Monday, December 22, 2008

How many diapers and covers do I need?



How many diapers you should get depends on your preference really.A good amount to have is two dozen but you don’t *need* to have that many.You could get by with a dozen if you washed every day.Two dozen would allow you to wash every couple of days instead which is much nicer.

Covers

It is nice to have *atleast* 6-8 covers.You don’t change the cover with every diaper change so you don’t need near as many covers as you do diapers.We personally use a mixture of nylon/wool/fleece..

A really good “stash” would be…

2 dozen diapers
1 dozen extra lay in soakers
6 nylon covers
2 wool covers
2 fleece covers

It makes cloth diapering really nice to have all of the above but you can definitely get away with less!

How long will my diapers/covers last?

There is no guarantee how long your diapers will last…..If taken care of well,our regular(new) diapers should easily last through two children(and possibly more!).The recycled diapers will *probably* not have as long a life as the new diapers but should easily last through one child and again,depending on the care,they very well may last through 2!

Is it really less expensive to cloth diaper?

Is it really less expensive to cloth diaper?

Some people are put off by the seemingly expensive price of cloth diapers.They range from $6.00 to $30.00 PER diaper. Disposable diapers range from (aprox)..17 - .25(cents) PER diaper. A baby will need about 6,000 diapers in the first two years of his life with an average of 8 changes per day over a 2 year time period. With these calculations let’s assume a baby will need 60 diapers a week.

DISPOSABLE DIAPER COST.....
60x.25 = $15.00 a week= $60.00 a month=$720.00 a year to diaper an average child.That is a total of $1,440.00 to diaper a child with disposable diapers IF the child is out of diapers by two years old.If he does not potty train until three it would be $2,160.00.

You can cloth diaper a baby for much,much less than this…It depends on what kind of diapers you use and how many you want in your “stash” but even if you go with the most expensive choice you are still paying MUCH less than you would be with disposables.Cloth can also be used for more than one child!If you don’t have a need for that, then when your baby grows out of a size you can bring them to us and receive credit toward the next size.The amount of credit you receive depends on the condition of the diaper but a 50% trade in value is typical. The used diapers will then be sold to another Mamma at the “used” price.We make no profit on the trade ins.We resell them for the same price that we gave for them. We do this to help make our cloth diapers as affordable as we can…..

Contact us for more info about our trading program!

All about our trading program......

What is the trading program for/about?

Our trading program is for trading in diapers that your baby has outgrown for the next size up.

You may want to use this program if you will not need your diapers for future children or if you just don’t want to spend much money.

How does it work? It is pretty simple.You start out with the smallest size diaper that you will need.You buy everything that you need only for that size.When your baby outgrows that size you bring( or mail) your diapers to us and you trade them for credit towards the next size.The amount of credit you receive depends on the condition of the diaper but a 50% credit is typical.SO, if you had originally bought 12,regular, newborn diapers you would have payed $132.00.You bring them back to us and they are in good shape and you would receive $66.00 to put towards your next size!

**We do not trade in recycled or”Dusty’s” hand knit products**

Why won’t you trade in recycled products?

We don’t trade in recycled products because they have already been *recycled* and probably will not have as long a life as our new/regular products.

What do you do with the diapers that are traded?

The diapers will be resold to another Mamma looking for a discount at the “used” price.We make no profit.If we gave you gave you a 50% credit we resell them for 50% of the original price.We offer this program to make our diapers as affordable as we can!/

Recycled diapers......

Why are the recycled diapers/covers so inexpensive?

Our “regular”(new) diapers and covers are very reasonably priced in comparison to your average fitted cloth diaper out there yet for some people,they still just can’t afford the initial cost so we decided to carry “recycled” diapers.

We use recycled clothing to make these great diapers and covers.Since this is much less expensive then buying new fabric we are able to sell them at a much lower price.We want to be able to provide diapers to all different kinds of people.If you are a believe in “organic” we can provide that for you.If you don’t need or want an organic diaper we have our “regular” diapers.Wonderful,high quality diapers without the extra expense of organic fabric.If you really don’t have the money or just don’t *want* to spend the money on our regular diapers then recycled diapers are for you! You can’t beat the price and they are really great diapers/covers!

Do you offer any specials on your recycled products?

No….

This is rock bottom price for cloth products and we really can’t afford to take any more cuts.A search on the internet for fitted cloth diaper companies will enlighten you on the average cloth diaper price if you are not familiar with them! Our recycled price is probably the lowest priced,high quality diaper that you will find.

Our prices

Our prices………
Regular…(new)
Our regular diapers are made from a
wide variety of soft,high quality fabric….
Newborn/Small $12.00
Medium/Large $14.00
We do carry “natural” diapers made
with organic fabric. Add $4.00 extra
per diaper…..

Recycled…
Made with recycled fabric yet still a
wonderful diaper!
Newborn/Small $7.00
Medium/Large $ 8.00

All diapers come with a sewn in or
lay in soaker.Additional soakers are:
$2.00 (regular/new)
$1.00 (recycled)

Diaper covers…
Fleece cover $14.00
Recycled fleece cover/ longies $10.00
Recycled wool covers/longies $12.00
Dappi nylon covers $ 3.50
Hand knit wool soakers $20.00
Hand knit wool longies $35.00
Breast pads $3.00 a set(2)
Baby wipes $2.00 each
Our Specials!
Buy 11 regular or natural diapers
and receive the 12th one free!

Gift bag….Buy 6 regular or natural
diapers and receive a darling hand
crocheted bag made by “Dusty”.

Ask us about our trade in program!Trade
your diapers in for the next size and save
up to 50%!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Hand knit ,WOOL soakers and longies....

These are beautiful,handcrafted soakers/longies made by our Grandmother.She is a stay at home grandma and does fantastic work for a *very* afordable price! She loves what she does and wants to offer her things at a price people can afford! Custom made! Choose from what is in stock or email us at angiesessentials@frontiernet.net for photos of yarn samples!

Hand knit wook soakers $20.00

Hand knit wool longies $35.00

Do you make organic diapers?

Yes....

We do make diapers made out of organic fabric.The price is $4.00 extra PER diaper.THis may sound like ALOT and it *is*.Unfortunately,organic fabric is unbelievably expensive so we can't help the high price.The organic diapers *are* beautiful and of the highest quality.Luxurious softness is what you get when buying organic!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Exactly how do I lanolize my wool?

Mix ¼ tsp of lanolin,and a few drops of dish soap with a cup or so of water in a small container.Stir until the lanolin is dissolved.The water will be milky white.

In your sink or a medium size container put a gallon of lukewarm water.(You do not want to use cold or hot water for your wool.) Add the lanolin mixture into the medium container with the water and then add your wool.Gently mix until the wool is saturated and then let it soak for 15-20 minutes.

After your wool is done soaking,gently squeeze to remove most of the water.Roll up in a towel to remove more water and then hang or lay flat to dry!

The lanolin and water measurements are all approximate! It is not something you have to be *exact* with!

We hope you enjoy your wool as much as we enjoy ours!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Do I *need* to use a cover?

Yes.

With cloth diapers you need to have an absorbent layer (the diaper) and then a water proof layer (the cover). Without a cover the wetness would soon be through to your baby’s clothing.

We carry three different kinds of covers.

Fleece
Wool
Nylon

We can also custom make “All-in-ones” for customers who would rather not use two pieces.An All-in-one is a diaper that has a water proof layer sewn right on to the diaper.Contact us if you would be interested in this.We are always glad to make what you want!

Why do I have to prewash my diapers/liners first?

You don’t *have* to prewash first but your diapers/liners will not be at their maximum absorbency until they have been washed a few times.So go ahead and use them right away if you want,but just don’t expect them to be super absorbent until they have been “broke in”! :)

How many diapers and covers do I need?

How many diapers you should get depends on your preference really.A good amount to have is two dozen but you don’t *need* to have that many.You could get by with a dozen if you washed every day.Two dozen would allow you to wash every couple of days instead which is much nicer.

Covers

It is nice to have *atleast* 6-8 covers.You don’t change the cover with every diaper change so you don’t need near as many covers as you do diapers.We personally use a mixture of nylon/wool/fleece..

A really good “stash” would be…

2 dozen diapers
1 dozen extra lay in soakers
6 nylon covers
2 wool covers
2 fleece covers

It makes cloth diapering really nice to have all of the above but you can definitely get away with less!

What kind of diaper cover should I choose?

We carrry three different kinds of diaper covers.

Nylon
Wool
Fleece

Nylon is the easiest,least expensive choice and it works great.These covers can be washed and dried right with your diapers and hold up for a long time.The downside is that they aren't not a natural fiber,they do not allow air circulation like wool does and they aren't as comfy feeling as wool/fleece,

Wool is the most expensive choice but also the best!They do not need to be washed when they are only wet as they have are naturally antibacterial and do not retain odors.Just hang dry and then reuse.If they get "dirty" you only need to spot wash the dirty spots and then hang dry.Washing the whole cover is only necessary every month or two or if they start looking dingy.They are WONDERFUL for preventing leaks and are the best for your baby's skin because they are breathable.They are also SO comfy and adorable!Think you are allergic to wool? Think that wool will be uncomfortable for your baby?Itchy?Please see "I would never use wool!" The downside of wool? Most cannot be washed and dried with your diapers.They should be hand washed and hung or layed flat to dry.They also need re-lanolized every couple of months (depending on how often you have washed them).This is a very easy process that consists of mixing a 1/4 tsp of lanolin in some water with a few drops of dishsoap and soaking your cover for about 15 minutes.Thats it.This is what makes wool "water resistant".The natural lanolin content.Because of washing,it eventually gets stripped out and so we need to re-lanolize.

Fleece works alot like wool except it is not a natural fiber, so of course is not as good! :)It is a little less expensive and makes a great cover. Unlike wool covers, fleece covers can be washed and dried with your diapers.(They can retain odors because they don't have wool's wonderful antibacterial properties.)They are comfy,cute and easy to use!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Lady liners


Lady liners….

Why cloth for Mamma?

Cloth pads are not only more comfortable they
are also a healthier alternative to disposable
pads.No harmful chemical just soft,natural,
fabric against your skin.Many women are
switching to a more natural choice so why not
try a few to see for yourself!?

DID YOU KNOW?

*Roughly 12 billion sanitary pads are land filled
or incinerated in the US each year.

*Manufactures of pads are not legally required
to list ingredients used in making the products we
wear next to our most vulnerable parts.

*A woman will throw away 10,000 feminine
products in her lifetime.

*Women can spend over $3,000.00 in a lifetime
on disposable feminine products.

*A woman who chooses cloth will spend $2.52 per
month or less on reusable pads.

Our prices…….
Small (6 ½” x 2 ½” ) $3.00
Medium (8 ½” x 3”) $ 3.50
Large (10” x 3” ) $4.00
X-Large (11”x3 ½”) $5.00

*All lady liners have wings that snap.We can
custom make them without wings if requested.
Measurments above are with the liners snapped
and closed.*

**SPECIAL**

Buy any six of the same size and the 6th one is on us!
You pay for only 5…….OR
2 small-2 medium-2 large for $17.00
2 medium-2 large-2 X-large for $22.00

Washing instructions:

Everyone has their own washing style.Some soak,
some DON’T. Either way is fine.When you are
ready to wash,do a cold rinse followed by a hot
wash.A few drops of tea tree oil added in your
soaking/washing water will help to sanitize and
prevent staining.We recommend an extra rinse to
make sure all soap is removed.

***TIP***

If you use cloth for Mamma AND Baby wash
them together and save time,money,water AND
energy! Thank you!

Caring for your cloth......

What we do ......
We use a DRY pail.No soaking….Wet diapers go
straight into the pail.Dirty diapers are shaken or
rinsed into the toilet before going into the pail if
necessary.(Breastmilk bm’s do not need rinsed!)
Washing day….
All diapers into the washer.Prewash with no
soap.(This replaces the soaking step).Next,
wash your diapers WITH soap on HOT and
add an extra rinse.That’s it!We sometimes use
vinegar in the final rinse as a natural fabric softener.
Never use commercial softener on your diapers.It coats
them and reduces their absorbency greatly.A couple
drops of essential oil in your wash smells wonderful!
*COVERS*
Fleece and nylon covers can be washed with your
diapers.They can be dried together also (we do!)
but if dried in the dryer it will shorten the life of your
nylon and the fleece will gather balls of lint off of your
diapers.(doesn’t hurt but it doesn’t *look* as good J )
Wool…
Wool sounds more complicated to care for but
it really is not!(We *love* wool!) Your wool covers
do not need to be washed when wet.Just hang dry
and then reuse. If they get dirty usually you can
just spot clean them with a mild soap and then hang
dry. They will need re-lanolized from time to time.
Put ¼ tsp of lanolin in a cup along with a couple
drops of dish soap and a cup of warm water.Mix until
lanolin dissolves and then pour into a pail and add a
gallon of lukewarm water.Soak your wool for 15 min.
Roll up in a towel to remove water (do not ring) and
then hang dry.Do not dry wool in the dryer!
*TIPS*
~Front loaders are not our choice for washing cloth
diapers however it CAN be done. The problem is that a
load of absorbent diapers absorbs most of the wash
water! Add a few extra gallons of water into your
front loader when washing diapers to solve this problem!
~Line drying will increase the life of your diapers and
covers.The sunshine is wonderful for disinfecting AND
removing stains!
~Occasional bleaching is ok but bleach is hard on
diapers so use it very sparingly if ever.
We are *always* glad to answer any additional
questions you might have! Call anytime….
Enjoy your babies!They grow so fast…….

WHY cloth?

Why cloth diapers?

Cloth diapers are much healthier for baby......It is obvious in this day and age that we cant trust what the "studies" say is good for our babies.What is said to be OK and perfectly SAFE now may very well be recalled in 5-10 years because some health hazard was discovered!!! We could give you all sorts of frightening statistics about disposables to convince you but we encourage Mammas to use instinct and common sense in deciding what is healthy for their children.Would you rather wrap your baby’s bottom in plastic diapers full of chemicals or diapers made with natural fibers that have been used by mothers for thousands of years? That is the simple question.Contact us if you are a Mamma who wants more facts.We would be glad to help you out in your research :)

Cloth diapers are more comfortable for baby.Silky soft natural fibers against your baby’s skin instead of plastic.Try one of our Lady Liners and feel the difference yourself!

Cloth diapers don’t pollute..The earth is being stuffed full of dirty,plastic diapers that dont decompose! Cloth can be used for more then one baby if taken care of.Some will argue that it is a waste of water and causes more pollution from the soap.The amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is about the same amount as one person uses to flush the toilet 5-6 times a day and soap wont pollute if you use environmentally friendly soap!

We don’t use disposable clothes,dishes or bedding because of soap pollution or water waste so why disposable diapers?

Cloth diapers are less expensive.Some people are put off by the seemingly expensive price of cloth diapers.They range from $6.00 to $30.00 PER diaper. Disposable diapers range from (aprox).
.17 - .25(cents) PER diaper. A baby will need about 6,000 diapers in the first two years of his life with an average of 8 changes per day over a 2 year time period. With these calculations let’s assume a baby will need 60 diapers a week.

DISPOSABLE DIAPER COST.....
60x.25 = $15.00 a week= $60.00 a month=$720.00 a year to diaper an average child.That is a total of $1,440.00 to diaper a child with disposable diapers IF the child is out of diapers by two years old.If he does not potty train until three it would be $2,160.00.

You can cloth diaper a baby for much,much less than this…It depends on what kind of diapers you use and how many you want in your “stash” but even if you go with the most expensive choice you are still paying MUCH less than you would be with disposables.Cloth can also be used for more than one child!If you don’t have a need for that, then when your baby grows out of a size you can bring them to us and receive credit toward the next size.The amount of credit you receive depends on the condition of the diaper but a 50% trade in value is typical.

The used diapers will then be sold to another Mamma at the “used” price.We make no profit on the trade ins.We resell them for the same price that we gave for them. We do this to help make our cloth diapers as affordable as we can…..

We hope we have convinced you to give cloth a try!! They are better for your baby,the environment AND cost less than disposables!!