Diapers Without Dryers
Even though we are currently learning the ins & outs of elimination communication with Baby B, we are still using a significant number of cloth diapers every day. We use them to lay under B when we put her down. We usually hold one under her butt just in case we miss a pee, which we do every so often. We use a diaper to wipe up the mess when B pees on the floor. And at the end of the day, when us parents are exhausted and just need some vegetation time, we throw B in a cloth diaper or two just to give ourselves a break. So while B spends most of the day with a dry butt, we still have lots of dirty diapers to wash, and all without a dryer.
Being without a dryer shouldn’t sound so bad. After all, it’s great for the environment. When we lived in New York, I wanted to set up a clothes line for quite some time in order to both save energy and a little money. Unfortunately, our New York house had several logistical issues that made clotheslines a very difficult proposition.
Here in Costa Rica, things are quite different from New York. I have met very few people who actually own a dryer here. Everyone has a clothesline. Actually, everyone has multiple clotheslines. Our current rental has 3 sets of clotheslines. Sure, there are a few of the more affluent gringos that have dryers, but most get along fine without one. Even if I wanted to buy a dryer here, it would likely cost double the price than I would get it for in the United States. Electronics and appliances are very expensive here. I’m not getting a dryer anytime soon.
Overall, I feel very good about letting my clothes line-dry. I’m saving energy, harnessing the power of the sun, and saving some money while I’m at it. Those are all very good things. Plus, drying my clothes on a line really is no big deal. Most things dry pretty quickly. And with 5 people in our family, we have to keep up with the laundry anyway.
But diapers are another story. I’m using nice, plush prefolds with 8 layers of fabric. They take quite some time to dry! Drying clothes wasn’t a problem in the dry season. Up until May, I could leave clothes hanging on the uncovered clothesline overnight, with no fear of rain. And with the incredibly dry air, my clothes would dry fast anyway. But B was born at the beginning of May, just in time for the rainy season. Not only has the general humidity gone up, but we now can expect almost daily rainstorms that come by 2-3 pm on most days. This complicates diaper drying significantly. I have one uncovered clothesline area, pictured above, that catches the sun. Even if I wash the diapers at 7 am and have them out by 8 in the hot morning sun, they are usually still not completely dry by the time the rains roll in. Then I have to take them all down and move them to one of the other 2 covered clotheslines for further drying. Then they are usually dry by the next morning, as the humidity that comes with afternoon rains further delays drying.
Many days I don’t get the diapers up until 10am or so. It’s hard to be regimented about things when you are up all night nursing a baby. So on those days, I don’t even bother with the direct sun. I just hang the dipes right under a covered area. Thankfully, they still usually dry by the next morning. But no matter how you cut it, half my diaper stash is out of commission each day. Which means that I basically have to wash a load of diapers every single day. Takes some time, I tell ya. Much different than what I did back in the states (wash and dry in a dryer in under 2 hours).
Regardless of the effort, I remind myself of these things:
- By harnessing the sun’s power, I’m helping the world a little every day.
- Diapers and clothes smell fantastic when they are sun or air-dried.
- I can’t afford a dryer anyway, so I might as well make the best of things!
(Thanks to www.Strocel.com for the idea for this post).
My step-children were raised most of their life in Panama. When they came to live with us, the dryer (and many other things I took for granted) was a completely foreign appliance. And then it broke and we never had it fixed. We’ve been 2 years w/out one. We live in NY so as you can imagine, the winter is not very conducive to clothes drying. We have 3 wooden racks set up in the bathroom for drying on rainy & winter days but yes..I remember those cloth diapering days w/out a dryer. I couldn’t really do any other laundry until the dipes were dry b/c there just wasn’t any room!
.-= Jupiter´s last blog ..Digestable bits from Twitter =-.
Sometimes I think the best things that happen for the world occur because we just “do without”. Like when your dryer broke and you just didn’t fix it. Or how I just don’t have one, and can’t afford one, so I deal with it. The average US suburbanite tends to feel they “just couldn’t manage” w/o one, so they don’t. But getting on without is often not as hard as it seems, and better for the the world too. And kudos to you for managing to dry clothes w/o a dryer through a NY winter! Nice.
Thanks for the link.
I have a really hard time getting my diapers out to dry in a timely fashion. Mostly because I always forget about them mid-wash cycle. This multiple washes thing is just too much for me. Thankfully I am lucky enough to have a drying rack that can be moved indoors in a pinch. I can see how having to re-hang diapers in the rainy season would be a challenge.
I’m sure the earth thanks you, though. And you’re right, there’s nothing better than the smell of line-dried clothes.
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Sanctuary =-.
See, I wouldn’t know what to do during the wetter months of the year. I mean, yes I could find a way to make it work, but I’d be lost and confused and irritable at first. This is why I look up to moms like you.
It’s all about going with the flow.
But I admit…sometimes I fight the flow first, with much confusion & irritability
I should just move to Costa Rica. I love reading your posts and being reminded of it. We went to a place about an hour from Liberia for our honeymoon, during the first week of “tourist season” in November. It never rained where we were, but when we went to see the volcano, everything was wet and damp, and it rained intermittently.
I didn’t know most people in Costa Rica don’t have dryers though. I think I could live without one, because I want to hang dry all my clothes (just never seem to do it). I just love how you are in an environmentally conscious country and contributing like this. When we were there, a tour guide told us less than 5% of Costa Rica’s energy comes from oil and gas. There are windmills everywhere, a whole solar powered center between our resort and Liberia, and lots of time and energy was being spent on harnessing geothermal energy from the volcanos. It’s a completely different culture!
Anyway, I love reading your blog!
Wow, awesome. We’ve been six (6) months without a dryer here in New York. This will be our first winter without it, so we’ll see how it goes.
Glad to see you are doing diaper free. Another environmental plus!
Miss you all,
Best, Karla
Hello! I just came across your blog after looking around for information on birthing in Costa Rica. I’m so glad to find you! We had our second child here via homebirth with a midwife and LOVED it
) We are also doing EC part time and cloth diapers. Looking forward to keeping in touch with you possibly 
.-= Marillyn´s last blog ..The Dirty Secrets of Processed Cereal: Make Your Own… =-.
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