Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 4

Today is Day 4 of the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. I will be using flat cloth diapers for a whole week. You can read about the challenge and why I'm doing it in my Day 1 post.

Wednesday went great! We actually went out and about for the first time while E was in flats. We visited my mom and while there, I changed her into a clean flat. Afterwards we went to Walmart and then home. 

It was around 3pm when we got home so E went down for her late afternoon nap while I ironed the flats from the night before on my toilet seat since my ironing board is broken =/

We are mainly using the pad fold and the jo fold. I LOVE the jo fold!!

Todays Topic: My thoughts on handwashing

Before I give you my thoughts, I want to give you the run down on my wash routine so you can understand what I've been doing on a daily basis since starting the challenge.

How I wash my flats:

1. Soak flats in small garbage pail
2. Wring out flats
3. Fill tub with warm water
4. Add flats
5. Agitate using my hands, salad tongs and my feet (This varries. The times vary also, 2-5 minutes on and off)
6. Drain tub
7. Wring out flats
8. Rinse tub
9. Fill Tub with hot water
10. Add 2-3 scoops of Rockin' Green
11. Repeat steps 4-8
12. Fill tub with warm water
13. Repeat steps 4-8
14. Repeat steps 4-8 (yes, twice)

How I wash covers:

1. Soak covers in sink (cold water)
2. Wring out covers, drain sink and rinse
3. Add warm water and scoop of Rockin' Green
4. Agitate using my hands (for about 1-5 minutes, on and off)
5. Wring out covers, drain sink and rinse
6. Fill sink with cold water
7. Repeat steps 4-6
8. Repeat steps 4-5

Hand washing is hard, especially if you have to do it everyday. Since I started the challenge, I spend about an hour a day doing diaper laundry. It's exhausting and it would be tough if I ever had to do this on a regular basis. Because of this experience, I have so much more respect for those who do this on the regular. Its not that I didn't have respect for anyone who does this in the first place, Its just that I had no idea how tedious handwashing was until I started doing it myself.  

Now, I don't own a washer or dryer but there is a laundry room down the hall from my apartment which serves the building. It's $1.25 to wash ($1.50 for an extra rinse) and $1.00 to dry. I am truly blessed to be able to use a washing machine and dryer. 

I normally use pockets and when I wash diaper laundry, I have a portable washer that I use to rinse the diapers before I put them in the washing machine down the hall. My portable washer doesn't have a rinse cycle so I have to wring the diapers out by hand before I toss them in the washing machine. If I need to conserve out funds, I'll use my portable washer instead of paying for the washing machine. When I do that, My wash routine is like this:

1. Fill portable washer with cold water using shower head
2. Turn on washer (15 minutes)
3. Wring out diapers and inserts by hand
4. Drain (hose connected to washer goes into tub to drain)
5. Rinse out washing machine
6. Add diapers and inserts
7. Fill machine with warm water using shower head
8. Repeat steps 2-6
9. Fill machine with Hot water using shower head
10. Add 2 Scoops of Rockin' Green
11. Turn on Washer (30 minutes)
12. Repeat steps 3-7
13. Repeat steps 3-7 again

This process takes almost 2 hours sometimes. 

My point by mentioning all of this is that I'm already used to having to wring out diapers by hand. The actual action of agitating and swishing the diapers by hand is what makes it super hard for me. I actually have no problem wringing out the diapers but again, the washing by hand is so tedious.

Lastly, I leave you with this photo:

These are my lovely gloves I've been talking about all week. Hot, Right? ;)

Come back tomorrow to find out what tips I have learned so far and if you're participating in the challenge, make sure to link up below!