When we were preparing for this event, I was looking for some unique laundry related items to share with you. In my searching, I came across a wooden drying rack and a hand washing kit. I could definitely use some help with room for hanging and drying all our cloth diapers as well as rugs and comforters. Both of these products are made in the USA and the business is run my a family in Missouri. They stand proudly behind their rack with a guarantee to repair, replace, or refund you if you are not satisfied. Gotta love a good guarantee!

The drying rack was super easy to assemble. I like that I can raise up a few hanging bars rather than all of them. This makes it easier to fit in our basement right now (don’t mind the mess in the pictures!). The rack can be used outside as well. I could smell the wood when I opened up the package. It’s made of only wood and metal – no plastic parts! This makes it more durable. The tripod legs keep it steady. The arms are high enough off the ground and spread apart to give laundry appropriate air drying space.

Air drying can help save money by cutting down on gas and electric for running the dryer. It also saves your clothes and diapers from wear and tear. I don’t have a clothesline outside so I like that I can use this rack in the backyard. It’s actually pretty light weight. I had no trouble carrying it (folded up!) down into the basement.

Another possible money saver is washing clothes by hand…

Earlier this year I missed out on joining in the Flats Challenge. One of the requirements of the challenge was to wash cloth diapers by hand. This kit would have come in handy! There’s a grid that goes on the bottom to help trap the dirt to stay at the bottom of the bucket. The most curious part was the plunger. I don’t know how it did it, but it really could move the water around. I could feel it pulling the water through the bucket.

Left: Filled and ready to go! Middle: Dirty after the “rinse” plunging. Right: Still kind of poopy after three cycles.

I put 6 diapers in the bucket, filled it with cold water, and plunged for a few minutes. This was to simulate my pre-rinse cycle in the washer. There were a couple soiled diapers, the rest were just wet. I needed an extra bucket and rubber gloves so I could pull the diapers out of the gross water and empty it into the toilet. Then I put the diapers back in with HOT water and a couple scoops of detergent. I plunged the heck out of it. The water wasn’t as gross, but was still dirty. I emptied and refilled for another plunge party. The two poopy diapers were still poopy. The prefolds appeared clean though. Everything went into the washer after.

Now, some might look at this and say “it doesn’t work.” But I’m not saying that. There are a few points I want to make though. This was tough on my back. If I didn’t have to lift and move the bucket around so much, it would help. The plunging really worked my arms and was tough on my uncalloused hands. Gloves would have been smart!

I think it washes better with regular clothes and prefolds. The pockets and AIO weren’t getting clean enough. My plunging didn’t agitate out the AppleCheeks insert either. So you’d want to unstuff even the self-unstuffing diapers. I’m not sure it’s a time saver if you have soiled diapers, but I spent only about 45 minutes total “washing” 3 bucketfuls. My normal routine takes hours. It’s basically a half day project! I also think it works better with fewer items in it. however, if I’m washing a days worth of diapers (6) I want to do it all together.

Good for:

• Pre-cleaning super dirty clothes (poo, mud, grease, oil)
• As a back up to a washer breaking or out of electricity
• Someone who doesn’t have a washer
• Someone who needs to save money but doesn’t normally have heavily soiled laundry
• Camping – Seriously! For cloth diapers and clothes… Camping was the first thing I thought of when I saw it.
• Traveling with cloth diapers – might be a helpful solution to how to clean them in the hotel room.

What I’d like to see improved upon:

• A better way to secure the handle to the plunger pieces (mine started to unscrew during use)
• A lid! I sloshed a bit
• A side drainer or some way to drain water out without removing the laundry

Giveaway!

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FTC Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative in order to conduct an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. The thoughts, experiences, and opinions included are entirely my own and may differ from that of others. I am not liable for any issues you may incur from use of said product(s). Images used are owned by me or provided with the company’s permission unless otherwise sourced. See fulldisclosure information. If you have any questions you can contact me or leave a comment.

About Darcy

Darcy Zalewski is a married, stay-at-home mom who is discovering her greener side, starting with advocating for cloth diapering. When she's not changing diapers or singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, she can be found at Tales From the Nursery, where she shares tales of motherhood as well as product reviews, or at ShePromotes, a resource for blogger support.

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