maryavan's comments

New Uses for Washcloths

18 Apr 2008 01:41 PM

We use a ton of washcloths and kitchen dishrags. We have ever since ds was a newborn and we were using cloth dipes. It seemed silly to use cloth diapers and have use a ton of paper towels just to dry my hands. Mainly we use them to dry hands in bathroom or in kitchen instead of paper towels. Washcloths can be used as pantyliners without being sewn. Just fold them in thirds or fourths one direction. When washing the load I'd add a few drops of tea tree oil to wash to help kill germs.

It doesn't even really add much work to our wash loads. It does save money over buying paper towels.

Frugal Baby Care

29 Nov 2006 11:18 PM

I can't wait to get my cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and covers out for the lil bug I'm expecting now!! Talk about saving money--I'm basically all set to diaper baby #2 from birth til potty training for under $30 (if covers elastics are okay)!! We will need to buy some dsq prefolds ONLY b/c a recommended detergent changed their formula and damaged the chinese prefolds from first baby. Otherwise, it would've been nearly nothing for diapering #2.

Cloth should also greatly reduce diaper rash--even more $$ saved by not needing diaper creams. We used what was supposed to be "disposable" Gerber diaper liners--they were reusable if washed w/ dipes but pulled out before the dryer. 1 1/2 boxes of liners lasted us 3 1/2 years! Another money saving tip for using cloth is to look at online auctions. There are great deals on used dipes and also on factory seconds on covers/wraps.

I'm not sure about using bleach on cloth rags or reusing them w/o washing in the machine. If you have lots (20-30) you can just use them once and put them to be laundered. You only need them for poopy dipes usually. Don't use bleach on cloth dipes. If you are using cloth diapers, you just throw the rags w/ the diapers and wash/dry together. The only extra work is folding them. Once I found the washing combination that worked for ds, using cloth was a breeze. DH even liked it. It is simple and saves so much money when it all is added up. Plus the waste won't sit in the ground for centuries.