Cloth Diapering Update

So, as you know, we're a cloth diapering family. I say family because everyone has to be onboard and willing to chip in on the laundry, anyway, so why not learn to wash the diapers, too?! Check out Baby A. folding his own tushy covers!

With this move, I was nervous about our ability to continue line drying our diapers outside while living on post (that's what the Army calls a base, LOL). I know military housing has a lot of rules, and I didn't want to break any, but I knew I'd have to come up with a way to continue what has been working well for our diapers, our son, and our routine. Our other home had a lovely retractable clothes line installed on the corner of the shed that ran to a tall, sturdy tree. I could easily fit a whole load of diapers and inserts spaced evenly on the line. I also had a circular hanger that worked well when I wasn't using the clothes line.

At our current house, I wasn't sure we'd be allowed to leave a clothesline up outside, even in our fenced backyard, so I found a bungee cord line to hang from corner to corner of the fence for pretty cheap on Amazon. It is working fine but I feel it's pretty temporary because it doesn't hold all of the diapers high enough off the ground for my comfort, or hold very many inserts. I think I could fit them along the line, but then it would certainly sag in the center to the ground... no bueno.

I still have the circular hanger, which I used before our bungee cord got here, but the only place I could hang it was in the front of the house off of our flagpole. I didn't feel great about that option, even though it was only for a few hours every week or so. I also found myself using the wicker outdoor table and chairs we had to drape my AIOs, which worked well until they were dry enough to blow into the grass after a few hours. Between the high winds and the junebugs, our backyard isn't the best place to hang. 

I might invest in a more permanent and traditional solution if I can find a way to install a retractable line against the house without causing too much damage, as we will be responsible for any repairs that need to be made at the end of this year. I just want to ensure even sun exposure to all our diapers, and room to also hang my inserts, because they smell SO MUCH better after being hung outside vs. using the dryer. Additionally, I am sticking to my guns on line drying outdoors to conserve energy; apparently, we only pay utilities bills out-of-pocket and over the monthly rental bill if we "go over" the average amount expected per house. 

Until I come up with a better system, though, my bungee line and using our crappy dryer (not provided by housing, we had to buy it off of another family moving off base when we arrived :-\), will have to work! Hopefully I am providing another update on how I've found a wonderful and still budget-friendly solution for our Kansas Cloth Diapering experiment!

- Big A.