Handwashing!? Are you Crazy?

I guess I am!

For anyone who didn't read the other day, I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!

As I write this, I have yet to wash my diapers for tonight, but they are soaking.  And in the spirit of experimentation, I did handwash a load on Saturday and it did not really take that long.

So why I am I doing the challenge?  Well first of all, I thought the history behind the challenge was pretty cool.  Since switching to cloth I have realized how gross disposable diapers are.  I can't imagine having to reuse them because I couldn't afford to buy new ones.  So it's cool to show others that you can cloth diaper for very little money.

The second reason?  I had never tried flats before and thought it would be fun to give it a try!  I even spent the time tie dyeing some of them over the weekend to make things more interesting.  I was able to dye five flats and a t-shirt for my little girl and had a lot of fun doing it.  Here's a few pictures of my dye job.  I am looking forward to letting my baby wear these on her bum!

Day 1 my little girl wore pockets (namely BumGenius 4.0s) stuffed with padfolded flats because Daddy was home with her and he won't use anything but pockets and AIOs.  She is currently sleeping in an extra large receiving blanket that was padfolded and put inside a Flip cover.  She is wearing a pair of woolies over the top.

Well I suppose I should stop procrastinating and wash my diapers!  I'll be back tomorrow with an update after day two.