Clothesline Drying

It is summer!! And that means that I can dry my clothes out on the line! There are so many benefits to drying your clothes on the line:

1. It saves energy. This is because you aren't using your dryer to dry the clothes... this cuts down the power bill, gas bill (if you are like me and have a gas dryer), and keeps your house cooler in the heat of summer.

2. The sun can bleach out organic stains... such as breast fed baby poo! Hanging your newborn cloth diapers or soiled clothes out on the line for a couple hours will make those stains disappear!! For tougher stains, try spraying stain with a bit of diluted lemon juice before putting it out on the line!

3. Sunlight can kill bacteria and viruses. The heat of the dryer does this as well... but this is a greener alternative!!

4. Clothes smell fresher. Try hanging your bed linens out on the line to dry... they will smell so fresh when you hop into bed at night!!

Some people are bothered by the 'crunchiness' of their clothes after being dried on the clothesline. To soften your clothes, put them in the dryer for a few minutes with a damp washcloth.

There are many ways to build a clothesline, and there are also many varieties that you can purchase. My clothesline is a rope wrapped around two trees in my front yard. Just make sure you put your clothesline in the sun so you can get the full benefit of line drying!

Here is my clothesline:

Folding a Prefold Diaper #2

Here is the other fold that we use in our house. This fold is great for when baby is going coverless because it provides extra layers of absorbency right in the middle without adding extra bulk!

This fold is called the Bikini Twist fold and it is done using a premium chinese prefold diaper:

Step 1) Fold down the top of the diaper about an inch (or more to get a good rise on a smaller baby).


Step 2) Place diaper under baby.


Step 3) Twist the diaper (this is a '180' twist).


Step 4) Bring the diaper up snugly between baby's legs.


Step 5) Fold the top down to get a good rise on baby.


Step 6) Tuck 'wings' in at baby's hips.


Step 7) Bring back wings up on the outside of the front wings.


Step 8) Snappi the 2 top claws.


Step 9) Open up the 'pocket' created by the twist....


Step 10) ... and snappi inside the pocket!!! This keeps the bottom snappi from getting caught on your clothes while carrying baby!!

Folding a Prefold Diaper #1

We use chinese prefolds to diaper our babies here... I have tried many, many folds, and I have found 2 that work the best for us! Below is the one that I use most often...

This fold is a cross between an angel wing fold and a jelly roll fold using a premium diaper:

Step 1) Fold top edge of diaper down about an inch (or more if using a premium diaper on a smaller baby). This helps get a good rise and also helps keep the poo from going up baby's back!


Step 2) Place diaper under baby.


Step 3) Fold edges in towards middle.


Step 4) Roll edges in towards middle.


Step 5) Bring diaper up snugly between baby's legs.


Step 6) Open up the top of the diaper to make 'wings.'


Step 7) Fold down the top of the diaper to get a good rise on the baby.


Step 8) Tuck the wings in around baby's hips.


Step 9) Bring the back wings up on the outside of the front wings.


Step 10) Snappi the diaper!!


This is how the diaper should fit around the legs:



It may take a bit of practice to get the hang of this fold, and to be able to make it tight enough!