Incredibum wipe review

In keeping up with my job as an Incredimom, I have a review for you! I received a free shipment of cloth wipes from incredibum to review a while ago and I’m loving them! These wipes will last long past our diapering lifetime. They are so plush and thick we will definitely be using them as washcloths for years to come. The incredibum wipes are the size of your normal wash cloth which is handy when cleaning up a poopy bottom. I can wipe once, fold, wipe again, fold and wipe another time. Much nicer than the cloth wipes I had made myself that only had one to two swipes per wipe. I also love the fact that they are thick enough that I don’t worry about anything soaking through to my hand from the side that is messy. If I do a first cleanup swipe with toilet paper to remove any large areas of stuck on poo, I’m able to completely clean DS’ bottom of poo with one incredibum wipe. I don’t even have to spray the wipes with my sprayer. They get perfectly clean in the wash! Remember, if you ever have staining, just hang or lay your wet wipes in the sun for all natural bleaching.

Stats: incredibum wipes are 9×9 and are made of 90% bamboo and 10% polyester. I love bamboo as a diaper material! Not only is it naturaly antibacterial AND very absorbant, but it is an amazing plant which will not deplete our environment of excessive amounts of resources for growing. Bamboo is my favorite diapering material because it is so environmentally friendly and has been so good to my babies bottoms!  You can buy incredibum wipes at sandbox lane in a 4 pack for $4.95.

Deodorants and Antiperspirants

The research that I’ve done on the safety of deodorants and antiperspirants has yielded some varied results. Isn’t this the case for all topics? Is there anything that is guaranteed safe? Drinking water? Uh, nope. Anyways, I know that many people will tell you that using deodorant or antiperspirant is completely safe and you have nothing to worry about. I disagree, along with many others. These are products that many of us use daily. Daily, long term exposure to chemicals, pose a much greater risk to your health than single or infrequent exposures to those same chemicals. (I’m not suggesting that single exposures to some chemicals are not just as bad for your health – only that exposure to chemicals found in many deodorants and antiperspirants long term is worse for you than short term, infrequent exposure to those same chemicals.) This means that, stopping the use of these products is better for you than continuing to use them.

A well detailed (4 part) article discussing the chemicals of concern in deodorants and antiperspirants is on ControlYourImpact.com. Please check it out and read about why we should be concerned about the aluminum, and parabens in many deodorants and antiperspirants and their possible link to diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimers disease.

I have been on the search for a good deodorant for some time. I decided a while ago that I wouldn’t use an antiperspirant. If there was any chance at all that I could avoid the Alzheimers that my grandmother suffered from, I would take it! I also noticed that antiperspirant would sometimes damage clothes. Sometimes it would bleach clothes in the area it contacted them regularly. I noticed this in particular, on my husbands shirts. These shirts were also very difficult to get scent free in the armpit area. Some shirts would stain with that mild scent of antiperspirant scent mixed with a bit of body odor. Isn’t this what we are trying to avoid with antiperspirants? That strange scent that occurs when our body odors mix with the un-natural perfume chemicals really bothers me. I’m sure many of you have thrown away deodorants after finding their scent isn’t a good “match” for your own body scents.

After finding Kiss My Face Liquid Rock, a deodorant free of parabens, aluminum, phthalates, and artificial perfumes, and using it for a few months, I finally convinced my husband to get rid of his widely advertised antiperspirant and give my roll on a try. I had never used a roll on before, but found that giving it a few minutes to dry wasn’t a big deal. I apply it right after showering so it has time to dry while I get ready. It never irritated my freshly shaven pits and I noticed a dramatic difference in the first week of use. Surprisingly, my husband has stuck with this deodorant (even after years of only using antiperspirants), which has made me feel like I have made another leap in keeping my family safer and healthier. A $5.99 investment (same price as my husbands previous brand) that could mean better health but definitely means less laundry work for me!

Second Annual Flats Challenge!

Last year I heard about this challenge just a bit too late. This year, I’m all in. What is the flats challenge? Kim over at Dirty Diaper Laundry devised this challenge to show all of us cloth diaper users how ANYONE can use cloth diapers no matter what their financial situation, with or without a washing machine and dryer. A little more detail… A flat diaper is a single layer of fabric that is folded to fit your baby. It is not waterproof and requires some kind of cover to keep clothing dry. Imagine a dish drying towel and you have a good idea of what I’m talking about.

The great thing about flats is that they are the most inexpensive kind of diaper you can buy and they are the easiest to wash and keep clean! What’s the challenge? Those participating must hand wash their diapers for the week of the challenge. Here are the rules in detail from Dirty Diaper Laundry blog:

“Materials Allowed

The following diapering items can be used:

• Any flat cloth diaper, store bought or handmade.  A flat should be only 1 layer of material for easier handwashing and faster drying.
• 1 night time diaper per night of your choice although you are asked to make flats work for you.
• A diaper sprayer.
• Wet bags/diaper pails for storage.
• Handmade “washing machine” for diapers such as the camp style washer I made last year.
• Non Electronic Portable washing machines (must be powered by you and cost less than $100.
• Commercially available or handmade covers.
• Commercially available or handmade detergents.
• Snappi, Boingo, and Pins for closure.
• Pocket diapers STUFFED WITH FLATS. (note that the potential for repelling on the stay dry lining could make your challenge harder but you can see what happens)
• Homemade or store bought fleece liners.

Materials Not Allowed

• Electronic washer/dryer.
• Pockets with inserts other than flats, AIO’s, Fitteds, Contours, Prefolds, AI2’s, etc.”

I ordered some official flats just to make sure I had a true grip of what the challenge is all about. I also plan on using some flannel receiving blankets for the majority of the challenge. I’m reserving all my pocket diapers (stuffed with flats) for the times that DS is at preschool. My main concern was, “how am I going to use flats overnight?”. Today was my first day using flats ever. I doubled them up for naptime and, would you believe, both the kids woke up dry? Tonight is my test run for nighttime flat diaper use. I folded one flat in an origami fold and then padded it with a flannel receiving blanket, topped with a fleece liner to keep them feeling dry. I can’t wait to see how the diapers held up tomorrow morning! I found it very funny that BOTH kiddos told me “I like this diaper mommy!” after I snappied them closed. I asked them if they were comfy and they nodded excitedly. They are too funny.

Why on earth am I so excited to hand wash my diapers and take this challenge on? When I think about all the families out there that struggle financially to diaper their children, my heart breaks. How awesome is it that I could buy a 6 pack of flats for $12.95, and Kawaii covers for $6.50 each? And that’s buying name brand flats – which is completely unnecessary for diapering use. Many of the moms taking the challenge are using nothing but receiving blankets or cut up sheets that they already have. You can diaper your child in old t-shirts! You can use ANY absorbant material! Trimmer material is better if you are worried about your child’s clothes fitting over your diaper cover, but anything will do. Knowing that you can get into cloth diapers for under $100 AND being able to share personal experience with hand washing will be an invaluable experience when I speak at workshops and cloth diaper circle meetings.

I can’t wait to share this experience with you readers!!!! If you cloth diaper I ask that you give this challenge a try. Stop by Dirty Diaper Laundry and sign up. I plan on entertaining you with this challenge. I’m even going to attempt to make an upcycled wool cover to give it a shot for night time use. (That should be interesting – considering my untrained sewing skills!)

Will you join me? Kim has pledged to donate $1 to Giving Diapers Giving Hope for everyone that completes this challenge, up to $200! Lets spend her money!

Farming cooperative or CSA

If you are looking to save money and increase your health through eating better, I suggest you look into a local farming cooperative or Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA). Programs like these offer you a box (size varies) of fruits and vegetables on a regular schedule for you to either pick up or have delivered to your home. We have been using a service called Abundant Harvest Organics for several months now and are loving it. We decided to order a large box (which is about enough to fill 2 grocery bags) every week and split the order with my sister-in-law and her fiance.

I have learned SO much from our co-op. Not only do they send a newsletter with recipes, but they send veggies I would never have thought to buy at the store. This has forced me to learn how to use these veggies and has greatly increased our vegetable intake. At first I worried that I wouldn’t use all of our veggies and that they would go to waste. I have found that this is not something that occurs very often at all. If we get too many of one kind of veggie for us to use right away, I prep the veggie for cooking and then freeze it. Sometimes I’ll shred a bunch of carrot or parsnip and have it ready to add to any casserole or sauce for added nutrition. I have a stir fry mix in the freezer that is ready to go whenever we need a quick meal. I have used all of the large leafy veggies like kale, collard greens, and chard to make “kale chips”. I sliced up potatoes and froze them a while ago and made a wonderful casserole with these potato slices as the bottom layer just the other night. I freeze the spinach we get and use it for smoothies. The possibilities are endless.

Just last night DD & DS declared that snap peas are their favorite food in the world! While I was prepping them, I gave DD a couple to snack on. DS tried one raw and was not pleased. I decided to saute them in coconut oil and garlic. When we sat down to eat them with dinner, DS did not want to try them again. I showed him how you could open them to get the peas out just like edamame, and he was intrigued. When I asked him if he wanted one of my peas (just the inner pea) he said yes and then grinned and said “yummy!”. It was all over after that. He started by shucking the peas of their shells but then quickly decided that eating the entire pea was just as good. The loved the crunch of the peas and sautéing mellowed the flavor of the snap peas a bit. I love that a slight change in presentation of food can turn kids from refusing to digging in elbow deep.

I find myself going to the store with much less frequency since using the cooperative. I also find that getting a box of veggies inspires me to cook. It’s like a mini Christmas! Cooking used to feel like quite a chore (it still does occasionally) but having all these inspiring foods to pick up weekly makes me want to find recipes to use them. It’s fun exploring the world of cooking! Do a quick search to find a Co-op or CSA near you!

The Ventura County Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012

What an amazing event! Things went very well for our location. We had a community that came together with so many donations that EVERYONE that participated won a prize on top of getting a swag bag. (I even have a few swag bags left over for circle members that didn’t attend GCDC and show up to circle meetings!) I’m exhausted both physically and mentally so this will be more of a photo montage than my usual posts. I think you will enjoy it none the less!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t thank everyone involved in today’s event enough. I really can’t. The participants were troopers! Even waiting around for all the prizes to be drawn was a feat since the community was so generous! Keep in touch & join the Cloth Diaper Circle for Ventura County whenever you can!