We kicked out all the chemical cleaning products, started recycling and began a lot of new "experiments" in the crunchy lifestyle. I feel like it's been long enough now that I can give a true update on what works, what doesn't and what I'm still undecided about for us.
First off, cloth diapers. I love them. Absolutely love them. However, we have had to start keeping Buffy in a disposable diaper at night. The cloth diapers, while incredibly effective I think and much kinder to her than all the chemicals and things in the disposables, don't "suck" the moisture away from her skin. I tried different inserts and greater numbers. It was to the point that her butt was too big for her pj's and she would still wake up half way through the night for a new diaper. She and I were both a bit frazzled and Josh had absolutely no tolerance for interrupted sleep on the nights I worked. With a disposable at night, we are all able to sleep and we don't have to worry about any possible rashes if she ends up sleeping in the next morning. I'm sure we could have experimented more with some different types of inserts and probably found something that would let her sleep through the night in cloth. But I don't feel like the 12 hours she spends in a disposable is the end of the world. It's crunchy enough for me at least. And I hate getting up at night to find a new solution when we already have one.
Other than the night time issue, the cloth diapers are wonderful. I feel like we are going to have a much easier time with potty training with her because she already knows and tells me when she needs a new diaper. Something her sisters never did until we started potty training. Which is, by the way, something I am both dreading and looking forward to. Hate the process, love the result. Evie and Elly both started potty training around this age and while they were both more or less trained by age two, I feel like if I had waited things would have been easier and less stressful all around. So we are waiting. Probably until after her second birthday. Unless she straight up asks before then. I am hoping to take a couple of weeks off work and really dedicate ourselves to it. Really kick it off right, ya know? In my head, this sounds like an excellent plan. In actuality, it may be disastrous. Ugh. Potty training...if you know, then you know.
People that have asked me about cloth diapers all have the same question: "So, what do you do about the poop?" There's no non-icky way to talk about it. I mean, it is poop. And it is in the diaper. You do have to get the solid part out of the diaper before you toss it in the wet bag. We use the liners in the diapers, the biodegradable ones. They add a little to our monthly diaper expense. I think its a whopping like $5 a month or so. I know. How do we manage. But it truly simplifies the process. Just toss the liner in the toilet, flush and then rinse the diaper. Usually the liner manages to catch all of the "waste" and it works well. Disassembling the diaper (taking the inserts out) and rinsing the inserts and cover takes only a couple of minutes. Then toss it in the big wet bag in the bathroom closet and back to it! Unless there has been a malfunction (sometimes Buffy gets diaper liner wedgies and then the liner manages to miss half of the mess) the whole process of changing and rinsing doesn't take much longer than with disposable diapers. We use reusable wipes now as well. And it adds pretty much zero time to the process. Might as well use cloth wipes when you're doing cloth diapers.
All in all, cloth diapers have been awesome. Highly recommend. Though honestly, would be best to start with baby number one. Or maybe even baby two. Instead of one year into baby number three. But oh well.
Our second adventure into the crunchy life has been cleaning products. We have ditched the store bought chemicals. I make my own febreeze, all purpose cleaner, floor cleaner, anti-bacterial wipes, bathroom cleaner, laundry detergent and dish washer detergent. Honestly, I haven't tried a lot of different recipes, because with each cleaner the first recipe has pretty much been perfect. I have tweaked some of the essential oils as I've learned more about what oils do what and I've obtained a better selection. My favorite cleaning product has definitely been the wipes. My kitchen counters shine! My stove top gleams! My microwave never has that funky microwave smell. And I mean, NEVER. And since I'm not spending $5 per tub, I can go crazy and wipe down everything and not feel bad about it. I will just make another batch. I have also been super pleased with my Febreeze. I have been a febreeze junkie. I cannot stand walking into the house and it smelling the slightest bit off. Cannot. Stand. It. I spend ridiculous amounts of time hunting down odd smells. If something gets put in the trash that smells funky, I empty it. Regardless of how little is in the bag. I put baking soda nearly every where. And everything in my house gets wiped down with some vinegar based cleaner pretty regularly. You wouldn't believe what a difference that makes! Even with three kids and three dogs and a husband who likes to leave dirty socks tucked between couch cushions (no kidding), I walk into my house every morning and usually sigh. It is just such a wonderful smell! It's not always a "clean" smell. Sometimes you can detect a little of whatever was for supper the night before, especially if it was something odoriferous like tacos. Sometimes you can smell the hints of coffee from the keurig. But generally it's a nice neutral "home" smell that I can only describe as an "ahhh" sort of wonderful. I never had that when I used Febreeze. I had whatever had been sprayed. Or that yucky stale feeling. Now it's always a fresh, clean "ahh" feeling. And again, since my Febreeze is now water, vinegar, rubbing alcohol and essential oils I can pretty much spray as much as I want with no guilt. No one is inhaling carcinogens. Dogs aren't absorbing chemicals through their paws. We aren't spending $4 a bottle each week for me to spray stuffed animals and carpets and curtains. So now I get to do it all guilt free! Woohoo. Can't beat that. I think the only recipe I don't love is the dish washing detergent. And that is really my fault. I didn't have all the stuff for the recipe, so I substituted and it was before I really knew what I was doing, so I didn't do a good job of it. I have since tweaked it some and am happier but I'm looking forward to finishing this batch and starting fresh. The dishes are always clean, but sometimes the glass look cloudy and that just irks me. Who likes cloudy glasses? We do still use some chemicals. I use Shout and Downy still. And we use some of the scented things in the upstairs bathroom toilet. Because most of the time there are five people using that bathroom. That is a lot of urine into one commode. And I don't ever ever ever want to smell any of it. Not to mention anything else that goes into that toilet.
Additionally, I personally have experimented with lo-poo and no-poo shampoo regimens. I'm going to be honest here. I feel like it works for some people. But it was really not for me. I like my hair. We get along well, I understand my hair and my hair...well, my hair doesn't care. It does what it wants. And what it did with the no-poo was no good. I mean, it was okay. But it wasn't what it did before. And I liked what it did before. I gave it several months but in the end I was more than happy to switch back to store bought shampoo and conditioner and products. Chemicals or no. I also tried the Oil Cleansing Method for my face. My skin had never looked better. It was phenomenal! It was always so dewy and fresh! Then Buffy quit nursing out of the blue and I had some other stressful stuff going on. That combined with the seriously crazy hormones (and let me say, postpartum and post-weaning are scary similar) meant my face was freaking out and I simply didn't have the self-esteem to let that take a month or two to sort itself out. Clearasil and some astringent (plus a hormonal birth control, yay estrogen! Am I right?) work miracles when your face decides to go all bipolar, schizophrenic, psychedelic and adolescent all at once. Thank God I work nights and no one ever sees me. And the people who do see me, see me in a dark room. And probably wouldn't notice if I grew a third eye or an extra head. As long as I took care of what I was supposed to be taking care of. I may give the OCM another try down the road. When hormones are stable and I don't forsee any hiccups. But for now, I'm really happy with Olay and Biore. And of course Clearasil!
While there have been some challenges to the crunchy lifestyle (I can never remember to take our recycling!) I have certainly made our home more green and we are all much more aware of our environmental footprint. Even the kids are in on the crunchy, recycling, homemade thing. And isn't that what it's all about? Imparting better habits on the next generation? Leaving the world a little better than we found it? Or maybe it's about improved Febreeze and shiny counter tops...yup, definitely the counter tops.
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