Category Archives: Cloth Diapering

Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaway Hop hosted by And Then There Were More where over 60 bloggers are giving away cloth diaper packages worth $50 or more! What a great way to try to bulk up your stash!

I am very excited about our giveaway package. We are giving away an Up-Cycled Hybrid Fitted Cloth Diaper “Notorius P.U.G” from LittleBitLoo Creations (see review here), Woolly Dryer Balls from Min The Weaver, Cloth Diaper Safe Natural Mamma Baby Butt Balm made by me (more details here), and Soap Nuts with a muslin bag also sponsored by my self. Continue reading →

LittleBitLoo Cloth Diaper Review

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littlebitloocreations

Little Bit Loo Creations is sponsoring a diaper for My Merry Fluffy Christmas giveaway and I could not be more thrilled!

I love these diapers. Seriously.

She makes diapers from up-cycled t-shirts and finds some of the cutest, most entertaining prints I have seen. All of her diapers are unique and have a special flare and style that I really relate to. My favorite diaper that I have purchased from her is definitely “The Different Emotions of Chuck Norris” as seen below.

Chuck Norris Collage

Her diapers are a hybrid fitted design of her own creation. She has two little ones in diapers and was looking for a diaper with absorbency that is able to breathe. She was not thrilled with the bulk of all-in-one diapers and set out to create her own to meet the needs of her little ones.

These diapers have a shell made from up-cycled t-shirts. The inside has highly absorbent materials that wick moisture away from the baby and holds it away from the body. The diaper also has an insert that snaps into the shell adding an extra layer of absorbency She even makes doublers and soakers to get through the long nights.

Here are the details about the Up-cycled Cloth Diapers from her site.

fits 14 lbs up to aprox. 35 lbs. fold over rise for smaller babies (not all babies are the same, so it depends on your child’s build on how it will fit)
100% cotton knit shell with middle layer of fleece for absorbency (hybrid)
2 layer soaker that snaps into the cover and is attached at the top for quick drying
each soaker layer has 1 layer knit and 2 layers of organic bamboo fleece
all together this diaper has 9 layers of absorbency
hidden elastic on sides and back to hold in messes
made with gutterman thread to last through washings
high quality plastic snaps
serged around the soakers and the cover with white colored thread
will need 4 or 5 washes to reach maximum absorbency
this is made out of a used shirt and it is not uncommon to see small pulls, small pin holes, and possible small stains on the diaper-THIS WILL NOT AFFECT THE USE OF THE DIAPER
THIS DIAPER IS FITTED AND IS NOT WATERPROOF…IT WILL REQUIRE A COVER OR FREQUENT CHANGES

Although these diapers do not have PUL they last a good 2-3 hours before they feel damp on the outside. Compare that to the Osocozy fitteds I have that leak through right after the first pee and you will see why I LOVE these diapers.

She makes diapers with new material as well, but with the same pattern so the fit is the same. The GracieLoo diapers are made with cotton velour on the inside and cute cotton mesh fabric on the outside like the polka-dot diaper below.

I bought the Chuck Norris diaper, but she sent me a GracieLoo diaper (one of the new material ones) to test out too.

Polkadot Collage

I got my first diaper from LittleBitLoo when my son was four months old. I have big babies so he was about 15lbs at the time. The diaper fit very well then. The rise snaps fold over so he had plenty of belly room. I love the way she has her snaps set on the diapers.

He is now almost 8 months old and about 19lbs. The diapers still fit him like a glove and they are just so darn cute. I almost never put covers over them except at night.

LittleBitloodiaperreview8

These are THE.BEST.NIGHT.DIAPER.EVER. Highly absorbent they do not leak, not even for the worst poop situations. I have never had a blow out moment with these diapers.

My daughter is over 2 years old and about 30 lbs. She also wears these diapers and they fit like a glove! She is the one in the pink polka-dot diaper.

I love these because they breathe. She has had a nasty rash and I have not been able to kick it for over two weeks! She has been exclusively wearing LittleBitLoo diapers without covers (unless we leave the house) for 2 days and the rash is almost gone!

I notice she also mentions when she pees in these diapers. I think their ability to breathe is allowing her to be more aware of the cool feeling when the diaper gets wet.

Elizabeth, the owner of LittleBitLoo has a daughter who runs much smaller than my kids and these diapers work for her too!

My only issue with these diapers is that it is hard to find a cover that covers the entire diaper. I have found that Flip covers work the best for these. Others are a little too thin around the hip and the leg gussets.

I have also noticed that even if some cloth is hanging out around the legs the diaper has never gotten wet there, even when the kids sleep in them over night SO if the cover does not completely cover the leg gussets too much don’t let it stress you out. These are some really well designed diapers.

Another note I have on these diapers is that if you buy the GracieLoo diaper instead of an up-cycled t-shirt diaper be sure to prep it separately from your other cloth for at least 3 cycles. Be sure to prep it in cold then hot water. The color on the velour ran and made our cool black and white skull and crossbones diaper black and pink! Thankfully my other diapers did not absorb any dye. I did not have these problems with any of the up-cycled diapers.

You can find LittleBitLoo creations on her Etsy Shop or on Facebook.

We are giving away an up-cycled tshirt diaper for My Merry Fluffy Christmas Event starting December 1st! I am so excited.

This is the diaper we are giving away. I wish I could win!

“Notorious P.U.G.”

Notorius PUG Collage

You can enter to win this FANTASTIC diaper (and so much more) here!

You can find her on Etsy and Facebook.

What do you like best about the LittleBitLoo diapers? Which pattern in her etsy shop do you love the most?

Disclosure This is my cousin. She provided me a diaper to review. I have purchased from her multiple times and have had great experience. All opinions are my own and I only promote products I love. No monetary compensation was received for this review.

Apartment Homesteading: Eco-Friendly Laundry Tips

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eco friendly laundry

In the Apartment Homesteading series I listed a few ways to save some energy, money and time on laundry. I am going to roll those all into one nice little package right here for you.

Hand washing

If you really want to get down and dirty saving a lot of money and energy on laundry, nothing is more energy-efficient than labor you do your self! I have hand washed diapers in my bath tub, and used a “camp” washing “machine” consisting of a bucket, a plunger, and arm muscles. Both work very well with VERY little detergent. It just takes your sweat and determination to do the work. The camp bucket set up will cost you about $10 to set up and save you $50 a month on gym membership.

Washing Machine

So you are not hard-core enough to wash your own clothes in a home depot bucket? Neither am I. Here are some ways you can save some energy and money using your washing machine.

Get a High Efficiency (HE) front loading washer. These are the most efficient machines out there using an average of 8 gallons of water per load instead of the average 15 gallons for standard washers. At one load of laundry a day you are saving 2,555 gallons of water per year. Want to know how much money you would save annually on electricity? Check out this cool tool so you can find the exact numbers relevant to your situation.
Wash with cold water. You can save an average of $100 per year washing your laundry in cold water. The only reason you will want to use warm or hot water in your cycles is if you have a grease or oil stain in your clothes that you are trying to get out, or if you are washing cloth diapers. Otherwise cold water will work great to get your clothes nice and clean.
Wash full loads of laundry. In older (non HE) machines the washer will fill to the pre selected size of the load (large, medium, small) without considering how many clothes are actually in the wash. HE machines have a sensor to sense how big the load is and only fills the washer with enough water to get the load done. Most people separate their lights from their darks, but I say throw them all in the washer! As long as your clothes have been washed a time or two they wont leak color. If you feel like your grandmother is rolling in her grave at you considering washing your colors and whites together, consider combining loads with your children, spouse, room-mate, neighbor, whoever to get a full load.
Hand wash delicate. I am sure most people never have a full load of panties and bras, and these pretty pieces of underwear are so expensive and so delicate you don’t want to wash them through the washer anyway. Just get a gentle hand washing detergent, or use a very little bit of what you use for your regular clothes, and hand wash them, hang them to dry, and enjoy your eco-friendly prowess whenever you wear them.
Don’t wash your sheets and towels often. You use your towel when you get out of the shower once you are all clean right? So you can just hang it up to dry on the towel rack and re-use it a couple of times right? Instead of washing sheets every week consider changing your sheets every two weeks or every month. Personally we usually do every two weeks in the summer because of the sweat, and every four in the winter. You can also wash sheets and towels together.

Dryer

wooley dryer balls

Use the dryer sparingly. A lot of clothes and household items can be dried outside using solar power and a laundry line or drying rack.
Use a dryer ball. Dryer balls are a safe, natural, non toxic way fluff your clothes, remove static, and reduce your drying time by 25%.
If your dryer has one, use the moisture sensor. This can detect when your clothes are done drying and save you some energy.
If your dryer does not have a moisture sensor stop the load while it is still damp and switch it to tumble only. The excess heat in the drum should be hot enough to finish drying your clothes.
Proper dryer maintenance will save you a lot on energy cost. Empty your lint tray every load. “Don’t be lazy, it takes two seconds, just do it.” -My dad. Also, check your dryer vent occasionally and make sure it is not blocked. My dryer was having issues so we checked the vent and it was clogged with dog hair. Once we cleared it out the dryer worked like a charm!

Detergent

Use ec0-friendly laundry detergents without any of these nasty things. This might cost a little bit more than your big bag o’chemicals but you use a lot less, so the cost per load is usually comparable or less than what you are paying for the other stuff. I personally am allergic to most laundry detergents. I especially can not stand scent or dyes in my detergent. It makes me break out in a nasty rash. I use Charlies Soap for just about everything now since it is cloth diaper safe. I do still use Rockin’ Green when I can afford it, but Charlies works just fine. You can also make your own laundry detergent. Most eco-friendly detergents you will find are concentrated and low suds making them safe for use in HE washers as well.

There you have it! Some easy ways to save energy and money on laundry.

How do you make your laundry routine more eco-friendly?

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More blogs in this series:

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DIY Baby Butt Balm: Cloth diaper safe

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Hello all!

You know how a lot of my recipes like my Angry Baby Butt Balm and Ellie’s Eczema Salve have a lot of steps and ingredients in it and can seem kind of overwhelming? Good news! I wrote this post for Simply Real Moms with a recipe for an easy DIY cloth diaper safe Baby Butt Balm. Check it out! Let me know how you like it.

This blog shared on: Tiny Tip Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Natural Living Linkup, Living Green Tuesdays, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Super Linky Party, Wildcrafting Wednesday

Natural Living Mamma

Living naturally, it's all for them.

Category Archives: Cloth Diapering

Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaway Hop hosted by And Then There Were More where over 60 bloggers are giving away cloth diaper packages worth $50 or more! What a great way to try to bulk up your stash!