Green Spring Clean Sponsor Spotlight: Better Life #GreenClean

About Better Life
"In 2007 two life long friends, Tim Barklage and Kevin Tibbs, were watching their toddlers crawl across the floors and climbing up and around on all kinds of surfaces in the home (and then put their little fingers in their mouth of course). As concerned new parents, they began discussing the dangers of traditional cleaners and the toxic residues they leave behind. Tim (always the optimist) challenged Kevin, an innovative formulation chemist, to create a new line of cleaning products that set the standard in safety and work better than anything out there.

No small order, Kevin began his work in the lab with his plant-derived ingredients and Tim got to work on building the brand. The result of their efforts are a line of products that keep kids, pets and the planet safe. No more harmful chemicals in the air and on the surfaces of our homes and planet. Better Life set out to not only create a better product but a better solution for all." --taken from the website

 The mission behind Better Life isn't complicated. They want cleaning to be pure and simple and they don't want any more "what-if's" when it comes to your cleaning products. I thought that they put together a great video about the ideals at Better Life:

Better Life cares about what goes into their products, how well they work and they still want to have some fun too! Their products are fun, colorful and so cleverly named! I love it! Who wouldn't want to clean using a product called: 2am Miracle or Dish It Out!? Their website really has an awesome collection of green cleaners to help get your entire home clean! They even have handy-dandy kits that bundle together everything you would need for a certain room or a specific task! 

Better Life sent me their Floor Care Kit that included a mop frame and pole, two microfiber mop pads and a bottle of Simply Floored! their Natural Floor Cleaner. I'm not sure who was more excited to put it together, little man or me! He absolutely loves cleaning and he was so excited to use the mop, that we just had to clean the floor right away! (It needed it too!)

Eww..I am ashamed.

 The mop was really easy to put together and the mop pads attached with hook and loop. I was impressed with how firmly they attached - the mop pads didn't budge at all while I was mopping! We have icky, white linoleum floors that came with our house (seriously, who picks white linoleum!?!). It seems like it is impossible to keep clean and get to look shiny. 

Easy to put together...and we're ready to go!

The whole kit is so easy to use, I just got the mop pad wet (before I attached it), squirted some Simply Floored! on the floor and mopped away! (Interesting side note: I have never owned a mop! I usually use a bucket of hot, soapy, vinegar water and a rag. This definitely saved my knees!) As we were mopping, I was really impressed with how quickly the floor was coming clean! Seriously, little man could clean the floor! (Not that he did, he just helped me for a bit ;) ) There were some tougher, sticky spots that actually required some "scrubbing", but all of the dirt and grime came up off the floor easily. Awesome! This is so much easier than scrubbing and honestly, the end result was a shinier kitchen floor that I have had in a very long time!  

My willing and eager assistant ...don't worry, I didn't make him mop the whole floor! Although he was pretty sad when I took over.

All done... eww! Look at all the dirt it picked up!

Ta daa!

 I really love the Simply Floored! floor cleaner! It was so nice not to have to mix soap and vinegar and fill a bucket with water. The scent was nice too, a citrus-mint smell that was actually quite mild. The ingredient list is pretty simple as well and I really appreciate that Better Life lists their ingredients! 

The Simply Floored! ingredient list:

Purified water, Coconut and corn derived surfactants, Vegetable glycerin, Natural amino-acid based surfactant, Spearmint essential oil, Bergamot essential oil, Grapefruit oil and Preservative (less than 0.08%).

I definitely feel alright about little man helping mommy clean the floors with this! 

I really love my Floor Care Kit. It makes cleaning the floors so easy and I love knowing that it is non-toxic! Better Life not only has a great selection of eco-friendly products to choose from, but they also have a lot of helpful information on their site! One section that I really liked was the "Truth About Green" section! I would definitely recommend Better Life to anyone! Their products clean well and are safe - can't beat that! I already know that I'll be getting more of the natural floor cleaner when I run out and I think that I'll have to try, I Can See Clearly, Wow!, the Natural Glass Cleaner on my mirrors and slider door too! Better Life has a great variety of green cleaners that are perfect for spring cleaning or for any cleaning throughout the year!

Better Life is one of the sponsors for the Green Spring Clean Event (happening March 31-30) and they have generously offered one winner the same Floor Care Kit that I was sent for review (ARV $39.30)! This is the perfect kit to help you easily keep your floors shiny and clean, without any icky chemicals!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the Green Spring Clean Event! Be sure to enter HERE for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with Better Life on Facebook, Twitter , their Blog page and to shop for Better Life, you can  take a look at their online shop (Their Floor Care Kit is on sale for $29.99 right now too!).

Green Spring Clean Sponsor Spotlight: Eco-Me #GreenClean

  

WHAT IS ECO-ME? 

"Eco-Me is a natural products company specializing in you. Really!  We care about the health of your home, family and pets.

Eco-Me was born out of need and concern. The need to remove dangerous chemicals from our homes and environment and the concern that the toxins emitted from every day products has encouraged the rapid increase of disease in our society.  

That's why we created natural cleaning, pet and personal care products using ingredients you can find right in your kitchen, like vinegar, baking soda and olive oil."  --taken from website 

Eco-me is a wonderful eco-friendly company that cares about what their products are made with, how they affect people and that they get the cleaning job done ...but, they still they know how to have  some fun! I love when companies get creative with their products! The packaging on the Eco-Me line is great- every product is named after a person and they give a little info on what natural means to them! They have Bill the All Purpose Cleaner, Emma the Laundry Soap, Jack the Stainless Steel Cleaner and many more! I was sent Jack the Stainless Steel Cleaner to review and it is green-cleaning-love! For Jack, natural means, "...pure ingredients that won't harm our environment, humans or the homes we live." This Stainless Steel Cleaner is awesome and it works like a charm! 

We recently replaced the kitchen appliances that came with our home (they were very sad appliances and had seen better days) with new, shiny stainless steel appliances. (oooh! ahhh!) I love them, but, they show fingerprints and drips like nobody's business! Argh! My poor hubby can't stand it and is forever cleaning them to no avail. ...until now! This cleaner works like magic! Seriously! I shook the bottle, sprayed it on a cloth, rubbed it on my stove and then used a dry cloth to polish until dry and shiny! Voila! It looked like new! (I think Hubby is in love) It was so easy to use and required no elbow grease. I was so impressed that I immediately set to work on our dishwasher and refrigerator. Ahhh... a nice sparkly kitchen with no icky chemicals to worry about!

The Stainless Steel Cleaner just cut through the dirt and smudges like they weren't event there!

Ewwww...

and then,

Taa-daa!

I really love that Eco-Me discloses their ingredients on their website and on all of their packaging. The ingredients for Jack the Stainless Steel Cleaner are simple:

Fractionated Coconut Oil, *Grapeseed Oil, *Distilled White Vinegar,
*Vegetable Glycerin, Plant Essential Oils 
(Lavendin, Clary Sage, Peppermint, Thyme, Sweet Marjoram)
*Eco-Me uses food grade ingredients when available

I know what all of the ingredients are and I even have some of those in my kitchen pantry! I love that Eco-Me uses essential oils too, rather than the mysterious "fragrance" ingredient, and I learned that "Essential oils made from plants have antibacterial properties"! The cleaner is supposed to have a peppermint smell and it does, but you definitely catch the smell of vinegar first, then a pepperminty-thyme-herb scent. I personally don't mind the smell of vinegar at all, but I know some people aren't a big fan. But, a fun fact about vinegar that I learned from Eco-Me: "Vinegar kills up to 98% bacteria, germs & odors." Pretty amazing! 

Eco-Me is not only passionate about what they do put int their products, but they are also passionate about what is not in their products. At Eco-Me, you won't find any Dyes, Sulfates, Phosphates, Synthetic Fragrances, Silicon, Petro-Chemicals or Chemical Preservatives. Eco-Me truly cares about what goes into the environment, the ingredients they choose and how that will create a safe, green cleaning experience for their customers. (They are PETA and Leaping Bunny approved too!)

Overall, I love Jack the Stainless Steel Cleaner! It has a permanent spot in my kitchen, so that I can easily clean my stove, fridge or dishwasher (not that I mind your sticky fingerprints little man...). I also really appreciate that I can use this cleaner around little man! I don't have to worry about him inhaling any mystery chemicals that I can't pronounce, I don't have to worry about the long term effects that this cleaner will have on him, hubby or I ...and , I love that. I definitely recommend Eco-Me if you are on the hunt to stock up on eco-friendly cleaning supplies for your spring cleaning! I already have my eye on Emily the Scrub Cleanser and Bill the All Purpose Spray Cleaner to add to my cleaning supplies. You can feel good about buying Eco-Me - not only are their products safe for you, your home and your little ones, but their products are made in the USA too!

Eco-Me is one of the sponsors for the Green Spring Clean Event (happening March 31-30) and they have generously offered one winner the same Stainless Steel Cleaner I was sent for review (ARV $5.79)! This is the perfect tool to get all of your stainless steel looking like new again, in an eco-friendly way of course!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the Green Spring Clean Event! Be sure to enter HERE for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with Eco-Me on Facebook, Twitter  and to shop for Eco-Me, you can look for retailers in your area or buy them through their online shop.

Wordless Wednesday: First Tie

My little brother got married this past weekend in Carmel and hubby, little man and I were in the wedding! This was little man's FIRST wedding and his FIRST tie! *sniff, sniff*

Green Spring Clean Sponsor Spotlight: Ecover #GreenClean

 

"Making a Healthy & Sustainable Lifestyle Easy"

Ecover's goal is to provide products that will help people to have a healthy and safe home. They wants their products to make cleaning easy and effective too! Ecover has been a company for over 30 years now and they still haven't lost sight of their guiding principles: "Respect, Integrity and Commitment."  

You don't need a bunch of crazy chemicals to get your home clean. No thank you! I started switching to greener cleaners when I was pregnant with little man. I though about him crawling on the floor or putting toys and spoons in his mouth. Then I thought about what kind of chemicals I had been using before I was pregnant and knew I didn't want any of those coming near him! It is truly scary that some companies don't list their ingredients or to think about how some chemicals can affect us! I have been using green cleaners in our home for a long time and I am so glad! 

Ecover uses powerful plant-based and mineral ingredients in their cleaning products. You can feel safe using them around your home and your little ones as you start your spring cleaning and as you clean throughout the rest of the year! I love knowing that when I use Ecover, I am using products that are made from sustainable ingredients and that they don't bring any toxins into my home.

One thing that I think is really awesome about Ecover is that they create their packaging out of 100% Plant Plastic Bottles, aka Plantastic! Regular plastic packaging is made from crude oil which is not only a scarce resource, but it is associated with oil spills and pollution. Ecover has been working hard to create an alternative to plastic packaging. 

They have come out with a new PolyEthylene(PE), which is a green plastic that they call PlantPlastic. It is 100% renewable, reusable and recyclable! The Ecover bottles are made of 100% PlantPlastic! This new green plastic is made from sugarcane, which is harvested responsibly without affecting the rainforest. It is nice to know that Ecover cares about the environment, what goes into their cleaning products and they care about how their products are packaged! 

Ecover sent me their Laundry Liquid 2.5X Concentrate in Sunny Day, Toilet Cleaner in Bay Breeze Scent, and the Bathroom Cleaner to help me with my spring cleaning! 

The Laundry Liquid has been great! The Sunny Day scent is their newest scent and it is nice and crisp. This plant-based formula is gentle on clothes and I love that I only need to use 1oz. with my HE machine to get my clothes fresh and clean! It works amazingly well to tackle stains too! I did some spring cleaning in my laundry room, and it feels so nice to have a clean space with minimal products that I know are all eco-friendly. One thing that I got rid of was my old detergent that I was still using on hubby and my clothes. I have had it forever and highly doubt that it was very eco-friendly. I couldn't use it on little man's clothes, since it made his eczema flare up horribly! I am so happy to have switched detergents to something that is greener and gentler on all our skin!
 

 

The Bathroom Cleaner works great to cut through dirt and grime! It is perfect for all of your bathroom surfaces such as tubs, tiles, sinks and showers. I especially loved using it on the guest bathroom tub! That is the tub that little man uses and it gets a nice little ring of dirt around it from his baths. (I guess he plays hard and gets dirty...must mean he's having lots of fun!) I have used other green cleaners on it and I feel like I have to scrub and scrub and scrub to get any results. With the Ecover Bathroom Cleaner, I sprayed it on and wiped the dirt away! No elbow grease required! It gets the job done without leaving unnecessary toxins behind!

The Toilet Cleaner now comes in the new Bay Breeze Scent! It reminds me of pine or spruce, which I actually really like! With 2.5 bathrooms in our house (and a little man who is potty training), I have a lot of toilets to clean. Oddly enough, this is one job that I really don't mind doing. I think that for me, it is really satisfying to have a clean toilet. It is important to me that I use a cleaner on our toilets that is eco-conscious - not only because I don't want to flush harsh chemicals down the drains, but also since little man is potty training and I want it to be a green, clean environment for him. I really like how well the Ecover Toilet Cleaner has been working! Simply remove the cap, squirt around the toilet, let sit for a few minutes and then use your scrub brush to do some power cleaning! Voila! Nice, clean, sparkly toilet ...and no harsh chemicals either!

 

Overall, I love the products from Ecover that I was sent! They work fantastically and I feel good knowing that I am cleaning my home with products that are safe for the environment and our family. I appreciate that Ecover cares about the environment and works diligently to find a better way of doing things. I know that I love my Ecover products and will definitely be purchasing some of their other lines of products to use in our home. I already found a store nearby where I can buy them! If you are looking to get started with your spring cleaning this year, I encourage you to"Green your Clean" and use eco-friendly products!

Ecover is one of the sponsors for the Green Spring Clean Event (happening March 31-30) and they have generously offered one winner the same three items I was sent for review: the Toilet Cleaner in Bay Breeze Scent (ARV $4.06), the Bathroom Cleaner (ARV $4.40) and the Laundry Liquid 2.5X Concentrate in Sunny Day (ARV $12.62)! This pack is the perfect way to kick start your spring cleaning, in an eco-friendly way!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the  Green Spring Clean Event! Be sure to come back to my blog between March 21-30 to enter for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with Ecover on Facebook, Twitter , their Blog page and to shop for Ecover, you can look for retailers in your area or buy them through their online shop.

Interested in earning an extra entry into the Green Spring Clean Event when it starts? Visit Ecover and leave me a comment below telling me something you learned or a product that you would  love to try!  You can then claim your extra entry in the Green Spring Clean Event Rafflecopter form when the giveaway is open.

Lucky Clover St. Patrick’s Event Sponsor Spotlight: Party In My Pants #luckyclover

Party In My Pants is owned and operated by sisters Luci and Lydia. They have designed 10 different styles of cloth pads, ranging from a thong liner to a queen liner that provides mega-protection. They are available in a wonderful variety of colors and come in flannel, cotton or organic fabrics. All of the pads are handmade with love in Ashland, Wisconsin.

The mission behind Party In My Pants is simple, they want to make periods a comfortable, confident and happy time! Their goal is that their pads will have a positive effect on women's health and the environment.

"Party In My Pants is about finding style and comfort in unexpected places. Party In My Pants is about smart women living happily and having fun. Party In My Pants is about revolutionizing the way women experience menstruation by shifting attitudes and empowering through education, all with a healthy dose of humor. Instead of "shh", we're saying, "Hooray!"" --taken from website

Party In My Pants sent me the Large Pad in Queen Anne, the Medium Pad in Waves and the Luxe Liner in Pedal Power.

 

I love my cloth pads from Party In My Pants! The colors and patterns are so fun and vibrant! It is so nice to have something bright and cheery to look at when I'm having my period! Plain, crinkly, boring white disposable pads....no thank you! I am amazed at how comfortable and thin they are too! I can't even feel it when I am wearing one. Since they are so trim, they are easy to take them along with me when I am out and about. There is no bulk to these pads, they are nice and discreet! They may be thin, but they are very absorbent too - they mean business and they do not disappoint. The backing is made with high-tech nylon, which is a breathable fabric, that also stops leaks. They are made extremely well too. I have washed them quite a few times since I received my pads and they look like new. They wash up and dry very nicely. These pads will definitely last a very long time and continue to look great!

 

My cloth pads came with dark chocolate too! Yum...dark chocolate is my fave!

 

I also really appreciate the Party In My Pants website. They have an awesome and very helpful FAQ page that can answer questions you might have about the Party In My Pants cloth pads! Not sure what size or style is right for you? The PIMP Prescription is the perfect questionnaire to get you started in the right direction! Not sure about committing to cloth pads? Party In my Pants offers a one time freebie for the Cloth Pad Curious! Simply pay shipping costs ($3.99) and you can try out one free Mini Liner, Demi Liner, Luxe Liner OR a Thong Liner!   

 

Overall, I highly recommend Party In My Pants! They come in gorgeous colors, they are absorbent, well-made and they provide excellent protection. They have all the qualities that I look for in a cloth pad! 

Party In My Pants is one of the sponsors for the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event (happening March 17-23) and they have generously offered one lucky mama a $10 gift certificate to use on their site!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event! Be sure to come back to my blog between March 17-23 to enter for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with Party In My Pants on Facebook, Twitter, sign up for their Newsletter to stay in the loop and you can shop through their website!

Interested in earning an extra entry into the the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event when it starts? Visit Party In My Pants and leave me a comment below telling me what pad(s) that you love from their website!  You can claim your extra entry in the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event Rafflecopter form.

Lucky Clover St. Patrick’s Event Sponsor Spotlight: Rockin' Green #luckyclover

Rockin’ Green is an award-winning manufacturer of eco-friendly cleaning products designed to make cleaning easier and greener. Most well-known for their clean-rinsing laundry detergent formulated for use on all fabrics and especially useful on cloth diapers, Rockin’ Green produces detergents for hard, soft and normal water conditions (known as Hard, Soft and Classic Rock varieties). --taken from website

Rockin' Green is an awesome company that not only creates eco-freindly detergent that is perfect to use on your cloth diapers, but they also have created Femme Rock, which just the thing for your laundry routine if you are using cloth pads (aka mama cloth)! Femme Rock is a scent free, enzyme based detergent that works hard to get out stains and leave your cloth pads looking like new. Femme Rock is good for you and the planet too, since it is phosphate and SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulfates) free. 

Rockin' Green sent me a 16oz. bag of Femme Rock to try out on my cloth pads. I normally use cloth diaper detergent on my cloth pads and was interested to see if I would notice a difference if I switched to a detergent that was specially formulated for cloth menstrual pads. The first thing I did was to "Rock a Soak" on my cloth pads. I  filled the bottom 1/4th of my tub with super hot water, about 2TBS of Femme Rock and added my cloth pads. I let them soak for about 3-4 hours and was so surprised to see that the water was cloudy and that it had pulled some funk out! (eeewwww! gross, I know!) Then drained the tub and put them in my washing machine and rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. When they were dry, they looked so fresh and clean! I did have a few stains and some of them were completely gone and on two, there was still some slight staining, but it was definitely lessened! Wow! I am so happy with how well it cleaned my cloth pads! 

I only use 1TBS per load on my HE machine, so a 16oz. bag will last me a really long time! If you use mama cloth, Femme Rock is definitely a great detergent to use to keep your cloth pads clean. At $11.95, I see it as an  investment that will help to keep my cloth pads clean and fresh for as long as possible! Plus, it is a good detergent for the earth, safe for me and it rocks!

Rockin' Green is one of the sponsors for the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event (happening March 17-23) and they have generously offered one lucky mama a bag of Femme Rock!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event! Be sure to come back to my blog between March 17-23 to enter for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with Rockin' Green on Facebook, Twitter , their Blog page and you can shop through their website!

Interested in earning an extra entry into the the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event when it starts? Visit Rockin' Green and leave me a comment below telling me a product that you love from their website!  You can claim your extra entry in the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event Rafflecopter form.

Lucky Clover St. Patrick’s Event Sponsor Spotlight:BuyGreen.com #luckyclover

"Our mission at BuyGreen is to become your most trusted source for green products, offering the widest variety of quality products, the best information for consumers, and the most enjoyable shopping experience." --taken from the website

 

BuyGreen.com is a wonderful company that is dedicated to being a truly "green" business that not only has high standards when it comes to their products, but they also look to reduce waste, conserve energy and minimize the use of resources. Their website was created in response to a need that they saw. They wanted to help others be able to easily shop for eco-friendly products without spending hours researching and hunting through multiple websites. BuyGreen.com wanted to make earth-friendly products easy to find and at the same time, help to provide their customers to have a better understanding of items that are truly better for the planet and their families.

"We believe that the power to make change rests with the individual consumer.  The products you buy every day make a difference.  Eco-friendly products are healthier for you and better for the planet.  In addition, when a large group of consumers choose to "buy green", the market will respond with greater variety, more innovation and lower prices for green products and services." --taken from the website  

 

BuyGreen.com sent me the Bamboo Reusable Water Bottle with the flip top lid. It is a very stylish water bottle and I just love using it! The water bottle is made of a glass bottle that is encased in a bamboo sleeve and capped on the top and bottom with BPA free plastic. I've never had a glass water bottle before and I just love that with glass you truly don't have to worry about any chemicals. The bamboo sleeve is awesome- it is sleek, it keeps your ice water nicely insulated (keeping the bottle from getting "sweaty") and I just love that it is made with bamboo (a highly renewable resource!). 

 

 

 

 

 

BuyGreen.com also send me one of their reusable totes! It's perfect to take to the farmer's market!

 

It is easy to keep clean too. You simply unscrew the top, disassemble the bottle and wash the glass and plastic. Once dry, you re-assemble and it is ready to use! The only thing is that you shouldn't wash or submerge the bamboo sleeve in water, since it could potentially warp the bamboo. But it is easy enough to wipe clean!

 

 

 

The bamboo water bottle fits perfectly in my purse and it is super convenient to take along. I have taken it with me whenever I leave the house and I even fill it with water to drink from throughout the day when I am home. Little man also loves the water bottle! He is fascinated with the flip top! He loves to pop it up and then click it closed, then pop it up and click it closed, and then... (you get the idea). He loves to slurp water from it and can polish off the entire bottle of water!

 Overall, I love the Bamboo Reusable Water Bottle, it is so nice to have a reusable water bottle (no more plastic bottles in our house!), all of the components are well made, I love using glass and bamboo and I love how unique it looks! BuyGreen.com is a wonderful site to shop from whether you are looking for eco-friendly items for yourself, your home, your little ones or really any aspect of your life! If you are looking for "green" products that you can feel good about purchasing, I highly recommend BuyGreen.com as the place to shop!

BuyGreen.com is one of the sponsors for the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event (happening March 17-23) and they have generously offered one lucky mama a Bamboo Water Bottle of their own!

This prize is up for grabs on my blog during the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event! Be sure to come back to my blog between March 17-23 to enter for a chance to WIN this awesome prize!

 

You can connect with BuyGreen.com on Facebook, Twitter , their Google+ page and you can shop through their website!

Interested in earning an extra entry into the the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event when it starts? Visit BuyGreen.com and leave me a comment below telling me a product that you love from their website!  You can claim your extra entry in the Lucky Clover St. Patrick's Event Rafflecopter form.

 

Cloth Diaper Myths {Guest Post}

Mention cloth diapers to someone on the street and odds are good that you will hear one of the following: Cloth diapers are gross, they smell, they cost too much, I don’t have enough time to cloth diaper, they are unsafe with all those pins!

However some of those are no longer true in this day and age and some of them were never true! Let’s look at these cloth diaper myths and see what is really true of cloth diapers.

Myth: You have to use pins.

Truth: Cloth diapers have come quite a long way since your grandmother used them! Yes, you can still use the old fashion prefolds and you can even use pins if you truly want to but now you can use a handy device called a snappi to hold prefolds in place. There are also the modern diapers that with the exception of being made out of cloth are just as simple to use as disposables.

Myth: It’s too much work.

Truth: Putting a cloth diaper on your baby can be just as easy as putting on a disposable. Just get a new cloth diaper and velcro or snap it on. Now if you are talking about the laundry aspect then yes, you will have to do a tiny bit more laundry. However, it’s just not that big of a deal.Washing diapers is easy and the best part is you do not even need to fold them.Another thing to think about is that with disposable diapers you tend to get“blow outs” where you end up having to wash all of baby’s clothes and usually the baby. Talk about a hassle! Cloth diapers generally do not have “blow outs”and thus no emergency washing of clothes or babies.

Myth: It’s too expensive to cloth diaper.

Truth: Cloth diapers seem like they cost more when you first look into them. You’ll see one cloth diaper costing about $17 and think I could buy a whole pack of diapers for that cost! However, it’s when you add things for the long run that you see how cheap cloth diapers are! Here’s a little math for you: many disposables are about $.23 each. You might go through 6-10diapers a day and if (big if) your baby potty trains by 2 years old, you will have spent between $1,007 - $1,679. Now cloth diapers cost an average of $17(there are even cheaper ways but let’s go with the average modern cloth diaper cost). Generally, you want at least 24 diapers so if you buy 24 cloth diapers you will have spent $408. Cloth diapers will last you from newborn to potty training for one child and then go on to diaper the next baby, which actually makes them even cheaper. There’s also the fact that you can sell your cloth diapers when you are done using them. What about the water and electricity?Washing your own diapers costs about $400 for 2.5 – 3 years. Tack that price onto the cost of buying cloth diapers and you are looking at $808. Hmm, $808 for cloth or at least $1,000 for disposables.

Myth: Cloth diapers smell.

Truth: Perhaps if you stored your diapers in a bucket full of water they would smell but honestly that is not recommended any more and nobody does it that way. Instead you just store the dirty diapers in a diaper pail or wet bag. You can choose to keep the diapers in a sealed container or an open one. Some find that keeping it open allows the air to circulate and thus dissipates the odor. Others prefer keeping things closed to keep the smell in. Either way,you won’t walk into baby’s room and get knocked off your feet. When I used disposables, you could smell them the moment you walked into the house. With cloth you don’t notice any smell, even if you are standing right next to the dirty diapers!

Myth: They are dirty and gross.

Truth: Honestly, if you’ve ever changed a disposable diaper then you know that changing any diaper can be dirty work. You do have to deal with poop a bit more with cloth diapers but that doesn’t mean you have to get dirty! All you have to do is dump the poop in the toilet. Some use the dunk and swish method, which admittedly can get a little dirty for some. However for those who really want nothing to do with poop then all they need do is buy a diaper sprayer. This handy device is basically a tiny shower head that attaches to your toilet. Removing poop is as simple as holding the diaper by the end and spraying everything into the toilet. Your hands can stay perfectly clean.

There are a lot of myths when it comes to cloth diapers.Don’t give into the myths; they just aren’t true! Do a little research and give cloth diapers a chance!

Brittany is a stay at home wife and mother to three children (5 years, 4 years, & 1 year). You can find more about Brittany on her blog The Pistachio Project, where she writes about being green, natural parenting, frugal living and safer products.