Saturday, September 29, 2012

Cloth Wipes - The UnPaper Solution



Cloth Baby Wipes:

If you already cloth diaper this is a common-sense next step. It simplifies laundry and diaper changing because you can just toss the soiled wipes in with the soiled dipes, less mess, less fuss, less fuzz in the laundry.

However, cloth wipes can make sense for anyone, even if your kids are years out of diapers, or you don't have any children at all!

Commonly called "family cloth" and "unpaper", cloth wipes can take the place of nearly every disposable cleansing or hygiene paper product in the house. Replace the facial tissues in your house with a stack for runny noses. Stack some on a kitchen counter for quick spill clean-ups and other messes. Tuck them into your purse or diaper bag for on-the-go cleanups. Leave a stack in the bathroom to replace face-cleansing or makeup removal towels. Or you could take the ultimate plunge and replace your toilet tissue with a stack on the back of the toilet.

Pretty fabrics, and specialty items such as snap-together "unpaper towels" that unroll from a regular paper towel holder makes unpaper easy and appealing. Use a pail storage system and eliminate the "ick-factor" completely. When your pail is full just dump it into the washing machine, no touch, no mess. Wash, dry, restack, reuse.

Replacing even one product in your home such as paper towels or facial tissue can reduce landfill waste, save trees, improve your families health but reducing chemically laden wipes and cleansing cloths, cut your monthly expenses, and on top of all that, brighten your day with cheerful prints and colors!

So How Do I Get My Family to Go For This?

You might find it easiest to "ease" your family into the idea of cloth. Start with something simple like replacing paper napkins with cute cloth napkins. Once that's gone over well, get some "unpaper towels" and replace that roll in your kitchen with something cute that you can sew up yourself or purchase ready-made:

Photo from and Pattern available at: www.ellegarrettdesigns.etsy.com

Who wouldn't want something gorgeous sitting on their kitchen counter instead of those 'printed' paper towels!

Once your family has gotten comfortable with using cloth around the house, you can try for something a little more personal: facial tissue. Replace the puffs with some super soft and comfy wipes like these:
From EtsyClothDiaper member shop: just2cuteaccessories

When it becomes "the new normal" to use cloth for everything, you can take the ultimate plunge and suggest your family try replacing toilet paper with wipes. You might want to begin by offering both cloth and disposable toilet paper until everyone is comfortable with the transition, or you may even continue to offer both, but drastically cut down on your tissue usage. Place a small bucket (1-3 gallon) or trashcan with a lid next to the toilet. This is where soiled wipes will go until it's time to wash them. You can sprinkle a little baking soda in the bottom to keep it fresh and odor-free until wash time, but you don't want to put water in it. When full, just dump it into your washing machine and wash on hot with a frangrance free soap. Voila! Never buy toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, kleenex, cotton balls, baby wipes, counter wipes, etc. etc. again!

Using Cloth Wipes

Cloth wipes can be used wet or dry. I keep mine in a Prince Lionheart wipes warmer in each bathroom and by the changing table in the nursery. To most effectively keep them warm I prefer the wet method, plus this makes them work more like "baby wipes". In the kitchen we keep them dry for mess clean-up.
To use the wet method, you can simply make your own wipes solution in a bowl and pour this over your wipes in your wipes container or warmer. There are a lot of simple wipes solutions that you can make at home with products you already own, or you can purchase ready-made solution or concentrates such as these which you mix with water:

Available from EtsyClothDiaper Team member shop: WeeEssentials

For a great list of FREE wipes solution recipes visit here: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml. You'll find anti-fungal recipes, chamomile recipes, soothing recipes, soapless recipes and more!
 
Why Use Cloth Wipes?

There are a number of reasons to use cloth wipes and other "unpaper" products:

~ Better for the environment: less trees, less trucking/shipping on the production end, less trips to the store on your end, less solid waste
~ Pretty and customizable to match your decor
~ Less expensive over time
~ Healthier for sensitive skin
~ Customizable scents and cleansing products
~ Simplify cloth diapering
~ Never run out of toilet paper/paper towels/kleenex again
~ Never have to "limit" the amount of toilet paper or tissue used by your family members again
~ Reduce packaging waste in addition to paper product waste
~ Better for septic and sewage systems since you are reducing the solid waste passing through

Contributed by: Amy Washington of MamaBearBabyWear.


Friday, September 28, 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

Meet the Team - Leticia of LetJoy


Welcome to another Meet the Team interview! Sit back and put your feet up while we spend a few minutes with the talented Leticia of LetJoy.


What's your name and where do you live?
Leticia Meyer, I live in Woodbury, Minnesota

Where did you get the name for your shop?
The first three letters of my first name and my middle name made in to one word

How long have you been in business?
It will be a year in November

How did you get the idea for your products/business?
I went to college for business, I always knew I wanted to start my own business I just didn't know what kind of business I wanted to start, I got preggers and started making my own cloth diapers. One of my friends who also uses cloth suggested that I start to sell them because they were so well made and well here I am today. 

Please share what is unique about your products.
I like to do custom orders and work with the moms and give them what they are looking for. Most of my business is custom orders although I would love it if things in my shop would go faster :)

What are your most popular products, and why are they so appealing?
Diapers, mostly custom. I work with moms with the style and patterns.
What have you found most challenging about running your own business?
Keeping up with demand while making sure I am not neglecting my other duties (as a mom and a house wife)

Has anything been easier than you expected? More difficult?
Promoting my business and making business connections has been very easy for me. Keeping up on the making of the diapers has been challenging especially if I make a bunch of the same type of diapers and thats why I offer AIO, AI2, Pockets and fitteds keeps things fresh.

Why do you like selling on Etsy?
It's easy for both me and the buyer. It's not just buying and selling, it's a community.

How long have you been sewing?
My grand mother taught me to sew by hand at about age 8 and I got my first sewing machine at age 12. My mom bought it as a surprise gift and I was so excited to learn how to use it. I now sew on my grandmothers sewing machine and I feel like every thing I make on it has a little bit of her in them as well.

What is your favorite thing to make at the moment?
Fitteds, just because they are easy and quick to make so I get to see the finished product sooner.

Why is cloth diapering important to you?
I cloth diaper to save on waste and money. i do use disposables if we go on long trips but I always feel guilty about it.

What is the kind of diaper you like the best at home?
Prefolds and fitteds. Because they breathe.

What is your favorite cloth diapering memory?
When my aunts found out I used cloth they all told me stories how they used cloth on my cousins. ALL MY AUNTS! :)

Who or what is your inspiration?
Cloth it's self, I like the idea that I am using diapers that my parents had on (not the physical diaper) and my grandparents it's like keeping the heritage of being natural a live in my family. 

Do you have anything new going on now, or upcoming, such as new products or promotions?
I am about to host a local co-op for the Twin Cities but that's about all for now.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I always want to be able to offer a quality product at an affordable price.

Where can we find your products?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Economy of food - also one of kind as to save the nature. 

You must not to eat organic products for to save nature. You can also economy energies of world and nature if you eat economical and think about how you shop, make and eat and left after more less food wastes. 

In different countries people have different eating habits and also use different products. I will try to give the advices  for all, but may be there can be something strange for you. 

In the first - shopping. Some advices how to bye real amount of products not more as you and your family need in daily. 
  • always make list of product what you need and buy only listed products
  • make shopping as seldom as possible, once per week or rarely.
  • you can make full one week menu for your family before shopping, it will help you to avoid for buying products what you do not need so more. 
  •  have a good meal before shop going, if you will feel a hunger you can buy more as you need in real.
  • avoid of buying semi products, as you save your money and give chance for your family eat real homemade meal.
Meal making, eating and where to use the remaining products
  • try to made all food at home, do not use semi products. 
  •  use the true size pots and dishes, not bigger or smaller as you need. 
  • do not make the heat more as you need, 
  • open water tap only when you need water
  •  do not use more dishes as you need in reality 
  • after eating hold the remaining meal in refrigerator for the next day.   

Some recommendations for food economy:


When you make the roast meet in the pan do not pour out the broth what keeps in the pan, it can be good additive to sauce or soup. You can keep them to pot in refrigerator some days. 

You can make good snacks for  stale bread. Cut bread in small pieces, roast them in the oven. After you can blind then with grated hard cheese o garlic. You can flour the stale bread and you get very nice breading for meet. 

You can use also sour milk. If you see  your milk get sour, you can made pancakes. 

And do not play with food and do not allow it for your children. 

Posted by Laila from TipuTap   

Saturday, September 22, 2012

DIY: Making Simple Bath/Beauty Products

A lot of people are intimidated at the thought of making their own products - whether we're talking about cleaning products or personal products or even diapers. Looking at the fancy end products available on Etsy and other websites is certainly enough to make any beginner feel more than a little overwhelmed, and like they just don't possibly have the skills needed.

But the people selling the fancy soap and the adorable diapers on Etsy didn't start out achieving perfect, gorgeous, sale-able products... and neither will you, likely. The key is to start small, start with something small, and build your skills from there.

If you want to make some of your own personal care products, you can't get much easier than hair rinse. Just to prove my point, my son helped me make these when he was just two and a half years old! (gosh. He's 8 now. Time flies.)

Vinegar Hair Rinse

Hair Rinse is a great alternative to commercial hair conditioners. It's all-natural and leaves your hair feeling fresh and silky.

You'll need a clean, empty bottle, vinegar, water, and an essential oil that gives you joy. (lavender is calming, mint is energizing, citrus is nice for morning showers, some people prefer florals... whatever you like)

Put a splash of vinegar into your clean bottle. I know, some of you are freaking out right now, asking "how much is a splash? Is it one cup? Half a cup? Just tell me!!" It will vary with the size of your bottle and with your preferences, but I like to have the vinegar component be less than 1/4 of my mixture - usually closer to 1/8.

Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water. You don't have to use fancy water - use whatever you drink.

Now add a few drops of your essential oil. How do you know how much to add? I like to add a few drops, then cap the bottle and shake it, then open it back up and sniff. I keep adding until I'm satisfied that the essential oil is strong enough to mostly cover the vinegar smell, but not too strong. This usually means about 5-10 drops per bottle, depending on which oil I have.

And that's it - you're done!

Have fun!!


Sarah Reid
Owner, Boulevard Designs and Wallypop
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