Family Cloth Question Regarding Pail

[lovemyfamily6]

I'm ready to do this! No more thinking about it. I bought a small step can from Simplehuman. It's a steel can with a removable plastic liner inside. Can I just wash that out each time on wash day or do I need a liner of some sort? I have a Wahmies liner for our diaper pail and wish they sold the same style only much smaller for the can, but they don't. There isn't a lot of room between the liner and the lid for a bag with a zipper or anything.

If I could just use the liner that came with the can, how should I wash it each time? I don't want it to smell!

[lovemyfamily6]

Bump.

Anyone know?

[thixle]

Yeah, unless you wet the cloth and it's hot inthe bathroom, it's not going to smell... honestly. I have mine hanging out in a mesh bag on a suction cup hook on the side of the potty. It really doesn't smell. At all. I toss it all in the wash about every 3 days.
You might want to wash out a pail (soap and water) every few days.
Really, just try it, it's not smelly

[oneotamama]

I'm not sure I can answer your exact question, but I can tell you what we do. We have a small trash can w/a Bummis liner (diaper wet bags) in it and our smaller sized diaper pail w/a Bummis liner. They never smell. Ever. I wash maybe once a week (we have a lot of wipes!) I only wash the Bummis liners once a month. Sometimes they might get some moisture in them and so I choose to wash them, but they don't smell.

[lovemyfamily6]

Thanks, maybe I'll look for that type of liner. I was having a hard time finding something small enough.

[mamasee]

I sprinkle a bit of baking soda in the bottom of the pail and, must admit, I haven't washed it in two years of diapering! If I were to wash it, I would just swish it with vinegar and wipe dry.

[aliceincolo]

Are you talking about using cloth wipes for everyone in your family? If so I have never heard of such a thing. I thought I was crunchy for CDing, wow!

[oneotamama]

Originally Posted by aliceincolo

Are you talking about using cloth wipes for everyone in your family? If so I have never heard of such a thing. I thought I was crunchy for CDing, wow!

Yep, everyone in my family uses cloth wipes. A roll of toilet paper lasts us months w/only company using it!! It did take awhile for dh to try it, but once he did he loved it. I think he just felt bad for me having to wash them, kwim?? Now he realizes it's not like I study the wipes when I toss them in the washer

[mamasee]

Originally Posted by oneotamama

Yep, everyone in my family uses cloth wipes. A roll of toilet paper lasts us months w/only company using it!! It did take awhile for dh to try it, but once he did he loved it. I think he just felt bad for me having to wash them, kwim?? Now he realizes it's not like I study the wipes when I toss them in the washer

I keep a cloth wipe near the toilet (it hangs by my bath towel) and I use it when I pee and then just rinse it in the sink and hang it again. Do you all think I would use less water to just use a new wipe each time and wash them all, or do you think it uses less water to give it a rinse after each use? Anyone else do that? I didn't really "get it" at the time, but I realize now that my grandmother used to do this and, at some level, I learned it from her - even though she never talked about it and I never asked I just saw the cloth there in her bathroom. It is only in recently reading about the idea of "family cloth" on MDC that the idea was revived in my brain.

[aliceincolo]

Wow! I am so humbled by you who do this. I think that a pretty conscientious person, but when I hear of people who are really taking "green" living to the next level I am always inspired to do more. Mot sure I could get mu DH to go along with this, but I sure could give it a try! Thanks for sharing...