Flats & Handwashing Challenge {Day 4}

Day 3 Recap:  I washed twice yesterday.. which goes along perfectly with today's theme, "What is your washing routine?"  I washed in the morning as soon as I got up so I could have my husband hang everything on the clothesline while we went to a doctor's appointment.  Then, I checked the weather and saw it was supposed thunderstorm at 8 am, so I hung everything inside again..  It didn't rain.  At all.  So, when we got home (after I got my lovely pink cast), my awesome husband hung my laundry outside!!  Drying inside is taking forever, but it's supposed to rain the rest of the week.  So I decided to do laundry before bed, so it has all night to dry instead of waiting all day for new clean diapers.

What is your washing routine?

I don't think I could hand wash all the time, until my leg is healed, unless I figure out a way to get things to dry much more quickly!!  Other than that, I really don't mind it at all.  Washing & scrubbing are my favorite chores.  I love soaking my hands in hot soapy water.

We have only been using around 4-5 diapers per day and even fewer covers.  I'm using my diaper pail as a wash tub and our normal everyday plunger as the "agitator".  I hobble to the "bathroom" with my walker and plop down in the office chair (we have a very strange laundry/bathroom/office room in our house).  I'm sure the whole thing is rather comical with my broken leg propped up on my walker.  But, it goes something like this:

1.  Change diaper, rinse if necessary, toss in diaper pail
2.  After bedtime, fill pail with cold water, agitate for about 1 minute or until water is dirty.
3.  Dump diaper pail, refill with cold water, add diapers and agitate again.
4.  Dump again, treat any stains, fill diaper pail with hot water and add 1 tbsp detergent.
5.  Add diapers, soak for 30-45 minutes.
6.  Agitate diapers by "plunging" for 5 minutes.
7.  Dump diaper pail, rinse each diaper with shower head, toss back into diaper pail.
8.  Fill diaper pail with cold water to rinse.  Repeat if necessary, until soap is gone.
9.  Wring as much water as possible out of diapers & covers.  Hang to dry.

I dunk & slosh any diapers that need it right away (more on this during Day 6!), then toss them into the diaper pail.  When I'm ready to wash, I fill the diaper pail with just enough cold water from the shower to cover the diapers.  Using the plunger, I agitate the diapers until the water is dirty.  Then I dump the pail into the shower and repeat.

After the diapers are rinsed, I treat any stains with Buncha Farmers Stain Stick.  Since the diapers are already wet, I just rub the stick onto the stain and then work the soap into a lather.  I toss everything back into the diaper pail, add 1 tbsp of Rockin' Green Hard Rock (this is actually Raegan's job), and fill with hot water.  I agitate the diapers just enough to get the bubbles started and then I let everything soak for 30-45 minutes.

After soaking, I use the plunger to get the diapers really clean.  I do my best to "plunge" the diapers (helps pull the water through the fabric), but when my arms get tired I just stab at the diapers to keep them moving around.  After 5 minutes, I dump everything into the shower again and turn on the cold water.  I rinse each diaper with the shower head and toss it back into the diaper pail.  I do two more rinses, just like the ones I did in the beginning, to make sure all of the soap is out.

Wringing is the worst. I try to wring everything until it's not dripping.  I haven't really found the trick to wringing out the covers, but the FSTs themselves wring out nicely.  It's just a lot of work.  I'm glad there are only 4 or 5 diapers in the wash!

My only wish is that I could use my clothesline, but it's just too hard on one foot, especially with the threat of rain.  I am using a drying rack I borrowed from my mom and I use pants hangers to hang diaper covers when needed.  Sometimes I just drape the covers over the backs of the dining room chairs instead, because the dining room has a ceiling fan to keep the air circulating and dry everything a little faster.

Stay tuned for other posts about the challenge:

Day 1:  Why Are You Taking the Challenge?

Day 2:  Show Us Your “Stash” and tell us what did it cost?

Day 3:  Open Topic

Day 4:  What is your Washing Routine? 

Day 5:  Flats Experience- Folds you love, Are they working, etc.

Day 6:  Open Topic

Day 7:  Overall Experience, What did you learn, Would you do it?