Day FOUR of the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!  

Thursday-How I’m Doing- My Thoughts on Handwashing

Hmmmm...How am I doing with this challenge so far? Starting on May 1st gave me a little practice and a chance to work out all the kinks before the actual week long challenge started. Truthfully, I have a new love of flat diapers and plan on using them for the next couple of months until my little guy potty trains. Also, if we have any more babies, we will be using flats from the beginning! Once I learned how to do the fold before putting it on the baby actually using the diapers is pretty easy. The hand washing and drying with no dryer has proven to be the most challenging.

Earlier this week I shared the picture of my 18 gallon tote that I use to wash in place of the 5 gallon bucket. Switching to the tote has been the number one lesson learned in washing the flats. I wash every other day and because I used two flats with each diaper change that work out to be 18 diapers per wash load. Using the larger tote gives the flats and covers more room to agitate which helps gets them cleaner and allows for more water to rinse.

Another tough lesson learned was to avoid using too much detergent. Through trial and error I learned to stick to about a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half. If I used any more than that I was having to do at least five rinses before the detergent was completely out. 

Wringing the wet flats is the most painful for me and I have the blisters to prove it.

Honestly though, the most challenging part of hand washing the diapers for me has been finding a good way to hang them up to dry. We live in a third floor attic apartment with very little space. The following series of pictures chronicles my attempts at finding the best solution for my situation:

The first rack didn't work well for us because it took up almost all of the floor space in the living room and only held 9 or 10 diapers.

The first drying rack we tried, my 5ft 9 in teenage daughter is standing next to it for size comparison.

Then I got creative with some Command hooks, some clothes pins and the header across our living room.

This didn't work because the diapers were not spread out enough to dry and ended up dripping all over our living room.

After the first two attempts at drying in the house after washing at night, I switched to washing first thing in the morning and hanging them outside on the line that my husband strung up between buildings. 

Drying on the line outside my house.

Finally we ended up with this $10 drying rack from Ikea that folds up flat when not in use and is able to hold two days worth of diapers. This is my favorite way to dry because I can put the diapers on it in the house, fold up the sides and carry the loaded rack outside and put it in the sun. This is the best solution during the weekdays for me because I don't have any one to stay in the house to watch the two year old while I hang the diapers up. I can also move the rack as the sun moves so the diapers get the best sun all day.

When the challenge is over, I may go back to washing in the machines either at my in-law's house or the laundry mat but now that I have the drying rack I will probably continue to use it to dry the diapers.