Thursday, August 2, 2012

Summer #BlogChallenge August 2 - Dream Home Feature

Going Green with the Grizls

This may sound silly... but if you've ever cloth diapered, you know how important a washer and dryer are to making your life easier. We don't have a conventional washer and dryer. We live in an apartment. With one coin-op washer and dryer for all the tenants. Can someone say build up? Can someone say expensive?

So our alternative is a portable counter top washer and a spin dryer than I can only put about a days worth of diapers in at a time. It sits in our one bathroom. I still have to do 3 cycles and it only agitates, it doesn't spin or drain. I have to manually drain, squeeze out excess water and then spin dryer. 

My little Panda washer (pardon the 50s tile)

Spin dryer with drain tub

This is my wash routine:
Messy smushed counter!
  1. Move everything from left side of counter to the right side.
  2. Fill up washer 3/4 full of warm water using the shower head (I used to use cold water but warm works better for us)
  3. Put in diapers (I limit it to 15-18 "pieces", a "piece" being a cover, insert, or wipe etc)
  4. Set washer for 15 minutes 
  5. Wait 15 minutes (or more depending on if the baby needs to feed, the dishes need to get done, the boyfriend needs attention, dinner needs to get made)
  6. Bring down drain hose to drain dirty water into the sink
  7. Squeeze out extra water into sink
  8. Put diapers in spin dryer and wait til its only dripping water
  9. Empty the tub the dryer drains into
  10. Fill washer 3/4 full of hot water using shower head and add 1 TB detergent - Little Love Buns in Peach Mango  (thank you Kissed by the Moon!)
  11. Repeat steps 2-8
  12. Fill washer 3/4 full of cold water using shower head
  13. Repeat steps 2-8
  14. Put diapers on drying rack
Inside of the washer

Side of washer with drain hose

Multiply that by 3 since I have 3 days of diapers to do each time. Theoretically that sounds like about an hour per load max. But I have to factor in all the "mom-terruptions". The baby is crying, the baby is hungry, the boyfriend is hungry, someone needs to shower, I want to take a much needed nap, the list goes on and on. So in theory its only 3 hours. In real life its about 6. Or more. Diapers can wait, babies can't. Plus as much as I love my diapers, I love her more. 

Drain tub

Inside of dryer

Now, I'm not complaining because I love cloth diapering and I love her adorable cushy booty in the diapers. This actually just goes to show that it is not that hard to cloth diaper, anyone can do it!



Can you see why my dream home feature is something as simple as a washer and dryer?

♥ Rissa


4 comments:

  1. Okay, I have to give you props for cloth diapering while living in apartments. To be totally honest, the only reason I didn't cloth diaper my daughter is because I lived in apartments without a washer and dryer. I knew I couldn't do that. Major props to you for this!!
    Here's to your next home having a washer and dryer for sure!

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  2. I feel your pain. I use the coin operated machines we have, but wish I looked into something like this. I primarily use flats and covers and have sometimes hand washed.

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  3. Neat! Never knew either of these existed!

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  4. My routine is very similar, I also use the shower head and do laundry in the bathroom, but I have a HUGE difference with you. I got the newest Panda release, a 2 in 1 washer/spin dryer. It's a little larger than yours, but we managed to place it in by switching the door to open out. It drains! and the tank holds 8 lb of clothes. Makes my life much easier by having that little detail.

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