Journey in cloth diaper-ing. Part 1

I used the traditional nappies - lampin, for my previous 3 babies, but never really went into cloth diapering proper. I bought 3 pocket diapers before and just use them once in a while. My nanny had a great idea of emptying the contents of disposable tape diapers and use the shell as covers for nappies. Brilliant DIY cloth diapering! I wish I have a photo to show, but I don't do it now.  That was cheap and works for a few washes before the disposable shell disintegrate. The nappies on the other hand was good for one wetting and needs to be change very often. So it's quite a bit of work.

So.. now for baby number 4 I decided to give it a plunge again. Got some really cute preloved US -PeachyGreen newborn shells from a dear homeschool mommy but I couldn't find inserts of that size, and newborn days were so busy and hectic that I didn't cloth diaper much. When Travis turned 2 months and pooed less often, I thought it was good to start some cloth diapering. Disposable were also getting pricey and really harmful for the environment too.

 I asked my friend who passed me the Cloth Diaper (CD for short) covers where can I get the soakers and she introduce me to join a Cloth Diaper Facebook group. hmmm there's such a group? Cloth diapering has changed so much since I had my babies, so much to learn. One of the cloth diapering moms kindly opened her home to show us her stash of cloth diapers and answer our questions. So I went. I was introduced to the Cloth Diaper language- AIO, AI2, Shells, Inserts, Soakers, Striping and Santising? Wash Routine? so many new terms... and the fabrics used are so different now, Bamboo, Hemp, Minky, Microfibre... super absorbent and I also realised super expensive.

So... my plan was to get some preloved covers and cheap new soakers/inserts to start off as the thought of using preloved soakers felt a bit gross and unhygienic. But I did change my mind about that (read on). At the cloth diaper meet up, one of the moms were selling her preloved Grovia shells, what I heard was $15 for 3, wow, seem like a good price. But I heard it wrongly, it was $15 for one. Still they look pretty new and in good condition so I  decided to get 2 just to try it out.

That's how I got my first 2 preloved Grovia Shells.
Grovia - A US brand, selling locally at about $28+ for one Hybrid Shell and $28+ for 2 soakers.

I never like velcro as I fell it's too sharp for babies, just in case it scratches against his skin. But this Grovia ones are Hook and Lock system, slightly different from a velcro, not as sharp, and it locks onto the felt at the top of the CD, you can adjust it to the right fit.

At the meet up I was also introduced to Baby Beehinds soakers (an Australian brand), which fits my newborn shells nicely.

In search for preloved stuff, I found some on Carousell, $64 for 4 fairly new Grovia shells (free 4 more well loved + 14 Grovia Soakers!) Wow.. good deal. I have no issues with preloved shells, but soakers... I posted on the fb group to ask about this and they show me a strip and sanitise procedure to disinfect and get rid of any build up in the soakers.

But the process on the chart is so complicated and we cant find many of the products ( Borax..etc) here in Singapore, so this is what I did. I soaked the soakers in diluted bleach. ( Well suppose to be half hour max, but I read wrongly and soaked them for 4 hours!) I then rinse out the bleach and wash them in the washing machine with TIDE washing detergent, the best detergent for Cloth Diapers. And then I soaked them in hot water for half hour, spin dry the soaker in the washing machine and dry them in the sun.

If you are new to cloth diapers, check out this site: http://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/ Yes need to go back to University to learn all this stuff. Amazing, I now know a lot more about detergent, how washing detergent works, how fabric traps dirt brighteners. Whole science behind washing, cloth diapering..etc.. wow.

Here is more info on the Striping routine.
http://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/troubleshooting/solving-stinky-diaper-problems/how-to-strip-your-cloth-diapers/

Last Saturday while shopping in the local wet market, I came across a stall selling towels and handkerchief. I looked around and found cloth that looks like nappies, but the size were too small. I then saw a 100% cotton face towel. it looks comfortable, absorbent and its 3 for $10. So I bought 3 to experiment. Fold into half then thirds you get a prefold soaker- or was it flats, oh well you get what I mean.

Soo.....

If I have gotten brand new
Grovia Hybrid Shells 10 -  $28 x 10 = $280
Grovia Soakers 14 - $28 x 7= $196
Total = $476

I got the above for a total of $30+$64 = $94 ( Saving of $382)
Baby Beehind Soakers x 2 = $18
TIDE 1.2L detergent from Redmart $9.90
Face Towel to be used as soakers 3 for $10
Nappy Liner 2 box of 100 for about $10

Total Damage = $141.90

Will update more on how it goes. :)