The EcoChic

Giveaway alert – One lucky reader will win a Yoreganics sample pack, complete with soap nuts, stain remover, brightens & whitens, and lip balm.  Details on how to enter at bottom of the post.  ECO-ngratulations @Helenlamby!

Regular readers may recall my previous review of soap nuts (EcoNuts) and my new found love of the soapberry tree.  These nuts (actually they are the shells of the berry from the soapberry tree) can be added to your laundry and used in place of traditional detergents.  YES – they really get your clothes clean.  I’ve been using them for months now and I love them.  I like that I don’t have to add nasty chemicals to get my clothes clean and I really love that I can use them on my cloth diapers!

What makes Yoreganics different?  Yoreganics sells more than just the soap nuts (which are also USDA certified organic).  They sell a USDA certified organic stain remover (made from saponified oils of coconut, jojoba and olive oils) and an eco-friendly alternative to bleach – the brightens & whitens.  Yoreganics also sells a USDA certified organic lip balm that is FABULOUS, foaming soap, and a facial cleansing bar.  Since Kimberly at Yoreganics was kind enough to send me some samples I’ve thrown them in my travel bag and use them wherever we go.  My lip balm is the only lip balm that I keep in my purse now – I love the spearmint tingle it leaves on my lips.

You can find Yoreganics online at the following places:
Store: http://www.yoreganics.com/index.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yoreganics/316394366308
Twitter: http://twitter.com/yoreganics
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/yoreganics

Here is a sweet video about Yoreganics that explains it all – and I love the music so turn up the speakers and sing along!

Win It- Want to win a sample pack from Yoreganics?  Visit their store and tell me something you learned about the products.  Leave your comment below to be entered to win. 

Bonus Entries – Leave a seperate comment for each entry.
1. Follow @TheEcoChic, @EcoChicParties and @Yoreganics on Twitter – 1 entry for all 3 follows
2. Like The Eco Chic, Eco Chic Parties, and Yoreganics on Facebook – 1 entry for all 3 likes
3. Subscribe to Eco Chic Parties newsletter – 2 entry points!
4. Make a purchase at Yoreganics – BONUS 5 entries!
5. Share this giveaway on Twitter (include link at @TheEcoChic & @Yoreganics in your tweet) – Max 5 entries per day

Giveaway ends on June 30th, 2010 at midnight (ET).  Winner will be chosen using Random.org from the list of valid comments. 

Giveaway closed – ECO-ngratulations @Helenlamby

Disclosure:Yep – Yoreganics sent me a sample of their wonderful product for review.  If you want to know if I really like it – look in my purse and you’ll still see my lip balm, look in my travel bag and you’ll still see my face soap, and look in my laundry and you’ll see my little while bag of soap nuts! 

I’ve written about my laundry routine before with my cloth diapers but I wanted to give you an update…after all our routines change as our children continue to grow and our diapers get older. 

Let me first start by saying that what works for me may not work for you.  Why is that?  Let me first start by giving you some facts on me, my diapers, and our routine.

1. Lil’ B is 16 months old, still breastfed and eating solids regularly.  I tell you this because a wash routine of an infant is different from a toddler.

2.  Our stash is primarily BumGenius 3.0s (about 20) and about 10-15 mixed other brands that we’ve tried.  All are pockets, all-in-ones, or all-in-twos.  We’ve never used pre-folds.

3.  More info on our stash – most of them are microfiber, microfleece, or some other micro-combination.  We do have some bamboo, hemp, and cotton combo inserts as well. 

4.  We have an old-fashioned top loader washing machine.  We’re waiting for it to croak before we invest in a front loader (or HE).

5.  We live in Florida – where we live has incredibly HARD water and we do NOT have a water softener installed yet.  (Don’t ask – we like to procrastinate!)

6.  We wash every 3rd day usually. 

Detergents we’ve used:  We have tried a variety of detergents…more on my personal recommendations in a minute.

1.  Arm & Hammer Essentials (unscented-free): recommended as cloth diaper approved by several online resources

2.  EcoStoreUSA liquid detergent

3.  Eco Nuts (a natural soap nut): recommended for cloth diapers

4.  Rockin’ Green Classic (scented): cloth diaper specific WAHM brand

5.  Rockin’ Green HARD ROCK (scented): new formula specific for hard water

6.  Planet: recommended by BumGenius for hard water (and several online resources) *Note on Planet – Planet does contain Borax in the list of ingredients.

Extra’s we’ve used (at some point):

1.  Bleach

2.  Hydrogen Peroxide (Publix non-chlorine bleach and EcoStoreUSA Oxygenated Whitener)

3.  Calgon: recommended for hard water/it’s a water softener

4.  Bac-out: recommended for stink issues

5.  Borax: controversial; some resources recommend the use of Borax while others warn against the danger of using Borax

Yes – I know that sounds like a lot of stuff but we don’t use it all at the same time.  I’ve been pretty consistent with our routine but I’ve varied the detergents on occasion because we have a serious problem!  HARD WATER!  Because of the hard water we’ve experienced ammonia stink, staining, and the occasional rash.  The rash is caused from detergent residue left behind from the hard water.  The way it was explained to me was that the minerals in the water bind with the detergent and coat (or clog) the pores of the diaper. 

Since most of my stash is made up of BGs I decided to call their customer service and ask for their recommendations for my scenario.  Here is what they recommended: 1 cold wash with Planet detergent and Calgon, followed by one hot wash with Planet and Calgon, followed by an extra rinse.  They recommended that I increase my bleach to 3/4 cup (once a month) and dry in the sun.  I also contacted Kim with Rockin’ Green Soap since I was working with her on a few projects.  Kim recommended that I ROCK-THE-SOAK and follow it up with a wash and rinse (maybe 2 rinses just in case).  Kim also recommended that I use Calgon.  I also spoke with Rump•a•rooz®, read information provided to me by Diaper Shops, and spoke with Heather at the Real Diaper Association.  I mention all of these great ladies because they are the Experts in cloth diapers!

The reason I mention all of the different recommendations is to show you that everyone has their own ideas on what works well for them.  There really isn’t one routine, detergent, or additive that will work for everyone all the time.  I remember my hair dresser once told me that you should switch your shampoo regularly so that you can strip your hair of different chemicals…why shouldn’t that be true for detergents and laundry too.  I’ve actually found that switching my detergents regularly actually help keep the problems away. 

My current routine (and what’s on my laundry shelf):

1.  I TRY to rinse my diapers once I take them off Lil’ B – I do this to keep the bathroom ammonia smell away.  Now I’m a busy mom so this does NOT always happen!  Poops ALWAYS get rinsed (and we use flushable liners) but not always pees.
2.  Diapers sit in 1) an open bin in the bathroom or 2) a closed wet bag until laundry day.  Both are dry pail method. 
3.  On laundry day I place all of the diapers (about 15-20 should be max load size – sometimes we throw in a few more) into the wash and run a cold wash cycle with no detergent.  *Although sometimes I will use detergent IF I have stink issues.  I mention the load size because I found myself getting lazy and washing every 3-4 days – be sure you wash every 2-3 days and keep the load size down!!!  This will help with your smell and staining issues. 
4.  Next we run a Hot/Cold cycle with detergent and Calgon.  Currently I use either Rockin’ Green or Planet.  I only have a few loads of RNG left and I have a full box of Planet…I will probably use Planet next since it seems to be working well AT THE MOMENT! 
5.  Next we run a cold rinse…if I really have stink issues I’ll run a full cold wash/rinse and not just the rinse. 
6.  Dry! 
*Optional – bleach or non-chlorine bleach: I will use this about once a month on ALL of my diapers and inserts.  I will never include it in a soak.
*Optional – ROCK THE SOAK is done on my diapers about once a month as needed for stink and staining issues.  I will soak in RNG anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight depending on the severity of my problem.

Let’s talk about drying your diapers for just a minute!  I normally dry everything in the dryer because it’s usually 10pm when I finish my routine and the sun is not shining at night.  IF I wash early enough and can dry them outside I lay my diapers on a hammock so they can dry and get sun bleached.  The sun works WONDERFULLY on staining…but the old stubborn stains are stuck and won’t come out!  We have recently aquired some BuddhaBunz wool dryer balls; I add 2 dryer balls when I use the dryer.  The dryer balls reduce the length of time it takes for your laundry to dry.  It’s like adding a dry towel to a load of wrinkled clothes…it sucks the moisture out quicker. 

A note about enzymes:  Many manufacturers and retailers tell you NOT to use a detergent with enzymes.  The reason behind it is that detergents with enzymes have a greater risk of causing diaper rash in some babies.  There is actually some conflicting information on enzymes…some are actually telling people that the use of detergents with enzymers is RECOMMENDED to get your diapers really clean.  My recommendation on enzymes is to use what works best for you and your diapers.  If you have tried changing everything else in your routine…try to switch your detergent to one with enzymes and see if that solves your problem.  Only you will know how sensitive your babies skin is…if you have a super sensitive baby I would save this for the last possible change in your routine.           

My last piece of advice…trust your gut and keep things as simple as possible! 

What about you?  What variables are unique for you?  What conditions are the same?

Why is it that you appreciate the comforts of home so much more when you are away?  We’ve been out of town for 5 days now and I miss my bed, my pillow, my cat! 

Luckily the family and I got to visit Disney again on Sat/Sun before I had to attend a training class in Orlando this week.  They came back home Monday and I got home tonight.  This trip was a little different than normal…

We traveled with our cloth diapers!!!  That’s right, we took our stash with us to a hotel for more than a day!  Here is what I had planned (followed by how it worked out!):  1) Friday night I washed our stash and put Lil’ B in her GroBaby diaper with BioSoaker, and 2) packed a combination of BioSoakers and Bum Genius.  I was hoping to make it easier on my husband so he wouldn’t have to do a ton of wash as soon as he got home on Monday. 

Unfortunately my plan didn’t work out as planned BUT it worked…Lil’ B pooped in her GroBaby Friday night and got some debris on the cover so I couldn’t take the only GroBaby cover I had with us!!!  But I wanted to try the BioSoakers in other diaper covers to see how well they worked so I wasn’t too scared.  I packed about 15 Bum Genius too; just in case something went wrong!  (Old faithful has never done me wrong!)  

We drove to Orlando and spent the first part of the day watching our GA Bulldawgs play football at a local sports bar then we went to check in to the hotel.  Since Lil’ B was in red I put her in her Happy Heiny which is red along with a BioSoaker and the system worked well.  Unfortunately after the second change the BioSoaker has bunched up and the HH cover was damp.  I didn’t really care too much since I had plenty of BG covers and we were headed to the Magic Kingdom anyways (change in clothes was needed to stay warm!).

I packed my diaper bag with a few of each…a few BioSoakers and a few BGs…you never know what’s going to happen, right?  At the first diaper change I noticed a slight problem…the BioSoaker sticky pad was not removing from the BG cover!  OMG…my precious BGs!!  Not only were they not removing from the BGs the fecula backing split open and the inside of the diaper was exposed…luckily it didn’t make a huge mess.  Since I already ‘messed’ with this BG cover I stuck another BioSoaker on it for the next few hours.  The damage was already done at that point.  This continued the rest of the evening until we got back to the hotel again. 

I then removed the BioSoakers from our rotation for the weekend and went back to regular BGs with the inserts (we use the 3.0 one size pockets).  The next day at Epcot I packed 4 BGs in the diaper bag and we were off.  I have to say it felt much more ‘normal’ to me to use the BGs as intended.  My bag was a little more full with the stash but so much easier.  Thankfully we didn’t have any poop-plosions while at Epcot to deal with though!!!!  That was my worst fear was having to carry that around all day with me! (UCK!!)

Hubby went home on Monday afternoon and had just enough BGs to make it home with.  Luckily I left a few behind so he has some at home to use too.  Then it happened…

My hubby had to wash his first load of cloth diapers EVER!  Now…my hubby is an awesome husband and father but I try to keep control over some aspects of cloth diapering so he won’t complain…one of those is the wash!  Not only do I not want to hear about all the water used for washing the diapers…I also don’t want anyone else to be responsible for washing our stash wrong.  Honestly you really can’t mess them up and he has heard me talk about the wash routine so much I don’t know what I was worried about.  I left him verbal directions and gave him a choice of detergents (RockinGreen Soap or EcoNuts…his choice!!).  He called me after he finished the wash to make sure he did it right…funny that he didn’t call me before though!  Everything sounded like it went well.  I got home a little while ago and the diapers are all neatly stacked in Lil’ Bs room, fully stuffed, ready to use again.  Thanks babe for all that you do…

In the morning I will inspect the BG that was potentially damaged in the BioSoaker incident and let you all know the outcome.  The worst case scenario is that the cover will have a sticky residue in two places…at least it’s only one cover and I can pass along the warning to all of you.  If you are going to be using the BioSoakers use them with the GroBaby shell only…or accept the outcome!  I love our GroBaby system and will write up my formal review tomorrow…the good and the bad! 

The other thing that was different this trip was the absence of my ancient Medela electric pump…which croaked last Thursday!  It’s seriously over 6 yrs old and I’m surprised it still works at all.  Because I didn’t want to play around with it and attempt to fix it I purchased a manual pump on Friday.  With Lil’ B being 9 months now I don’t really see the need for investing in another electric pump…this is my last baby and I don’t have much time left on our breastfeeding journey.  I only needed to use the pump Monday afternoon through this afternoon…a full 2 days…how bad could it be?

…did I really just ask that question?  It’s soooo NOT fun to use a manual pump!  I’m so spoiled with my electric pump that I was not ready to pump for 40 minutes and still not get all the milk out!  And think about it…all that pumping hurts your arms after a while…I guess that’s what it’s like to be a guy! (((LOL!)))  Anyways, today was the worst day because I didn’t want to pump at all since it was taking so long.  I got home around 7pm and I was about to explode!  Lil’ B ate a few small snacks but didn’t really empty the milk factory yet.  Is it wrong that I want to wake her up again when I’m done writing?  I guess tomorrow I will take apart Mr. Medela and see if I can’t fix the electric pump so I will stop cussing at this stupid manual pump! 

And on that note…I’m going to go check my email, Twitter, and Facebook one more time and log off for the evening.  Sleep tight!  (Of course most of you will be reading this until the morning so Good Morning!!!)

Since today is laundry day at the Eco Chic household it’s only fitting that I write a post about Rockin’ Green Soap.  Washing cloth diapers is probably one of the most intimidating elements of using cloth.  The manufactures are very specific about what NOT to use when washing their diapers and what will void their warranties.  What they don’t always tell you is exactly what you CAN use.  Since I primarily use Bum Genius I’ll use them as an example.  The manufacturer recommendations say to use a detergent that is free of dyes, enzymes, perfumes, whiteners and brighteners.  Hmmm….

You can understand why I was so excited to find a detergent formulated specifically for cloth diapers!  Rockin’ Green Soap meets all of the manufactures recommendations AND MORE!  Rockin’ Green is vegan so even my best friend can use it to wash her clothes !  Rockin’ Green is phosphate free which makes it…well….GREEN!  Green as in eco-friendly, since phosphates can add unwanted nutrients back into our streams and waterways which can affect the wildlife.  (I actually studied this stuff in college!)

Oh yeah, and remember that I live in Florida…well we have HARD water!  It’s terrible and we have never purchased a water softener.  Hard water can leave terrible buildup of minerals in your clothing that you can’t see.  This buildup can cause cloth diapers to leak!  Rockin’ Green is specifically formulated to work well with both hard and soft water.  They even make a Soft Rock version that is better for sensitive skin (a great soap for baby clothes).

I saved the best for last.  Rockin’ Green will R-O-C-K you senses too!  With a ton of fun smells like Cherry Lemonade you will actually look forward to doing the laundry!  I’d love to list all the different scents but that’s part of the giveaway!

I only had a sample of Rockin’ Green but it lasted for about 4-5 loads of cloth diapers.  The first time I used it I fell in love.  Not only did the Cherry Lemonade scent make me want to shove my nose in my cloth diapers and inhale…but all of the inserts came out bright white.  In the entire load there were only 2 inserts that needed a little sun to get rid of some faint stains from some NASTY poops! 

BUY IT!  You know you want some and I have a coupon to make it a tad bit cheaper!  Samples (5/10 loads) run only $2 a bag.  45/90 loads run $13.95 and 90/180 loads run $22.95 a bag!  That’s right at 13 cents PER LOAD!  COUPON CODE: RockinGreen for 10% off your purchase of Rockin’ Green Soap!

WIN IT!  Rockin’ Green is giving away one (1) bag of 45/90 load Rockin’ Green (either Soft Rock or Classic Rock) in your choice of scents!  Contest is open to residents of the US only.  To enter you MUST visit Rockin’ Green and leave me a comment telling me what your favorite scent is. 

EXTRA ENTRIES: 
1.  SHOP Rockin’ Green (samples start at $2) from now until Aug. 28, 2009 and earn FIVE (5) extra entries!  Leave me five comments that say “I purchased XXX from Rockin’ Green on MM/DD/YY using the following email address…”  Each comment can say the same thing.

2.  FOLLOW @TheEcoChic and @RockinGreenSoap on Twitter and earn ONE (1) extra entry.  Leave me a comment with your @Name. 

3. TWEET about the contest and earn TWO (2) extra entries for each tweet (max 2/day).  Leave me a comment with a link to your tweet.  Must include @TheEcoChic and @RockinGreen and a link to the contest.

4.  Become a FAN of TheEcoChic on Facebook AND share a link with your friends to the contest.  Be sure to tell them it’s not just for cloth diapers!  Leave me a comment telling me that you are a fan!  Earn ONE (1) extra entry.

5.  Add my BUTTON to your blog or website.  Leave me a comment with a link to where it is posted.  Button is located in the right sidebar at the top.  Earn ONE (1) extra entry.  (Links to your blog have been ended up in my spam comments…I will approve them within one day…please let me know if you don’t see it appear within 24hrs…THANKS!) 

Remember CONTEST ENDS on August 28th at midnight (EST).  All entries will be confirmed for accuracy.

LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS HERE TO ENTER THIS CONTEST!

ECO-ngratulations Maria!  You are the winner in the Rockin Green Soap Giveaway!  Thank you all for entering!

I just received 3 products in the mail today from ECO Store USA, a company that offers environmentally friendly products for baby, bath, body, hair, home and pets.  The company started in New Zealand and recently began to expand into the US. 

I feel like a little kid every time I get something in the mail that’s not a bill or junk mail.  When my package arrived I quickly opened it to see what was inside.  Inside my package was a liter of Plant Based Super Concentrate Laundry Liquid, a bottle of Aromatherapy Baby Body Wash, and a jar of Baby Nappy Balm. 

Baby Nappy Balm

I’m going to spend the next week reviewing these products for you as I use them on Little B and around the house.  At the end of my reviews I’m proud to announce a giveaway of $25 worth of ECO Store USA products.  More details on the giveaway are coming so visit regularly so you don’t miss it!

First thoughts?  Professional and eco-friendly packaging.  The items were in a small box with a few pieces of recycleable newsprint for packing materials.  They even included a note explaining that all the packaging was recycleable.  Nice scents.  One thing that I miss in most of my environmentally friendly products are the fresh smells of the traditional products.  I know that perfumes can cause allergic reactions but the ECO Store products contain only plant based products and NO NASTY * CHEMICALS!  The primary scent that stood out to me was the eucalyptus.  The Nappy Balm (I love the word Nappy!!!  It’s so much cooler than diaper!) was smooth and felt more like a lotion than a diaper cream, even though it is thicker than a lotion. 

Keep visiting to learn more about these three products as I personally use them on Little B and around the house.  And be sure to visit ECO Store USA to see what other products they offer.