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Earning a living on poopy diapers

This is a follow-up to my post on cloth diapering. For those of you who read that one, you may be wondering why I chose to launder my own instead of using a diaper service, as many people suggested.

You can find a diaper service in most cities in the U.S. I am very glad they exist because I think they get some people to try out the cloth lifestyle who otherwise would be too intimidated, or who hate doing laundry, or just want to make things easier on themselves. These are all totally reasonable reasons to use a service. I have heard other people say that the diaper service was such a blessing, and I don't blame or look down upon them. Personally, however, I prefer washing my own rather than paying someone else. Ready for another list?

The reasons I wash my own instead of helping someone else earn a living on poopy diapers:

  • I control the substances used on my diapers. Some diaper services use bleach, which has environmental drawbacks, and some babies have bleach or laundry detergent sensitivities. If my baby gets a rash, I know exactly what has been applied to her diapers, and can easily alter it on the next cycle of wash. For instance, we tried using a cloth diaper-safe fabric softener for a while, but it made sweet pea rashy so I quit.

  • I can travel with my diapers. Diaper services usually come by once a week and you get as many clean diapers as you put out dirty. If you are out of town, there is scheduling to be done, and that is one more hassle for travel that I wouldn't relish. (Aside - I anticipate a response about the fact that most people don't take long trips with newborn babies anyway. Good point.)

  • I can use the same diapers on another baby, or sell them when I'm done. This makes using cloth diapers even MORE economical.

  • A diaper service is one more bill to pay.

  • I can try out all sorts of cute prints and styles of diapers, which is ever so much fun! Diaper services use prefolds, so you can have fun with covers, but not as much as with fitteds, pockets, and AIOS (explanation of diaper types).


That's all for now.
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Comments

  1. AnnAugust 3, 2009 at 9:20 PM

    I admire how much thought you put into your choices - and these blog posts! (I love lists too.)

    ReplyDelete

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