[manda622]

Hey Everyone!

I'm fairly new around here. My husband and I are expecting our first on Septemeber 20th. I've been attracted to the idea of Cding for years and my husband was an instant sell. He's actually more gung ho about it than me when it comes to one thing.

We rent. Our current place has no laundry and we go to the laundromat. We need to find a new place regardless, because our current place is not deleaded- so w/d hookups are high on the wish list. However, with our tight budget, our cat, and needing de-leaded the pickings in our area (Massachsuetts North Shore) are very slim. So, I'm not sure we actually can get something with a private washer dryer.

I told my husband that if we had to go to the laundromat with the diapers I didn't think I would go through with it. For one thing- the cost would really cut into the savings of CDing (which is a major benefit of CDing for us). The other and most important factor for me though is time- I will be working fulltime, the idea of being at the laundromat for a couple of hours 2-3 times a week is not appealling at all.

Anyway, I was doing some research on alternatives to the laundromat and came across this:

Amazon.com: Bonus Package Panda Small Mini Portable Compact Washer Washing Machine 5.5lbs Capacity: Appliances

If we don't find a place where we can have our own ful W and D I was thinking we could get one of these to use exclusively for diapers. We would still do our regular laundry at the laundromat as usual, and do the ocassional diaper wash at the laudromat as needed.

Do you think this would work? Because of cost we will probably mostly be using prefolds, and maybe have a small stash of pockets...

[helios]

Interesting! I think it's worth a shot, although you will definitely want to stick with prefolds or flats because they wash easier than other diapers and take up less room. It might also come in handy for doing the occasional load of baby clothes.

[shen7]

I do know of moms who successfully CD using only those sorts of portable washers (or even hand washing with a plunger bucket thingy) and line drying. However, I think the majority of those who have been doing it awhile, have specific types of diapers. Prefolds can work but you may want to get the thinner kinds (4x6x4 ply or so, not 4x8x4) and use preemie prefolds as doublers as needed. Flats are a breeze to wash and air dry, and just a bit more work to fold, but you can use very easy folds and many moms find the ease of laundry worth the extra work in putting them on baby. (The easiest fold is a pad fold- just fold in half twice to make a square, then fold in thirds to make a long pad, stick it in a cover or a pocket.) You can use pockets too and either stuff with the microfiber inserts most of them come with, or use prefolds or flats to stuff. Some moms find that microfiber holds onto stink and they have an easier time sticking with cotton, but not everyone has a problem with microfiber. It does air dry pretty quickly.

Hope that helps! Good luck, hopefully you will find a house with w/d hookups and be all set

[Maenfayne]

Oooooh! I like this idea! I'll be stealing it

[Irish_Wristwatch]

I think it could work, but i would probably stick with flats and covers, flats can seem a little scary at first but they are really awesome, and a million cool ways to fold them, I use them a lot at home and they are by far my fave

like Shen said they wash up so easily, quick to dry, im sure that a portable washer like that would be able to get them clean enough . I wouldnt be confident that any other type of diaper would really be clean enough using a machine like that though

[manda622]

Thanks for the input ladies! I think this will be a solid backup plan for us. It will definitely effect our diaper choice though. I was currently leaning toward a mix of prefold/covers and pockets. But, will definitely stick to prefolds (and maybe flats) if we do this. We'll just have to see what happens with the apartment hunt!

Oh, and I think we will get this too: Amazon.com: Mini Countertop Spin Dryer Clothes Spin Dryer Portable Clothes Dryer: Appliances

So, the drying time is shorter and we don't have to kill our hands wringing!

[manda622]

BTW I fould this youtube vid of one mom using this machine for cloth diapers! Only one, but at least she seems pleased with it.