Are cloth nappies really all they are cracked up to be?

rach

troubrs wrote: »

I bought a few secondhand ones from e-bay, sadly e-bay no longer allow secondhand ones to be sold as it contravenes their 'used underwear' policy so I can't now sell the few I have left! The outer wraps were lovely, I used a combination of Tots Bots & Modern Baby. They were shaped nappies with velcro & I found I had less leaks & accidents than with disposables. I'm not sure if it was co-incidence or not by child no 2 was out of nappies in an instant once we went without, not sure if this has anything to do with feeling the wet nappies in re-useables?

PM me what you have as I may be interested in buying! You can also sell used nappies on cloth nappy tree or natural mamas forums

fernliebee

troubrs- Ebay won't allow it but usednappies.co.uk and other sites do allow you to sell them, also a friend picked hers up from netmums as you can post 'for sale' messages, just ideas if you did want to sell them still as most of the shaped nappies hold quite a good resale price.

HTH.

ETA- crossposted with Rach

bylromarha

When my first was in reuseables, I was friends with a maths uni lecturer. He said it didn't work out cheaper at all to use reuseables due to all the additional costs regarding washing, energy to tumble dry and iron.

I told him precisely what I did with my reuseables (line dry where poss, radiators if not, never tumble dried, how often I washed, price of washing powder).

He had to eat his words when he recalculated. Worked out about £300 cheaper over the life of the child. And then I used the nappies again for my second.

They are cheaper than disposables. Not as much as the reuseable manufacturers advertise granted, but they are cheaper.

building_with_lego

There was a study published a few years back that showed that cloth nappies are just as damaging to the environment as disposables, once you factor in washing and drying.

Except what they actually found was that they are just as damaging as disposables if you
1: wash at 90 degrees
2: using standard detergent
3: and fabric softener
4: tumble them until they're dry
5: and then iron them.

Fabric softener and ironing them will reduce absorbency anyway, I don't know anyone who washes at 90, more usually 60 or even 40.

I figured that eliminating as many of those factors as possible could only be a positive thing (the study didn't take the landfill issue into account at all) so washed at a lower temp with Ecover and vinegar and line dried. And the nappies themselves (not counting wraps) cost me £40 and have done two children for a total of five and a half years.

They look so pretty too!

clairehi

Oh dear you will start a riot with this question. It really is a Marmite question - you either love reusables or just dont get along with them!

My DS has very sensitive skin. I tried cloth nappies with him as a newborn and despite changing the dratted things VERY frequently, and immediately after poos, he still developed nappy rash. This cleared up when I switched to disposables and then appeared once again when I went back to cloth. So we gave up on them.

Most people who use cloth nappies will not experience this problem, I had several friends who used them quite happily - which was why I tried them - but it just didnt work out for us.

HelenKA_2

Just to add my calcs

In 1998 the total outlay for terry squares, plastic tie wraps and bucket was equivalent to huggies nappies being used for 8 weeks. There after the only expenditure was on the washing which was maximum of two loads a week. No tumbling as didn't have one and ironing??????????????

So for next babies - twins - I splashed out on tots bots wraps and terry boosters for nights, cut up a piece of fleece for liners and bought another bucket. Washed every 5 days or so (60'), occasional finishing off in drier but line or radiator dried for the most part.

Must have saved £1000 at least.

Cat1

Neither of mine have senstive skin and I use the Asda & Sainsburys economy nappies which are about 1.70 for twenty size 5's. So far so good and I know plenty of other people who use them too. I've got a couple resuseable nappies (bumgenius) and they aren't all that.

Mankysteve

There are serious questions about how environmental friendly the plastic use is biodegradable disposals are and whether they actually break down in landfill. Hence why there no tax relief for so called eco friendly disposals

andrealm

clairehi wrote: »

Oh dear you will start a riot with this question. It really is a Marmite question - you either love reusables or just dont get along with them!

My DS has very sensitive skin. I tried cloth nappies with him as a newborn and despite changing the dratted things VERY frequently, and immediately after poos, he still developed nappy rash. This cleared up when I switched to disposables and then appeared once again when I went back to cloth. So we gave up on them.

Most people who use cloth nappies will not experience this problem, I had several friends who used them quite happily - which was why I tried them - but it just didnt work out for us.

Yes, I found they gave dd1 nappy rash, which was rarely a problem with
disposables. Didn't really use them with dd2, she has eczema but has very rarely had nappy rash with disposables.

I agree they are probably cheaper and better for the environment, but they don't suit everyone.

Bitsy_Beans

I tried washables (actually terry squares) and then Cotton Bottoms. I got sick of not being able to get clothes to fit properly so I am afraid I went for disposables <hangs head in shame>