Replacing Fabric Softener

I have finally done it! I quit using fabric softener. And it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be, either.

I made a set of wool dryer balls using wool yarn purchased with a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby. (You can see what the current coupon is here and print it if you don't get one in the newspaper.) I followed the instructions in the above Tipnut link, and it worked like a charm! One skein of yarn was enough to make the four balls shown, plus a tiny ball that my cats have seriously enjoyed batting around. In fact, I had to pick it up because they were tearing it apart. They enjoy the large balls, too (as does the three year old!) but I try to keep them safely out of reach of little paws and little hands.

Per a post that I linked to a couple of months ago, 12 Surprising Ways to Reuse Aluminum Foil at Wise Bread, I tried tossing a (clean!) ball of foil in the dryer along with the dryer balls. While static wasn't eliminated completely - especially depending on what was in that particular load - I thought it was greatly reduced. The clothespin is in the picture to represent my clothesline (you can see what a nerd I am about it in that post - lots of tips and tricks) which I use faithfully when the weather permits. I have reused the foil ball many times, and while it has gotten smaller and more compacted, it is still working just fine. I'll wait until it's falling apart to replace it, recycling the old ball, of course.

My clothesline went down for a bit this summer, though, and I had to use the dryer. I was pleased with the outcome using the wool and foil. As noted in my clothesline post, I also toss my line dried items in the dryer for a few minutes using low heat or air only, and the balls help soften them up, too.

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Cloth Diapering Routine

So I began with Our Cloth Diaper Journey, but the hard part for most people is how on earth do you wash them? The first thing is to get over the ick factor. All babies dirty their diapers, and at some point, as a parent, you are going to get some on your person no matter what kind of diapers you use. I found that dealing with dirty cloth diapers wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

Goose never had formula, so I can't speak to how cloth diapering works with formula fed babies. Dirty diapers from exclusively bre@stfed babies (nope, can't bring myself to put that word on here, I don't want the wrong kind of searchers finding these posts by accident) can go straight in the wash. Older babies' "stinky bottom" that is reasonably solid can just be shaken into the toilet and anything remaining (usually not much) can go in the wash.

There is a certain no-man's-land when babies start eating some solid foods that results in diapers that are yucky and not solid. I found these to be the worst, but still not terrible. I kept a diaper-only rubber spatula in the bathroom (in the toilet brush container) and used it to scrape as necessary. I swished the spatula, and wiped it off with toilet paper then returned it to its home with the brush. I then tossed the diaper in the pail as usual.

When we were just starting out with cloth, I used two pails - one for the inserts/liners, and one for the diapers. This is true of all fleece - if you wash it with cotton, it will pick up the lint and pill the fleece. In the case of the diapers, it doesn't affect their absorbency, but they aren't quite as soft. Both pails were lined with a nylon bag that I purchased in the camping/sporting goods section of Wal-Mart. I tossed the diapers in as-is, though I tried to make sure they weren't balled up - I found the stink problem in the nursery came about only if things didn't have a chance to dry out. As Goose got older, I tended to lay the liners over the edge of the pail so they'd dry out better. I was lucky, though - Goose never really got into her diaper pails.

When it was time to wash, I dumped everything (including the nylon bags) in the washing machine, turning the bag inside out to make sure nothing was trapped inside. This was back when I had a top load washing machine, and it took a long time to get a wash routine figured out. As I remember, I ended up running them on a short cold wash cycle, then a hot heavy wash long cycle, then an extra rinse. I used as little detergent as possible.

When we got our front-load washing machine, I was a bit nervous because I've heard a lot of complaints about them not getting diapers clean. It took a bit of messing around, but I ended up very pleased with the following routine:

Cold soak cycle with one tablespoon of borax/washing soda and a very small drizzle of Tide. Then I ran a sanitary wash cycle (light soil) with just a few drops of Tide and a teaspoon or so of povodone iodine in the bleach compartment. Why the povodone? Because it's what my friend Patty does. (In the initial post, I noted that I purchased my Happy Heinys from her. And she has a LOT of kids, so she knows diapers.) I didn't use it for a long time, but it does very well at killing germs. I followed the sniff test - if they came out smelling like hot poop, they weren't clean.

For quite a while, I didn't put anything in with the diapers for the soak cycle. Then I realized that it made sense to use detergent when they were at their dirtiest. I then used just a touch more in the sanitary wash cycle because most of the gunk was gone at that point.

I know some people (including Patty) who dunk and swish their babies' diapers in the toilet. I preferred to rewash them if they didn't come clean rather than do that. A mom somewhere wrote that she preferred picking an occasional stray piece of corn or a raisin out of the washer rather than dunk and swish. Yeah, me too.

By the time Goose potty trained, I quit using the pails and just used my washing machine as a dry pail. Occasionally I had to pull out dirty diapers if I needed to run a load of regular laundry, but I thought it was more convenient than the pails. After I changed Goose, I just took the diaper to the machine, pulled out the insert, and tossed it all in. Like the pails, I didn't have much trouble with Goose getting into them. Please note that with a front-load washer, I highly recommend you leave the door open because I would fear the diapers would get NASTY if they didn't dry out.

I certainly preferred to hang Goose's diapers to dry on the clothesline, though we went through a spell of several weeks this summer where it either rained or was cool/cloudy/humid on the days that I wanted to wash diapers, or I wasn't able to get them washed until night. Our dew point here is high enough that clothes are *soaked* by morning if left on the line overnight.

The waterproof PUL fabric is such that it does well to have an occasional turn in the dryer to help keep it sealed. Overall, to help keep down the ickies, I preferred to dry Goose's diapers as quickly as possible. So if sunshine wasn't available, I tossed them in the dryer. Katie at Kitchen Stewardship notes that she can tell a difference in her dryer-dried microfiber versus line-dried, but she notes that her dish cloth microfiber needs a round in the dryer to keep stink at bay.

If you have any questions on washing cloth diapers, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment. This is one of my favorite things to talk about! :>) Next up (someday), a brief post on potty training...

More Dirty Laundry

It all started with my cloth diapers. When I washed them, I was incapable of using a small enough amount of detergent to still get them clean but not so much that it produced mountains of bubbles that refused to rinse out. We got a new front-load washing machine, and since I still had a huge jug of regular Tide left over, I mixed it with HE Tide . . . and had enough bubbles that I knew I still had too much detergent. If I backed off too much, though, my diapers didn't seem clean enough.

Enter the internet. I read up on a number of recipes for homemade laundry detergent, including one here on The Simple Dollar and a number of ones mentioned on Frugal Fridays when it was still hosted at Biblical Womanhood. The type of soap used varied from recipe to recipe, but the borax and washing soda did not. It seemed that the borax and washing soda helped the soap work better. Would it do the same for my beloved Tide? I decided to experiment.

First I had to locate borax and washing soda. Borax was easy enough, but I checked the area big box stores for washing soda with no luck. I called a toll-free number I found online (I believe it is 1-800-524-1328, and you need the UPC code which is 33200-03020) to see where it was sold in my area and came up empty. I had found it on Amazon.com, but upon checking again, it was no longer available. It is now coming up as available via drugstore.com, but at a pretty high price. [A web search indicated that it might be available via the above toll free number, and shipping may be free if you purchase multiple boxes. Worth a shot if you can’t find it!] [Or, if you are a bit stubborn like me or Amy, please look a bit more closely at your local store. Or at least ask a clerk.]

Then one day, I turned down the cleaning aisle at my local grocery store in a town of about 3,000 people. I usually avoid that aisle because I can get most things cheaper at Wal-Mart, and I can wait to get cleaning products until my next trip to the “city”. Lo and behold, there they both were on the top shelf! And the prices weren’t too bad, either.

So outside I went, with a measuring cup, my newly purchased borax and washing soda, and a clean small bucket. (As you pour the powders, they release a bit in the air.) I alternated pouring in a cup from each box into my clean bucket, figuring it would help me mix it up more easily - both powders look pretty similar to me. I tried to break up with my fingers any chunks I found, although I didn’t worry about it too much.

But would it work? I put about a tablespoon of the mixture in the detergent cup of my washer, and added a drizzle of Tide. The clothes came out smelling as sweet as when I used MUCH more Tide – I was convinced! I have learned that when washing hubs’s work clothes, I at least double the Tide and I sometimes double the powder, too.

Go here for my post on line drying - I'm a huge clothesline nerd, so there are tons of tips!

Airing My Dirty Laundry

The title isn't exactly accurate, since clothes on the line are already clean! I've only been hanging out my laundry for a few years, but here are a few things I've learned. I'll start with tips to consider when buying and placing a clothesline.

To determine where to place your line, study your yard. Figure out which spots are shady and sunny at various times of the day. Check the ground underneath where you'd like to put your line. If it's near a bird nest, or bird-friendly trees, you'll likely see (ahem) evidence of that. You'll also want to look for sap, leaves or other debris (pods, etc.) and anything else that might make your clean clothes not-so-clean anymore.

Keep in mind that the sun is weaker in the morning and stronger in the afternoon, and also stronger during the summer than the spring and fall.


For our clothesline, we purchased a retractable model at Menards. I can't remember the cost, but I'm thinking it was around $30. We attached the main side to our garage and the hook on the house. To use it, I pull the handle out of the main side across and hook it on the house. I then turn the wheel to tighten the line, and turn the lock knob. This keeps the lines taut. I like this type because I don't have to worry about ducking under it when I mow the grass. If clothes fall off, they fall onto the concrete patio and not in grass or mud. Most importantly, it's right outside the back door and our laundry room.

Here are some line-drying tips (and I know I'm kind of a geek about it!):

On items that have been through the wash but are still stained, hang them on the line so that the stain faces the sun. This would be toward the east in the morning, toward the west in the afternoon, or toward the south anytime.

To keep items from fading, I try to vary how I hang them out. Sometimes I will hang items backwards, so the back of the item is toward the sunny side. Or, if they came through the wash inside out, I won't bother to turn it right side out until it comes off the line.

You'll learn the pattern of how the weather affects your dry time. Hot, sunny, windy days will dry clothes faster than cool, cloudy, still days. The humidity is a big factor as well, and if you live in a dewy-morning type area, your clothes hung out in the morning will take longer to dry until the dew dries off.

I bought a bag or two of inexpensive wooden clothespins at Wal-Mart and unless I have a ton of tiny baby things to hang, I have more than enough pins. If you find you're running short, there are a few creative things to make your pins go farther. I always hang towels, wash cloths, dish cloths, diaper liners, etc. together. I pin the first one on one side (usually the right side first), then pin the second (left) side to the right side of the next item. So, for two items, I use three clothespins, except I extend it out across the line for as many pieces as I have.

Other means of conserving pins include hanging overalls by looping their straps over the line, hanging bibs by their ties or velcro closure over/around the line, and hanging onesies upside down and use their snaps. Keep in mind that clothes that aren't pinned to the line may slide around with the wind. If I want to get more clothes on the line but don't care about a somewhat slower dry time, I will hang two towels stacked together, two t-shirts stacked together, etc.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my clothespin apron! You can see it hanging on the line on the left side of the photo above. My mother-in-law made it per my request . . . I told her I wanted to be able to wear it while wearing the Goose on either my front or back in the Ergo, and I wanted to be able to wear it while pregnant, should we be blessed again. Now that I know a bit about sewing, I realize how tall an order this was! I don't know how she did it but she nailed every point. Since the pockets are on the side, I can reach the pins whether I'm wearing it forwards or backwards. I wear it pretty much every time I hang clothes. It's wonderful!

Back to the laundry, sheets take up a ton of space but they dry quickly. I usually hang them out first and fill in slower-drying clothes around them, then check them after half an hour or so. If they're close to dry, I pull them down (see post-line-drying below) and put up the rest of the clothes. Hopefully the slower-drying ones have a head start and will be done about the same time as the more newly-hung ones.

When hanging items on the line, I try to balance weight on the lines both front to back and side to side. That means that I neither place all the jeans on one single line, nor place all the jeans on the left hand side of my line. Further, because my lines vary in tautness, as I'm hanging clothes up I place heaver items on lines that are tighter. So, let's say I have a sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt left to hang. I'll look at my lines and determine which is pulled down the least (the one that is tightest) and hang the jeans on that line. The next-highest line gets the sweatshirt, and the lowest (least tight) line gets the t-shirt. Yes, this is a bit geeky, but if I always hung jeans on the same line, they'd be dragging on the ground before long because the lines stretch.

Sometimes I will hang heavy or thick-waisted items (like jeans) upside down, or by the ankles or bottom hem. This saves a bit of space, too! If I have delicate items on which I don't want to leave pin marks, I sometimes hang those upside down, too. If you notice an item is wrinkled, try to smooth or straighten it when you hang it. I've found this to be especially effective on pant legs and jeans, and hemlines that tend to roll.

While I use my clothesline early spring through late fall, I still use my dryer some. I have found that if I don't dry our socks, they seem to stretch out and don't stay up as well. That is to say, they need the heat to shrink back down. For me, socks are a bit more trouble than they're worth on the line because they take up a lot of pins (even if you pin a pair together) and take a long time to dry.

I also take things for a tumble after coming off the line to make sure they are dry, soften them up, and remove the tiny bugs that like to hang out on them! I'm not sure what the critters are - they're black and white with wings, and they tend to chomp on me a bit as I'm taking clothes down. I don't want them biting the Goose, so most everything goes for a spin after it comes down. I usually just throw the wet socks in the dryer as they come out of the washer, and then later put a load of clothes off the line in with them. The dampness from the socks helps soften and remove wrinkles, too.

If you had a stained item, check it before drying! If the stain is not gone, don't put it in the dryer. Treat it again next time it comes through the wash and continue to sun the stain. Or put the item back out on the line the next day or two for several hours to try and sun it out. This will likely also fade the color of the item, though, so keep that in mind.

Do you have any line-drying tips or tricks? I'd love to hear how you do it! For more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom here for Frugal Fridays.