Family Cloth...what nobody ever told you - Page 2

[Attila the Honey]

Sorry to my all my RL friend on MDC if this is waay TMI :

We just made the leap to family cloth and I am very happy with it. I've found a good substitute for the wet wipes, too. When dd was born (2 years ago), we got a gift pack of California Baby items that included some Soothing and Healing Body Spray for sensitive skin. It's great stuff but we never really had any use for it. I put it right in the basket of flannel wipes and when we need it we spray it onto the flannel. The spray has some oil in it, so it's very easy on dd's bum. When this stuff runs out I will just use the container and try to make my own with some distilled water, aloe vera gel, maybe some tea tree oil or something.

I just took some flannel I had laying around and cut it into squares with pinking shears. Some dark colored pieces and some light. I figure that until we discover what works for us the best I am going to keep it very simple.

As for the fear of bacteria etc - it just doesn't bother me at all. I wouldn't toss out a pair of dd's undies when she has an accident. At a certain temp. hot water kills germs, right? If some industrial washer gets the water 2x hotter it doesn't kill more germs, or does it?

[Wild Flowers]

I worked at a landromat. I washed the cloth napkins for restaurants. And I will tell you, they are disgusting. My washer gets things 100 times cleaner. My hot water it so hot I cannot put my hand under it, and steam rises if you open it. But my washer has a function that it will heat the water. So no, I have absolutely no worry about bacteria. We have been using cloth for almost a year, never had a problem. But I also used cloth diapers, before we started ec, and never had a problem with that either.

[CrazyCatLady]

I've been using cloth with no issues what so ever. I use those little baby "wash cloths" that come 4 to a pack in all kinds of colors. I can get four for 50 cents at the dollar store. I had intended to make my own, but never did. Theses are working great and saving me loads of money since I am pregnant and peeing every two minutes. For bm I just wet it under the sink which sits right next to the toilet. Bacteria doesn't bother me at all. My wipes looks cleaner than my husbands underwear do and I would never just throw out his undies because of a stain. Plus that's why we wash them, if they come out smelling fine and look ok, I assume that they're fine. But I also use cloth diapers, mama pads, paper towels, tissue, ect. So maybe I'm just not as afraid of germs anymore?

[shannajoy]

This seed has come to fruition pretty quickly! I'm actually planning to pick up some cheap washcloths at the dollar store (thanks Melaya, for that idea!) and start myself and dd using them for peeing. We'll see how it goes! My husband said, "No way! Absolutely no way!"

[CrazyCatLady]

Those little wash rags also make great tissue for your nose as well. My husband doesn't use them either. But toilet paper rolls last forever now, it's saving tons of money. I'm finding that I feel much cleaner and more "fresh" since using cloth. It's also convinient that the diaper pail sits right in the bathroom. So I just toss in my wipes and I'm good to go.

[Persephone]

You know, I've known about family cloth for oh, a couple years now, at least. But I've never done it, because we have to do our laundry in a communal laundry room, and there's never hot water, and I have never dealt with human waste in the laundry at all (ie, cloth diapers)... so, I figured I'd just wait til I had a baby and use them then... now, I"m about to have a baby, and I can use them! Whee! I've got a bunch of cloth wipes for the baby already, bet I could just get a few more, and keep them in the bathroom.

Oh, I take that back, I've been using cloth pads since college, but for some reason, that's different to me than poopy wipes. shouldn't be any reason why, I guess.

[Mab]

Originally Posted by babybugmama

When I originally got it this is what it called for (I can't remember where I got it though): Filtered water, Dr. Bronners liquid soap, Dash of olive oil, dash of tea tree oil. This is what I actually use now: Dr. Bronners Lavendar soap (just a splash or two), dash of almond oil, tea tree oil and then whatever other EO I have on hand that makes it smell pretty - lavendar usually. I also keep a stash of dry beside the wet ones - something to blow my nose with or sometimes dd prefers a dry wipe.

thanks!

[Mab]

Originally Posted by EricaLeigh

Yeah after reading lots of old threads about cloth TP, it sounds like very few DH's use the family cloth. But hey how often do they use TP anyway? Aprox 1 X a day? So think of it as a huge reduction of your familys paper usage.

My line of thinking, too. I'm the tp user, really, so, I'm going to switch to cloth definitelly

Fot those of you that already use cloth: when you have people over, do you suggest using cloth, or keep a roll of tp next to the cloth wipes and assume they'll get the availability (?) of choices?

[EricaLeigh]

Originally Posted by Mab

My line of thinking, too. I'm the tp user, really, so, I'm going to switch to cloth definitelly

Fot those of you that already use cloth: when you have people over, do you suggest using cloth, or keep a roll of tp next to the cloth wipes and assume they'll get the availability (?) of choices?

I know some people don't buy TP at all. They leave a sign in the bathroom, expaining where clean wipes are kept, & what to do with the soiled ones. I do not do this. Since I have Tp in the bathroom, I just don't say anything. But my closest friends do know we use cloth.

Funny story...My nosey Mother was over the other day. She comes out of the bathroom asking, "what is all this fabric for?". I then realize she has reached her hand into the bean pot where all of the dirty wipes are kept!!! She had no idea we were using cloth. I told her about it . Her reaction was, "I could never do that!" It was kinda like ultimate satisfaction. She's always poking her way though things, being nosey! Uggggh You think that'll teach her! But she was unscaved by the whole experience!

[LaLa]

You mamas are super cool

I love seeing this thread this morning! How inspiring!

I know some women who kept their peri bottle around post birth and just use that to rinse, then a cloth to pat dry.

[Mab]

, Erica

[SharonAnne]

Everytime I visit this forum, I'm inspired to try something new. I have a very easily irritated bum since I had my baby, and this sounds like it might help

I'm not even going to try to get DH to use them though. :

[rere]

i can't wait until my husband gets home to ask him what he thinks about this whole idea.i allways tease him about his sensitive bottom.he's very particular about his toilette paper.maybe he'll be the first one to be all over the idea.

but anyways......how do you think old recieving blankets cut up would work?i use so much toilette paper it would be nice to cut down.my gal is still in diapers so it's no problem to just through the wipes in the wash too....i just never thought about it.hmmmm.....

[firstwomantomars]

Hi!

I've been using cloth for pee since I read the thread here on MDC a while back. My DH doesn't but I use the most TP anyway. I just wash the cloth with Leigh's diapers...

And if you're washing with hot water, bacteria will be killed. You could add vinegar in your rinse water if you want to be extra careful.

I also remember reading how using cloth (diapers, pads, TP) changed a lot of people's perspective on their bodies and "bodily functions".

It's weird to admit though how much FUN cloth can be!

[EricaLeigh]

Oh for those of you worried by the smell. We don't have a smell. I don't know if mama's also washing poopy wipes could tell us what they do for odor control? I bet most of them still have a babe in diapers & just use the diaper pail. My DD has been out of dipes for a while, otherwise I would be using the dipar pail too. I put a couple drops of EO on a little cloth in the bottom of the bean pot downstairs. It gets empied & sprayed out with vinegar/water often, about every other day or 2. I usually put some bs in the wet bag in the upstairs bathroom (only because I have bs upstairs & all of the eo's are downstairs) either way I find works. I dump the wetbag & beanpot out into a laundry basket in the laundry room. As long as I keep the basket covered with a dirty towel there is no smell. Remember if you use bs then dump that along with the wipes, that will absorb odors. I wash bathroom towels with wipes 1X a week. (I do keep kitchen towels & napkins in a seperate load) Once you work ot the logistics it should be an easy transition!

[Delaney'sMommy]

Originally Posted by Melaya

Those little wash rags also make great tissue for your nose as well. My husband doesn't use them either. But toilet paper rolls last forever now, it's saving tons of money. I'm finding that I feel much cleaner and more "fresh" since using cloth. It's also convinient that the diaper pail sits right in the bathroom. So I just toss in my wipes and I'm good to go.

I cut up some old t-shirts Saturday to use on my 14 month old's nose. The tissues were just too irritating for her. It worked great! That got me thinking about other ways I could substitute cloth for paper in the house. What perfect timing to find this thread!

Question: I get why you'd want a moist one for wiping after #2, but why for #1?

Also, how about paper towels? What fabric works best in the kitchen? I'm not sure what to use or what size to cut them...

I Know I couldn't get dh on baord with no TP, but hey, we pee way more than he poops in a day anyway!

[celestialdreamer]

Originally Posted by LaLa

You mamas are super cool

I love seeing this thread this morning! How inspiring!

I know some women who kept their peri bottle around post birth and just use that to rinse, then a cloth to pat dry.

I liked that clean feeling so much from the pp days, that I used it for months Then I switched over to using washcloths that I found for $2 for a pack of 6 from Target. I bought a bunch of them all in an ivory color, so they are different than our 'cleaning' cloths (white or microfiber) because DH was really freaked out that he'd end up cleaning the kitchen counter with TP : There is a big stack of them in our master bathroom, which have been used to clean up toddler messes, doggy accidents, overspray from our minishower and of course as TP for me. I keep a small trash can with a step open lid next to the toilet. It has a lift out inside with a handle, so I throw in dirty wipes or mama pads (which I obviously haven't used in awhile ) and then wash with the cloth diapers. We took a hiatus from cloth diapers, cloth TP (so I had to throw all the toddler mess/dog accident wipes in with the regular laundry) because our dryer was broken. We are just starting back up with all of our cloth this week and I'm really looking forward to it.

DH still wishes I'd just go buy a bunch of paper towels and toilet paper at Costco. He refuses to use cloth TP (probably because the idea of me seeing his wipes freaks him out) and thinks me refusing to buy paper towels is a pain in the rear. You'd think after 2 yrs of using cloth towels, cloth napkins, etc he'd just get over it! I thinkb he is just in the paper 'routine' because he uses tons of paper towels at his work (he installs windows, mirrors & shower doors) because they are always having to clean up on job sites with commercial glass cleaner. I wish I could send him to work with a spray bottle of vinegar water and some microfiber cloths, but I don't think he'd go for that :

[celestialdreamer]

Originally Posted by rere

how do you think old recieving blankets cut up would work?

I think those would work great! Some people even make cloth diapers out of old receiving blankets, so I bet they'd be perfect for family cloth.

[celestialdreamer]

Originally Posted by Delaney'sMommy

Question: I get why you'd want a moist one for wiping after #2, but why for #1?

Sometimes it feels nice to have that extra clean feeling Not neccessary though!

Originally Posted by Delaney'sMommy

Question: Also, how about paper towels? What fabric works best in the kitchen? I'm not sure what to use or what size to cut them...

I just use my microfiber cloths, cleaning rags (a bunch of white washcloths I found on clearance), and kitchen towels. I don't have separate cloth 'paper towels' kwim? Paper towels were just an disposable invention to use instead of kitchen washcloths and towels

I'm lucky to have a giant drawer in my kitchen with moveable dividers that I keep all our kitchen cloth supplies in. I've got a spot for my kitchen hand towels (I usually use each day's towel to dry the kitchen after wiping down the counters in the evening with a wet washcloth, but I've got enough to be able to use them more often for big spills, etc), a spot for cloth napkins, one area for microfiber mop pads (we have all wood floors so we have a big stack of these), and then one for the cleaning rags (microfiber or the white ones). If its just a little mess I use one of the small washcloths, since its not like we use any harsh chemicals on them (baking soda, vinegar, etc only here). I'm kinda neurotic (okay, alot neurotic : ) about the different kinds of cloth being folded and separated compared to some of my NFL friends...so if that idea doesn't work for you I'm sure you can figure out something else.

[EricaLeigh]

Originally Posted by Delaney'sMommy

Question: I get why you'd want a moist one for wiping after #2, but why for #1?

We use the wipes dry for pee.