PlanetWise Wet/Dry Hanging Bag

PlanetWise Hanging Wet/Dry Bag Review
Basic Information:
This 16.5 inch x 27 inch wetbag has a main pocket for wet/dirty items that is lined with waterproof layer. The front pocket holds clean/unused items safe. There are two handles for hanging or carrying.
How it works:
Hang it on the door and collect your dirty diapers. Toss bag into wash with diapers! Hang to dry.

Price:
I purchased bag for $29.99.
Our Experience:
We love these bags. I originally only purchased one, but we liked it so much that I bought another. We use one to collect diapers while the other is in the laundry. While we use these for diapers now, I could easily see a number of other things where these bags would serve you well, like swim bags or for holding wet laundry, etc.
In my opinion, these are very well made. We have never had any wicking or leaking issues (and we’ve put a lot of diapers in it before). We wash diapers every other day, so these bags get washed about twice a week and the fabric brightness is holding up very well. I usually hang it by only one handle so I was a little worry about straining the stitching too much, but have not had any indications that they are ripping out.  Look at the picture below, I weighed our bag (and it wasn't full yet!).

We have a front loading machine, so putting diapers in the machine isn’t a simple unzip and dump. I usually open the bag, put the top in the machine, then grab the handles and pull backwards turning the bag inside out as I go.
Features We Love:

• Great Construction!
• Large wet pocket- Holds two days worth of diapers!
• Easy to use
• Great for travel- Easy to pack or great to pack stuff in!

The Downside:

• Drying time- You can shorten the drying time by pulling out the lining and letting it hang with the “insides” out.
• Zipper- The zippers are very small and hard to grasp sometimes, especially when you have a dirty diaper in one hand. I plan to tie a ribbon on the zippers to make them easier to grab.

We Vote:

• Easy to Use
• Convenient for Everyday Use
• Convenient for Travel
• Cute Fabrics
• Excellent Quality
• Love it, Love it, Love it

Overall Rating (out of 10): 10
Pictures In Use

Finally! We Fixed the Leak

If you've been reading this blog recently, you know that we've been having some problems with leaks.  The most logical culprit was repelling on our diapers and so we decided to strip them.  We just finished the stripping process, and thankfully, we had a successful eyedropper test.  After a bunch of research, we found a process that finally worked!  Our diapers are now absorbing water.  We can finally stop racing beads of water on them. 

I think that if we had known what to do from the start, this wouldn't have turned into such an arduous process.  We've also decided to change our regular laundry routine to try to prevent any residue build up.  Hopefully, we never have to do this again (or at least if we do, we'll get down to business right away and forget about the 7 prewashes).

Here's what we did:
1.  Washed all the inserts with 1 TABLESPOON of Dawn Dish Detergent on hot with an extra rinse.
2.  Rewashed the inserts with no detergent twice.
3.  Ran a rinse and wash cycle to make sure there were no more bubbles.
4.  Air dryed the inserts
5. Tested absorbancy using the eyedropper test.

We are also going to stop using any kind of fabric softener when we wash our "adult" clothes and eliminate dryer sheets. (Thank you husband for finally agreeing to give up your beloved softener!)  To make things simpler, we are also going to use cloth diaper safe detergent for all of our clothes, not use two separate detergents.

A quick note about washing cloth diapers (actually about trying to figure out how to wash them), there is a ton of information on the internet and much of it is contradictory.  I am going to post some links to information that I found helpful.  You'll be able to evaluate the recommendations and choose your routine. 
 
LINKS
http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm
http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp
http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/washing-diapers.htm
http://www.abbyslane.com/faqs.php#Q4
http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html#washing
http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/troubleshooting-cloth-diaper-leaks/

Stripping!

No, it's not my new job, but I've been doing it to our cloth dipes for 2 days. Adelaide's diapers have been leaking an awful lot, so we decided to do some tests on our diapers. My husband took several of our inserts and ran them under the faucet. Sure enough, there was a lot of beading water with runoff. Definitely not a good feature for a diaper. This means that the diaper is not absorbing liquid as it should. This is usually because a buildup developed on the cotton, from detergents, minerals, etcetera. So, in order to get the absorbancy back, you have to get rid of the residue.

This leads to the stripping, it sounds pretty harsh, but it basically means that you have to wash, wash, wash your diapers. I did a lot of internet research on stripping diapers a few weeks ago after we had quite a bit of residue left on a few of our inserts when we did laundry in a different machine. The general consensus for stripping was hot water washes (4-6), NO detergent, and add vinegar to the rinse cycle if you want. Everything that I read says that stripping is required as regular maintenance for your diapers. I'm thinking that it's a little like getting the car's oil changed, only, I'm not sure how you tell when you hit the 3000 mile mark for diapers.

We have a front loading machine (Maytag 3000 series) and this is how I've done it.
Cycle One: Sanitary Cycle with extra rinse-no detergent, 1/4 cup vinegar (placed in the fabric softener opening)
Cycle Two: Whitest Whites Cycle with extra rinse-no detergent, no vinegar
Cycle Three: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse-no detergent, no vinegar
Took them out and hung to dry.

My husband retested several inserts and we still had beading and runoff, so washing more today.
Cycle Four: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse-no detergent, 1/4 c vinegar
Cycle Five: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse- no detergent, no vinegar

The diapers are currently drying, so stay tuned for news to see if this stripping strategy worked.

I think the thing to know about diapers and laundry is that it takes a little bit of experimentation to get the right routine, manageable, yet gets your diapers clean. Perhaps we need to alter our regular washing routine a bit to make sure that our diapers are getting clean.