Winter Sunbathing

Tucson winters are amazing. Lately, we’ve been blessed with sunshine & 70s. This means our days have been spent at the park or in our front yard soaking up the winter rays. The diapers have also been spending many an hour outside sunning themselves on the drying rack. Unfortunately, due to some wicked morning sickness, the diapers haven’t been making their trek outside before 3 pm or even later. So, the heat of the day is beginning to fade and the sun’s rays disappear just as quickly. I’ve learned a couple of tricks to make use of the winter sun. Hopefully some of these tips can translate to those of you that live where you really have winter!

• I set up the drying rack close to a wall that has been drenched with sunlight for a majority of the day. In this case, I’m looking to use the heat radiating from the wall to help dry the diapers, since oftentimes the warmth of the day is quickly slipping into a cool evening.
• My GroVia soakers and Thirsties AIOs take more time to dry than pocket inserts and prefolds. Anything that is backed with a waterproof layer means that it dries from the top down. To help speed up drying, I prop both diapers on their sides. This way, the heat of the wall and the remnants of sunshine can dry on both the inner layers and outer layers of the diapers. It really helps!!

Note the sunny wall. And I can't help but brag about my white diapers. Ahhhh....I love sunny Tucson winters!

• So this tip rarely works for me, but getting diapers out during the warmest part of the day mainly noon-ish or so is best. I wish I could get moving on laundry sooner, but it takes my nose and stomach quite some time to calm down before I can get myself near the pile of dirties. Ugh.

So I’m not against using the dryer for my diapers. I just never really think to use it since I’m in the habit of line drying them. Following the above winter drying methods, I’ve been able to avoid using the dryer. It’s a way for me to cut back on energy and keep my diapers from excessive wear. So for those of you with a 'real' winter…here’s hoping that Puxatony Phil doesn’t see his shadow tomorrow!

{CW wishes you all a very happy Groundhog's day. He's psyched to watch the news tomorrow to see if Phil sees his shadow or not.}