Flats & Handwashing Challenge Day 7 - My overall experience

Today marks the seventh and final day of the 4th Annual Flats & Handwashing Challenge.  We made it! 

Yesterday, I asked my husband a few questions and one of them was "What did you think when I first mentioned doing the challenge?"  Part of his response included the statement, "I was questioning whether or not you would stick with it."  To be completely honest, when I decided to take this challenge...I wondered the same thing.  Would flats work for us?  Would I really handwash everything all week when my perfectly good, working washing machine stood just a few rooms away?  Would my participation really make that much of a difference that sticking with it would be worth it?  I really had no clue.  What I did know was that I'm not one for backing down from a challenge.  My stubborn side always has to prove someone, even myself, wrong.

So, I stuck with it.  Was it hard?  Yes and no.  Was it time consuming? Somewhat. Was it physically challenging?  Yes.

This week, I fell in love with flats.  They will become a part of my regular cloth diaper rotation and they will continue to be used each week.  I can't believe I waited until my little man was on the verge of potty trying to try them out.  Our next LO's stash will have many, many flats.  After figuring out my favorite folds and how to use the Snappi and Boingos, these became a very quick and simple cloth diapering option for us.  So, did I find using flats to be hard?  No. Not really.

Handwashing on the other hand...I am not a fan.  Time wise, it really wasn't that bad.  Just about 15 minutes of active work. The work itself was a bit strenuous.  (You really do get a good upper body workout in if you are doing it right.) The rest of the time was just playing the waiting game.  Waiting while my diapers soaked in the detergent and w bjaiting (so, so long) for my diapers to air dry inside my tiny home during the freak May snowfall we experienced in Chicagoland this week. So no, I would not choose to handwash my diapers every day.  Not if I had a perfectly good, working washing machine just a few rooms away.

However, most people who choose to handwash do not have this choice.  Many either have found themselves in a living situation where they do not have easy access to a washing machine or may not have the funds to replace a washing machine they were previously using.  This is why we do this challenge.  To raise awareness that cloth diapering is still possible even if you do not have the luxury of having a washing machine in your home.  I appreciate my very simple washing machine much, much more after this challenge.  It may be simple, but it saves me from shoulder pain and the dread of adding to that strain each night as I walked toward the bucket to wash more diapers.  Furthermore, I have a new appreciation for those people who do this *every* single day, all year long, so their children have access to safe, clean diapers.  I also appreciate that this challenge has taught me that if I am ever in a situation where I might think that I *need* to turn to disposable diapers, I don't.  I now have the knowledge necessary to know how keep my son in cloth in nearly any situation.

So congrats, participants! We did it! Until next year! (Hopefully, by then, I will have a new LO to help me participate in the challenge.) I will also be kissing my washing machine tomorrow.  (Yup, I can admit it.  I love a machine.)