It's not you, it's your HE washing machine...

We field a lot of questions about stink around these parts.  Usually, people assume cloth diaper stink is related to their washing routine, however, if your cloth diapers have developed a persistent mildew-y smell (not ammonia!), your fancy-dancy high efficiency washing machine may actually be the culprit.  


High efficiency washing machines are prone to stink for a number of reasons:

• front-loading machines always retain some wetness 
• front-loading machines are tightly sealed
• front-loading machines do not use much water, as a result, detergent residue may buildup within the machine

The stink that develops in your machine can transfer to the items washed in your washing machine, including your cloth diapers.  This problem is widespread enough that a class-action lawsuit has been put forth in the (good ol' litigious) USA.  

Often times, people who are dealing with persistent funk will regularly strip their cloth diapers to keep the smell at bay, however, a plausible reason why this approach works is that they are actually stripping their washing machine.  The ingredients found in RLR, a laundry treatment that removes buildup from fabric, are quite similar to those found in Affresh, a product used to remove odor causing bacteria and buildup from HE washing machines -- you might think you're stripping your cloth diapers, but you're actually stripping your washing machine!

If you have funky-smelling diapers, and you suspect your washing machine may be to blame, there are several steps you can take to remedy the situation:

• use a detergent recommended for use with an HE machine.
• use the recommended amount of detergent.
• always leave your washing machine's door ajar between uses.  
• don't let wet clothes sit in your washing machine for an extended period.
• regularly clean the gasket surrounding the machine's door opening.  This gasket tends to hold water, and it acts as a catch-all for hair, lint, and other small items that may get trapped (hair, socks, washcloths, etc.).
• regularly clean your washing machine's filter -- I had the pleasure of cleaning our machine's filter this afternoon, I was surprised about the amount of debris and guck that had accumulated, never mind the skunky water that had been sitting at the bottom of the machine.
• clean your washing machine as indicated by the manufacturer on a monthly basis-- read your instruction manual!

A stinky washing machine can not only affect your cloth diapers, it may transfer stink to other clothing items, and your laundry room may develop an odor.  Rather than regularly stripping your cloth diapers, which can be a time-consuming process, and which may cause undue wear & tear on your diapers, giving some TLC to your HE washing machine may be a more effective approach.

Bigger kids = bigger problems

As it turns out, once you beat those sleepless nights, terrible twos, and fucking threes, you'll realize that the hardships of raising babies and toddlers are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.  Our oldest daughter entered grade six this past fall, and in our particular school zone, that meant a transition from elementary school to middle school (dun, dun, dun!). I was dreading this change to the point that we spent last summer looking at houses in another school zone, I was desperate to stop my first baby from growing up.  Of course, Maddy was less than impressed with her hysterical mother, practicing her pre-teen eyeroll whenever she caught me looking at her.

Just like when she moved from the safe confines of the kindergarten playground to the grade one schoolyard, we have seen lots of change in our little girl over the past few months.  She remains the same type A, smart-as-a-whip schoolgirl she has always been, but her unabated desire to grow up (like, yesterday!) is frightening.  She is desperate to wear makeup (yeah, no!), she gravitates towards clothing favored by teenagers (yeah, no!), and the time she used to spend playing on the street with her friends last year is spent indoors, 'skyping' with her friends.  Remember how we used to talk on the phone with one person at a time?  That was so 1990! Kids today like to 'lol' with 10+ other kids at a time, 'kwim'?  We have also hit the milestone where Maddy would prefer to spend time with her friends rather than (gasp!) socialize with her family.  I knew it would  happen eventually, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon!  

A few weeks ago, Maddy casually mentioned that one of the 'grade eights' at her school was caught with 'weed' in his locker.  I wanted to throw up.  Suddenly, the lack of sleep we faced as new parents over a decade ago looks appealing.  As a result of my deep-seated neurosis about the perils that lie ahead, I habitually seize upon any and every opportunity to talk to Maddy about situations she may face at some point (and if you are stay on top of current events, you know there's plenty to talk about!).  We've talked about bullying, sexting, the dangers of recreational drugs, and dating abuse, to name a few.  Obviously, I don't expect these issues to come up in the near future, however, I don't want to bury my head in the sand and assume they never will.  I'm hoping that by opening the lines of communication now, if certain situations present themselves down the road, our kids will feel comfortable talking to us about them.


Perhaps compounding my neurosis is the realization that the choices I make as a parent can have profound outcomes on how well our children turn out -- I sincerely hope I don't screw it up, there are no do overs in life.  As it stands now, our kids seem to be happy, well-adjusted little people.   I hope that one day they will grow into happy, well-adjusted big people.  Time will tell, I guess.  

Made in China? I'm thinking out loud, people.

Over the course of the past ten years, the cloth diaper industry has grown in leaps and brands.  New brands.  New styles.  New fabrics.  Most of the change has been positive, however, a new trend that has come on fast in the past year involves the availability of generic cloth diapers, directly imported from manufacturers in China.  If you check eBay, it's not hard to notice listing after listing of ultra low-cost diapers that look like their name-brand counterparts.  Out of curiosity, I bid on a listing this weekend -- for the low price of $3.25, I'm the proud new owner of a one-size pocket diaper.   As unbelievably low as that price is, that price includes both the diaper *and* shipping & handling from Hong Kong; considering it costs $1.80 to send a letter to Hong Kong, that puts the cost of the diaper itself at roughly $1.50.


More and more, I'm noticing customers mentioning generic brands in the store. On occasion, customers ask me about certain brands, mistaking them for diapers made in Canada (more often than not, the 'WAHMs' who import these diapers fail to make mention of it on their website).  I can't really offer too much input on what they're like, which was one of my motivations for ordering a sampling of these diapers, so I can know how they compare to the name brands we sell.  


My other motivation for ordering samples is to consider selling them -- if people are eschewing name brands in favor of generic brands, I'd be a fool not to consider stocking a generic brand of cloth diapers.  The majority of generic pocket diapers (with two exceptions) are imported directly from one specific company, in my limited exchanges with them, I'm not sure what kind of after-sales support would be offered if ever an issue arose (the language barrier is an issue, to say the least).  The companies who import and sell these generic pocket diapers, along with the manufacturer, don't seem to post specific warranty information which leaves me wondering how warranty issues are handled.  If we were to order and receive a batch of diapers with defective PUL, what kind of support would we get from the manufacturer?  A recent batch of bad snaps saw Fuzzibunz replace diapers for customers, and increase the warranty on their diapers' PUL and snaps to a lifetime guarantee.  One of the great things about cloth diapers is that they can be used for multiple children -- if diapers aren't made to last, I'm not sure parents are really saving money in the longrun.


Warranty issues aside, the incredibly low markup of these diapers gives me pause to stop and think about stocking them. Cloth diaper margins are already slim (that's why you don't see stores like ours in Toronto, folks!), the businesses importing and selling generic pocket diapers in Canada seem to be applying an even slimmer markup.  The overhead of a brick and mortar store is much higher compared to that of a home-based online business, I'm not sure it would be wise (or feasible) to dedicate floor space and cash flow to product that does not offer even slim margins.  If I'm selling the diapers at barely-above-cost, will I be any further ahead?  


I understand one of the prime motivators for people to use cloth diapers is to save money.  However, when you consider the long-term picture, you will always save money when you choose to use cloth diapers.  We recently started stocking the Econobum prefold kit, manufactured by Cotton Babies, a family could get set up with 24 one-size prefold diapers and six covers for less than $100.00 -- cheaper than any generic pocket diapers, these diapers come with the standard one year Cotton Babies warranty.  


At this point, I'm not sure what to do.   I think the availability of generic pocket diapers is a game-changer for established businesses who retail brand name diapers, but I'm not sure how to respond. I want to sell products that I'm confident in, and that we can stand behind.  Selling cheap diapers purely for the sake of selling cheap cloth diapers doesn't feel right to me, but if we're losing customers to businesses who do just that, I need to consider it. 

Training Pants training

Until last year, cloth diaper manufacturers seemed to give little thought to training pants, which is surprising given the tendency for many parents to rely on training pants as a way to transition children from diapers to underwear.  Training pants provide protection when a child who is potty learning has an accident (and unless you wait to train him until he is 18 years old, there will be accidents.  Lots of them!). 


When parents come into the store for potty training advice, we take them on a tour of all of our training pants, we have a pretty good selection, and different training pants are better-suited to certain situations.  Regardless of their differences, something they all have in common is limited absorbency.  Since training pants are not meant to hold more than one pee, you should not treat it like a diaper -- your little one cannot wear the same training pants for 2-3 hours with multiple accidents.  For this reason, you want to introduce training pants only when your little one is ready for toilet training, and more importantly, when you are ready for toilet training.  The onus is on you at the beginning to do all the work (unless you wait to train him until he is 18 years old) -- if you're not willing to put in the effort, it may be best to wait rather than push on with toilet training.


Limited absorbency aside, training pants can be easily pulled up and down, making it easy for little ones to use a potty or toilet unassisted, and they are typically lined with fabric that holds moisture, meaning a child will feel wet when has an accident; feeling wet is a great motivator for children to use a potty or a toilet!  These similarities aside, there are subtle differences between different types of training pants that make them better-suited to different stages of potty training.

One-piece, non-adjustable training pants, like those manufactured by Bummis, are durable, and they work well.  A downside to these training pants for some parents is that they fit poofy (no, it's not a 'real' word, but I bet you know what I mean, right?), however, as long as the legs and waist fit snugly, the poofiness is only an aesthetic issue.  The Bummis training pants are ideal for a child who is new to potty training, they will hold an accident well, and they will buy you some time (if you're at the grocery store, for example, and you don't have a change of training pants with you).  However, if your child poops in the training pants, taking them off can be tricky (your little one will stand up, while you gently slide the training pants down -- it's about as pleasant as it sounds!). 


Bummis training pants are sized, when a child sits at a weight range that is between two sizes, we generally recommend parents buy the smaller size, since they are not adjustable.  If you size up, the training pants may not fit properly, and training pants are (hopefully!) a short-term piece of clothing, so you shouldn't buy them with the mindset your child will wear them for a long time.

Side-snapping training pants make changing poop accidents a little easier -- rather than pulling the training pants (and the poop!) down, you simply open the sides of the training pants to take them off.  Both Cotton Babies and GroVia have recently released side-snapping training pants, both of which are one-size affairs, the flip trainers fit 20-50 lbs and the GroVia trainers fit 18-35 lbs.  A one-size training pant takes the guesswork out of sizing, if a child takes longer to toilet train overnight, one-size training pants can accommodate a larger child (the GroVia trianers can be extended with larger side-flex panels).

Some training pants, like the daytime trainers manufactured by Blueberry diapers, are only partially waterproof, these trainers must be changed relatively soon after an accident, the wetness will eventually wick throughout the training pants if they are not changed quickly.  These training pants are meant for children who are almost fully potty trained -- they provide a little more absorbency than underwear, offering a little protection when needed (on Grandma's new sofa, for example).  Since these trainers are not fully waterproof, they are not suitable for nighttime use.


In terms of how many training pants parents should buy, we generally recommend purchasing 3-5 pairs.  It's very easy to treat training pants like diapers, when your child is wearing underwear, there is more incentive to offer the potty on a regular basis (if they have an accident in underwear, it's more work to clean up than simply changing their training pants).


Good luck!

flip potty training pants review

Barb, one of the moms who works at the Ottawa store, recently reviewed the flip training pants for us. Barb has tried many (many!) nighttime combinations with her child, if anyone's opinion on these trainers counts for something, it's Barb's! We stock a good selection of training pants as it is, but the training pants we have stocked up to this point were generally best suited to daytime use. When parents come into the store looking for an overnight option for potty trained kids, they need something that fits, and more importantly, something that will not leak.

The flip training pants are sold in a boxed set that includes a one-size cover (fits 20-50 lbs), five organic cotton inserts, and set of waist panels (see a video of how the inserts and cover work together here). The cover itself can be adjusted in the rise, the stretchy waist panels allow parents to adjust the width of the cover. Cotton Babies sells additional sets of stretchy waist panels in different colors, they are not sized differently, they are available purely as an aesthetic measure to create different color combinations. The flip training pants (cover and inserts) are manufactured in the United States.

My daughter pees like crazy at night, so much so that she can pee right through a disposable training pant, leaving it a sodden stinky mess, with wet bedding far more often than I would like to deal with. At five years old, and weighing more than 40 lbs, we have had a hard time finding resusable nighttime training pant options that work. I’m quite happy to say the new flip training pants work overnight for her.

I prepped the training pants' inserts by boiling them in a large pot for approximately five minutes with a bit of laundry soap; constant stirring prevented the nylon hook and loop closures on the inserts from resting on the bottom of the pot (the nylon would melt against the hot surface of the pot), followed by a hot wash and machine dry. The inserts took a fairly long time to dry, but that seems to be par for the course for extra-absorbent materials. It’s probably not necessary to prep the inserts before daytime use, but I wanted to be sure the inserts would hold up overnight.

For overnight use, Cotton Babies recommends pairing up the training pants' organic cotton insert with one of their

biodegradable inserts. I used this combination on the first night we tried the flip trainers, I'm happy to report that we experienced no leaks! Since I would prefer a nighttime solution that does not involve a single-use product, the next night I paired the training pants' organic cotton insert with a 3-layer AMP hemp insert. This combination was bulkier, but it also worked really well, the hemp wasn’t even saturated. I have also tried pairing the flip organic cotton insert with a 2-layer AMP bamboo insert, that allowed for a much trimmer fit (shown at left), and still no leaks.

My daughter could easily pull the training pants up and down, which is important for children who are working on daytime toilet training. In terms of the weight range, since we needed to add extra absorbency, I'm not sure she will fit in the training pants as long as the manufacturer suggests. For children at the upper end of the recommended weight range, pairing the organic cotton insert with a disposable insert allows for a much trimmer fit, which would certainly allow the training pants to fit longer.

I’m not wild about the contrast design of having the stretchy waist panels a different colour than the main part of the cover, but I’m really happy to have something that works. I like the fact that I can separate the inserts from the cover for laundering. I would like to be able to purchase additional covers separately, with only one cover in the pack, I have to handwash the cover between uses. Only having one cover is better-suited for daytime potty training, it would be convenient to simply replace the cotton insert with each accident, rather than replacing the entire training pant, especially when you're out of the house.

Overall, I would recommend the flip training pants to parents who are potty training their kids, I will happily continue using it with my daughter.

The flip training pants are introductory priced at $29.95 until December 31st, 2011. Their regular MSRP is $42.95.

Buy Nothing Black Friday

Did you know you're supposed to buy nothing black tomorrow? I kid, I kid. As you may or may not know, tomorrow is Black Friday in the good ol' U.S. of A. For those of you who don't know, the day after American Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday shopping season for our neighbours to the south. Traditionally considered the busiest shopping day of the year, a staggering $6.2 billion was dropped by American consumers online last year. Stories of mayhem and violence are commonplace as consumers compete to take advantage of bargain basement prices. In what might be described as a 'ying' to the Black Friday 'yang', on the same day, some folks observe Buy Nothing Day as a "day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption."

Slowly but surely, the Black Friday tradition has been creeping across the border, to the point where the phrase 'Black Friday' is being applied to sales held by Canadian retailers. Over the past few weeks, I have been mulling over whether or not to participate in a Black Friday sale (which actually translates into a Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday affair for a lot of businesses), in the 11th hour, I've decided I won't.

Although it would be probably be better for my business' bottom line if I did, I try not to encourage our customers to make needless purchases, and following from that, it makes little sense for me to participate in what can only be described as an orgy of needless consumption. As a retailer and a consumer, I identify more with Buy Nothing Day, though as much as the idea of closing our doors for one day might appeal to me, it wouldn't serve the business well to turn away customers in an effort to make a statement.

In an attempt to strike a balance between Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day, we're going to donate 10% of all of tomorrow's sales to The Parkdale Food Centre. While some folks have the luxury of buying an Instant Pot tomorrow at deep discounts, others struggle to feed their families.  We are also collecting the Parkdale Food Centre's current 'most needed items', and we're extending a 10% discount to customers who bring in donations:

Canned Fish (Salmon, Sardines)

Canned Legumes (Chickpeas, Kidney Beans, Black Beans, Lentils)

Canned Tomatoes & Pasta Sauce

Peanut Butter

Pasta

Healthy Cereal

Oats, Flour, Barley, Rice

Dried Beans & Lentils

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Milk, Eggs, Butter

Gluten-Free Items

Tooth Paste, Tooth Brushes, Soap and Shampoo

Period Products

Finally, all of tomorrow's purchases will go into a draw, and we'll give out three $25.00 gift certificates to three lucky winners.

Wherever your allegiance lies tomorrow, have a great day!

SkyMall awesomeness

Did you know there's no easy way to get to Louisville, Kentucky? In the span of seven hours, I zipped from Ottawa to Toronto to Cleveland to Louisville. Most of the trip was pleasant enough, however the plane from Cleveland to Louisville was a hot mess, it was absolutely filthy, the flight attendent spilled hot coffee on me (then awkwardly tried to towel it off), and I sat next to a man who managed to spend an entire hour hawking lougies.

But I was okay with all of that, do you know why? I had a copy of SkyMall magazine in my hands. Yes, it had some unknown red substance splashed on the front, and some of the pages were stuck together, but it was mine, all mine! Not to disappoint, the magazine catalogued a vast array of random gadgets and gizmos that somewhere, for some reason, some people must buy to fill some purpose. What purposes, you may ask? Spying on your spouse. Massaging assorted body parts. Growing hair. Not walking your dog. The list goes on.



What caught my eye this time around, you ask?

1. Why go to your beer when your beer can come to you. For realz. If this doesn't scream 'lazy', I don't know what does.
   



2. On a related note, someone has finally solved the age-old dilemma of how to get wine out of a bottle, and into a glass. And holding wine. They solved that problem too. My parties are going to get *so*much better!




3. The only thing better than a head massage is a head massage anytime you want one. Wear it at Starbucks, I dare you!




4. Put $5.00 away five days a week for a year, and you'll have $1300.00! You can only do it with this box. Note: $1300.00 not included.




5. Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that they make this shirt in an adult size?




6. Finally, I can find out what I would look like with a mustache. Finally.




7. Fucking gravity has finally met it's match.




8. Honey, you know what would really pull this room together? A life-sized sculpture of a woman with a lamp on her head.




9. This puts the 'scare' in scarecrow.




10. Temperature Regulating Blanket, also know as a regular, ol' blanket. Color me crazy, but don't all blankets keep you warm?