5/13/2008 Cloth Diapers

Nothing disgusts me anymore.


Using cloth diapers has desensitized me to the point that I no longer remember feeling sickened by thoughts of toilets, roadkill or vomit. Every day Fox wears 8-10 diapers, and at least 3 of them are really, really gross. I have a strict procedure in dealing with these gems which involves three stages of washing.

First the entire mess gets thrown into the toilet where it stays for thirty minutes or so; just long enough to forget about it. (it is most disturbing for guests who happen upon these when visiting our restroom)

Second they are transported into a "diaper bin" which is an airtight storage container, and a solution of borax and hot water is poured on top of it.

Finally, the container of filthious diapers is laundered in hot water, borax, baking soda and a little bit of detergent, then rinsed twice in hot water.

We have enough diapers that I only have to wash diapers once a week, so thats just one extra load of laundry, making the grand total of numbers of loads of laundry I do per week 2 loads. Whenever you hear someone knocking cloth diapers from an 'ecological' standpoint by saying things like "It is better to use natural disposable diapers than using cloth ones because of all of the extra water you use to wash them...", just know that they are only saying that to convince themselves. It is simply not true; disposable diapers, be they pampers, huggies, or seventh generation unbleached organic eco-bottoms (or whatever), end up in the landfill.

I have been intimate with my son's excrement for so long now that I am not phased by it at all. My process is streamlined in such a way that I am rarely inconvenienced by it, and whenever I must buy disposable diapers for travel or swimming, I feel annoyed.

It's sorta nice being un-gross-outable. Being insusceptible to foul displays increases my resilience to little boys' pranks and I think that will really come in handy one day. I will have Fox to thank and to punish.

The worst thing about cloth diapers has nothing to do with the crap in which they carry, but in the folding and putting away once they're cleaned.