Eco Chic Baby

Okay so it's been a couple of days, but I have been re-cooping plus trying to put everything away from the weekend.

The Vancouver Island Baby Fair was fabulous! I had a great time and met lots of new people. Both days were extremely busy at the fair. I even got to met Shanna (one of the winners of my free ticket contest) and Shandi (a ds mama!). Thanks for coming by my booth and saying hello, it was great to meet you both in person.

There were so many great vendors at the Baby Fair and many of them had products I have even been considering for the shop. One in particular was my booth neighbor, Karen, who runs a local business called Po Po's Ponchos in Vancouver. Her ponchos are so impeccably made and so soft that I HAD to buy one for Annika. I urge you to go to her site and check out these cute handmade ponchos. My daughter received tons of compliments on hers and she has only worn it one day so far! She makes em' for boys too, it's not just a girly thing. Well besides her awesome product, she was a great booth buddy. I am trying to convince her to come to The Vancouver Island Baby Fair in Nanaimo next year. ;-D

I have some pictures of my booth too that I am waiting to upload and get on here for all to see, although I think my eyes are closed in one. *sigh*

A couple of new things going on here at the lab:

• New colours of teething pendents and bangles are finally here (plus some replenishment of my existing stock). Think sugar plum (deep purple), camo, and mother or pearl, plus way more colours.

• New Sacred Baby Sling prints and we just inroduced the new Sacred Baby Mei Tai. The Mei Tai is a great way to carry baby in a front postion, back carry, OR a hip carry. Yes, you can do all of that with one carrier!!

• My newsletter is up and running. Now I have to make one. Haha! No, really you can sign up for it on the homepage on the left sidebar. I promise I'll make one shortly.

Some things I am excited about:

• New stock is coming....of what? Well, you have to be patient.

• I just received my earthy rainbow girasol wrap in the mail today. I have always wanted to try a wrap and I just dove in and bought one. It's a beauty. Now I have to learn to wrap a squiggly toddler, oh boy.
  

Things I learned from the Baby Fair:

• rent your electricity ahead of time...it's WAY cheaper

• be by the entrance...and the exit

• you actually CAN pay with your credit card and not need a paypal account, thanks Karen!

• bring food and water...7 hours is a long time to go without

• photocopy more ballots, lined paper doesn't cut it.

• don't buy more diapers from a fellow vendor for your child with your husband around...he'll say "don't you have enough of those?" nah.
  

YEE-HAW! The Baby Fair is finally here. I'm a bit nervous, but a bit excited too. Today I picked up some last minute items, received some more slings from Azure, and packed up all my stock.

We are going to Victoria tomorrow night to set up before the big opening day on Saturday. Keep in mind that I will be away all weekend and will be unable to take calls, answer emails, or package orders. Orders will still be able to go through the system however. I will make sure to return all calls and emails on Monday and any orders received on Friday-Sunday will go out on Monday.

Have a great weekend and see you at the fair in booth #3!

Finding a store bought detergent that actually gets the diapers clean AND won't wreck them can sometimes be challenging. I have about 5 different types of open detergent at home just sitting on the laundry shelf because it didn't do the job. However, I have found a recipe that actually WORKS! Here it is:

-1 cup washing soda (I have the arm and hammer brand which I found at London Drugs. It is not the same thing as Baking Soda).

-1 cup Borax (also found at London Drugs).

-1 cup Oxyclean (either the baby oxy or reg. works fine - also at London Drugs)

-Mix it all together (I use a Mason Jar and an old Tablespoon). Find an essential oil that you like (I like a mix of lavender and tea tree oil) and drop a few drops in the mixture. Mix about. This part is optional of course, but if you want a touch of scent, this is wonderful idea. When doing the wash, use 1 1/2 2 Tablespoons per load.

And that's it! It lasts a long time and for what you get it is really economical.


Even though I make my own detergent, I find it is useful to know what commercial brands are cloth diaper friendly. I get a lot of moms asking me which detergent is 'the best' when out in the grocery store. This link, which will go to Pinstripes and Polkadots, has a plethora of information on how to choose a commercial detergent and what brands are top rated.

But....give making your own a try and see what you think!

In anticipation (and celebration!) for the Vancouver Island Baby Fair this weekend, I've put the SmartMom Teething Bling on special for a limited time only. Pendants are now 16.29 (reg. 18.79) and bangles are 10.29 ( reg. 12.79).

Also, after the fair and into the months of October and November, I will be getting some new and exciting products just in time for Christmas. I'm not telling you what just yet....

Just put them on sale today..they were 11.69, now they are 9.75! I have lots to choose from, just act fast as I don't know how long the sale will last...

We've added something new to make shopping more fun! We're actually encouraging you to find better prices on than ours online. Are we crazy? No, we just like to save money too. :-D

Check out how simple it is HERE

I just received a huge order I made to Thirsties just in time for the baby fair. I added some new cover colours to my stock (red, ocean, baby blue, lavender, white, periwinkle, and sky blue). I just can't keep them in stock since they are the best diaper cover ever!! I've got lots of sizes and colours to choose from. I also replinshed my sizes in the V2 All in Ones and some fitteds. Go check out the new colours!

I don't carry BG's (although I really want to and am on a waiting list), but I thought this was pretty newsworthy since BumGenius has had the same colours for-ev-er. Personally, I like these new colours. Keep in mind that this is from the cottonbabies website and they do not ship to Canada. I have yet to find a Canadian retailer who sells the new colours, but I'll keep an eye out.

Follow thee to the new colours...

Every now and then diapers become stinky. And yes, they are diapers and your child poops and pees in them so it's bound to happen right? But do you ever get that horrible stench from your diapers when your child wets just once perhaps? It's not just the smell of pee I am talking about, but a horrid rank odour that you just can't seem to clean out with normal washing.

On occasion diapers will build up ammonia or detergent and these will cause the diapers to smell bad when baby wets in them and even lead to reduced absorbency. I find that the worst culprit for the stink is mircofiber or any man-made material, although hemp has been known to be a little stinky too for some people.

You can use the stripping method to strip them and remove that build up. I use it every 4-6 weeks to keep my diapers fresh and it works great! I found quickly that there are many stripping 'recipes' out there, but this one has worked every time where others have not. I got this recipe off of diaperswapper, one of the websites I regularly visit.

Okay, on to the good stuff...

STRIPPING DIAPERS

Supplies needed:

Stock pot
Baking soda
Dawn Dish detergent
Lemon Juice
Laundry Detergent (I like Country Save or Arm and Hammer Essentials for store brands. I make my own detergent...more on that next week!)

1~Boil 1-2 large stock pots of water (1 for a small load 2 for a medium load), when boiling remove from heat, add 1/2 cup baking soda and 2 drops of Dawn (yes, the dishwashing soap!), wisk around til mixed. HINT: Add soda slowly stirring as you do, the hot water mixes with the soda and bubbles up. (you can add the soda into the water afer putting the water into the washer and aggitate for a moment to mix it)

2~Pour the boiling mixture into your empty washer and Immerse diapers in the mix (for front loaders do this step in a bucket) If the boiling water is not enough to cover the diapers then add enough hot water from the tap to cover diapers

3~Let soak for 30 minutes (you can turn the washer onto aggitate here if you like to get the diapers completely submerged then turn off and let it sit)

4~Drain washer on the spin cycle (for Front Loaders's just drain the bucket and continue) and squirt each diapers soaker area with lemon juice

5~Start washer on regular hot water wash cycle at medium to high level depending on how many diapers you are stripping and add 1.5-3 tsp detergent depending on load size

6~rewash one more hot water cycle and then rinse on cold 2 times, dry and you are good to go!

You can also just do the squirt of lemon juice every week or two after stripping to keep them fresh and usually go longer between actually all out stripping. Just squirt some lemon juice on the insert or soaker area (if an AIO or fitted) after the first rinse and rinse 1-2 more times.

Now try this and revel in the smell of clean dipes! Even roll around in them if you want. :-D

Next week...making your own cloth diaper safe detergent.

I was reading the paper today and I came upon an ad and an ad write-up for Happy Nappy Diaper Service...in Nanaimo! Personally, I don't mind washing dirty diapers at all, in fact I love to fold the diaper laundry when it's all done. Okay maybe I'm a bit weird, but there is something about folding freshly washed and clean dipes that is somewhat relaxing. Diaper zen. ;-)

I think though that this would be a great service for people who despise doing the diaper laundry or for those who live in apartments.

According to the ad, they make their own diapers too. Hmmmm, I'm pretty set on my diaper choices, but for someone who was just starting out it may be wonderful...depending on the price too.

Check it out, and if you do let me know how you like it.

www.happynappy.ca
250-591-7000

Since I have been having some issues with stinky diapers lately (even after they have been clean!!), I thought I would do a little series on cloth diapering storing and washing for all you cloth diapering mamas out there. As of late, I have tried MANY methods in getting rid of the stink. I have finally found a stink free routine!

Part 1: The Pail

I have tried both the wet pail and the dry pail. I find the wet pail works better for me, but there are pros and cons to each method.

DRY PAIL

All you need to dry pail is a garbage pail ( I got mine from Walmart, which is white and has a locking lid, for reference) and some pail liners ( I like two so that while one is in the wash, I can use the other one!) You can also make a pail liner using an old pillow case and sewing a little piece of hemp on the side: this can be used for putting a drop of essential oil on to combat the stink of used, dirty diapers. You can also use products like pail powder or citrus circles to combat the stinkies but putting these right in your pail. I like the Pail Powder brand personally, and use Bummi's liners ( I use the blue one in the picture, it fits the Walmart can so perfectly!)

A great stain remover is Stain-Free, a natural spot remover, from The Soap Exchange actually right here in Nanaimo at Country Club Mall. Just put in a spritzer bottle, and spray on the fresh poopy stain. No more stains, I promise you!

My diaperswappers bud, Keli also reccomends this as a great way to combat the stinkies (from her blog, which I love by the way!):

"I know you’re thinking that the pail will stink, but I leave the lid off so that plenty of air gets in there, and I’ve never had any issues with a stinky diaper pail. I wash every other day, so I think that helps. Any longer than that, it does start smelling pretty bad. You could also close the lid, and you’d only smell it when you open it - but since there’s no circulation of air, the smell will knock you over when you open it."

Goodmama has some droolworthy hanging pail and wetbag sets on sale now actually. :-D


WETPAIL

I use the wetpail now as I could not handle the ammonia smell that cascaded into my nose whenever I opened the pail. The thing with wetpails is that they can be a drowning hazard for infants and pets if you are not careful. It's best to put it out of the way of little ones and have it tighly locked so your animals can't get in.

I use the same Walmart pail, but sans liner. I fill it 3/4 full with lukewarm water and then either put a few squirts of Stain - Free (from The Soap Exchange at Country Club Mall in Nanaimo) or Bac-out from BioKleen (I have not found anywhere in Canada who sells this so I mine shipped from a lovely friend of mine!). Also, if you have a nasty poop stain, spritz a bit of the Stain-Free in a spray bottle on the area and put in the pail, the stains will come out, I promise, if they are fairly fresh ones.

I don't use bleach as I am afraid that it will wreck my diapers, and I don't use vinegar or baking soda as I just simply found that these things didn't work.

Happy Pailing!

Next week: Stripping Diapers

Tonight I put all the names on pieces of paper in a large bowl and made my husband pick two names in the dark! :-D And the two names are......

Natasha Box

and

Shanna Patrickson!!!

Congratulations, you have both won two weekend passes to the VI Baby Fair in Victoria on September 27th and 28th! I'll be in touch with you both and get the tickets to you asap. Thank you everyone who entered. I will be doing another draw for the VI Baby Fair in Nanaimo in February, so stay tuned for that next year.

The contest for the 2 sets of tickets for the vancouver island baby fair ends tomorrow, get your name in pronto to have a wild weekend away at the coolest show in town.

This weeks special is 50% off all apparel, bath and body products, and gdiapers! Why you ask? I just feel generous this week... ;-D I guess you could say it's a back to school sale!

I just received a shipment of the SmartMom teething bling today from the super fabulous Amy, just in time for the baby fair in Victoria! The coral colour is on back order, but rest assured Amy will be sending it along asap.

See the new Teething Bling!