WHITE VINEGAR

White Vinegar is a great thing for a cloth mama to have (I included it on my list of needs for my baby shower). White vinegar is a very mild acid.  To mild to harm fabrics.  It balances pH levels, removes residues by breaking them down in detergents, softens and fluffs fabrics and disinfects (so good for cleaning out diaper pail and regular household cleaning too).  Our mothers and grandmother's know this.  Laundry experts know this. 

Someone recently said my vinegar advice was bad for synthetic materials in diapers including PUL.  This makes no common sense but I dug around and found out I was right.  I also dropped the issue with the person since common sense dictates that sometimes that's the wisest choice.  Also I used PUL for years and vinegar never had a negative effect. 

So if your diapers need a boost in brightness, softness or disinfecting then give white vinegar a try.  Usually 1/2 a cup.  If you have hard water, vinegar might not be as great as it might cause an odd smell.   

If your struggling to rinse all detergent from your diapers add.vinegar to your rinse cycle. 

If there is strong urine in your diapers then presoak in vinegar prior to washing (also rinse out overnight diapers and encourage older babies to drink water between nursing) .

There is a great blog post on vinegar (here).  I suggest it for further reading.  Questions in the comments are also answered. 

ON SALE: diapers, wraps and more for sale!

Today I posted all my current items for sale on the Mama Moss Facebook Page .  Please check the page and the posts titled "FOR SALE" to view items.  you can order by commenting on an item or by email at mamamossdiapers@gmail.com.  PayPal arrangements can be set up privately for payments.  Also feel free.to ask questions through the comments or email.  I will also soon be setting up a giveaway and finding people to test and review my diapers.  Below are some pics but many more on Facebook.

Wonderous Wool Covers

I've been sewing woolies and really enjoying it (I'll get to all I made in a min).  If you've read some of my other posts you will know I love wool, never been able to financialy afford wool and was a little nervous about it.

But life insisted I not give up on wooly diireams.  So then I had a chance for my products to go into a local baby market.  I jumped at the chance and got some wool for wool diaper covers.   I also made a tutorial on wool care.  Best thing about sewing wool for others though is the left overs are for me to srw for my own baby and see what I like best first lol. 

I Made Longies: And are they not so cute? Be making some for ourselves (I mean our baby lol). I finished the cuff so it can be turned up or down to adjust leg size. And I put button hole elastic in the back of the waist. I think Id like to get some snaps and make the sides open up. I'll work on that soon. I used the Katrina's pattern of the internet for free.

Skirties: So adorable right? But I'm having a boy so these are just for sale. they have a button hole waist and Id like to try the side snaps on these also. the soaker pattern for the soaker (that the skirt is attached to), is also Katrina's pattern. (I will make these links when I can).

And of course I made wool wraps. And they have a double gusset leg, cuz double gusset legs just rock at leak protection. Why I like a wrap over a soaker is if there is a poopy diaper I prefer to open rather then pull. (its why I want to create some longies ad skirties with side snaps.

CLOTH DIAPER CARE AND USE

This post will primarily have links to other posts about caring for and using your cloth diapers.   Although this post is for all cloth moms, I am designing it as an on-line care manual of sorts for people using my cloth diapers. 

Remember to prep your prefolds before use.  Also remember to lanolize wool before use.  Details in links below.

1.  IS YOUR BRAND NEW DIAPER LEAKING?  When you purchase / receive your prefold diapers they need to be prepped before use for maximum absorbency. This post discusses why and how.
2. HOW TO FOLD A PREFOLD: *This was created in the early development phase and shows a night wrap(instead of the wool wrap) that didn't make it past the prototype phase, how to do the folds is the same though and the tutorials do use my prefold hybrid. I'll update it soon though.
•Part 1, trifold
•Part 2, angel fold & poop catcher
•Part 3, jelly roll
•Part 4, open leg fold
These 4 tutorials walk you through some basic prefold diaper techniques on my own Mama Moss Prefold Hybrid.  Try them out a few times and discover this simple talent. 
3. LAUNDRY,  LAUNDRY,  LAUNDRY: This laundry posts covers some cloth laundry basics all cloth parents need to know, a better outlook on doing laundry, and some alternatives such as home made laundry detergent and boiling laundry by hand. 
4.  DIAPER PAILS AND WET BAGS: All about how to store those used cloth diapers for laundry day, tips included. 
5.  POOP GOES IN THE TOILET:  What to do with poopy diapers, you might be surprised to know the instructions for disposables is the same
6.  WHY DIAPERS SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN:  This post covers how often diapers should be changed and why It's important even when a diaper "feels" dry. 
7.  DIAPER RASH AND CLOTH DIAPERS:  We as cloth mama's might not see rash very often but it does happen.  Read about why, how and what to do. 
8. WASHING WOOL.  this post will instruct you on how to wash and care for your wool covers.  Its easy and takes very little work.  You will need some Lanolin and wool wash (not woolite)

WASHING WOOL

Well now that I finally have hadl success in buying and sewing wool covers I guess it would be wise to discuss wool care so these wool wrap style covers work.  Really its pretty simple, and I got to spend the day with a friend learning so I can share here, and use on my own wool covers.  Im very excited cuz (as I've mentioned) I really wanted wool. 

Ok here's how simple:

Washing And Lanolizing:
One of the cool things about wool is that the lanolin neutralizes urine and so they dont need to be washed all the time, just dried out and the lanolin cleans them up in the process.   That's a good thing for sheep cuz I imagine being as fluffy as sheep are they get their own urine on themselves. 

So when it is time to wash the covers fill a wash container with lukewarm water.  Add wool wash it baby shampoo.  Push wool into water until submerged.  let soak 20 minutes. Gently spot rub soiled areas. Rinse and set aside. 

Put a pea sized amount of lanolin in a container with a squirt of wash and very hot water.  Close lid.  Shake until it's emulsified.  *lanolish for nipples is most often advised and so it's what I bought.*

Put 1 1/4 inch hot water into your wash container.  Add lonolin mixture.  Add coomld water until water is a lukewarm temperature.  Add cleaned wool and soak 15 min on each side.  When done take out wrap and poor water through it.  Squeeze out water (don't wring it).  You can roll wool up in a towel and squeeze out water / moisture.   Add pressure to towel (you can walk on it).  Lay flat to dry. 

DOUBLE GUSSET DIAPER WRAP TUTORIAL - in wool

So I finally got the wool for mye diaper wraps (yay). And made my first wrap and cut the others. However I couldn't find a pattern or instructions for a double gusset (just singles). So I figured it out myself and am sharing for others.  The wool I got is 100% wool, 10% of which is cashmere (Oh so so soft).   The wrap is one layer plus a second in the wet zone. I used braided elastic in the back, and the gussests.?  I used Velcro to fasten (you can change to snaps if you like).  I edged some in bias and some in grograin ribbon. 

Here is a pic of the first one (the tutorial is me making #2)

Here is a diagram of the pattern (so you can clearly see measurements (the main piece is half a diaper and needs to be cut on the fold )

The pattern will fit on a piece of fabric that is 19 5/8 inch by 17 4/8 inch. fold over part way so main piece fits on folded over material along with the gusset. place pieces as shown.

The dots on the pattern show where the points where elastic is sewn too. using these dots, mark your fabric. You will need to cut the following pieces of elastic: • 1 back waist 7 3/8 inch • 2 gusset A 5 2/8 inch • 2 gusset B 5 inch. place core in wet zone and sew near edge. Set your sewing machine for longest stitch and sew on elastic to back waist and gusset A (each leg). Stretch elastic out evenly as you sew. Sew right near edge.

With right sides together zigzag stitch curved edge of gusset B to gusset A (stretching gusset A to fit). Gusset B will extend about 1/2 inch beyond gusset A. Turn over and run straight stitch along outside of elastic. repeat on other side.

Zigzag stitch elastic to straight edge of gusset B, stretching evenly.

Add the trim such as Bias tape (beginning seamstresses should use this) all around the outside edge.
Cut an 11cm and a 4cm piece of Velcro. Attach (straight stitch) the 11cm piece if loop to the outside front center. Then attach the 4cm piece of loop to the outside back corner.

Cut the 11cm piece of hook in half and sew to both inside back corners. Discard the 4cm piece if hook.

And your done :)

SECOND HAND DIAPERS - do it with honour.

I have had the chance (in the past) to thankfully receive 2nd hand cloth diapers from friends and neighbours.  It was actually my introduction to diapers other then Kushies, as well as some different styles.  The diapers I was gifted were clean and fresh.  No stink, no ammonia.   Freshly laundered. 

Here's the thing I received them in good condition, the same way I gift second hand items: in good condition.  

I have also passed on diaper stashes (after baby #4 and #5), when I thought I do longer needed the stash.  Did I pass on my entire stash?  Nope.  I passed on the ones in good condition.   The others went to diaper heaven (aka: the rag bin). 

I never had ammonia so that wasn't the issue.  And thankfully baby and I never had to fight thrush.  So they were all healthy diapers that I washed clean, sun bleached,  ironed and folded so they would be like new to the next mom and baby.  Ever heard the term "New to me"?  Well that's not just about having something 2nd hand you didn't have before,  it should be about receiving something 2nd hand in the best condition so it feels as new as possible. 

In fact anytime I pass on items second hand, or donate items second hand I do two things.  1. launder them with care.  2. sort out what's in good condition and what isn't.  I dont just garbage bag up my junk and pass it onto someone else to deal with.  I was taught to pass on in an honourable manner. To pass on for someone else's enjoyment,  not for my convenience.   I thought all people were.  Apparently I was wrong. 

I recently have heard 3 reports of people buying 2nd hand diapers only to discover they have ammonia.   If you have had ammonia once, cleared it properly out of your diapers, then.continued to use your diapers.without issue, sure pass them on or re-sell them...but be honest about the diapers history.   If you have reoccurring ammonia issues (they stink often and / or you need to strip often), or if you just stripped for ammonia and are now done with the stash (having not gone back to using them you cant know the issue is gone), then your diapers are not fit to pass on or re-sell!  Why would anyone think passing on an issue like this is ok?  It's not ok!  Ammonia causes painful rash on babies bums so passing on that diaper is essentially hurting someone else's baby! 

Like I've said a few times, Im old to cloth diapering but new to the internet world of cloth.  I dont know much about these buy/sell/trade sites.  I haven't ordered diapers off eBay.   I almost received diapers off kijiji but it fell through.   But I do know this. 
when giving/selling : Be honest about your diapers history.  If your embarrassed of its history then send it to your rag bin.  Tell the receiving person up front:
•If baby has had a yeast problem. 
•If diapers have had ammonia (stink), if so how often, how you treated and how  long without ammonia were they last used.
• If and how often you stripped the diapers
• did you add bleach,  scents, fabric softeners to your laundry.
• Any atypical use or care. 
•Any absorbency issues
• Any question the buyer / receiving party has!
When receiving / buying second hand: You want to receive a clean healthy diaper so be prepared:
• Ask questions (see above list).
• Ask about return / refund policy and make sure it's practical
• Only purchase healthy, clean diapers
•Be wary of those stripping and bleaching often and choose a different buyer.  Cuz even if the diaper no longer has an issue, that much wear will be producing some tare. 
•make sure you can test and return. (soak in water and check for smells, inspect diaper for damage).
• Dont get diapers connected to sites that have unending ammonia / stripping habits. 

One would wish that everyone would pass on or re-sell  with honour.   But apparently that's not the case.  So be honourable when you pass on and be wise when you receive.  If your fave site for second hand has issues then suggest some rules, a history of items sold, a buyer and seller rating system and a standard return policy that is reasonable to the buyer and the seller.  Or set up your own site, perhaps a local one where all diapers go through those managing the site to make sure items are always being passed on in an honourable way.