The Braseltons

About a month ago I became considerably more ‘hippie’ (as Tom likes to say), though I’d call myself more green. As in easier on the planet AND more green in our wallet! I mean I’ve / we’ve been slowly getting greener and greener changing a lot of the things we do, but a month ago I made a couple of bigger changes. We started using cloth diapers and homemade laundry detergent. I’ve spent a total of $20 on the detergent. It would have been $15, but since we have extremely hard water I added the Calgon water softener into the mix to help prevent any mineral build up. I made the first batch on 6/29/10. Today, exactly a month later, I made a second batch. That’s pretty good. We probably wash between 60-70 loads a month. So I should have enough for about 5-6 months for $20! And it really takes only a few minutes to make.

The recipe for clothing:
1 bar ivory (chopped into 8 – 10 pieces, put on paper plate, microwave for 1-1.5 minutes, cool, put chunks in gallon size storage bag with most air removed, beat with a rolling pin into dust)
1 cup borax
1 cup super washing soda
1 cup oxyclean free
About 3/4 cup calgon

2 TBS per load

The diapers just get super washing soda and calgon. Zoe seems to have super sensitive skin in her diaper area so I’ve pared it down to just that so she’s not irritated. But the diaper covers get super washing soda, calgon and borax to make sure they get clean. The diapers are 100% cotton so they clean up easy. The covers are polyester, any non-natural fibers usually need extra cleaning power (or so I read…).

Sorry if this is too much info- I’ve included it all for those that wanted the recipe, etc.

As a side note- I’m really loving the cloth diapers! I should have done this a long time ago! We haven’t had one poo blow out since changing- it was daily before (no matter which brand diaper we were using). She did get another rash after switching. Which made me pare down the detergent, but ultimately I made her some fleece liners that wick moisture away from her skin and has really done the trick! A big plus is that they make poo clean up a breeze! So I think we’ll stick to cloth from now on!

Ok this got long!