I fervently believe that cloth diapering brings people together.
I’ve mentioned before how cloth diapering has accelerated new friendships. In particular, it has helped establish a bond with someone I was only acquainted with before. This person has become a real friend because of our cloth diapering (okay, maybe we also have a lot in common, but we never would have known it if it weren’t for the diapers).
Let me take a quick step back. Oddly enough, I don’t know many people personally in my area that cloth diaper. One of my cloth buddies is a physician, so I don’t see her very often. Another lives in the city while I live in the suburbs. So the one person I can actually talk cloth diapering with regularly is my new cloth friend and she lives in my town (this is not to diminish the online cloth diapering community, because it is incredible, but there is something about talking face to face). Every time we see each other, we discuss cloth in some way. Whether it’s the new product we just bought or the problems we are having with poop or diaper care or whatever. I think with another cloth mama, there is an immediate sense of “oh good, you get it,” that fosters discussion and makes me comfortable brainstorming solutions to whatever problem I’m having. Because as every cloth mama knows, the disposable mamas smile and nod, but they really want nothing to do with your cloth diapers.
Anywho, back to my cloth mama friend. I was updating her on my ongoing saga with ammonia (which is still haunting us even though I’ve tried everything I can think of to eliminate it) and how I really think it has something to do with my HE washing machine. She and her cute family just moved into a new house with a traditional washing machine, so (of course!) she invited me over to run my diapers through her machine with a boatload of water in hopes of rinsing out the ammonia for good.
Needless to say, I immediately accepted. When am I going to have the opportunity to wash my diapers in a traditional machine? It’s not like I can ask my disposable-using friends if I can come over and wash the ammonia out of my daughter’s diapers. Washing diapers is sometimes the only thing stopping people from cloth diapering, so asking to “borrow” their washing machines (even though they were already clean) isn’t something I’m comfortable doing. But with my cloth mama friend, it was perfect. She also has a three-year-old and a baby, so we turned washing diapers into a playdate-slash-“turbo” wash afternoon! It was a lot of fun and I think we successfully eliminated the ammonia for now.
[Note: We ran my diapers through two extra-large (read: lots of water), hot loads with one scoop of Charlie’s Soap (what my friend uses and loves) and an extra rinse on each load. We actually forgot to close the machine on the second load, so the dipes got some extra soaking time too!]
As I brought my diapers home from our washing playdate, I felt so fortunate to have made this new friend and am grateful that cloth diapers have helped us bond. We’ve made a real connection with another family that shares some of our key values – and isn’t that what makes life so rich?
What connections have cloth diapers brought you?
Sarah is a mom of two and blogs about her adventures in motherhood, cloth diapering and everything in between. Catch her “Cloth Diapering Unwrapped” series on the FuzziBunz blog every Tuesday.
