Thursday, February 4, 2010

How do I organize my cloth diapers?

Wow how time flies by. I make myself little notes to write out a blogpost at least every week but the note just keeps being pushed back to a later time and next thing I know I have not posted for almost a month :(

So today (on my 34th birthday - time does fly by!!!) I decided I absolutely needed to write a little something.

Yesterday I went out and bought a wipes warmer (I finally caved in after 2.5 years!) and as I was re-organizing my laundry room (which is where I store my cloth diapers), I thought maybe I could take pictures and share a blogpost on how I organize my cloth diapers. I always like seeing how other people store their cloth diapers and I often get asked how I do it when customers come to my home showroom. So here it is ...

We live in a 2 story home. Both my sons' rooms are upstairs and the baby's room is where I have a changing table. However the only time I use this table is after bath time when I am putting on night time diapers and pj's so I don't actually store any cloth diapers upstairs, I just bring the night time diapers upstairs before bath time and I bring the dirty ones downstairs after bath time. Since our common living area is downstairs, I have created my self a changing table and diaper area right in my laundry room (which is adjacent to my kitchen).

We have a front loading washer so my husband was kind enough to build me a counter over top of my machines so I could fold my laundry. Little did I know at that time that this counter would become my changing table :) I just purchased a changing mattress and put it over top the machines and was able to organize all of my cloth diapers and accessories in this area.

For us it is the perfect area as I can store my clean diapers and dirty diapers in the same place and when laundry day comes the diapers are ready to be dumped in the washer. We also have a laundry tub so I can wash my hands there as well as rinse anything as needed. This is also where I wash my wool covers and longies.

We also attached a diaper sprayer onto our toilet but we rarely need it as both our kids have pretty solid poop that don't need rinsing. Lucky for us :)

The only downfall of our setup is that as we are changing our youngest one he loves to grab all of the diapers around him! One day when we find the time (and money) my husband will build some cupboards/shelves overtop of our washer/dryer so I could place the diapers higher. By the time this happens we probably won't have any kids in diapers :(

Lastly, we have a smaller space in our laundry room that we use for storage and to hang dry anything that can't go outside due to weather. We purchased a drying rack from Canadian Tire that can be mounted on the wall which I love!



This is the counter top that is on top of my washer and dryer with the changing pad where I change my boys and store my diapers.


Here is my new wipe warmer where I store my cloth wipes and beside it I do have a disposable wipes container (for those very big messes :)


Beside my changing table I have a garbage and my Wahmies pail liner that I store in a wicker basket. This permits the diapers to still breathe and decreases the smell considerably (compared to using a plastic pail).



(LEFT) On the back of our door I purchased a cloth caddy (Toys R Us) where I store my rags and in the bottom I place all of my wetbags.
(RIGHT) This is my drying rack for when I can't hang things outside on my clothesline.



(LEFT) My laundry tub. Very handy for handwashing and any rinsing. This is also where I soak my wool covers and longies.
(RIGHT) My diaper sprayer which we use when needed.

I would love to hear (or see) how other people organize their cloth diapers. I'd love to read your comments. You can also send me pictures that I will post onto my facebook fanpage.


Have a great weekend!
Vicky

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great tip about the wicker basket. I had never heard of that before. I store my diapers in those plastic organizers with the drawers.

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  2. The wicker basket is actually awesome. The other option is just to hang it but I found that when the liner gets too full, it does smell a bit more than in my wicker basket. But still much better than a plastic pail!

    Thank you for your comment New Mama :)

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  3. Your laundry room looks a lot like mine! I have an 8" shelf just above my washer and dryer which is where I keep my diapers (just out of reach from my daughter).
    As for your wipes warmer addition, I've been using one since my daughter was born and I so regret not having used one with my son. It is the best cloth diapering accessory I own. Cloth wipes work so much better than disposable ones! The warmer saves a ton of water and time when using cloth (you don't have to run the water to get it warm). I really dislike disposable baby wipes - they're too thin. I also don't like the idea of putting a dirty wipe in the garbage (yuck!). We only use cloth so dirty cloths go with the diapers where they belong - in the wash!
    For my diaper bag, I keep some cloth wipes and use a foaming wipes solution by Northern Essence.

    With my son, I diapered him using 12 medium Fuzzi Bunz. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I decided to expand my collection a bit and ended up trying almost everything available in Canada! My daughter is 14 months now so has gone through her NB and smalls (and mediums in some brands). My current stash reflects my favourites.

    My Diaper Stash

    For day - home
    10 Fuzzi Bunz (med) 7 old style, 3 new
    1 One Size FB
    1 Swaddlebees One Size Organic Velour Eco-Nappy
    1 Bum Genius One Size Organic AIO
    3 Thirsties fitted (large)
    1 Imsy Vimsy organic cover
    1 Baby Beehinds cover
    3 Loveybums doublers
    3 AMP bamboo inserts*
    1 Jam Tots one-size bamboo insert*

    *inserts are used with FB and BG in rotation with some old hemp inserts and the microfleece inserts that come with the diapers

    Laundry Room
    1 FB hanging diaper bag (bottom zipper is great for front loader)
    1 wipes warmer (love this!)
    16 wipes
    6 bamboo velour wipes (Northern Baby)
    6 sherpa wipes (Northern Baby)
    4 others (not as good as above)

    Diaper Bag
    2 Jam Tots wet bags
    1 Mommy’s Touch changing pad for diaper bag (thick and rolls up)
    4 wipes
    Northern Essence Foaming Wipes Solution


    For daycare (Yes, I convinced an Ottawa Child Care Centre to use cloth!)
    8 AMP AIO diapers (large)
    4 Bum Genius One Size Pocket
    12 NBC Wet bags with toggle (from makers of Gro Baby)
    2 large wet laundry bags (at public daycare, they must put each diaper in a wet bag before putting in the laundry bag)

    For nights
    1 Moonies organic cotton velour fitted (size 2)
    2 BabyBeehinds one size bamboo fitted (amazing diaper!)
    2 Loveybums organic cotton with snaps (large)
    1 BabyBeehinds wool cover (love wool!)

    This is far more than what I really need, but I love my diapers!

    Julie

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