Well, first of all diapers. I bought enough of them to go 5 days but rarely let them actually sit that long. On another forum (Treehugger) I recall reading that if you wash only two days worth of diapers then you might as well be using disposables (environmentally speaking).
Do you have enough diapers to go a whole week? Would you?
I think I'm going to wash whats dirty right now and see if I can make it until Saturday morning.
crunchysugar
11-27-2007, 02:59 PM
Well, I have two of my boys in diapers and I wash every day to every other day. But my stash isn't big enough to go longer than that. Even if it was, I don't know if I could stand it. I'm a bit obsessive about cleaning the diapers! :laugh: :clothesline:
jausten
11-27-2007, 03:14 PM
Every 3 days - or until the pail is full, whichever comes first.
alternamama82
11-27-2007, 04:41 PM
Yeah, usually about every three days here too - although I have enough diapers to go longer.
rebyell
11-27-2007, 05:14 PM
I wash about every 3 days, if I went any longer the washer would be too full to get them clean. I think if I went a week I would still have to do 2-3 loads of diapers. A crammed full washer is NOT going to get pee and poo diapers very clean!
sdevonh
11-27-2007, 06:21 PM
I do every other day. Any longer than that and there are some definite sanitary issues...
mommy2abigail
11-27-2007, 06:35 PM
I think though, that there is a big difference. First, cloth diapers do not use nasty chemicals (especially if you buy bamboo, hemp or organic fabrics) in them, like sposies do. Also, cloth diapers can be reused, eliminating the need for further chemicals, and waste. So, yes, they use more water maybe, but still multitudes better than throwaway diapers. The same could be said for paper plates/products. Sure, I would use alot less water if we used paper plates, cups, and flatware, or paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning cloths. BUT they would fill up a landfill and they can't be reused.
That being said, I wash every other day. :thumbsup:
Grrchurch03
11-27-2007, 06:39 PM
I wash every 2-3 days depending on how many we use, etc. We have a small pail so when it is full, it is time to do a wash. Lately, I have been using sposies if we go out :hides: so there are less to wash if we go out more. Also, we have a stackable washer and dryer, it is supposed to be full size, but you know how that is...
MatildasMum
11-27-2007, 06:44 PM
I wash about every 3 days, if I went any longer the washer would be too full to get them clean. I think if I went a week I would still have to do 2-3 loads of diapers. A crammed full washer is NOT going to get pee and poo diapers very clean!
:yeahthat: My DD isn't a super-soaker but she's a CONSTANT wetter. I swear the only time her diaper is dry is the first minute it's on. Therefore, we go through a ton of diapers a day.
thirdtimemomma
11-27-2007, 08:24 PM
I thought of this.. I use a pretty large diaper pail that fills the washer (with dirty diapers) up to a large load. I find that if Im faithfully rinsing poo's that my diapers get just as clean as when I had smaller loads. :) Im using an Super setting instead of a large setting but I think in the long run Im using less water.
I wonder what the flush per diaper uses.. Or if you wet your wipes under the faucet what that uses too. ;)
staceyroo77
11-27-2007, 08:25 PM
Every 3 days - or until the pail is full, whichever comes first.:exactly:[
Elmo
11-27-2007, 08:35 PM
I don't have a very big stash yet. I have to wash everyday. I want enough to only have to wash every 3 days.
journey
11-27-2007, 09:25 PM
I have a front loader so if I don't wash every two days then the pile is too big to get clean and literally smells like poo after several cycles. Plus I have a weird obsession with relaxing by watching the washing machine go round and round. I need relaxation often. :giggle:
Shawna in CA
11-27-2007, 09:30 PM
I do every other day. Any longer than that and there are some definite sanitary issues...
That's what I was wondering, too. Seems like there is a reason why people wash every couple of days.
vickieboggs
11-27-2007, 09:32 PM
I go until the pail is full which is about 3 days
DivineNature
11-27-2007, 09:53 PM
Twice a week-Monday and Thursday. The pail is full and it's a full (or nearly full) load. The 4 day stretch is as far as I can go and I really wouldn't want to go longer.
LoveSunshine
11-27-2007, 10:20 PM
I wash every other day. To me, they would be sitting too long past two days.
mama.mayme
11-27-2007, 10:38 PM
I do every other day. Any longer than that and there are some definite sanitary issues...
I've been wondering the same thing here.... and wouldn't there be some major odor issues (atleast with an older infant/toddler)?
KaleidoscopeEyes
11-27-2007, 10:58 PM
I do laundry once a week since I have to take them to work (don't have a washer) . I have a ton of dipes since DS2 can wear his mediums and larges. I also have a ton of prefolds in a pinch. I have actually gone a month without doing laundry last winter when we had an ice storm. Now that DS2 is 2 years he only wears dipes at night so I really don't have that much to do anymore.
I've never had an odor issue as long as poopy dipes get rinsed. I just throw the dirty ones in a wet bag.
CrunchyMama0607
11-27-2007, 11:03 PM
I wash mine whenever I notice were getting low on dipes :goodvibes:
velouria
11-27-2007, 11:04 PM
When Isaac was in diapers, we washed every 3rd or 4th day... sometimes on day 5. :blush:
heidisue
11-27-2007, 11:09 PM
Every 2-3 days, when I get a full load! That said, cloth is better for the environment even if you wash daily. Water is renewable, disposables sit for ages. Just another arguement against cloth that stems from the studies that disposable diapers funded years ago.
Monzie
11-28-2007, 07:51 AM
I wash twice a week. If I did it any less frequently, the diaper pail would overflow.
My super-capacity washer isn't crammed full when I wash them, though, so I just reduce the water level accordingly. I know that the conventional laundering advice is to use the largest water setting that your washing machine allows, but I've found that I really don't need to run a "Super" load to get my dipes clean. Instead, I toss the stuff in my machine, see how full it is, and then set the dial for the next larger sized load. Lately, that means I have a "Medium" amount of dipes...so I set the water to "Large." Granted, I also do a pre-soak before the regular wash cycle and an extra rinse at the end, so I'm still using a ton of water. But the CD haters seem to forget how much water it takes to make bleached paper products like disposable diapers. I'd guess it was as much as, if not more than, it takes to wash cloth for a couple of years. And, in the end, I'm not spending thousands of dollars and creating a mountain of waste in the landfill.
tommymommy
11-28-2007, 10:07 PM
Every 2-3 days, when I get a full load! That said, cloth is better for the environment even if you wash daily. Water is renewable, disposables sit for ages. Just another arguement against cloth that stems from the studies that disposable diapers funded years ago.
Even though water is renewable we are still in a drought! (Maybe its a Cali thing, I'm not sure) I believe that clean water will eventually become a commodity. And the above does not take into account the electricity/gas needed to run the dryer either. Unless you line dry, and if so you TOTALLY ROCK:thumbsup:
I CD because it "feels green" but sometimes I wonder about it. I mean you can't just believe everything you're told, right?
Saara
11-29-2007, 01:01 PM
I wash every 3 days. I have enough diapers to go 4 days, but rarely do. This will change though, because I'm getting ready to switch my 2 yr old to cloth.
LuckyDwarf
11-29-2007, 04:22 PM
I wash every other day or so. My washer is small, and if I wait any other the dipes don't get clean enough.
lulusmom
12-03-2007, 03:12 AM
I wash every 4-5 days, but they are all prefolds and I swear they take up less room than AIOs. When we do use AIOs and the occasional hemp insert in the prefold then it's more like 3-4 days.
artemis33
12-04-2007, 08:17 AM
Every 2-3 days.
heluvsme
12-04-2007, 08:25 AM
I thought of this.. I use a pretty large diaper pail that fills the washer (with dirty diapers) up to a large load. I find that if Im faithfully rinsing poo's that my diapers get just as clean as when I had smaller loads. :) Im using an Super setting instead of a large setting but I think in the long run Im using less water.
I wonder what the flush per diaper uses.. Or if you wet your wipes under the faucet what that uses too. ;)
Oh my, I just had to jump in here and say that avi is the BEST ROFL
I wash every 2 days. I would be scared to let dipes sit longer than that...as it is the ammonia knocks me out!
GrahamBaby4
12-04-2007, 08:59 AM
I guess it really depends on how many you use in 2 days and how full the washer is and how much water you use right?
But, I use cloth more for the health of my children than the environment lol
Made With Love
12-04-2007, 09:30 AM
I wash my son's dipes every other day or so. Dpeneds on how the stash looks, and what we're doing for the day (i.e. he goes to my ma's house 1 day a week so I can go to work). If I take him to my ma's house I give her FB's cuz she thinks they are easier to use...if he goes to my MIL's house, she prefers AIO's...
Right now my stash is not that big, but I do have the opportunity to make it bigger because I make diapers, I'd just rather sew them and bless other Mama's with Fluffy Mail, instead.
I found that the longer the dipes sit, the stinkier they become, and the harder it is to get them stink-free. I use Allens Naturally, and that works great, but I am going to try vinegar in the wash for some freshness.
That being said, any ideas for washer add-ins for diaper 'freshness'?
Legendadry Perc
12-04-2007, 09:48 AM
I've never had that prob. as we have lots of kids close together who are heavy frequent wetters! So it's always full, and I wash every day (or more frequently) - maybe I need a huge fl washer..
I just can't imagine that I'm using more water than sposies, though. I have made paper before (the stuff you write on, not paper diapers), and it is 80% water in the process of making it. Not to mention the chemicals they have to use on it to get it soft enough to not hurt the baby too bad. I guess the water the trees they cut down used up doesn't count, as the trees put it back in the environment. But if you use natural soap (I hear sweet william makes good soap) what's the difference between that and flushing the toilet? At least then we think about treating it, instead of it leaking into ground water from some land fill - or worse, dumped in the ocean like way too much is!
mama2cody
12-04-2007, 09:50 AM
I have to wash every day only because I have just barely enough diapers to make it from wake up to bedtime. :laundry: I actually was able to use them over night and it went well:singdance:, but I'm hoping I don't get shortchanged today! I have more diapers coming so I'm hoping that soon I will be able to go an extra day at least without washing every night and being up till midnight!! :zzz:
sjccheerdoll
12-04-2007, 11:31 AM
When the diaper is full... usually every 3 days or more.
angelnavywife
12-07-2007, 03:15 PM
I'm not *that*green. I am a neat freak so doing lots of laundry at once overwhelms me. I wash every day(diapers and clothes), and with a family of 5 it is still a pretty big load of laundry (DH has uniform and civilian clothes and work out clothes every day).
greenMImama
12-11-2007, 10:24 PM
Even though water is renewable we are still in a drought! (Maybe its a Cali thing, I'm not sure) I believe that clean water will eventually become a commodity. And the above does not take into account the electricity/gas needed to run the dryer either. Unless you line dry, and if so you TOTALLY ROCK:thumbsup:
I CD because it "feels green" but sometimes I wonder about it. I mean you can't just believe everything you're told, right?
I wonder if these people that say we should use sposies have ever heard that in the manufacturing process each diaper uses as much water as a full load of laundry, that is for each diaper, then you throw it away and grab another one.:headscratch:
tommymommy
12-11-2007, 11:58 PM
I wonder if these people that say we should use sposies have ever heard that in the manufacturing process each diaper uses as much water as a full load of laundry, that is for each diaper, then you throw it away and grab another one.:headscratch:
Hmmm....interesting. Can you site a source on this??? I'd love to bring it over to the other site.
Also, I'm not sure who you're referring to when you say "these people that say we should use sposies...." Nobody on here has said that.
Kestlyn
12-12-2007, 12:04 AM
every 3 days. I'd much rather use a bit of water than fill up a landfill with non-biodegradable waste. Of course if I used my 4 dozen Pfs more than twice a day, instead of my BGs, I could go longer :blush:
ktarsha
12-12-2007, 10:59 AM
I'm redoing the stash, so I only have enough diapers at the moment to go two days before washing. But when I had bunches of diapers, I usually washed every three or four days (sometimes longer if I was particularly lazy :blush: ).
andyz_grrrl
12-15-2007, 10:06 PM
We have triplets so I have to wash everyday. When it was just my older daughter I could go 2-3 days. Sometimes longer if it was prefolds and not AIO.
God bless
ashlee
starsandlollipops
12-15-2007, 10:31 PM
I used to wash every other day/ every 2 days, but since I'm preggo, I can't go w/out washing everyday. We have a FL and dd pees a ton, so its about as much as the poor washer can get clean. When it was warm out, I line dried, but its been cold and rainy... If I had a place inside to let them dry, I'd do that. I do have a gas powered dryer though :headscratch: wonder if that makes a difference?
Like the pp have said, in re: to the sanitary issues etc. I like to make sure they stay clean and stain free! ;)
abbycadabby
12-15-2007, 11:35 PM
I wonder if they are talking about a regular washer or HE, and how HE? :headscratch: We're every other day around here.
jackiemom22
01-02-2008, 06:17 PM
i have two kids in diapers...i was every day and a half...ive read that you arent supposed to wash more than 15 diaps at a time?? and my dh is putting up a clothes line so i wont be using the dryer...but either way using cloth is better than sposies now matter how often you wash...
TexasMama2B
01-04-2008, 11:22 AM
I think though, that there is a big difference. First, cloth diapers do not use nasty chemicals (especially if you buy bamboo, hemp or organic fabrics) in them, like sposies do. Also, cloth diapers can be reused, eliminating the need for further chemicals, and waste. So, yes, they use more water maybe, but still multitudes better than throwaway diapers. The same could be said for paper plates/products. Sure, I would use alot less water if we used paper plates, cups, and flatware, or paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning cloths. BUT they would fill up a landfill and they can't be reused.
That being said, I wash every other day. :thumbsup:
:yeahthat:
I am pretty sure that the water going into the septic from the washing machine is much less environmentally harmful than all the chemicals and poo going into the landfills. I mean, sure the poo goes into the septic, but if poo isn't suppose to go in there, then where?:giggle: Plus, I don't know a whole lot about the process of making sposies, but it seems like it would take more energy than running the washer?
I wash everyday because that's what my stash allows and I like doing it everyday... weird I know.
