Flats and Flips

Did you score the flips on sale? Buy 2 get 1 free comes out to $8 a diaper. I'm a big fan of flips, they dry quickly and fit well on my kids. But I didn't buy the Flips inserts. The stay dry liner is $5 by itself or a 3 pack sells for $12. The organic is $8 or you can buy a 3 pack for $20. The inserts add quite a bit to the price of the diaper. (not on sale flip is $14 plus a $5 insert = $19! That is twice my target of price of $10 or less a diaper)

What is a frugal (cheap) mama to use? Those $1 tea towels aka flats.

Flip diaper with tea towel inset

Folded with tea towel inside

With added Bum Genius stay dry insert layer

Added hemp insert with stay dry layer

I find the tea towels to be pretty absorbent. Not the most fun to clean poo off of (even with a diaper sprayer) but I tend to use them when it would be odd for my babies to poop. I do like adding a stay dry layer, i don't want the babies to feel wet. My hemp inserts were bought used (no idea what brand) and the Bum Genius ones were a gift. I use the hemp ones for Baby E since she's our chunky girl.

Price options
Flips on sale $8 + $5 stay dry insert = $13
Flip on sale $8 + $1 tea towel = $9
Flip on sale $8 + $1 tea towel + stay dry doubler ($2 each) = $11

Bonus the tea towel can be used as a diaper by itself. A $5 insert is still just an insert, The $1 tea towel can be folded into a diaper. You can even use the stay dry doubler on the inside of the tea towel diaper. :) I love having multiple uses for the same product!

Continuing our cloth diapering on a budget series:

Used diapers. Do you find that gross? I did at first. But i buy used clothes for my kids. Ever have a baby blow out all over their clothes? How is that different then a used diaper? I'm not going into used diapers just now, I'm pepping you for a future topic. Food for thought if you will. :)

If used diapers are beyond you right now make sure to sign up for the daily deal sites. Zulily has diapers occasionally. Right now they have a pocket diaper called Royal fluff on special till June 3rd. Diapers that normally cost between $23-$25 are on sale for $8.99-$9.99. They also have $11.99 wet bags. If your willing to buy used, you can spend less. But if you want new diapers, this is a good price. I've never tried Royal fluff, and I have tons of pocket diapers already. I won't scoop up this deal. But i wanted to pass it on for any one who needs new diapers.

Giveaway on My cloth Diaper stash

My Cloth Diaper Stash is hosting a tot bots giveaway! Giveaways are another great way to add diapers on a budget. Free is very on budget!

Diaper sale

Fuzzi buns are on sale for buy 1 get 1 free at ButterCup Baby. Very good sale for new diapers. Fuzzi buns are good diapers, we have a few and like them. The large ones fit 3 year old Diva very well.  Plus the fuzzi buns ship free at Buttercup baby. For $80 you can buy 8 new good quality diapers. That is about a day's worth of diapers for my older babies. (each) I like pocket diapers in wet climates they dry quickly even when hung up inside. I like covers and flats for the same reason but i'm working on adding a stay dry layer to those. Dh doesn't like covers and flats he'll always grab a pocket diaper first.

I will not be scooping up this deal. We have plenty of pocket diapers for the babies and the budget is a little too tight to add anymore for Diva. ;) But I hope someone benefits from this awesome sale!

Flats challenge

There is a really cool diaper challenge going on right now. Its a challenge to use flat diapers without a washer or dryer. I love it! But I'm not participating.

1. I didn't know about the challenge till after it had started.
2. With 3 kids in cloth I'm not willing to hand wash.
3. We have only 4 'flat' diapers. Aka tea towels.

I have to admit the challenge made me curious about flats. I've used them twice on my girls now for about an hour and a half each time. I folded the flats in their flips covers as inserts. My girls didn't leak through but I wouldn't trust them for much longer. The second time I added some inserts from Bum Genius on top of the flats. The bum genius inserts have a stay dry layer. I don't want my girls to feel wet, the fleece on the bum genius wicks the moisture away from them.

The flats were dry by the morning which is a huge plus in our wet climate. Since the flips are also dry in the am I feel like they are a good combonation. I'm going to keep playing with them. Who knows, we may add more flats to our stash. :)

Cloth diaper laundry on a budget

Continuing our cloth diapering on a budget series:

I wash diapers everyday. With 3 kids in cloth we go through a lot of diapers. We have two big wetbags for dirty diapers. If its mid day and the wetbag is already full then i wash twice a day.

There are many different  kinds of diaper detergent. While I like that diaper detergent is diaper friendly I don't want to have to order special detergent. Or spend $15 on detergent. One of the detergents says it does 45 or 90 loads for $14. At 45 loads that is a cost of .32 cents a load.  90 loads would equal a cost of .15 cents a load. I'm using arm and hammer sensitive skin, free of dyes and perfumes. Its on sale at Walgreens this week for $3. The bottles says it does 32 loads. That is a cost of .09 a load. Its actually less then that since I use less on diapers then on a normal load of laundry. This works great for my family. Hubby has sensitive skin and this detergent doesn't both him. I don't have to keep a special detergent on hand, and if I run out its a quick pick up.

Currently my diapers are stink free. They absorb great and do not bother my kid's skin. If we start having smells, rashes, or absorbing problems then perhaps we will switch detergents. After stripping the diapers. But why start out with the expensive option if the cheaper choice will work fine? I've bought 2 bottles this week and will probably buy another 2 bottles to keep upstairs.

I hang all my diapers and inserts to dry. Unfortunately we live in a VERY rainy area and most of the time I have to hang inside. (but i do relish those beautiful hot days when the diapers can hang outside) Our small hanging drying rack can't hold the 12-16 diapers the kids use everyday.Once the drying rack is full its time to get creative again! I use pants hangers to hold inserts, Some of the diapers hang over the shower curtain rod, and some over the towel hangers in the bathroom. Pocket diapers dry quickly enough to be used the next day. Our inserts, all in ones, and prefolds have to take a short tumble in the dryer. Usually 20 minutes on low is enough to finish drying them.

Thankfully our electric and water rates are very reasonable, The extra washing and short dry times add very little to our budget.

Prefolds

Continuing our cloth diapering on a budget series:

Prefolds are a common suggestion for cloth diapering on a budget. I had some tiny gerber prefolds that I find basically worthless. As i understand it gerber makes prefolds that are 100% cotton and some with a different filler. I think we have the ones with the weird filler. They do not absorb well at all. And they are far too tiny for baby E's bum. I wanted to give good quality prefolds a shot but i didn't want to invest a ton of money in something i wasn't sure my family would use.  I ordered 5 indian prefolds to try for a total of $10.

Prefolds have to be prepped. Since they are a natural fiber the oils from the fiber have to be washed out before the fabric will absorb. I bought indian prefolds because they have to be washed 5-7 times (with drying in between!) vs the 20 something times for chinese prefolds. My washer is wonky it would take me forever to wash the prefolds 5 times. Luckily the Internet came to the rescue! You can boil the prefolds to remove the oils. I could  fit 3 in my biggest pot. They boiled for 20 minutes after which time I washed and dried on hot. My goodness it made a huge difference! They went from flat to puffy.

Indian prefolds after boiling

I've used the prefolds to stuff our Flips covers a few times. It works but makes the baby's butts huge. I think they are a little large to be used as inserts, Today I used a prefold on baby E. I used a snappi and the Thirsty cover. It worked and was easy to get on. However my husband didn't like it. Baby E soaked the diaper and hubby didn't like having to touch the soaking wet diaper. Personally it doesn't bother me. I'm constantly feeling up the diapers and inserts to find out how wet everything is. That is what hand washing is for. ;)

I'm not sure prefolds are for us. I have bought a few more to try and maybe we will find the prefold love. I don't mind them but I don't find anything impressive about them either. They take longer to dry (very humid climate) then my pocket diapers. The prefolds require covers. The cheapest cover i've seen new was $6. At $2 a prefold thats $8 a diaper. As much as my kawaii pockets which I like more. If you can find a deal on used prefolds and covers or make your own covers I can see it being a good budget option. I'm not sure its a great choice for our family.