Home Page
   Articles
       links
About Us    
Traders        
Recipes            
Latest Articles
Reusable nappy laundering services

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Author 
 Message
guiness



Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 05 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reusable nappy laundering services Reply with quote
    

Just wondering if anyone can give me some feedback on using reusable nappy laundering services. Good/bad experiences, what to look out for, what i should be expected to pay.

Exploring my options as to whether it would be a good idea to use a company or try it myself....full-time work tends to 'get in the way'!

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 05 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Guinness

there are quite a few people here doing/have done so hopefully they will be along (possibly tomorrow though) to help out - in the meantime have you seen Behemoth's article on reusable nappies?

Perhaps once we've had a few replies B would like to add (or wouldn't mind if I do) some suggested companies to the end of the article (or better still I could just put a link here!)

alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 05 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Guiness.

How hard do you think it is to do it yourself.

We used terries for the last two. 3 washes a week, no soaking, and into the tumble dryer. It isn't that hard. It would take you longer to earn the money to pay someone to do that for you.

Lisa



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 248
Location: Cheshire
PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 05 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I agree - easy to do yourself. I use totsbots rather than terries and wash about every 3 days. Just chuck them in a bucket then into the washing machine; it requires a degree of organisation but hardly any time.
Lisa

ButteryHOLsomeness



Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 05 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

we used disana's organic tie on nappies ourselves. they look like a wee gift all tied up on your wee one, really sweet and the least expensive nappy around!

brand new (we got ours second hand off the nappies forum on https://www.ukparents.co.uk ) you'll spend around £1.90 for each disana tie on, £2 for each booster (the bit you fold up inside to soak up the ick) a wrap, the bit on the outside that makes it waterproof or waterresistant... this varies a lot but expect to pay between £7-20 each (don't panic, you don't need one for each nappy!) and then we used fleece liners as they keep the wet away from the baby and the poo usually falls right off into the toilet, saves a lot of trouble.. just cut an old fleece into the right size strips... free or about £2-4 to buy an old fleece or two from the charity shop


if you buy secondhand you'll do quite well for yourself. we bought all but a few of the wraps second hand, i think our entire outlay over the 2.5 year period was only about £100, maybe less!


i'd suggest buying wool wraps for a few reasons

1. you'll need less of them. 3-4 is fine. you simply turn them inside out and hang them up to dry when they start to get a bit moist and put a new on on the baby. you won't need to wash them very often as the lanolin has antibacterial properties so unless they get poo on them you can just let them air out between uses and you'll get about 4 weeks out of them before they need washing again. i always relanolised when i washed as well. this simply involves allowing them to soak in a lanolin solution for about 8 hours then you do a vinegar rinse and they're clean and water resistant again!

if you get the disana wool pants you'll get much longer wear out of each one as they are stretchy and look like little woolen shorts! when you first get them they look huge but they felt up over time which helps their waterresistant (practically waterproof, if you change your baby as much as you should it will be a very RARE time that they get so damp you get your clothes damp as well) basically the kid wears each size until they become so felted and short that they don't fit over the nappy anymore. we found we only had to buy new wraps 3 times so that's really good value as many wraps only fit for 4-6 months if you're lucky!

the lanolin you need to buy costs about £5 per bottle and you'd most likely only use 2 bottles over the course of 2.5 years. you'll also want 'wool soap' which is basically the olive oil soap you get in green blocks from ethnic grocers, great stuff this, one of the best cleaners ever. we use it on our wool coats and jumpers as well. it takes stains out like you wouldn't believe!

i wouldn't bother with the disana shaped booster/liner, they aren't very good. better to get a cotton square or a muslin cloth. you can fold it triple or quadruple and it's very good and extremely flexible. the disana nappies are one size, you simply fold to fit!

here's a picture of the disana, looks cuter on a baby

https://www.kittykins.co.uk/cloth-nappies/type/8/brand/disana
https://www.naturallynappies.com/products/disana.html

here are instructions for tying them

https://www.disana.de/eng/sowirdsgemacht.htm

(very easy to do after the first 5 times or so, practice on a doll before the baby comes!)


a few comments on the disana wool wrap

https://www.diaperpin.com/diapers/itemdetail.asp?id=842

picture and description of disana pull on wool wrap

https://www.kittykins.co.uk/wraps/type/3/brand/disana

and some excellent advice online on how to choose what's right for you

https://www.twinkleontheweb.co.uk/how_to_choose.htm


you'll find the people on uk parents very helpful as well. you may want to try a lot of different nappies before you buy a lot of one type, to see which you get on with better. this is why the nappy sale/resale forum on uk parents is so wonderful! you'll find them very inexpensively and you can always resell them if you don't like them. i resold my last remaining lot of cloth nappies, about 25 nappies, 30 boosters, 25 fleece liners and 1 wool wrap for £25 on ebay, and my items were already 2nd hand!

i wish you the best of luck

ps alison is right, if you 'dry pail', that is, you don't soak you'll be fine. you can get a mesh bag that fits into your nappy pail (we found a rubbish bin with a tight fitting lid very good) you simply pull the mess out of the pail and fling it into the washing machine!

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1
View Latest Posts View Latest Posts

 

Archive
Powered by php-BB © 2001, 2005 php-BB Group
Style by marsjupiter.com, released under GNU (GNU/GPL) license.
Copyright © 2004 marsjupiter.com