Maxwell Designs Blog: April 2010

Nellies All Natural Laundry Soda Review & Giveaway

TO ALL CLOTH DIAPER USERS - A MUST READ AND GIVEAWAY!

I had been cloth diapering my youngest Shia for over a year and recently started to cloth diaper him full time. I had cloth diapered my oldest, Maxwell, but got out of the habit when I couldn't find what I was looking for and didn't really know what I was doing. Since being a bigger part of the clothdiaper group on Twitter I have found a new love for cloth! So I went online and ordered some new prefolds from a store in Winnipeg, got Steve and Teghan (our babysitter) onboard and set about getting ready to "Go for it". I cleaned my wool covers and bought my diodegradable diaper liners and waited for my prefolds to arrive. I was super happy when they came and made sure I washed them a couple of times to get rid of the oils etc.
I was so ready for the switch and after a week of using cloth I thought it was going great. Needless to say Shia developed a very nasty bum rash and I felt so bad! it was all my fault. I narrowed it down to the type of laundry detergent I was using - NOT appropriate at all. Although it was great for our clothing - environmentally friendly, green and biodegradeable it should not have been used to wash my sons diapers.

So I did my research looking for the best detergent for cloth diapers and found Nellies All Natural Laundry Soda - the perfect product - and I could get it at my local green store, The Happy Tree, bonus!
Nellie's laundry soda is unscented and designed to penetrate the fabric as well as remove the odors, not mask them. Its biodegradable, hypoallergenic and leaves your diapers/clothes residue free. Its also super concentrated so you don't need as much so its more economical!.

I set it to use straight away - and was AMAZED at the results. The marketing isn't as in your face as some 'green soaps' have but boy does it do the job - and more! - its like the best kept secret! As I said I washed Shia's diapers with it and they came out smelling - well clean!! so soft, sweet and I knew I was in love. I then used it on my organic terry cloth for some change pads I was making and then put in a load of regular laundry and used another product of theirs the Oxygen Brightener. I LOVE the tin the brightener comes in (very retro) - and I intend to add my laundry soda to it when its done so it serves two purposes. Anyway everything came out feeling softer than I have ever felt it and again, smelling so sweet ( must be because it was now so much cleaner!).

Luckily for you, Jackie from Nellies has very kindly offered 2 x 50 load bags of laundry soda to 2 lucky winners! Here is how to enter:

MANDATORY: Visit Nellies All Natural website to see the rest of their product line - then come back and tell me what other product you would use.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

Become a public follower of my blog (1 entry) if you are already a follower let me know

Tell me your top tip for cleaning your cloth diapers (2 entries)

Tweet this tweet (copy and paste if you like) "I just entered to WIN Nellies All Natural Laundry Soda @maxwelldesigns #giveaway #clothdiapers #eco #green ends 05/07" (1 entry for each tweet - leaving 2hrs between tweets) (1 entry)

Tell me if you did your laundry today (1 entry)
Grab my button and post it on your blog or website (5 entries)
Blog about this giveaway on your blog. Be sure to link back to my site and leave the URL where you blogged in your comment (5 entries)
Follow @maxwelldesigns on Twitter (1 entry)
Post about this giveaway on Facebook (2 entries)
Subscribe to Maxwell Designs Blog in a reader (1 entry)
Vote for Maxwell Designs on Top Baby Blogs (1 entry)

Please make sure you enter your email address on each entry so that I can contact you easily if you win.
GOOD LUCK

I did not receive any payment or product for this giveaway. My original product was purchased by myself in order to be able to give honest and true comments. This Giveaway will end on May 7th @ 12 noon (Pacific time). A random comment will be chosen. The winning comment will be verified at that time, so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and I don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email the following morning and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours the winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. Open to Canadian & American residents only

New Designs - Hemp

Now available - Hunter Grey bag/purse, wet bag and custom change pads.

http://www.maxwelldesigns.ca/

Deals for the day

In honour of Earth Day - I have drastically reduced my sale items on my website. You can also check out my latest bag designs and

wet bags while your there.

Winner of Abeego Snack Pack

And the winner of the ABEEGO Snack Pack Giveaway is:

Congratulations to: sarps222 #6 "I follow you on Facebook".

Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize.

If you didn't win this time, dont' worry we have some more amazing giveaways over the next few months so keep entering and visiting.

Review of Maxwell Designs Diaper Bags & Win a Travel Change Pad

From Confessions of a First Time Mom's Blog
"We all know how hard it is to find a diaper bag that is cute AND fits cloth diapers. Maxwell Designs makes room for both, and has a ton of extra features too. Insulated holders for bottles or sippy cups. Tons of extra pockets to carry everything a mom needs to carry. (And we all know that's a lot!)

When I tested out this bad I REALLY tested it out. Josiah pulled on all the seams and did just about everything imaginable. The construction is dare I say- Indescructable. I love my bag from her. They come in so many patterns and looks that it's hard to choose a favorite! Even now that I have one I want one I just saw in her "ready made" shop. And right now during customer appreciate, ready made bags and changing pads are only $64.95 and change pads $18.95!! Such a great deal.

These bags have been used by celebrities, semi celebrities, and us regular mom moms alike. Who doesn't want to carry around a bag used by celebrities?!"

Go to Confessions of a First Time Mom's blog to enter to win one of my travel change pads. Here is the jist of the competition.

"Maxwell Designs has generously decided to give away a changing pad to one lucky winner. It will be one of her in stock designs of your choice. This is a great prize!

Rules: Please make sure you are a blog follower before entering!!

Main Entry: Visit the Maxwell Design Site Ready Made section. Pick your favorite and let me know what it is. Good luck picking just one!

Extra Entries:

-Become a Facebook Fan of Maxwell Designs. (1 Entry)

-Follow Maxwell Designs on Twitter. (1 Entry)

- Become a Facebook Fan of my blog. (1 Entry)

- Follow me on Twitter. (1 Entry)

- Tweet about this giveaway mentioning both @maxwelldesigns AND @ashhan123. (1 tweet per hour, 1 Entry per Tweet.

- Jump up and down and say how much you want to win this contest. (2 entries)"

A new product has arrived!

I have just added a new item to my growing inventory - wet bags. I am now making wet bags to either match your diaper bag/purse or change pad or use just on their own. Retailing at a very resonable price, just $15.95 they are made with a cotton outer, a PUL inner and zipper closure. Conveniently sized to throw into your diaper bag or purse you can take them anywhere - or use at home. Here are a few examples and you can find more on my website maxwelldesigns.ca

A more eco-friendly way to travel

Always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly after 4 years I am finally back on a bicycle! I sold my last one in our house move when I was 4 months pregant with Maxwell. So its been a long time since I used my legs that way!! This weekend Steve went out and got us both new bicycles and a trailer for us to take the kids with us - what fun!
I even biked to and from pre-school with my boys today - its not a long way but at least I left the car behind and got some exercise :-)

Fantastic Eco-Friendly product

I visited one of my awesome, fantastic, eco-friendly retailers recently (The Happy Tree Co.) in Terrace and was so happy to find this amazing product. In my quest for more eco-friendly finds I came across one that is not only unique, cute and very practical but one that essentially uses the same fabric I do in my bags - PLUS it smells wonderful. It reminds me of honey and all things 'natural'. I use it daily to carry around apples and dried fruit for my boys and they love opening and closing the packet as it is so easy for them to use. The company, created by Toni Desrosiers, is Abeego - "Created by Nature, Crafted by Hand".
According to their website "Abeego came to life one year ago as a result of (Toni's) fascination with nature and (her) growing dissatisfaction with plastic. Through months of trial and error (she) discovered the perfect blend of natural ingredients, closely mimicking the useful qualities of plastic while eliminating the unsavory attributes. Creating an original, handcrafted, natural alternative to plastic food wrap has been a wonderful and rewarding experience".
According to their website "Abeego is committed to providing a natural food storage solution that is good for you and the earth. Abeego is natural, reusable, eco-conscious food packaging created using hemp/cotton fabric infused with a blend of beeswax and plant extracts. The fluid-resistant coating keeps food fresh and is easy to clean. Simply hand wash Abeego in COLD, soapy water and enjoy the long life of this plastic free, durable product. Choose from our three styles, the Abeego Wrap, the Abeego Snack and the Abeego Flats".

Toni has very kindly sent me an Abeego Snack pack to give away and she wanted everyone to know Abeego encourages customers to shop locally whenever possible. Abeego is available in many locations across Canada and they have a list of retailers on our website. All of the stores that Abeego deals with are independently owned. I should also mention that if you do live in Terrace, this awesome product is available at The Happy Tree Co. If your local eco store doesn't carry this product, let them know you are interested and they may stock it!

What you need to do to win:

Mandatory entry: tell me what your babies/toddlers/or even your favourite healthy snack would be to put in your Abeego snack holder.

Addtional entries:

Follow my blog publicly (1 entry)
Grab my button and add it to your blog (5 entries)
Blog about this giveaway on your blog or website (5 entries)
Follow Maxwell Designs on Facebook (1 entry)
Tell me your favourite eco-friendly find (1 entry per find - as many as you like)
Follow @maxwelldesigns on Twitter (1 entry)
Tweet about this product in your own unique way - please make sure you add @maxwelldesigns #eco #green in the tweet (make sure you leave the url of your tweet) - tweet as often as you like - at least 2 hours apart (1 entry per tweet)
*Make sure to add your email address on every entry as (for example) maxwelldesigns at hotmail dot com*

This Giveaway will end on April 19th @ 12 noon (Pacific time). A random comment will be chosen. The winning comment will be verified at that time, so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and I don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email the following morning and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours the winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. Open to Canadian & American residents only