Cloth nappies

LittleAoife

I've just bought a wad of cloth nappies online to try and save money, with 2 in nappies full time and both with digestive problems I'm just weighing up if it's really saving me anything,
Nappies need to be rinsed, then washed at 60 then extra rinse, then as I need them to be dry in time I hang them to dry on an airer but then finishes them in the tumble dryer else I don't get then dry in time for the next wear iykwim. I have no idea at the cost of this but I wash every other day.
I have to buy liners and tea tree for the bucket, this costs approx £2.00 per week.
Now, a pack of 50 nappies that last a week cost £5.99 from lidl??
It also takes up time and effort and with my study's and working full time I'm wondering if it's really worth it and maybe that time is better spent batch cooking food/ getting work done?
What do you all think. I'm keen to get others opinions.:cool:

GwylimT

We have used cloth nappies for our youngest two (oldest was out of nappies when adopted) we bought one of those big all stage packs before our daughter was born, it was just shy of £500, that is far less than we would have spent on disposable nappies, even when you consider the wash twice a week. How on earth is it costing £2 a week in liners and tea tree? We have never used a liner and a bottle of nappy soak lasts us well over a month.

My son is now using those same nappies which makes it even cheaper, for us putting a nappy into a bucket for a soak and then into a washing machine isn't a hassle, but it isn't something every one wants to do. Personally for us its the easier option than having nappy bags, and either having a sealed bin somewhere in the flat, or going out to the communal bin after each nappy change.

LittleAoife

Well it's £1.99 a pack of 100 liners and I easily gt through 1 per week, with 2 in cloth that 50 nappy changes per week each so 7 changes per day roughly per child. And I threw in the 1p for the tea tree oil.

DigForVictory

I got the flack from both sides as I went for cloth nappies in Summer & disposables as soon as drying became an issue. My argument that potty training is a summer sport was barely accepted.

There are solid OS MS points for cloth, but drying is a chore even if you & other parent combine on the wringing out duties. That said, no disposable ever covered three generations!

In the end, the unaswerable clincher has to be happy children.
While "It works for us" is a viable defence, stick to cloth. If it doesn't, do something else, as parenthood is Tough Enough!

Gillyx

Reusable liners, I've never used a disposable liner with a cloth nappy x

Nicki

You can definitely get reusable liners or make your own from some fleece. Or for wet nappies you can wash the disposable ones and reuse them 2 or 3 more times.

I'm not sure what all the rinses are about either? I used to dry pail mine and throw them in on a cycle with a prewash option with a small amount of washing powder and didn't do any extra rinsing at the end. So long as you only use a quarter or half dose of detergent you don't need extra rinsing (too much detergent makes them smell and become less absorbent).

If you are worried about the tumble drier and have enough nappies to last two days, just wash every night and hang them to air in the morning. They will be dry by the following evening especially as the aired won't be overloaded so they will dry quicker. And if you are washing daily the nappy pail won't smell so you won't need the tea tree either.

Your washing costs will be about £3.50 per week if you wash every day and don't tumble dry (at Feb 2013 prices anyway based on a 1 hour cycle at 60), plus whatever the small amount of powder you use costs. You only need a small amount if this and powder is better than liquids anyway and much cheaper too.

As to whether it's worth it, assuming you weren't doing it to be green, if you stick to cloth based on these calculations, you'd be about £130 better off over a year. So it's up to you whether this compensates you for the extra inconvenience of washing?

LittleAoife

Gillyx wrote: »

Reusable liners, I've never used a disposable liner with a cloth nappy x

I cant use fleece, i causes a massive reaction on my kids skin, i dont know why, the nappy advisor suggested that it was a sweat rash and natural fibres would be better for my child, i use wooly wraps because of this.

The reason i rinse first is to get all the poo off, as my boy has lots of digestive issues and intollerances, plus coeliacs his stools are really offensive, i then have to rinse lots at the end as if there is a slight trace of any detergent in the fabric he get terrible rash- i am however looking into using an eco egg to see if that will resolve this problem.
i think we will stick with the cloth for now at home and i will use sposies for nursery.

Madmel

I agree with people above. You can wash disposable liners. If your DS is allergic to fleece lines, you can buy silk ones - they are expensive and require hand-washing, but will last.

Your final comment about detergent struck a chord. Put a tablespoon of white vinegar in your machine where the fabric conditioner normally goes and that will help get rid of the detergent. It will make your nappies a bit softer and is much cheaper than fabric conditioner, which should never be used for nappies.

If your LO is getting a sweat rash, I would look at your wraps as the likely culprit rather than the fleece. Are they fully breathable? I know you are now using wool, which requires a whole load more care, but some children react badly to wool.

You can wash them at 60 degrees if you want to, but 40 with a scoop of sanitizer is ok too. You don't need tea tree - in fact, if your LO has a rash, that's something I would get rid of as it's strong stuff.

I used cloth on my children (now 14 & 12) and sold and advised on cloth nappies. Often, it's a case of tweaking something to make it work for your situation. So I think I'd ditch the tea tree and dry pail, then when you wash, add the vinegar. See how that goes before making other changes. Then try washing any wet liners, to get another trip out of them. Finally give fleece another try, or use them on your non-allergic child and get a couple of silk liners to try.

I hope this helps - do pm me if you want any other tips.

LittleAoife

Madmel wrote: »

I agree with people above. You can wash disposable liners. If your DS is allergic to fleece lines, you can buy silk ones - they are expensive and require hand-washing, but will last.

Your final comment about detergent struck a chord. Put a tablespoon of white vinegar in your machine where the fabric conditioner normally goes and that will help get rid of the detergent. It will make your nappies a bit softer and is much cheaper than fabric conditioner, which should never be used for nappies.

If your LO is getting a sweat rash, I would look at your wraps as the likely culprit rather than the fleece. Are they fully breathable? I know you are now using wool, which requires a whole load more care, but some children react badly to wool.

You can wash them at 60 degrees if you want to, but 40 with a scoop of sanitizer is ok too. You don't need tea tree - in fact, if your LO has a rash, that's something I would get rid of as it's strong stuff.

I used cloth on my children (now 14 & 12) and sold and advised on cloth nappies. Often, it's a case of tweaking something to make it work for your situation. So I think I'd ditch the tea tree and dry pail, then when you wash, add the vinegar. See how that goes before making other changes. Then try washing any wet liners, to get another trip out of them. Finally give fleece another try, or use them on your non-allergic child and get a couple of silk liners to try.

I hope this helps - do pm me if you want any other tips.

It is certainly the fleece that caused the rash as the rash was on LO bottom in a rectangular shape where the fleece had touched the skin, since ditching the fleece the rash has gone, the wool is working well, and now I use the wool at night I can get a nappy to go all night and it seemed any redness that is there goes over night, I guess this is because it is allowing the happy area to breath somewhat.
I had no idea that I could wash the liners and use them again, I will defo try this, the problem with using the silk ( and this is not a problem for me but it is at nursery) is that my children have not yet got any type of solid poo, they both have very loose stools that is horrendous smelly and sticky! While I am prepared to rinse out liners and scrape poo off the material, nursery are not so forthcoming in doing so! I am not using a liner in DD nappies at the moment as she is fully breastfed and I find that her poo was going through the liner anyway ( just trialled it yesterday and the nappies were no messier than when I used a liner) so that will also shave money off there.
The trouble with the wool etc is that it is quite time consuming also, but, I'm going to look for some pre loved wool so I can lanolise less often and then just batch lanolise the wool and save time.
My son is not allergic to the wool so maybe I could look at using interlock wool as a lineR??
Thanks for your reply to my post.
lA:)

building_with_lego

I used to wash the disposable liners, in a laundry net. I kept track once of how many times it could go through the wet nappy-wash-wet nappy-wash cycle and it was around 6 washes before it shredded!

Have you tried soap nuts? They work well at 60 degrees and don't need much rinsing.

LittleAoife

I'm going to order the trial pack for soap nuts and see and than look to the Eco egg, both of these need less washing!