Flats Challenge day 5! Sized flats?

 It is day 5 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge !!!

 As you may have noticed, I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them.  This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!   

To see what I've been up to check out Day 1,  Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.  

This year's challenge is just not challenging me ?!   I'm not tired of it, i feel like i REALLY could just fit this right into my routine .. it IS in my routine..  i don't mind the difference in the diapers, i don't crave my pocket diapers, even when i'm out  - i 'm just fine.  what is going on?!  Like i said yesterday, I think after about a week i'd be ready to run these diapers through a regular wash cycle, but if that wasn't possible i could just spend a little extra time hand washing them once a week. 

So what made me stop using flats between last year and this year?  I think i figured it out! Last year i was using target flour sack towels - and now i know that they are just not that great for a toddler!  They worked GREAT for my 8-10 month old (and I assume they'd work well for younger babies) and then it just went down hill from there.  This year, i bought some Sam's club flour sack towels, they are bigger, softer, and more absorbent for the SAME price as the target towels! Now, if i had a newborn or even a 6 month old they'd be too big.  There is a down side to this, as you know, flats are considered one-size, and part of the appeal would be that you wouldn't have to buy two sets.  But with a toddler, 12 flats is enough, and you can buy 12 for $12 - that is the cost of one or two small packages of disposable diapers to make flats work for another year or longer! (the larger Sam's club flats work for my 4 year old at night!)  For reference, the Sam's towels - as measured hanging on the line, are 36x29 - they get a bit smaller when dried in the dryer.  The target towels are 29x29 hanging on the line. 

So, since i haven't been that challenged this year, i'm going to step it up! I'm taking the flats challenge 'on the road.'  We are going out of town overnight.  We'll see how this goes, but really - if i don't have time to wash, i doubt I'll run out.  Having 26 flats in my stash helps.  They aren't all my favorites, but they will work! Of course, hand washing all of them when i get home does not sound like fun so there is my motivation to wash tomorrow morning..  

So, if you're doing this with me, is the challenge challenging for you? and What size flats do you prefer?