The sun has set on Day 7 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. Baby Boy and Little Girl are asleep in their receiving blanket flats and the rest of the last round of diapers are in the bucket ready to be handwashed in the morning.
Here are my final thoughts:
I love flats. My husband, it turns out, really likes them too. They are going into regular use now at our house. I love going coverless with flats. I love being able to repurpose other things into diapers. I'm glad I learned how to handwash.
I'm also really thankful for my washing machine and dryer. Last night, I fell asleep before washing diapers and felt stressed all day that they wouldn't dry in time, even with ironing and fans blowing, because of high humidity and rainy weather.
I do feel like I can recommend flats and handwashing as a totally workable solution for those who are on a tight budget. It took me about 20 minutes after bedtime each night to get the diapers washed and hung to dry--far less time than using the washer and dryer. I learned that receiving blankets work great as an overnight solution for heavy wetters--although I will be going back to using my fitteds for nighttime.
My "stash" of 22 diapers was sufficient, as long as I washed every day. I did have to make one adjustment: Little Girl soaked through her receiving blanket and cover the first night, so I pulled out an extra wool cover for her. Although I didn't use it for this challenge (because it was dirty), I do have an upcycled wool cover, and I have used wool longies made from sweaters in the past--that makes even wool an affordable option. Washing wool today felt like less of a big deal when I was already washing all the other diapers by hand.
Tomorrow morning, I'm filling the diaper bag with flats. And when I come home, I'm going to throw them in the diaper pail to be washed in the washing machine--every other day.
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