The Laundry Slave

When talking about cloth diapering I usually get some strange looks from the non-cloth mommas out there. I don't blame you! When I diapered my first child I did the "normal" thing and used disposables. I figured there was no reason to have to do "all that laundry" when I could just buy disposable diapers. I mean, who REALLY wants to do all that laundry anyway?

So mommas when you ask me, "Geez, doesn't it suck to have to do all that laundry?". I have to respond, "Yes, it does". However, would I go back to disposables? ABSOLUTELY and resoundingly NO!!

The truth is I DESPISE laundry. It has been and will probably remain one of the most dreaded household chores I do on a regular basis. The folding is the part that really gets under my skin! The question is though, does using cloth diapers require me to do THAT much more laundry? No, not really. I do 2-3 extra loads of laundry a week from my diapers. I am by no means a slave to the laundry room like many mothers seem to think I MUST be since I use cloth diapers. In fact, of all my laundry my diaper laundry is the only laundry I don't hate. I love when all the diapers are clean and you get to "see" all your pretty diapers all together in one spot. May sound crazy, but if/when you cloth diaper you WILL understand.

Disposable diapers cost more money, create loads of garbage, and are much harsher on your babies' precious bottoms. They also are not THAT convenient. With disposables anytime you are running low you have to run to the store to buy some more. With cloth I can stay in my PJs and throw a load in the laundry and go back to doing whatever I want to do. No hassle. No rushing around grabbing kids trying to get to the store. I also don't have to tote the 3 trash bags full of dirty diapers to the curb anymore. Instead I have a hanging diaper pail that I leave in the laundry room. I simply dump it in the wash three times a week. End of story. I also don't have to spend my hard earned money on that poopy garbage (aka. disposable diapers). For my tiny investment I get cute, stylish, reusable, and ultimately resaleable diapers.

I wouldn't pay someone $15 bucks a week to throw three loads of laundry in the washing machine and dryer for me, so I am not going to pay a disposable diaper company to do that either. Fact is, I can put the items in the washing machine, go about my business till the cycles are over, come back and throw them in the dryer, again go about my business till they are finished, then I simply scoop everything out and separate them into piles of likeness- prefolds, fitteds, covers, inserts. I don't bother to fold anything I just throw them each in their own basket. This amounts to approx. 15 minutes of my time ALL week for my diaper laundry. I would spend more time than that just loading kids in the car to go to the store to purchase disposable diapers. Therefore, I stand by my decision to cloth diaper and suggest to you non-cloth mothers out there to give it a shot before you bash it. You just might end up like me, a full-blown clothaholic.