Flat Challenge Day 7

Reflections on the Week

The main reason I joined the Flat Challenge, is to see how my new flats and flat fitteds, wore, washed and dried for our annual rustic camping trip this summer. Here is a final analysis:  

Break down on dry times Outside in 86 degrees:

* Flats folded in half to reduce line space, ran about 3 hours to dry. Laid out flat to dry they took less than 2 hours. It's nice to know the heat wave we're having is good for something! 

* Flat fitteds ran about 3 hours and 20 minutes, they were still a touch damp around some parts of the elastic casing when the folded flats were dry. 

* Bamboo Terry took longer about 4 1/2 hours total. 

* Disana Tie Nappies were the longest coming in at 6 hours folded in half and 5 hours laid flat

Flat fitted: I was very impressed with my flat fitteds! They worked exceptionally well and dried just about as fast as the flats folded in half, which is how I normally dry flats when we camp. I will definitely be taking these on our next trip! I will probably use them at night too, with an extra newborn flat or two for doublers. I'm testing this out tonight, to see if it will hold it all in.

Bamboo flat: As I expected these did take longer to dry. If we weren't experiencing high temperatures it would probably take much longer, and if it rains I'm not sure it would be dry by morning! For home application or for camping at one site for an extended period of time, these would make nice a trim overnight flat. On the road, dry by morning? I have my doubts! I will try this again later during a rain storm and cooler temperatures and see how the dry times compare. 

Disana Tie Nappy: I was happy about the fit and his inability to take them off, however I could not wring them out very well. To give them them some credit, I was a little afraid to go to town on them, like I did the others, hence the longer dry times. Once out and drying, I found the knit to accumulate debris. After accidentally dropping one on my porch, I spent a good 5 minutes picking stuff off as it wouldn't shake off.  I will not be bringing these along, camping is not the place for things that can't be dropped in the dirt.   

Here the winner is:

Certainly not the cheapest way to cloth diaper because you would need to stuff with another flat of some kind, but you do need less covers with a fitted so it works out in the end. I especially like using fitteds with wool covers, because you have less leakage and you wouldn't have to hand wash the covers but once a week.

These wash easier than the bamboo terry flats and are easier to manage because they have less fabric to manipulate in the bucket. Easy to put on a wiggly baby and still get a good fit, they are the best of two worlds!

Here is the flat fitted in action at its largest setting with a small GMD flat pad folded inside.

Here is the flat fitted with the rise folded down to the newborn size, and a newborn flat/doubler pad folded inside.

If you would like to know how to make a flat fitted I am in the process of making a tutorial.