Cali Cloth Diapers

HUGE CLEARANCE!!

2011-06-27T17:22:00.001-07:00

I'm clearing out all of my current inventory. Everything is on sale, some items as much as 75% off!! It's all listed in my craigslist ad: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/bab/2466014552.html

2011-03-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! This site gives a sampling of the cloth diapers and accessories I sell through direct sales and free demonstration parties. I have many diapers in stock available for purchase with check or cash. You can simply contact me via email at calicloth (at) gmail (dot) com or attend a demonstration. See "upcoming events" at the right for dates and times.

You may also order any item from the following diaper manufacturers: Bummis, Organic Caboose, Thirsties, FuzziBunz, Wahmies, Drybees, Rocky Mountain Diapers, and Baby Greens Diaper Co.

Joanna's Shower List

2011-03-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Joanna's shower is coming up in April and she'd love to get set up with cloth diapering! Just give me a call or send me an email to buy any of her items. Prices are subject to tax. A portion of sales will go toward credit for Joanna to pick out some cloth diapering accessories! Click on the links to go to the brand's website and description of the item.

5 packs preemie/newborn prefold diapers by Bummis (6 diapers per pack, $9.50 per pack) SOLD

18 newborn size Monkey Doodlez All-In-One Diapers ($4.80 each)

3 lavender SOLD

3 baby blue SOLD

2 yellow SOLD

2 black

4 navy 3 SOLD

4 burgandy

12 Thirsties Duo-Wrap Covers (solids $12.50, prints $13.50)

1 Alice Brights SOLD

1 Warm Stripes SOLD

1 Blackbird SOLD

1 Cool Stripes SOLD

2 honeydew

1 rose SOLD

1 orchid SOLD

1 mango

1 storm cloud

1 ocean blue

1 meadow

Diaper Pail Liner in saturn blue ($17.95)

Wetbag ($12.00) SOLD

Trang's Shower List

2011-03-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

Trang's baby shower is coming up and she'd love to have a set of Tot Bots EasyFit cloth diapers for Redford. Once 16 diapers have been bought, I'll give Trang the last two for free! Simply give me a call or send me an email if you'd like to purchase a diaper or any of the accessories below. Click on the links to go a picture and description on the manufacturer's page. Prices do not include tax.

Tot Bots EasyFit Diaper ($23.95 each)

4 Blueberry 2 SOLD

4 Pomegranate

4 Lime

4 Orange

1 Lemon

1 White

1 medium wetbag ($14.00) SOLD

1 small wetbag ($11.50) SOLD

2 rolls of Bio-Soft flushable liners ($6.00 each)

1 diaper pail bag in mint green ($17.95) SOLD

Wash and Care

2010-07-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Washing and caring for your cloth diapers is much easier than you'd think, and if you wash & dry them properly they'll last for multiple children. The basic washing routine is as follows:

1. Short rinse on COLD with no detergent.

2. Long wash on HOT with a diaper safe detergent (see below).

3. One to three short COLD rinses to wash away all detergent residue.

* The most important thing about washing cloth diapers is to use a diaper safe detergent.

Most name brands are absolutely NOT safe for cloth and will cause odor problems. Even natural and green detergents without fragrances, dyes, enzymes, etc. could still cause problems. The reason is that most detergents leave a residue behind. That's fine for clothes, but it can affect the absorbency of diapers and can also build up in them, causing odor problems down the road. So which detergents are safe then? There's a terrific cloth diapering resource site called Pinstripes and Polka Dots that has lists of safe detergents. Click here for High Efficiency washing machines (front-loaders) and here for top-loaders. I used a liquid detergent by Bio-Kleen that worked fine, but I've recently switched to Allens Naturally liquid and am very pleased with it.

What about diaper rash creams? Again, many name brands will coat your cloth diapers and make them repellent. That's bad. Click here for a list of creams rated for cloth diapers.

More dos and don'ts:

* DON'T USE BLEACH ON YOUR DIAPERS. Bleach will simply wear them out and it's not needed. Since it's such a harsh chemical with detrimental effects on the environment, it's best to avoid it. Grandma may protest that you won't be able to clean the diapers well without bleach, but that's just not true anymore. The proof is in the pudding; if you consistently wash your dipes properly you won't have problems. I'd say the only exception would be with all-cotton diapers that haven't been washed properly in past, and even then, you should only do this once.

* DON'T USE FABRIC SOFTENER. It will coat the diapers, again causing repellency. I made this mistake once and regret it!

* DON'T MACHINE DRY COVERS. It won't destroy them, but they'll last longer if you just line dry them. In the words of one of my customers, "they dry in like three and a half minutes."

* DO WASH AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK. My routine was to wash every other day and this worked really well.

* DO RINSE OFTEN, especially if you see suds coming out of the diapers during the first (no detergent rinse). That means that you used too much detergent in the previous wash or didn't rinse them well enough.

* DO USE THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF DETERGENT. As a general rule, use HALF, YES HALF of what is recommended for clothes on the label for your type of washer. You need much less detergent than you need, even to wash soiled diapers! I use about 1/2 teaspoon of Allens liquid and my diapers are absolutely clean. If you use too much, you'll have residue build-up, and if you've been reading this long, you know what that means.

*DO DRY ALL-IN-ONES FOR LONGER. They're very thick in the middle and just need the extra time to dry. If you line dry them, always finish up with a 15-minute run in the dryer. You want to make sure they aren't moist in the middle. Some AIOs will turn inside out. They'll dry faster if you do this.

But Olivia, what do I do about the...you know...solid waste??? Isn't it gross to put that in your washing machine?

Two comments on this, each appropriate to the kind of waste in question:

1. Exclusively breast-fed infants have very benign and runny waste. It will completely wash out all in the first rinse.

2. When a baby starts eating solid food, the waste changes and so should your diapering routine, but only by a little. You do want to cut down on the solids that go into your machine as much as possible. Here's some tips:

* dump as much as you can in the toilet and flush. If you get about 80% off the diaper, you're good to go. Put it in your pail. It will rinse out fine in the first rinse. That percentage isn't scientific, just from personal experience.

* use a diaper sprayer. It's like a small, white, hose with a sprayer attachment that you connect it to the back of your toilet. The pressure of the water rinses a lot of the solids into the toilet. Then put the diaper in your pail. I've never used one, but I have customers who swear by them. I can order you one from FuzziBunz for $41.95.

* use flushable liners. Bummis makes one called the Bio-Soft Liner that you simply lay in the diaper (right next to baby's skin). When you change a "bad one," you pull the liner out (and thus the contents) and flush it down the toilet. A little waste may get on the diaper, but so little that you can call it a day and put the diaper in the pail. They come in small ($6.00) and large ($8.00).

Diaper Covers

2009-10-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

If you're cloth-diapering with prefolds or fitteds, you need a cover. However, you don't need as many covers as you need diapers, because covers that are only wet (not soiled) can be reused several times. For most families, 6-10 covers is enough. How to decide? If you want simple and cute, go with covers from Bummis or Thirsties, shown below:

Thirsties Covers $11.00

See all Thirsties colors here.

Bummis Superbrite Covers $12.25

Need something even more economical? Try a Bummis Original in white for $9.00:

I also carry high-quality organic wool covers ($30.99-32.99) and a vegan fleece ($16.99) made from soda bottles. Wool is an ideal material for cloth diapering and a completely natural option.

Cloth Diapers 101

2009-10-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you're new to cloth diapering ("CD" for short), you're probably overwhelmed by all the styles, fabrics, brands, covers, and systems to choose from. There are four main types of cloth diapers:

1. Prefold and cover: This is the most basic and economical CD system. It consists of a rectangular diaper that is folded onto baby and then wrapped with a cover. Prefolds are usually made of cotton, and organic cotton is quite affordable. To get started, you need 18-24 prefold plus about 6 covers. Covers that are wet only can be used several times before washing. Pr

ices range from $14.00 to $25.00 per dozen depending on size. All of my prefolds except for the toddler size are organic cotton. With prefolds and covers you can diaper your baby from birth to potty training in organic cotton for about $350!

2. Fitted and cover: This system provides a bit more convenience than a prefold and cover. It consists of a diaper with elastic around the legs and waist, thus providing a better fit than a prefold. It is secured with snaps or velcro, and then

wrapped with a cover (you can use the same covers used with a prefold). Many fitteds come in a "one-size" option, meaning that they can be adjusted to fit baby from birth to potty training! Prices range from $13.99 to $15.99 for organic cotton. With fitteds and covers you can diaper your baby from birth to potty training in organic cotton for about $500.

3. Pockets: Pockets are an extremely convenient CD option. A pocket diaper is one diap

er that has sewn-in waterproofing on the outside, with no need for an extra cover. The diaper is "hollow" on the inside, allowing for absorbent material to be inserted. After use, you simply pull out the cloth insert, and wash both the pocket diaper and the absorbent insert. Prices range from $17.95 to $19.95. With pocket diapers by FuzziBunz you can cloth diaper your baby from birth to potty training for as little as $400. I also carry the two-size Duo-Diaper from Thirsties ($17.95) and the two-size Easy Fit from Tot-Bots ($18.95/$23.95).

Washing Cloth Diapers 101

2009-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Washing cloth diapers yourself is much easier than you'd think. In short, you simply run your diapers through 3 cycles in your washing machine:

1. a short cold rinse (no detergent)

2. a long hot wash (with detergent)

3. a medium cold rinse (no detergent)

As for what to do with the diapers between washes, you can put them in any kind of trash can with a liner. I recommend a diaper pail liner specially made for cloth diapering, like these from Wahmies. I sell them for $17.95. For a baby that is exclusively breastfed, you do not need to rinse, scrape, or do anything at all to your diapers before washing, whether wet or soiled. It's hard to believe, but it's absolutely true! For babies who are eating solid food, you need to dump most of the solid matter into the toilet before putting it in your diaper pail. The washing machine will take care of small amounts, like smears.

When washing day comes, remove the entire pail liner from the diaper pail and carry it to the washing machine. Holding the bag over the machine, turn it inside out so that all of the diapers fall into the machine. Then drop the pail liner itself into the machine, still turned inside out. It's that simple!

Many moms want to know how often to wash their diapers, and I recommend every 2-3 days. Some diaper services that do the washing for you pick up only once a week. I've used this kind of service before, and once a week is not often enough. I also get questions about the smell, and to be totally honest, a cloth diaper pail does not smell any worse than one filled with disposable diapers.

For more tips on washing, including a list of which kinds of detergents are safe to use with cloth diapers, see the Bummis website.