Cloth Wipes & Snack Bag from Boutique Little People (via Eco Fab Mama)

Those of you following this blog know that I like to feature Canadian made products and especially those made by small businesses or WAHMs.  Eoc Fab Mama is a lovely online store that brings quality WAHM-made products together and makes them available for sale to lucky customers like us.  They are "dedicated to eco-friendly/family friendly products" and so they sell a lot of items related to cloth diapering, cloth alternatives to disposable items, and handmade soaps/cleaners.

 I've recently had the opportunity to discover and appreciate the generously sized 2 layer flannel wipes lovingly made by Boutique Little People (http://www.ecofabmama.com/catalog/m-boutique-little-people-6-1.html) and available for purchase from Eco Fab Mama (http://www.ecofabmama.com/catalog/baby-wipes-36-1.html). I received a set of 5 wipes, in adorable girly prints, that have stood up well to multiple uses & launderings. As I mentioned, they are a good size (8"x8") and are made of a quality thick flannel that does a fantastic job of cleaning up messes and keeping your hands clean. The wipes are well made, the layers of flannel are equal sized and the colour co-ordinated wide serged edges are properly stitched and finished.  Some other suggested uses for these wipes from the Eco Fab Mama website are:

• Baby Wipes
• Cloth Tissues
• Wash Cloths
• Dish Cloths
• Un-paper Towels
• Napkins

I will often take a clean cloth wipe or two, wet it at home, and put it in a small wetbag to take along in case of hands/faces needing wiping while out and about (such as when I think that a chocolate coated granola bar is a suitable car back-seat snack for a 4 year old...)  Beats having to pull out the Wet Ones with their smelly scents and bitter residue they leave on your fingers!
 

In the envelope I received from Eco Fab Mama, I also found a special treat in the form of a Boutique Little People fold & go sandwich bag (http://www.ecofabmama.com/catalog/sandwich-bags-and-wraps/boutique-little-people-purple-stripes-fold-n-go-sandwich-bag-258.html).  Made of 100% cotton fabric, and available in a bunch of cute patterns, it is a simple solution to the problem of how to package a snack for on-the-go consumption without being left with a bunch of trash when the snack is eaten. While it does not have a waterproof liner or a fastened closure (it folds over, much like a simple sandwich bag does), it certainly does the trick when it comes to holding a bunch of freshly rinsed grapes, a simple sandwich, or some cheese slices & crackers.  I really liked the other suggested uses for these reusable bags on Eco Fab Mama's website:

• Snack Bag
• Toy Pouch
• Tooth Fairy pouch
• Gadget case
• Tub toy holder
• CD Sleeve
• Pen/crayon holder
• Craft holder
• Gift bag
• Halloween Treats
• Wet Bag
• Party Favors

The flannel wipes, snack bags, and many other quality WAHM-made products (such as wool dryer balls, soap, cloth wipes solution, laundry supplies, hats, gloves, and much more) can be browsed and ordered from http://www.ecofabmama.com/.  They ship to Canada and the US, and offer free shipping for orders over $125.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.

Bummas "The Wild Ones" Cloth Wipes Review & GIVEAWAY!

There has been an evolution of wipes in our household.  When my son was born, we used disposable diapers, and disposable wipes.  Once he grew big enough to fit into the Kushies AIOs we had at the time, we switched to cloth diapers, and homemade disposable wipes (paper towel & homemade mix of distilled water, lotion, and baby wash).  We soon got tired of the inevitable crisis whenever we ran out of homemade wipes, because the middle of a baby poop emergency is totally not the time to start making a new batch of wipes.  Plus, with the money we were saving on diapers, I figured that having to buy wipes every now and then was not the end of the world.  So we went back to disposable wipes.  It drove me bananas every time I opened the washing machine and found little specks of disposable wipes all over the diapers in the wash.  I mean, it's so easy and second nature to roll up the dirty diaper, stuffing the wipes inside.  Plus, the garbage can got kind of nasty where it was full of used wipes that were not contained by disposable diapers.  I thought there had to be a better way, but honestly it never occurred to me that CLOTH WIPES were the answer.

Thankfully this time around, I had the brilliant realization that cloth wipes were a much more reasonable solution.  You have to wash the diapers anyways, and instinctively, you put the dirty wipes in the diapers, so why not cloth wipes?  They go in with the regular diaper loads of laundry, and don't require any special treatment.  There are several options for when you use them - the easiest is to run them under the tap when you need them.  For the upcoming winter, I have opted to dampen them in advance and store in a wipes warmer.  Others use a wipes solution in a spray bottle and spray it on baby or wipe at change time.  The wipes I have been using are basic handmade squares of double layered flannel serged together.  I made them from a stack of old receiving blankets I had kicking around in the baby-stuff-I-saved-for-our-second bin.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a package of Bummas in the mail to test out for this blog.  They have been #1 in my rotation since I got them.  Made of a single layer of cotton velour fabric, they are velvety soft on one side, and terry-cloth textured on the other side.  This makes them perfect to clean up big messes and small ones.  I was surprised at the size of them, 5" x 7", which I thought would be too small to do the job well.  However, they seem to be just right.  They basically cover my palm & fingers, so I can use them terry side out for bigger messes, and do a final cleanup by folding in half and using the soft velour side to get any remaining mess.  I wet them before use, and wring them out, so they are damp but not dripping wet.  So, I don't have any issues with moisture on baby's bum before applying her diaper.  However, Bummas wipes are also excellent for drying off baby's bum if you had to use wetter wipes to get things clean.  I agree with one of the cute sayings on their eco-friendly minimal packaging that states: "After the wipe and before the dipe, use a soft kiss of cloth to dry bums off."  I also got a kick out of some of the other rhymes on there, such as "Avert the squirt", since, according to their website, one Bummas wipe can absorb an entire pee - this would have been great when my boy was in diapers...

The wipes have held up very well, going through my usual diaper laundry routine of soak/wash/rinse/rinse and line dry (or occasionally in the dryer) without any ill effects.  They have not shrunk or frayed AT ALL, which I'm impressed with because I am ALWAYS re-edging my homemade wipes because the corner where the serged edges meet is always fraying on those.  Bummas wipes are also great to use as facecloths, cleaning up after mealtime, or wiping a runny nose.  They also say on their packaging that they could be used as burp cloths, but I don't think that would work well for my little one because when she spits up, it tends to be an epic affair that goes from my shoulder to my elbow (and often ends up splatting on my hips, thighs, or calves, depending on how I'm standing or sitting).  So for now, I'll stick to burping with a receiving blanket.  If your little one doesn't spit up much though, using a Bummas for a burp cloth would definitely cut down on the bulk of cloth you would need to carry around with you in your diaper bag.

Bummas wipes come in 4 adorable colour combinations - the fabric is white cotton-woven terry velour, and the serged edges are done using bright beautiful colours.  They used to have different colour fabrics and different coloured edges but it seems they are phasing this out on their site.  They now have a "The Boys" set which is edged in shades of blue and green, a "The Girls" set that is edged in shades of pink and purple, a "The Calm Ones" set edged in shades of orange, brown, and green, and finally the "The Wild Ones" edged in ten different random shades of every colour under the rainbow.  They are sold in sets of 10, and each set sells for $16.99.  They ship worldwide, and accept paypal, so if you're reading this, you can buy them!  Check out www.bummas.com for more pictures and information on their wipes.

Great news!  Bummas has agreed to sponsor a giveaway right here on Geekmommy Reviews, with the prize being your very own 10 pack of Bummas wipes!  To enter, you must visit the Bummas page on Facebook and "Like" them, then comment back here that you did so.  Be sure to include your name on Facebook and your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!

You can earn up to 3 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Following @geekmommyreview on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
3. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday October 7th, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.

The Laundry Tarts

What's powdery, white, made in Canada, smells delicious, and got the funky smell right out of my daughter's cloth diapers?   It's a magnificent new all-natural laundry detergent from The Laundry Tarts.  With delicious flavours scents such as Key Lime Pie, Black Forest Cake, and Oatmeal Almond, it's hard to believe you're not supposed to just spoon this stuff into a bowl for dessert.  I received two sample bags of The Laundry Tarts detergent from Monkey Doodlez, one Key Lime Pie, one Pina Colada (thank you!).  The first thing I noticed when I opened the shipping envelope was the lovely scent wafting up to meet my nose.  I'm not talking about anything strong or overpowering, rather, it was more of a subtle scent, clean and fresh, but not artificial or perfumey.  That's probably because the entire bag of laundry detergent contains only natural ingredients - there is nothing artificial about it.  The entire product line of detergent, stain remover, and shaker is (to quote their website) "hypoallergenic, 100% vegan and free of phosphates, EDTA, pthalates, parabens, SLS, SLES, nitrates, sulphites and chlorine".  Try saying that five times fast!  The ingredient list is shorter than you could even imagine, consisting mainly of baking soda, soda wash, powdered hydrogen peroxide, and sea salt.  Throw in some rosemary extract, saponified canola & coconut oils, and essential oils (for fragrance), and you've got yourself a bag of detergent.  It's safe for your clothes, your skin, and the environment.

I was at first skeptical about using this detergent with my daughter's cloth diapers.  As you can read in previous posts, I launder her pocket diapers & liners every 3 days, using EcoNuts, cold soak, hot wash, and double cold rinse, then I hang them to dry.  They have always come out clean, but often they smell a little funky.  On occasion, I can chalk this up to FORGETTING to toss in the bag of EcoNuts after the soak cycle (shame on me!), other times I have blamed my timing - I tend to do the soak/wash/rinse before bed, and the 2nd rinse the next morning, before hanging them out.  I figured that leaving them in the washer overnight is what caused them to sometimes pick up a funky smell.  However, it seems I might be wrong about that - after checking on The Laundry Tarts' website to make certain the detergent is safe for cloth diapers (it totally is), I followed the same process (using 3 tablespoons for my old school top loading washer) and found that the entire load of diapers smelled really fresh and clean the next morning when I was hanging them out.  Note that they did NOT smell of fragrance, artificial perfumes, or funk.  They just smelled clean.  After hanging them out to dry, I took them in and thought they looked even whiter than usual, and they were SO FREAKING SOFT - perhaps the sea salt in the detergent helped with that?  I continued to use the diapers on my daughter and there were no unusual effects, rashes, etc, that sometimes happen when switching detergents.  I'm sure she'll be thrilled when she grows up that I used her as a diaper detergent guinea pig.

I also tried using the detergent with a load of dark laundry, to make sure it rinsed clean (it did, even with a very full load of laundry, a cold wash cycle, and only a single rinse).  It even worked on my delicates and hand-wash items.  Which I wash in my machine on the delicate cycle, because honestly, is a mom supposed to have time to hand wash anything??  After washing a load of towels & facecloths with The Laundry Tarts detergent, I did one of those goofy comparisons like they used to do in fabric softener commercials... I stacked up 5 baby facecloths that were previously laundered (probably with EcoNuts), and 5 that were laundered using The Laundry Tarts, and sure enough, the stack laundered with The Laundry Tarts was taller.  I probably should have taken a photo (oops) but didn't think of it.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

Now taller stacks of facecloths are not usually a reason for me to choose one detergent over another.  But I have to say that the ability of The Laundry Tarts to brighten my diaper laundry, rinse out clean, and leave them smelling fresh instead of funky, is enough to make me want to buy a big ol' bag of this stuff. I will probably re-purpose an old measuring cup to work as a scoop for the detergent, because as of right now, it does not come with its own measuring scoop.  They recommend using 2-4 tbsp per load (half that for HE machines) so you do need to be able to get the right amount out of the bag and into your machine.  I just used one of my kitchen tablespoons for testing the samples, but when it becomes a permanent fixture in my laundry room, I would want a dedicated scoop.

If you love the fact that The Laundry Tarts detergent is all-natural, made in Canada, and (most importantly) great at getting your laundry clean, then you should also know that they have generously offered a discount code for15% off all Laundry Tarts products (detergent, samples, stain sticks and shaker bon bons) at www.monkeydoodlez.com and participating retailers.  To take advantage of this offer be sure to enter the code "geekmommy15" (without the quotes) when you are going through the checkout process.  Note that they've indicated that their shipping quotes are not working quite right on the Monkey Doodlez site, so please disregard the shipping quotes from the site and they will provide you with a correct total in an invoice prior to processing payment.  This discount expires in 7 days (so by September 20th!) so hurry if you are interested!  I know I'll be ordering some!

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge two small samples of the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.

Cloth Diapering - It's All About Choices

As I might have already mentioned, I cloth diaper my baby.  I do it mostly because I'm cheap, and I just can't imagine spending money every week on diapers to throw away.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that it saves a ton of waste from polluting our landfills, and that cloth diapers come in so many adorable prints and colours!  Plus, with all the easy to use cloth diaper styles that exist nowadays, it's no problem at all to get other caregivers on board.

When my son was a baby, cloth diapering wasn't really a "thing", I didn't know anyone else that was doing it (at least not til after I started), and I didn't do it all the time.  I bought disposables to use for naptimes, overnights, shopping trips, family visits, and so on.  We used a mix of Kushies AIO cloth diapers (all-in-ones), Kushies fitted diapers plus waterproof covers, and other generic brand fitteds that required covers.  I didn't dislike the process, but there were definitely things that bothered me, such as:

1) The Kushies AIO's I used took FOREVER to dry (even in the dryer, I had to run them through two cycles to get them dry)

2) After many cycles in the dryer, the Kushies AIO's started to leak, it seems the heat from the dryer cracked the waterproof exterior fabric

3) The hook & loop closures got gummed up with fuzzies and threads in the wash/dry cycle and were less & less sticky as time went by

4) Although you are supposed to be able to reuse the waterproof covers several times before having to wash them, I found they got smelly and had to wash them more often than not, so I needed more of them

5)  Being oblivious to the concept of a diaper sprayer, I was at a loss as to what to do with the poo... I ended up using popsicle sticks to scrape it into the toilet, which was effective but then at the end of the day I'm stuck holding some sh*t on a stick (pardon my french)...

Despite all of this, I was really happy to have made the decision to cloth diaper my son.  So, this time around when we found out we were expecting a new baby, I was excited to check out the new options in cloth diapering.  The local industry had certainly come a long way since the last time I was buying diapers - there were multiple cloth diaper stores within driving distance from my house.  I sold all of my old Kushies and paraphernalia, and decided to start fresh.

This time, I educated myself about my options.  I got a larger diaper pail so I could do diaper laundry every 3 days.  I got 2 Planet Wise pail liners so I wouldn't have to rinse the pail.  I invested in 37 one size pocket diapers (OS pockets) of various brands, and a number of extra liners for overnights.  I bought and hooked up a BumGenius diaper sprayer, and got a number of rolls of diaper liners to use on days where some bum balm/cream is required.  I bought a number of wetbags to allow cloth diapering on the go, and I made my own diaper wipes out of some old receiving blankets I had retired.

I'm proud to say that my daughter has been in cloth diapers since her umbilical cord fell off, and I haven't once missed disposables or regretted my decision to go 100% cloth.  I'm so pleased with how cloth diapering is going this time around that I am going to start a series of reviews on my blog in the month of September so I can share some of my favourite items & lessons learned with all of you.  There will even be some great giveaways, so be sure to enter for your chance to win!

Review: Planet Wise Diaper Pail Liners

If you cloth diaper, you know that one of the most important things is having a good diaper pail to store the soiled diapers until wash day.  I have two pails, a small one for my main floor laundry room (for diaper changes that take place in the living room), and a large one in the nursery, for all the rest.  The main floor one is one of those round ones with a lid that you can buy at Sears.  The one in my nursery was a shower gift from my girlfriends and is a really awesome large square one with a lid that you can secure, as well as a replaceable charcoal/carbon filter to keep diaper smells in the diaper pail.  I can pretty easily rinse out the small pail and lid in the laundry tub when it gets dirty, however, the large pail is a bit unwieldy.  Plus, who wants to carry a large pail to the washing machine every three days, wrestle it into position, and take the chance of poopy diapers falling beside the machine instead of into it?  Not to mention what you mamas with front loaders must do!  At least gravity helps with the top loader...

The solution is to have a pail liner.  A pail liner is like a giant wet bag with an elastic or drawstring top, it fits into your pail and over the rim, so that you throw dirty diapers into it.  Then on wash day, you just grab the liner and empty it into the washing machine, then put the liner in the washing machine too.  I have two Planet Wise pail liners so that there's always a clean one available.  They are the perfect size to fit most large diaper pails, and though I haven't' tried it, I think they would also be useful to line a smaller pail, there would just be more bunched up bag fabric at the bottom of the pail in that case.  These liners are made out of the same waterproof PUL material as portable wet bags and the outside layer of many pocket diapers.  It seems to be extra sturdy, not thin or weak at all.  It doesn't wick moisture and seems to be "smell proof" as well.  The elastic is very stretchy and adjusts to a snug fit around the rim of the large diaper pail.  The bag is strong enough to hold 3 days worth of soiled diapers when you carry it to your washer.  I find it does sometimes contain a bit of water after the last spin cycle, because it is waterproof, some of the water that gets in it during wash/rinse, doesn't always escape during the spin cycle.  So I make sure it's the last thing I take out of the washing machine so that I don't spill any water on the diapers that have been spun dry.

The Planet Wise pail liner comes in a ton of different solid colours so you will have no problem finding one or two that match your tastes.  They are not overly expensive at $16.50 retail on their website (and occasionally on sale for less at various online retailers - I think I paid $14.50 each at Bootyful Baby Boutique during one of their sales).  You can read more about Planet Wise products on their website at http://www.planetwiseinc.com/ and browse the pail liner colour selection here: http://www.planetwiseinc.com/Planet_Wise_Diaper_Pail_Liner_38_cat.html.

Review: Eco Nuts Natural Laundry Detergent

In this day and age, people are becoming more and more aware about the chemicals that surround us, and the effects they can & do have on our health and comfort.  Although our family is blessed with good health and no known chemical sensitivities/allergies, I do try to choose products with minimal impact on our health and on the cleanliness of our environment (most of the time...).  I first tried Eco Nuts Natural Laundry Soap last year, when I purchased a couple of boxes on Baby Half Off (http://www.babyhalfoff.com).  I was skeptical about how they would work, given that they are just little shriveled up brown things, but they do work, and they work at least as well as any of the laundry detergents I'd been using before.  They are great for cloth diapers, but I use them for all of our laundry needs.

They go in your wash, 5 nuts to a bag (bags are included in the boxes of nuts), and the bag lasts 5-10 washes, depending on your water & whether you're washing in hot or cold.  I let the bags dry between uses, which seems to make them last longer, and also makes it easier to tell when the nuts are "used up" they get brittle when they are ready to be replaced.  The bag of Eco Nuts Natural Laundry Detergent stays in for the wash & rinse cycle, does not leave any residue on your laundry, and has no fragrance.  The clean clothes have a slight odor of vinegar when wet, but no smell at all once they are dry.  I thought it was kind of strange that you could wash the clothes in cold water, rinse in cold water, leaving the bag of Eco Nuts in for both cycles, and still have the clothes end up clean without residue, but it works great, and the hint of saponin (active "ingredient" of the soap nuts) acts as a fabric softener when you put clothes in the dryer, so they come out extra fluffy.

Once the Eco Nuts are "used up", they are in fact not useless - I haven't tried it yet, but apparently you can make hand soap or natural cleaners from them by soaking them in hot water.  Or, if you're like me, you can put them in the compost.  No mess and no plastic bottles to throw out when you've used them up - Eco Nuts come in simple biodegradable packaging.  Since they are all natural, they are perfectly safe for septic systems too.  Oh - and the price is right - less than $0.10 per load!

I should probably include a link!  Check out Eco Nuts Natural Laundry Detergent and other eco cleaning products here at http://www.econutssoap.com/

EDIT:  A few people have expressed concern because their children have nut allergies, and would they also be allergic to Eco Nuts?  Eco Nuts on their Facebook page answered this way: "Eco Nuts are actually a fruit and not a nut and are used successfully by many people with severe nut allergies. Eco Nuts are in the lychee/horse chestnut/maple family, so if your child has any reactions to any products from those trees, do a patch test, first."

Review: Envirosax Designer Reusable Bags

I first developed a crush on Envirosax Designer Reusable Bags several years ago, in a store named Faces on a walk down Main Street while visiting Northampton, MA, USA.  I purchased one single bag, one of the now discontinued Planet Green series.  I found myself using it all the time - it was sturdy, folded up to a very compact size, and was strong enough to hold a fair amount of groceries.  One day, I noticed the side seam coming apart (gasp!) so the bag entered the "mending pile".  If any of you have a mending pile and a busy life, you will understand when I say that it sat there for a long time.  And I missed it!  Now, I could have probably gone and stitched the seam up again and continued to use it, but instead, I bought more of the Envirosax bags.  In fact, I went all out and purchased the entire Origami 5 bag pouch.  It was a bit like opening the floodgates - once I bought that set, I couldn't stop.  Thankfully one of my favorite deal sites, http://www.babyhalfoff.com, had a deal one day of 3 packs of Envirosax for a nicely reduced price.  So, I stocked up.  I bought bags for myself, bags for my friends, bags to give as gifts to my family members (they love them now too!)

Why do I love these bags so much?  Let me count the ways...

1. BEAUTY : There is no denying it, there are so many different colours and patterns that just about anyone will be able to find a bag (or bags) they love.  Every time I pull them out of my purse (or these days, my diaper bag) I get compliments from strangers commenting on how attractive the bags are and asking "where did you get those?"
2. STRENGTH: Other than that very first (now discontinued) bag where the stitching on a side seam started to come undone, I have not had any quality problems with the bags.  On the product website it says they can hold up to 44lbs per bag (!!!).  Now I don't think I've ever weighed them but when I fill it up at the grocery store with a bag of milk, a couple of tubs of yogurt, and enough Lean Cuisine meals to last me a week, I am usually more concerned with being able to lift the bag than I am about the bag being strong enough to hold the contents.
3. PORTABILITY: The Envirosax bags are simple to fold up, and hold together with a single snap closure.  Once folded, they are smaller than an iPhone and can easily fit into even the fullest purse/diaper bag.  I carry one or two with me everywhere I go (you never know when you're going to be needing it), and on grocery day I pack all of my bags into a little cosmetic case so that I have them all handy to hold whatever I buy.
4. VERSATILITY: On different occasions, I have used my Envirosax to hold groceries, beach toys, wet swimsuits & towels, potluck contributions, and library books.  They have doubled as wrapping paper, and have even been used as a mini blanket to sit on some damp grass (yes, they kept my bum dry and made sure my white golf skirt didn't get dirty!).
5. AWESOMENESS: In this day and age of environmental awareness, we all know about the impact that plastic bags have on our environment.  While I believe they have their place (carrying raw meat home from the grocery store, for one), I love that I have drastically reduced my family's usage of plastic bags by having Envirosax handy all the time.  They can be washed and dried so that if they get grubby, that's OK!  In fact it's good to regularly wash bags in which you carry food, in case of any leaky packages or wet/muddy produce.   It's recommended to handwash and line-dry the bags, though I always wash mine on my machine's delicate cycle and then line dry, and they seem to be holding up just fine.

In case it isn't obvious from this post, I think you should go out and get some of these bags for yourself if you don't already have any.  They are priced about $9 per bag, or $40 for a set of 5, which seems like a bit of cash, but they are definitely worth it for all the different uses they have and how long they last.  Check out the current selection at http://www.envirosax.ca (Canada) or http://www.envirosax.com (USA)