Flats and Handwashing Challenge Day 1 - What? WITH YOUR HANDS????

I am participating in Dirty Diaper Laundry's 4th annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge.  One week of using flat diapers and covers, with no washer and dryer.

It might be hard to understand why I would decide to sign up for something that will ADD to my workload for 7 days.  The answer is actually pretty simple and the truth is that it isn't as hard as you think.  This is my second time participating in the challenge.  I did this very same thing back in 2012 when my middle son was just shy of 2 years old.  So when the challenge came back around this year I was actually excited about having yet another son to participate with.  This event was created to show that anyone can cloth diaper in any situation.  There are many people across the US that have to make the choice between diapering their children and food.  They make the decision to leave their children in one dirty disposable diaper the entire day or worse re-use a disposable diaper.  If you Google or just take a look at some of the other bloggers doing this event you will see that it can actually cost very little money to start up cloth diapering with flats and covers.  I am about as crafty as a rock, but some folks have even created their own full diaper stash out of stuff they already had!  Now that is awesome.

My personal reason for taking this challenge is that I live in an apartment and do not own my own washer or dryer.  I am limited to either taking my diapers to a laundry mat, using the dirty nasty laundry rooms here where I live, or drive my load of diapers over to my mother's house which would mean not having diapers for a couple days since I can't stay there and hang out till they are done. None of these options are ideal, and I know some families have it much worse.  I hope to show readers that not only can you handwash and dry diapers in an apartment setting, but it is actually easier and cheaper!  No backyard or clothesline needed.