CD laundry when in apartment building basement?

[tyl]

sorry if this has been asked already. trying to convince my DH that we can launder while we live in an apartment with a washer/dryer in the basement. They are HE, but only have a few choices like "light colors" "bright colors" etc. also, each wash costs $1.50 (there is an option for $1.75 to do a "super load" which I think means longer wash, not sure), so I would rather not have to put the diapers through 2 loads due to cost..... (drying in an additional $1.50).

is this doable? any suggestions? We will be moving when the baby is a few months old into a new apartment with a washer and dryer at that time. I just want to get started right away! : ) thanks for all the help.

[ha98ed14]

This may not be the answer you want to hear, but I agree with your DH. We have lived in an apartment complex with common laundry facilities since DD was born. In theory, I am very in favor of cloth diapers- better for the environment, better for the baby. I have guilt about the money I spend on Pampers and that they will still be in the landfill when DD is a senior citizen, however, I had/ have stronger feelings of respect for my neighbors. I know that "it all comes out," but the neighbors don't know that. And if they happened to know that I had just washed my kid's poopy diapers in the washer that they are about to put their bed sheets in, I am pretty sure that they would object, perhaps even enough to complain to the management. I say that because, before DD, I totally would have. It was not until knowing people who cloth diapered who were "normal" that I really believed it all came out. Personally, I think your neighbors would be really angry if they knew you were washing loads of poop and pee in the washer. The occasional item worn during a blowout is one thing, but I suggest you wait until you are the only one using your washer and dryer to launder your poopy dipes.

[bubbaray]

This may not be the answer you want to hear, but I agree with your DH. We have lived in an apartment complex with common laundry facilities since DD was born. In theory, I am very in favor of cloth diapers- better for the environment, better for the baby. I have guilt about the money I spend on Pampers and that they will still be in the landfill when DD is a senior citizen, however, I had/ have stronger feelings of respect for my neighbors. I know that "it all comes out," but the neighbors don't know that. And if they happened to know that I had just washed my kid's poopy diapers in the washer that they are about to put their bed sheets in, I am pretty sure that they would object, perhaps even enough to complain to the management. I say that because, before DD, I totally would have. It was not until knowing people who cloth diapered who were "normal" that I really believed it all came out. Personally, I think your neighbors would be really angry if they knew you were washing loads of poop and pee in the washer. The occasional item worn during a blowout is one thing, but I suggest you wait until you are the only one using your washer and dryer to launder your poopy dipes.

:yeahthat:

We used to have a nice condo that had common laundry. Now I'm all skeeved out that someone washed CDs there. Ewwwwwww.

Maybe get a service until you move?

[tylersmama]

I think it's doable, although maybe not the most convenient method.

As for the common laundry, that wouldn't bother me at all. Who knows what kind of crap (literally and figuratively) your neighbors might be washing? Maybe you have a neighbor that works as a vet or vet tech and gets animal crap all over their stuff. Maybe you have a neighbor who works with raw sewage. There are all kinds of disgusting things that get put in common facilities. You just can't think about that too much, or you'll never use anything without being grossed out. Especially with a newborn, the poop is so liquid, that it's barely even "poop"y, iykwim.

I probably would look into if there's a service available in your area and do a cost-comparison with how much it would cost you to buy supplies and wash cds for the first few months. Keep in mind that you can go through the first size or two pretty quickly as a newborn, too, so it definitely could be more cost-effective to use a service. I had a service for the first six months, and the cost was about the same as buying disposables would have been.

[kijip]

I did it till my son was out of diapers at 2 and 1/2. None of my neighbors minded. None. Of course they were mostly all elderly and had no other experience than cloth so that helped! My brother does it at his place and no one minds, not even the apartment manager. After a big load with poo I was not able to fully rinse off in the toilet, I'd run the washer with bleach only if I thought I might have left something behind. It was not a problem in the nearly 2 years I did it. Just my 2 cents. Also, you can hang some of the diapers to dry if that saves on cost.

[Joolsplus2]

You might consider getting one of these http://www.laundry-alternative.com/ or using gDiapers while you are doing the common laundry room thing, too.

:)

[tyl]

Don't mean to sound rude here, but the least of my worries was the neighbors! I feel like if they do have a problem with it, it's b/c they are uneducated on the topic, and either education will help them, or i can do a load of my regular clothing right after to "buffer" the diapers from their clothes. :)

My real question was which settings would I use, would I have to run the washer more than once, or would once be sufficient? Is it actually doable to wash diapers with so few washing options?

Thanks again!

[kijip]

My real question was which settings would I use, would I have to run the washer more than once, or would once be sufficient? Is it actually doable to wash diapers with so few washing options?

Thanks again!

Gotcha. To address those questions! My coin op set up had cold, warm and hot cycle options that that was it. No second rinse, nothing. We were fine, mostly always with 1 wash only for the almost 2 years we had to do it like that until he was using the potty ft.

[GeekLady]

My real question was which settings would I use, would I have to run the washer more than once, or would once be sufficient? Is it actually doable to wash diapers with so few washing options?

Thanks again!

The last time I saw a washer like that (brights, colors, whites options) was in my dorm laundry room, and those washers had a chart on the inside of the door that told the temperatures of the washes and rinses.

You might have to run two washes, a cold wash then a hot wash, since it doesn't have a rinse (I actually will have to do this with my own washer, grr) but on the plus side, running two washes, the second one hot, should be plenty of buffer.

At $3 (or $4.50) a load, it will get expensive though, even if you only wash twice a week.