Sunday-last day of the challenge/Final words

Sunday was the final day. Baby K was in flats as usual all day. No leaks. He went to bed in his last flat for the challenge. Monkey did too. I decided to wash Monday evening for the last time. I spent the whole weekend working on the house and Sunday and Monday I was exhausted. Monday I also dyed yarn to do a tester pattern for a knit onesie (more details to come!). So I did the bucket soak for a bit, pulled out the poopy diaper and plunged it in the rinse water for a minute, dumped them all in to the tub for a hot wash (but I started the water, put the Rockin Green in, and then let them soak for me to feed Baby K). I did the wash but about threw up because of the smell. I'm not going to lie. At that point I took the diapers, squeezed the water out, tossed them in the bucket, then went and threw them in the washer. Even if I would have let them fully dry they would have had to be rewashed and I couldn't sleep with the open bathroom with that awful smell.  I seriously have no idea why we battled such stink!  I used the breathable washer and know it pulled the yuck out but for some reason they just reeked!!!  My washer-cleaned flats smell great though-they have no smell.

So my final thoughts.  Obviously if I was in the situation that I had to handwash I would and I'd figure out a way to make them not stink.  Maybe that would involve Tea Tree Oil or a different detergent for handwashing?  All I know is they smelled awful and the poor baby's bum smelled awful even after he was done with flats because of it!  I would invest in a breathable washer but NOT wash in the bucket unless I were to wash 1-2x per day.  With owning my own business and trying to get the house ready to sell it's not really possible for me to do that-not to mention that hand washing is exhausting.  I would obviously build up muscles doing it after a week or two so it wouldn't be so exhausting but with a baby waking up a couple times a night I'm just pooped so any extra work is very very tiring.

I love love flats!  I wish I owned more fun colors of flats!  If I get extra Paypal someday I'd be seriously tempted by the Swaddlebees ones!  I will keep using my flats after they're fluffy and dry from the drier (but will continue to hang dry after this-I just figured going through my high-heat-only drier once would help kill any bacteria lingering around still).

I was planning to do flats on our trip.  As messy as it is to wash I think it's kind of rude to do since we're staying in someone's home.  So we'll do disposables and cloth diaper covers and I'll wash the covers in the sink.  When we're moving we'll have to see where we're at but I'll probably have to handwash diapers for about a week between getting everything clean to pack up, staying in a hotel for two nights, and who knows when we'll get our washer and drier after we move if they aren't included.  So no flats for the trip to find somewhere to live in July but yes flats (and probably some pockets with hemp preflats trifolded in them) when we're moving.

My thoughts for the poor-I think that they should do cloth diapers.  I think homeless shelters should allow mothers (and fathers) to wash diapers in washers and driers for free.  There is NO reason why ANY baby should sit in any diaper (cloth or disposable) for hours on end.  I personally don't like the idea of dumping tons of money in to disposables for homeless.  Cloth is possible.  Again, I know I can say this sitting with a home but I do know what it's like to not be able to afford diapers.  I also want to do what I can to advocate for those in need to use cloth diapers!  Hopefully I can find something I can do to help when we move because I'd like to be a cloth advocate for those in need and since we'll be one of those super poor families while my hubby is in grad school maybe I'll find a connection through a food bank or something.

Here's the linkup for the final thoughts!  Hopefully most of the people had a better experience than I did!