’ll admit that I never really understood how a nut would get my clothes clean. I guess I just assumed this particular idea was just a little too far outside my personal realm of crunchiness…

That is, until Kim, the mom behind Yoreganics, sent me a sample pack of her Laundry Trio to try out.

It included:

  • enough soap nuts for 5 loads w/ wash bag
  • travel stain remover (perfect for my purse!)
  • 3 oz. Brightens & Whitens

I love the fresh, clean look of the Yoreganics logo, website and promo materials, but would they actually get my clothes fresh and clean? I wasn’t sure…

But then I saw that a soap nut is not a nut. It is a fruit berry from the soapberry tree (Sapindus Mukorossi) found in northern India and Nepal. The shells contain saponin, which creates a natural soap when agitated in water. You can use them to replace not only your detergent, but your fabric softener, too!

How cool is that? (Ma Nature does it again…)

Other benefits: Once the soap nuts get thin and no longer release saponin, I can toss them in the compost. They are also organic, vegan, sustainable, compatible with both standard and HE washers, perfect for those with sensitive skin or allergies…

…and great for use with cloth diapers! Woot! :D

Plus, they’re just cute. See:

I didn’t use my soap nuts on my dipes yet, but I did use them on baby sheets and clothing.  I also pretreated my son’s cloth crib rail protector with Brightens & Whitens, and spritzed one of our kitchen cloths with the stain remover. The combination left my laundry feeling, and looking, much better than I had expected! I just love it when a natural product exceeds my expectations! Um, exactly WHY have I been using the yucky manufactured stuff that’s full of chemicals?!?

I was especially impressed with the crib rail protector because my son chews on it a lot and it’s quite discolored. After washing with the Brightens and Whitens, I couldn’t see his favorite teething spot anymore! (I tried to get a photo, but since I was dealing with all shades of white, off-white, etc I just couldn’t do the products justice. Besides, you don’t really want to see my dirty laundry…)

My laundry was definitely clean, with a lovely freshness about it. It wasn’t exactly a scent that was left behind, but the kind of freshness you get when you hang clothes on the line (which I welcomed on a snowy day in February!) I don’t know how the soap nuts would handle a heavily soiled, truly dirty load of laundry, but I can attest to the fact that they can definitely stand up to the everyday stuff.

I accidentally left the little bag open when I threw it in my washer for one load, and all my nuts fell out. 8O It wasn’t a problem, though – I just had to gather them back up. But I did get to see the little suds that they produce…

So, in a nutshell :lol: , I am SO glad I tried soap nuts, and Yoreganics other laundry products. I no longer doubt whether soap nuts are effective, and I plan to incorporate them into our regular laundry routine! I love my laundry, and now I love Yore Laundry, too!

Buy it!

Check out the full selection of Yoreganics products here.

Have a question about soap nuts that I didn’t answer? Click here.

Win it!

***This giveaway is closed! Random.org says that my winner is Brittney, with comment #26! Thanks for entering! :) ***

Win your own Laundry Trio Sampler!

Mandatory Entry: Just visit Yoreganics and tell me one thing you like about the company.

Bonus Entry: Tell me why you want to “green” your laundry routine!

Bonus Entry: Like Yoreganics on Facebook

Bonus Entry: Subscribe to my blog!

Bonus Entry: Tweet this giveaway (limit 2 tweets per day, one entry each, at least 2 hours apart. Please leave me the link to each unique tweet.) Use the tweet button, or this sample tweet:

Win a soap nuts Laundry Trio Sampler from @Yoreganics and @ABCGP! http://wp.me/pTRQh-Do Ends 3/12 #organic #clothdiapers

 

The Fine Print:

Entries will be open until March 12th at 8pm EST. A winner will be chosen on or about that time using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize or a new winner will be chosen. Contest open to US and Canada.
I received the product mentioned above at no cost. I was not compensated for my review, nor was I obligated to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own, honest opinions based on my personal experience with the product in question.

 

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Filed under Cloth Diapering, giveaways, Green Living, Product & Restaurant Reviews

Kawaii Winner!

Congrats to Rebecca! :D

Random.org says you are my Kawaii Diaper winner!

The winning comment:

Congrats, Rebecca…I’m emailing you now! Please contact me within 48 hours (give or take a few…it IS a holiday, after all! ;) )

Thanks to everyone who entered and shared so many great happy moments!

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Bumbledoo Review: Converted Prefolds!

When I first started exploring the world of cloth diapers, I really wanted to use prefolds. Not only were they inexpensive and one of the most natural choices, but there was something about the look, feel, and very idea of a prefold that made me feel a little bit more connected with so many generations of moms before me, ones that didn’t have the luxury of snaps, aplix or PLU.

Call me old fashioned, but hanging prefolds out on the line just gives me the sense that I am part of a tribe bigger than I can imagine! <<happy sigh>>

But when it came time to use my prefolds, my plan fell apart a little. I either bought diapers that were too big or I was just really bad at folding them, and my poor Little Man was left nearly unable to walk with the wads of fabric under his diaper cover. Poor kid. :(

So, I tried a few pocket diapers and the rest is history. I was hooked, and Dada and Grammie loved them too (which is SO important!) But, as all cloth mommies know, pocket diapers can get expensive…and I had a bunch of nice, soft, practically new prefolds just sitting around…

That’s when I found the talented Malia at Bumbledoo!

Malia does prefold conversions, so I sent her 3 of my prefolds to have them converted into fitted diapers. I thought it might make them easier to use, and WOW! It really did!

As soon as the holiday spending is done, I’m having 5 more converted!

But what IS a converted prefold? I’ll show you…

Here is one of my standard unbleached Indian cotton diaper service quality (DSQ) prefolds, before conversion:

And here’s what it looked like after conversion:

SO much easier to use! No folding, no need for pins or a snappi…just put it on, snap a cover over it, and go!

There’s even an extra soaker layer sewn in, and some snug elastic around the legs to keep messes in (we’ve had no leaks with these.)

Here, you can see how trim the diaper fits now (under a Thirsties cover.)

No lumps, no wadded up fabric. Little Man is totally comfy!

If you have any prefolds laying around that just didn’t seem to work for you, I urge you to have them converted to fitteds! Malia’s prices are very reasonable (some as low as $3.50!) so it’s a great way to increase your stash of fluff for only a few bucks! Or, if you’re just starting out, you could buy a few new prefolds and have them converted right off the bat. You’ll still save a lot over traditional fitteds (some run close to $20 each!)

If you’re into something a little fancier, Malia offers lots of customization. You can have colored fabric or even PUL added! Needs snaps? No problem. She’ll do that, too. For a full list of prices and offerings, along with Bumbledoo’s full range of products, visit Bumbledoo.com

Look for:

  • Diapers
  • Diaper Accessories
  • Bumble Pockets
  • Bumble Booties
  • Toddler Aprons
  • Mama Pads
  • Nursing Covers
  • Nursing Pads
  • Wee Pouches

Every time I reach for one of my converted prefolds, I get a little twinge of satisfaction knowing I made use of something I already had instead of buying something new. Love that.

Tell Bumbledoo that ABCs and Garden Peas sent you! ;)

________________________________________

Do you use prefolds? Do you find them easy to use? Difficult? Would you consider having them converted?

Malia had an auction on her Facebook page and I bid on my 3 prefold conversions at a reduced price. I received no compensation for this review and the opinions mine, based solely on personal experience with the products/services mentioned.

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