Adventures In Stripping Diapers

Even if you are careful to use less detergent and vinegar rinses, diapers still can get stressed and need periodic stripping.


Symptoms of diaper stress:


- Strong ammonia smell after they have been soiled.


- Diaper rash that won't go away despite diligent intervention.


Cause: Detergent residue which traps bacteria.


Solution: Boil (Strip) them.
**We use pocket diapers and I ONLY strip the inserts, Snaps & velcro can melt  and or the diaper's color can run.**
Start off with washing the inserts, they don't need to be dried. I spend a full day boiling all the cleaned inserts in a giant stock pot. It actually goes by pretty quickly.
 I can get about six - seven inserts in at a time. Add a little vinegar as well. This will help rid the inserts of detergent residue. I have also found a little bit of Dawn dish soap helps too.               Picture to the right: My little helper in her Ergo.... 

Bring the water to a boil, place the inserts in the pot.  I kept them boiling for about 8 minutes, then use a pair of tongs and transfer the "stripped" inserts to the sink (I used a metal bowl, Be careful it will be HOT)  
Then I add 6-7 more inserts the boiling water and start the process over again.   After 12-14 inserts are done, then you will want to change your water. 

Picture to the left: the suds are from the dawn soap

The inserts that are in the sink get rinsed down with cold water, rung out and set aside. Once all the inserts are done being stripped, I place them all in the washer for a washing cycle in just hot water and baking soda (baking soda neutralizes odors). Whenever you can line dry do it, The sun has a lot of benefits for diapers as well... 


Result: Extra clean sanitized diapers with no detergent residue, and no more rashes or bad smells. Good luck & Happy stripping!!

Baby/toddler leg warmers

How to make baby/todder legwarmer out of women's socks

This is a quick inexpensive project that anyone can do, $5 for 3 pairs of socks at Walmart. They are a GREAT alternative to tights, making diaper changes much easier. They are warmer & much more durable & can also double as arm warmers to give a warm layered look to your favorite t-shirts for girls & boys of all ages.

Supplies…

• Women's tube/knee socks (6m-6yr) or Womens crew socks (0-18m) Girls knee socks also work GREAT.
• Sewing machine 
• Scissors
• Pins

STEP 1: You will toss the heel & toe scraps, but keep the bottom of the foot. 

STEP 2: Take the section remaining from the foot & you want to fold it inside of itself as pictured below. You should have the nice side of the sock on the outside & inside with a fold on one end & both raw edges on the other.

STEP 3: Stick the long section of the sock inside your newly created tube. This would give you 3 raw edges on the side we are going to sew, the other side will have the folded edge & the finished edge that was originally the top of the sock. If you have a pattern such as stripes or argyle  you may try to get them to line up. Once you are happy with the positioning pin together. Make sure to pin just 3 layers, not all 6 or you won’t have a hole to stick your little ones leg through when you are finished.

STEP 4: Now set the stitch length on your sewing machine to 4 (longest stitch), this will allow the most stretch. If the long straight stitch just doesn’t stretch enough for you can also us a narrow zig zag stitch… width at 2 & length at 3. You want to stretch the pinned side over the arm of your sewing machine & sew a straight stitch all the way around. If you can’t get it to stretch over then you can use what ever method you use to sew circles normally, or you can simply stitch it together with a needle & thread the old fashion way. Then simply fold the trim down (putting the seam inside).

 Here they are in action!!