Vacation, for two whole weeks!

Since launching in November 2011, Barnyard Bummz has been incredibly successful.  We have grown to include The Laundry Tarts line of products, hand-knit Woolly Bummz wool covers, CJs All Natural wool products and most recently The Sling Sisters wetbags.

I have yet to take any vacation from sewing diapers since our official launch.  So now, I am on vacation; for two whole weeks!  What will I be doing on my vacation?

I will be resting up my cutting, sewing, pinning, snapping arms and hands.  Taking a break from the online facebook world, catching up on housework, the little things.

After seven months of tweaking things here and there with our diapers, we have set on a final one size design which will launch in June 2012.  Here's a sneek peek at our final design to tide you all over while I rest up and take a break from the online world!

I'll be checking in on my emails here and there, but for the most part will be trying to stay offline..  It's been an amazing, and busy seven months and in order to keep moving at this fast pace, I need some time off to refresh.

Oh, I've been working on our new website and storefront as well, it's awesome and that's to come soon as well!

The LaundryTarts Strip It! ~ Giveaway

That wonderful Tarts over at The Laundry Tarts headquarters have been gracious enough to sponsor a giveaway following our review of Strip It!  This is a wonderful product and a great opportunity to win some for yourself.

Giveaway begins today and ends on Earth Day.
Good luck everyone!

The LaundryTarts Strip It! ~ Review

Over time, you may notice your diapers develop some residual buildup.   Signs of buildup include, repelling, which leads loss of absorbency and the always dreaded "stinkies".  Whether buildup occurs from a diaper cream or laundry detergent, every now and then it's a good idea to give your diapers a strip to get back to your regular laundry routine.  Strip It! is designed to treat your cloth diapers, as well as any other garments that may need a treatment to remove odours, residues or heavy soiling.

Ingredients
- Sodium chloride
- Sodium pre-carbonate
- Sodium bi-carbonate

In the cloth diaper world, man made, synthetic fibers, such as microfiber, suedecloth and fleece tend to be prone to buildup more often than all natural fibers such as cotton, bamboo or hemp.  Our cloth diaper stash is made of all natural fibers, in my earlier review of The Laundry Tarts Detergent I wrote about not encountering any buildup with this amazing detergent.  When I set forth to strip our diapers with Strip It!, it was for routine maintenance purposes and to test out the product.

I ran our diaper through a hot wash with no detergent prior to getting down to stripping.  A little bit of this amazing product goes a long way.  I then placed about a teaspoon of Strip It! in cold water in our top loading washing machine and filled it to the maximum water setting.  I let our diapers sit for about an hour with the timer on, anxiously awaiting to see how it was working.

After approximately an hour long soak, I put the machine on gentle agitate and then began the most dreaded part of stripping; the rinsing.  With other stripping formulas, it is not uncommon to have to have to do four, five or more rinses.  I was able to to successfully rinse in two full rinses in cold water after the initial first rinse.  That's alot of water gone un-wasted!

Strip It! yielded amazing results.  Everything came out nice and fresh, free from any small bit amount of buildup we may have had.  With other popular stripping products, you have to buy per treatment, the way The Laundry Tarts have set up Strip It!, one bag should last a long time yielding 20/40 treatments. Depending on your stash, one package of Strip It! could last one (or more) child's time in cloth diapers.

Thanks again Tarts, another amazing product!!

The Laundry Tarts Sweet Spot stain remover ~ Review

The Sweet Spot Stain Remover from The Laundry Tarts is nothing short of a miracle stain remover packed into a small little bar.

Handmade and developed by two business partners with products which  never cease to amaze me.  This stain stick is what really started my love affair with all of TLT's products.  What can I say, these products are beyond amazing and THEY WORK!

The sweet spot stain remover works on everyday stains, from grease stains, crayons, pretty much anything you can stain, this stick will get it out.  Our primary use for it is on our cloth diapers.  Since beginning to use it in the Fall of 2011, not one cloth diaper has a stain.

Ingredients;
- Spanofied coconut/canola oil
- Rosemary extract

Yet again, all natural ingredients you can find in your kitchen!

I really want to test the power of this stain stick, so I searched high and low for a used cloth diaper that was in need of some good old TLC.  The diaper I received was brown.  I ran it through with our regular cloth diaper wash and no change, I sunned it on a bright sunny day, and still nothing.  That's when Sweet Spot came onto the scene.

I used the Sweet Spot stain remover on the entire diaper, threw it in the wash with our soiled diapers and was amazed that it was noticeably whiter.  I repeated the process and this diaper is now as white as I can get it.  I wish I'd have taken a before picture in hindsight.

The Sweet Spot stain remover always surprises me.  When diapers have sat in a wet-bag for 48 hours, you would assume the stains have set in.  With a little soak in hot water and a quick lather from Sweet Spot, it's guaranteed to lift potential stains.  In my experience it's work each and every time; without fail.

This is a must have for your laundering needs which compliments TLT's amazing lineup of products.

Thanks again Tarts for yet another amazing product that 100% natural, as always!

1500 Fan Earth Day Giveaway ~ Entry

The LaundryTarts Shaker Bon Bon ~ Review

We've never dealt with smell issues with out wet-bags so I never understood why people used a diaper pail or wet-bag deodorizer.  If there was no smell, why use one?  I was introduced to The Laundry Tarts Shaker Bon Bon's in Winter of 2011 when I purchased one of their amazing Holiday packages.  Once again, love at first scent!

Not only does it freshen up your pail or wet-bag, but it is completely all natural as you can see from their list of ingredients which make up your Shaker Bon Bons.

Ingredients in the Shaker Bon Bon are;
- Sodium Bicarbonate
- Sea Salt
-Yellow prussiate of soda/Prussiate
- Phthalate free frangrances and essential oils (in all but their unscented verision; Plain Jane Unscented)

I absolutely love the fact that all of TLT's products are 100% natural.  This is something I look for when shopping, so why not when shopping for a cleaning products, including a pail deodorizer?

Since DS started solids, we can't always get all of the poop off his cloth diapers; most but not all.  There can sometimes be a smell that needs a little freshening.  A quick little squeeze from a Shaker Bon Bon into our wet-bags, and voila, it smells perfect and yummy .

Though the Shaker Bon Bons primary use is a pail/wet bag deodorizer, there are many other household uses for it.  Do you not look forward to weekly vacuuming sessions?  Shake a little on your carpets prior to vacuuming and the chore of vacuuming becomes fun again, not to mention fresh smelling.  Cleaning kitty litter boxes isn't so fun either, shake a little on, and it's not as big of a chore.  Did someone spend, well, a little too much time in the bathroom?  Shake some in the toilet to completely refresh your bathroom.  Garbage cans have a funk to them?  Shake a a little in!  The list could go on and on for it's potential uses to freshen things up naturally.

The only complaint I have about the Shaker Bon Bon, and this really is a small one.  I've found that with a full shaker, it takes a few uses to really come out nicely.  I find I have to squeeze it once I've first opened a fresh one.  However, once it's been used a few times and less product is in the shaker, it comes out great.

Thanks Tarts for all you do, you make the chores of  laundry and cleaning fun again!

The Laundry Tarts All Natural Detergent ~ Review

We began using The Laundry Tarts all natural detergent on our cloth diapers as well as Family cloth in the Fall of 2011.  Immediately, it was love at first scent.  I will admit, I am a sucker for scents, but soft not overwhelming scents.  Our first encounter with TLT's came with their Fall 2011 seasonal scent "Gingerbread Cookies".  I cannot say this enough, it was love at first scent.

Previously a loyal Country Save user, I could not see see why pay more for a detergent that was doing the same job which was; washing our cloth diapers and Family cloth.  Within a few washes I could see the difference which was worth the extra couple dollars.  Our diapers were coming out cleaner, whiter, smelling fresher, with no residual buildup and softer than I've ever felt.

Main ingredients of TLT's all natural detergent are;
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Sodium carbonate
- Sodium precarbonate
- Sea salt
- Spanofied coconut/canola oil
- Rosemary extract
- phalate free essential oils
- phalate free frangance oils (in all but TLT's unscented Plain Jane Unscented)

From this list, it is clear to see that their ingredients hold true to their amazing business model;

"The Laundry Tarts are extremely passionate about the environment and are dedicated to providing products that do not harm the environment.  We have made a commitment to the earth to use only safe ingredients and follow that commitment in everything we do and make. Our products are completely biodegradable (including the packaging), hypoallergenic, 100% vegan and free of phosphates, EDTA, phthalates, parabens, SLS, SLES, nitrates, sulphites and chlorine (we are also one of the only companies to list ALL of their ingredients without misleading the consumer) ! What do we use? All natural, safe old fashion ingredients to remove stains, keep whites bright and remove odor and bacteria without masking them with harmful chemical fragrances. We use only phthalate free oils, meaning no ingredients will be left on your clothing; only a fresh, clean smell from dissolving odours-not masking them with synthetic fragrance" (via www.thelaundrytarts.com).

After three full washes, I noticed everything was softer. I'm not sure if it is from the sea salt or spanofied coconut/canola oil ingredients, but the difference was noticeable even to the my Husband; who might I add notices next to nothing.  Our cloth diapers are now softer than they ever were, and our Family cloth is always fresh and clean.

Prior to using The Laundry Tarts our cloth diapers often felt stiff and felt clean, but not truly clean.  Though we use cloth diapers made only of natural fibers, we were stripping our diapers every month or so.  Since beginning to use TLT's we've stripped our diapers and family cloth once.  Once in over six months of continuous use!  This speaks incredibly loudly of this amazing detergent.

I cannot speak loudly enough about how wonderful this detergent is.  All scents aside, this is a truly amazing product, handmade in central Ontario by two wonderful business partners.

After making the switch, I couldn't imagine using anything else on our laundry.  I anxiously await the day we run out of regular old detergent and make the complete transition to TLT's for all of our laundry!

Thank you The Laundry Tarts for the amazing work you do on keeping our cloth diapers, clean, fresh, soft, free of builup, beautiful scents, and a commitment to remaining eco-friendly.  Laundry is now that much less of a chore.

1500 Fan Earth Day Giveaway

Isn't this the most perfect print to celebrate Earth Day 2012?  We're giving one away!
Once we've hit 1500 fans, one lucky fan will receive a beautiful Save Energy OS fitted diaper.

Giveaway is open to both Canadian and US residents.  Best of luck everyone!!

Moving Forward, STOCKINGS!

We will be stocking in stock, ready to ship bummz every Friday at 6pm EST. I'm not sure how many I'll be able to do each week, but I'm sure a little more clarity will come with respect to quantity as we move forward.  Currently, I am aiming for 10 per week to keep up with a reasonable, sustainable pace.

In stock bummz will now be one size only.  OS fits most from 10 to 30 pounds and up.  OS Bummz are essentially our newer size Large with a double snap down rise feture, which is adjustable to fit your little ones size.  For use overnight, we suggest using our overnight booster for an extra 6 layers of highly absorbent bamboo goodness.

Custom slots will be stocking once a month separate from our weekly ready to ship stockings. This will also apply to our diapers as well as Woollly Bummz.

Custom slots will allow you the opportunity to customize your order.  You'll be able to choose your print, size and inner fabric!  Similarly with our fabulous hand knit Woolly Bummz, Juliette will work with you to make your wool soakers, longies, shorties, bloomers and more tailored exactly to your needs.

We are also currently working on doing some minor revisions to content on our website.  You may have already noticed the change in look that rolled out last week, I think it's coming along quite nicely.  A few things move around as well content will be a little different, but for the most part it will remain the same.

With all that said, our first in Barnyard Bummz ready to ship stocking will take place Friday March 9^th,.2012 at 6pm EST.

A sneak peak photo will be posted on Facebook Thursday evenings for Friday's stockings!

Thanks again to our amazing fans; you all make mine and Juliette's jobs truly wonderful!

Slowing Down Success

Recently I announced that Barnyard Bummz fitted diapers would soon be available at the Extraordinary Baby Shoppe.  After much thought, reflection and some solid business advice from, I have decided that my path for now is to stay the course on my own.  

Stocking an incredible shoppe like EBS is a dream come true, however I run a one Mama shop and personally perform all cutting, sewing and snapping.  Stocking a store with such a large fan base would be near impossible for me to keep up with.

The sourcing of fabrics, pre-washing, cutting and the hum of my sewing machine is where I am happiest.  I'm a WAHM and I love it!  I have not ruled out wholesaling for the future, but when I do, it will likely be to a smaller store in order to keep up with supply and demand.

I love working one-on-one with each and every one of my customers and will continue to produce the highest-quality cloth diapers I can!  You have all inspired me and I look forward to our on-going relationship.

With warmth,
Lee Hazelton
Owner/Operator
Barnyard Bummz

1000 Amazing Barnyard Bummz Fans!

Well, we did it!  1000 Facebook Fans.  
Our giveaway was amazing and we had such great sponsors including Bibmababy, Krysta's Kloth, Couture Kids, The Laundry Tarts, CJ's all Natural Ottawa and Haley by Hand. 
Congratulations to all of the winners.  Here they are in order or prize winning.
Barnyard Bummz Grand Prize ~ Jos A.
Custom Swing top from Couture Kids ~ Nicole B.
Custom Wetbag from Krysta's Kloth ~ Rahel K.
Owl Softie from Haley by Hand ~ Cassie S.
Thanks so much to all of our sponsors; this was a great giveaway.  Looking forward to hosting another when we reach another milestone!
ETA; All prizes have been claimed and sponsors contacted as at 24/02/12 @ 20h30

Houston, Barnyard Bummz has a BLOG!

Barnyard Bummz is joining in on the blogging!!

I didn't think this would happen, I put it off for quite some time.  So much has changed in the last four months it's likely a good idea to start documenting our journey.

I hope you enjoy our posts.  Stay tuned, more exciting news to come!