I love cloth diapering. We don’t do it 24/7, but I try to do it as much as possible. Disposables are used pretty much only overnight sometimes and whenever we go on outings. Mainly just because I’d rather throw a diaper away than have an oozing, stinking mess in a wetbag in my diaper bag or in my car, where it can easily be forgotten. Which, just my luck, happened very recently.
It all started on a beautiful sunny Thursday. The husband, Little Man, and I decided to go to take somethings to grandma’s house while The Diva was at school. I didn’t bother to change Little Man into a disposable diaper because, hey, his poop times are early morning and late afternoon. Plus, we were only going to be gone for around half an hour. No harm done. Except the little stinker decided to have a major blow out while we were there. So, I exchanged his dirty cloth diaper for a spare disposable one (because I’m a mom and keep spares in my purse for moments exactly like this one), and put his dirty diaper and clothes in a bag and sat them in the back seat. Right under his seat area so I would remember to grab it when we got home. Except my husband grabbed him out for me while I checked the mail and the bag of poopy items was forgotten. That is, until Sunday when I was getting groceries out of my car and came upon the bag.
So, four days in the hot car later, the diaper was pretty crusty and dry and just plain disgusting. “The insert is ruined now. You’re never going to be able to get that out,” My husband challenged me. Hahahahaha! Guess who proved him wrong? Yeah, ME. As usual. That’s just what he gets for doubting my housewife abilities.
Monday morning I put my baby-safe detergent in with a load of diaper covers, inserts, and wipes, sprinkled in some Borax and some Washing Soda, filled with cold water, and let soak for an hour. Then, after washing and rinsing, I hung them on the line. Yeah, that’s right! I went old-school on these fools. [Seriously, though, my mother thinks I’m insane because I prefer to line dry. Whatever.] 3 lovely hours spent cleaning floors later, I went and grabbed the diapers off, checking the disaster one first. And guess what? This is how it looks:
Not bad, eh? Especially since the whole diaper insert was that yellow color. The only reason there’s any yellow left is because that’s where the clothespin was. Beautiful, right? Just like new. So, there’s a visual benefit of sun-drying, but here’s a list of five:
1.) The sun actually disinfects clothes as it dries them. I'm a germ freak, so this is benefit amazing to me.
2.) The sun is a natural bleach. Bye, bye, harsh chemicals and vapors!
3.) It's free and low-energy. And it's free. Free!!!
4.) Your diapers will last even longer, so that's less chance of having to purchase more for the next kiddo.
5.) The sun is amazing at removing the stinky scent of poop and pee, and leaving a fresh scent of outdoor air. I just love that smell - yeah, I'm a nerd. I'm aware.
See? Save money and use the sun's natural goodness! Even in the winter when it's negative ten with three foot of snow I still sun my diapers. I just do it in the windowsill on a hanger. Takes all day instead of just a few hours, but my diapers always look amazing!
