Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Diaper Sprayers

I don't have a lot to say about diaper sprayers.

When I first started cloth diapering, I read about diaper sprayers and thought, "Oh wow - that's really cool!" And then my husband said, "Let's try cloth diapering without one. If you really feel like you need it, and you're definitely going to stick with cloth, then we can look into it."

And you know what? Before I knew it, washing out poopy diapers wasn't a really big deal. I got an extra pair of yellow kitchen gloves, and wrote "BATHROOM" in thick black permanent marker on them, and donned these whenever a diaper needed washing. I dumped, dunked, swished, and used the cloth wipes to wash out the poo. No big deal!

Really, truly. No big deal. If you have a regular toilet, this is plenty sufficient!

Then we got low-flow toilets. With a suuuuper low water level. Suddenly I was having to flush the toilet 5 and 6 times per poopy diaper. Not exactly a water saver, you know?

So I ordered a diaper sprayer. It changed my life.

Or at least my diaper laundry.

Seriously, I got along just fine without a diaper sprayer for a very long time, and the only reason I got it was because of our toilets. The water pressure is incredible, and I got one with an adjustable valve, so I don't have a problem with spraying poo-water all over the place when I wash out a diaper. And, I actually use the sprayer to rinse out all the dipeys, even just the wets, so we have less pailing work to do now. Sweet!

But I still wear my gloves. And use hand sanitizer when I take them off. (Shudder.)

7 comments:

Jenney said...

We were just talking diaper sprayers today. My 14 mo. old had a really messy one (he's been having loose bowel due to molars on and off the past few weeks) and today I had about had it with the toilet dunking. Hmmmm

About Southern Belle said...

I ordered a diaper sprayer and recieved it about a week ago...I am still waiting for Mr. Incredible to assemble it... I am so done with having to dunk and swish dirty diapers just talking about the diaper sprayer puts a smile on my face.

Tully Family said...

Can you share which one you have? Our new home here in GA has LOW or NO water pressure- so, I'm ordering one!!!!

Oh, and what do you do w/ your gloves when not using them?

THANKS!

Lauren said...

Hey friends, this is the Cloth Diaperin' Mama on my family blog account...

Unfortunately, after we had already installed the sprayer and begun using it, we discovered that the company supports stuff/organizations that we simply do not support. Because we had already installed it, my husband said we shouldn't return it, but because of the company's allegiances, I really don't feel comfortable passing along the specific name and company. You can email me privately if you want to likewise stay away.

As for the gloves, I drape them over the edge of the laundry basket that sits on the floor inside the linen closet right next to the toilet. :) I had draped them over the handle of the toilet brush (in a little stand) until Little Hands found them one day! yuck.

Tully Family said...

I'm thinking we would probably agree about the organization... I'll just do my own research! But then again, maybe I do want to know so I do not buy it! So, when you can- could you email me? Thanks!

Yeah, I had that fear about leaving the gloves in the bathroom too... I might buy a small, closed plastic box to put them in b/c I do not want to carry them out of the bathroom.

Rachael said...

My husband rigged up a regular sink sprayer to our toilet line--super cheap and it does a fabulous job!

the monkeys' mama said...

And...you have officially just convinced me. C usually poops on the toilet but on the occasions that I miss her poop, it is not a huge deal to dunk and swish. But really, it seems so much easier with a sprayer...