Tried and True, Or: The Dawn-in-the-Sink Diaper Stripping Method

So, you think you need to strip your diapers. Either they're stinky, or they're repelling liquid, or they're just not working for you. Stripping your diapers can give them a new lease on [butt]life. Before you go straight to stripping, make sure you check the fit of your problem dipes, at the legs and waist. Diapers that are too loose can allow liquid to leak as baby shifts around, or if the diaper is unevenely stuffed, with the insert bunching up on one side. Make sure they're not too tight also, because that can cause "compression leaks", where the dipe absorbs just fine, but the liquid is actually *squished* out of the absorbant insert. Like squeezing a soaking wet sponge. With your baby's bottom. 


SO! If you're still in need of a fool-proof stripping method, try this.

You'll need:

• Your problem diaper covers. Make sure they're "clean" first; wash them however you would normally. It doesn't matter if they're wet or dry, just not straight from the dirty pail! 
• Plain blue Dawn dish washing liquid. No Oxy-, no anti-bac, no nothing. I only use the plain blue kind, because I know for sure that it works.
• An empty sink, or bathtub.
• Plenty of water
• Your washing machine (to rinse, rinse, rinse at the end)

Optional:

• Stockpot of boiling water (just for good measure)

Directions:

(If you want to make sure they're extra super-duper clean, boil your biggest stockpot of water while you're stripping them, we'll come back to it later.)

Put your covers in the sink. Fill the sink with enough water to cover the diapers you're stripping. Grab a wet cover, squirt a few drops of Dawn on it, and scrub it against itself. Rinse as much soap out of the covers as you can in the sink, then dump 'em in the washer Hot water wash, and set load size to "Large". If you have an HE washer, set to "bulky items" as this will trick your washer into using more water per load, which will help rinse your diapers easier. [If you boiled water at the beginning, here's where it comes in: Let washer fill, then dump the whole pot in. Make sure there's already water covering the dipes, or the super hot water may damage them.]  Run through regular wash/rinse cycles (DON'T ADD SOAP) until there are no more lingering bubbles in the water. Hang dry. 

The End! 

Tips:

I usually wash all the covers, and then rinse them all together, but if you're cramped for space, you could wash one, rinse it, and then set it aside while you do the next one.

If you have any questions about this method, Please email me: MamaSuperPow@gmail.com or better yet, Tweet me: MamaSuperPow

Happy Diapering!

Couch to 5k - Week 1 Day 1

6.26.11


-How was your run?

I ran. Whoooosh. My throat hurt, and I'm wondering if they make a sportsbralike-contraption for my ass, but I survived. I pushed too hard on the first couple of runs, and had a harder time recovering during the walks, but I figured out what I CAN do, and finished the workout. Felt woogly when I got off! I know I can do this!

I Should Really Try To Blog Harder

Well, it's been over a month since I set thoughts to blog. Since May 1 (which seems to be my most recent post), I've had my 25th birthday, we (MamaPow, DaddyPow and BabyAwesomePow) have---


Oh jeeze. Did she hear Blogger open? How does she DO that? Well, Naptime is over, hopefully I'll be back to finish this sometime later this day/weekend/month. Sigh.  2:46pmEST

So she's up now, being a fuss-face on her playmat. Not sure what her deal is, but until she shows me/I figure it out, back to blogging.

We're in Charleston visiting friends and family, not necessarily in that order. We left Honolulu on the 15th of May, a Sunday evening, flew to Houston, laid over 12ish hours (it's Monday now) to visit with DaddyPow's parents and his brother, then flew the remaining leg to Charleston. We rented a car for the duration of time DaddyPow would be in Chas (6 whole days, thnxNavybai), and visited our little brains out. Then DaddyPow wooshed off back to Hell-waii, and work, and Baby Awesome and I stayed here. But not for long! Monday the 23rd, we wooshed on a plane to Charleston West Virginia via DC-Dulles to visit my brother and fam, our ultimate goal Marietta, OH where Grandpa Forbes lives. That's a total of 4 plane rides so far for BabyAwesome! Yay!

She did really well on all of the flights, even the 8hr one to Houston from Honolulu. Minimal fussing. All I can say is thank god I breastfeed.

Visiting family up north was great! My sister (who is an AwesomePow herself) even got to come into Marietta for visiting. So great to see her and acquaint her with my spawn. Sadly, it was a short visit to the hinter-lands, and BabyA.Pow and I flew home (add 2 more flights onto her tally) and we've been house sitting in Mt. Pleasant (an area of Charleston) since we got back.

But! The adventures kept rolling; we had arrived back in CHS on Saturday afternoon, and were only given a brief respite (what a great word: respite), before one of my best friends from 8th grade-present came to visit for a week! We pretty much sat around the house and went out to eat at delicious Charleston places that we'd missed since we each moved away (specifically; Hyman's Seafood, Wild Wings (we ate there 3 times), Kim's Steakhouse, and I dragged her to Chick-fil-a at least 3 times that I recall). We also did a bit of shopping, we went to the pool (BabyA.Pow's first pool experience!), walked downtown Chas, went to Barnes & Noble, oh, and got tattoos.

She left on Tuesday, and since then, it's just been baby & me at the house. Well, plus the two dogs, two cats, parrot, and various cacti I'm sitting. Have been coordinating with Granny Bonn for a bit of babysitting, and plenty of visiting (though not enough visiting for her tastes, sigh). We'll be here for a little less than two more weeks, and then I get to wrangle Baby(will hopefully remain)Awesome across the continent and most of the width of the Pacific Ocean via airplanes. I'm sure we'll be fine. I can always Beco her, and walk the plane. For 8 hours.



Love & cuppycakes,
MamaSuperPow

Cloth Diapers: The Truth About Savings

Here is a GREAT chart that breaks down the cost of cloth diapering vs. disposables by TYPE of cloth diaper. It might be a bit confusing for a CD Noob, but the savings are obvious. I'm so glad someone did the math and posted this!

http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php

Sandbox Lane

I have a new favorite online store! Sandboxlane.com
They are brand spankin' new this year, and stock eco-friendly baby products. I follow @sandboxlane on Twitter, and let me tell you, Linda is AWESOME to chat to and she has always tweeted back when I @ her. :]

Earlier this week (Tuesday), she tweeted, asking if there was an interest in a standing discount code for Military Mamas. I of course jumped all over that with excitement and suggestions of how to screen for legitimate mil-mamas while protecting their security at the same time. So I got my code, placed an order, (they offer FREE SHIPPING on orders $30+ Bee T. Dubs.), and it arrived today (Saturday)! That's ridiculously fast, in the world of free shipping to Hawaii! Not to mention I saved $4.86 on my order. Bonus!

Here's what I ordered:

aden + anais radiant blue swaddle single 

(But I got it in red, ha ha)

 

 

 

Natural Wood Ring Rattle

 

 

 

 

Stacking Cup Set

 

I am really excited to try these things out. The rattle will be stashed away in Mama's Bag O' Tricks for when we fly to Charleston in 2 weeks (eek!). I haven't decided if I'll takes the cups yet, but since they nest so nicely, I'll definitely think about it. There won't be baby toys where we're staying. The blanket is going FOR SURE. Charleston is HOT, and humid. I'm hoping that the muslin will be comforting, but not stifling. Not to mention that it's got stars for Stella on it. :] I *so* want the blue one, and I know a&a make a green one too, but I might hold off. Or rather, I'll try to hold off, hee hee


Here's what's going on lately at Ye Old Sandbox: They're having a giveaway when they reach 500 Twitter followers! Details are here: http://blog.sandboxlane.com/2011/04/great-500-follower-giveaway.html

So go to http://twitter.com/#!/sandboxlane Follow, and tell her that @mamasuperpow sent you!


OOOH!! I almost forgot to mention that if they don't stock a product that you're interested in, just ask, and if they end up stocking it, they'll include some Funk Rock with your order! I asked about Mama Cloth, and they're going to carry the Fuzzibuns line! I am awesome. They are awesome. Go follow them so hard (and mention me).

Seriously. New favorite.