Cloth Diapering in Japan

[Cashmama]

Hi--does anyone here cloth diaper in Japan? I am in a small town and pregnant with #3. I would love to cloth diaper like I did with my others, but I'm not sure how it would work with no dryer and the rainy season, dark winters, etc. There are cloth diapers here, so I'm sure people do it. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with it!

[qtytot]

I didnt use a dryer before and my clothes dried even in winter. Where are you in japan? We live in Kanagawa-ken but I use to live in Tokyo before I got married.

[Eco Mona]

Write my company's Japanese Distributor (for Eco Nuts detergent)
contact@venus-tokyo.net
They may be able to help you out with some advice, they deal with cloth diapering moms in Japan all day

[bcfoisy]

I'm in South Korea, and we have the same situation... We just rack-dry and then I fluff them up by hand before I toss them on the LO. They've been working fine so far! My only trouble is finding more cloth dipes to buy here. :/

[Cashmama]

Thanks, mamas! I guess my main question is: How long does it take a prefold to dry on a drying rack inside? We don't have a balcony--just a small sunroom. I am a prefold lover, but I have always dried them in a dryer. I am looking into using wool this time, too. We are in Kagawa prefecture, way down on Shikoku.

[kikitree]

Amy,

I rack-dry my PFs but I don't live in Japan; just for a reference, it takes about 20 hours to get them completely dried indoor.

Most Japanese moms use flats and I can see that working better over there where most people don't use hot water or dyer to conserve energy. I use cotton flats with wool everyday but I don't know how well wool covers would dry in Japan. You'll probably need a larger stash.

[qtytot]

Usually when I hang the clothes in the afternoon by the next morning they are dry. Flats dry fast, I would put them outside then when they are still damp bring them in so they dont dry stiff. Wool takes 2-3 days to dry when I lanolize.

[bcfoisy]

Takes about 15-20 hours for us. (we don't have a balcony either.) We brought a pretty modest stash with us thinking we would be alright, and finally ended up ordering more from the US. :/

[Cashmama]

Where did you order from? I'm curious about which sites have good international shipping. Thanks so much for all the suggestions, too, everyone!

[medea]

As noted, there's a reason Japanese moms use flats! We eventually bought a dryer because in rainy season my Ai2s would start to mould before they'd dry.

I bought a lot of diapers online here: http://bluebear.ocnk.net/ If you don't speak Japanese, mail the woman who operates it in English, she's very good.

For washing, I use Kirkland Signature Free detergent, from Costco. I think you're pretty far, so you can use yoyomarket.jp and they'll send it to you.

This woman makes my fave diapers and will ship to Japan for at-cost.