Common Misconceptions about washable nappies

Some people talk about cloth nappies with great authority but very little wisdom! As you start to talk to others you will be given a great deal of advice and, as with the advice you receive on all aspects of baby care, some of it will be considered, based on experience and useful and much will be, well . . . complete rubbish! The latter will mainly come from parents who have never used (or even seen) a modern cloth nappy and who wrongly imagine you to be talking about terry squares, nappy pins and non-breathable plastic pants. Sometimes you will hear from someone who has bought a set of cheap washable nappies from a high street store or catalogue and they have been so awful that they declare that "all washable nappies leak" or something similar. This is frustrating for those of us that love our cloth nappies and know how brilliant they are. Correcting these misconceptions is part of what we are all about at the Totnes Nappy Company.

We have come across many bizarre comments about washable nappies, some of which have made us laugh and some made us cross due to the aggressive nature in which the opinion is conveyed.

Here are some common misconceptions. Those in quotes are actual statements that we have heard or read. Feel free to contact us if you have more to add!

1. "Pins are too risky when you have little ones about."

We completely agree! Which is why we have never used them!

2. "Disposables are better - we rarely get nappy rash."

Neither do we.

If disposables prevented nappy rash then the nappy rash creams manufacturers would have gone out of business during the last 20 years when disposable nappies have dominated the market. On the contrary, they are still going strong.

Several studies have proven that it makes no difference which type of nappy your baby wears, nappy rash can still occur with both types. Many people swear by disposables for preventing rashes and an equal number number swear by their cloth nappies. This simply proves that all babies are different.

Our own experience with three babies between us (so far!) is that what makes the difference is how much your baby poos. When two of our babies were pooing a lot they got very sore skin, no matter what they were wearing. One of the three didn't get nappy rash at all (was in cloth since birth), and one got terribly red lobster skin over the whole nappy area every time a disposable was used. So, as experienced mums, we stand by our belief that cloth is great for baby's bums.

3. "Disposables keep skin dry which is better for baby."

This is assuming that cloth nappies do not keep skin dry, which they do if you use stay dry fleece liners or have nappies with a stay dry lining. Also, the ingredient in regular disposables that draws moisture away from the skin is a toxic chemical gel. Packets of disposables have warnings on the side telling parents not to let children play with the nappies. You can let your children cuddle and play with cloth nappies as much as they like.

4. I don't have time to wash cloth nappies.

But they do have time to lug all those extra bags of shopping home from the shops and to empty their nappy bin every day. Can't imagine doing a nappy wash takes much longer! Hanging nappies out to dry is an extra job but still preferable to dragging huge black sacks full of used nappies and poo out to the bin. I even read about one lady who, having 4 children, 2 of them in nappies, was driving bin sacks of used nappies to the tip every week because her refuse collection was limited to one bin-full per week. One day she made the decision to use cloth - I'm sure her car smells much better for it!

5. "I don't want to have to deal with poo."

and

"Cloth nappies will be fine if you don't mind clearing up smelly messes."

We love these comments. They are always made by people who haven't had children and who think that using disposables will mean that they don't have to deal with poo. Oh, how wrong they are . . . !

6. "Cloth leaks more."

Good quality, modern cloth nappies don't, that's for sure. Yes, disposable nappies are very absorbent due to their gel core, but paper and plastic is never going to fit around the legs and waist as well as fabric. We have both used disposables from time to time and hate how much they leak. That is one of the (many) reasons why we like using cloth nappies so much. Disposables just don't contain newborn poo as well as a two-part shaped cloth nappy. A friend who used disposables for her daughter and then watched Ali using cloth for her first son declared that she was sure that using disposables actually results in MORE washing in the early weeks due to all the poo explosions. Yes, you can get washable nappies in high street stores that leak horribly, but we don't sell those brands here.

7. "If you don't wash daily, your house will stink."

This person has obviously never used cloth nappies. The great thing about cloth is that the contents of the nappy goes down the loo, where it is supposed to be, rather than in your bin. A nappy bucket with a close fitting lid then contains wet nappies until wash day.

8. All the washing you have to do cancels out any environmental savings you make.

In 2005 the Environment Agency brought out a report which concluded that "For the three nappy systems studied, there was no significant difference between any of the environmental impacts – that is, overall no system clearly had a better or worse environmental performance, although the life cycle stages that are the main source for these impacts are different for each system." In other words, the study stated that cloth nappies are as bad for the environment as disposable nappies. We have heard several variations on this, including some people implying that cloth nappies are oh, so much worse! The report caused quite a media stir and is still being fiercely debated.

There are several problems with the report. One is that the three nappy systems studied were "disposable nappies, home laundered flat cloth nappies and commercially laundered prefolded cloth nappies delivered to the home." The flat nappies and prefolds were assumed to be cotton. Where were the fast drying modern cloth nappies? Where are the brilliantly "green" bamboo and hemp nappies? The report based its findings on 183 parents using cloth nappies. Apparently, out of these cotton terry square users, 80% always soaked their nappies, 49% used softner, 19% tumble dried their nappies, 9.5% ironed (yes, ironed!) their nappies and they owned 47.5 nappies and 18.1 wraps (which they apparently chucked away after 15 months). 32.1% washed at 90 degrees. It is assumed that all cloth nappies are washed in detergent (rather than Eco-balls or Soap Nuts, for example) and when electricity usage is discussed there is no mention of Green Tariffs. The report mentions that cloth nappies are not usually thrown away when the child potty-trains, so no burden was allocated for final disposal, but at the same time they still assumed 47.5 nappies per child, therefore not taking account parents using their nappy collection on more that one child, and selling them or handing them on to others. All this data gives a very different picture of cloth nappy use to the one we are used to.

Not everyone who buys cloth nappies does so to save the planet but for those who do, by purchasing a modest amount of organic cotton, bamboo or hemp nappies, using Eco-Friendly detergents, washing at 40 or 60 degrees on a Green Electricity Tariff, not tumble drying (or ironing!!) nappies and re-using the set of nappies on another child, they can hugely reduce the environmental impact of their child's time in nappies. Indeed, simply by adopting a sensible washing routine, the Women's Environmental Network has shown how parents can save 24% of climate change impacts. See their calculations here (scroll to the bottom of their page for a summary).

Even if you are happy to accept the findings of the EA Report, as WEN says: "parents can use real nappies and save mountains of waste confident in the knowledge that they do not cause any more harm than disposables."*

Surely, if society assumes that Recycling our used tins, bottles and paper is a good idea, with all the electricity involved in that process, the same must go for a product such as our children's nappies. Disposable nappies for one child will produce a pile of rubbish the size and weight of a family car, and that will still be sitting in a landfill site when that baby is a grandparent. Space for landfill is running out and we have to find a different way of doing things and get away from the throw-away culture which has become common-place in recent years.

*http://www.wen.org.uk/nappies/reports/Whyparents.pdf

9. All the washing you have to do cancels out any monetary savings you make.

The Women's Environmental Network have looked into this and concluded that 2.5 years of cloth nappy washing will cost £133 in electricity*, detergent and washing machine depreciation. (The biggest chunk of this is detergent - so you can save if you use Eco-Balls.) Add to this the cost of buying your cloth nappies and accessories, say between £200 - £500, and you still haven't come close to the £1000 it costs to buy disposables for one child. Add to this the fact that you should be able to use your set of nappies on a second or third baby and then sell them on and you are really winning!

Another way of looking at it is per washing load; based on a B energy rated machine, a load of nappies washed at 60° uses 1.12kWh and costs 9.71p*. Assuming you wash 10 nappies per load (and many machines can wash almost twice this) and assuming that the average disposable costs 15p each, once you have bought your nappies, every time you do a wash you are paying yourself back at least £1.30. Of course, this is a very simplistic way of looking at it and if you buy expensive detergent it will cost you about 20p per wash on top, but you can see how the savings can mount up!

*http://www.wen.org.uk/nappies/cost_comparison.htm

10. "Disposable nappies were invented to free women from all that washing. Cloth nappies are a step backwards."

No. Modern cloth nappies are the future and have been invented to free women, men, babies and toddlers from the strangle-hold of disposable nappy manufacturers. They provide an economical, easy and comfy alternative that is long overdue.

11. "Disposables are made by big household names."

This was actually used as an argument for disposables. It depends on how you feel about big household names, but we would personally rather not give any money to these big companies. All the cloth nappy manufacturers that we deal with are parents themselves (yes all!) who have invented nappies that work for their babies. They tend to be small - but rapidly growing - businesses that care about their product and their customers. Some of the supply problems that we sometimes have are due to these family businesses becoming victims of their own success. They deserve our support.

12. "Everyone uses disposables."

The last time we heard statistics on it, 15% of parents are using cloth. That was about two years ago and the market has grown hugely since then. As mentioned above, many cloth nappy manufacturers can't keep up with demand. In Totnes, we are in the enviable position of not having many friends who use disposables, which provided us with lots of support when we first started out with our own babies. It is a different picture in other parts of the country. But there is no denying that cloth nappy use is on the up!

13. "Mothers have got better things to do than rub their hands red-raw scrubbing terry nappies."

Ali heard this uttered on BBC Breakfast! Her immediate response is not printable. Her response after calming down is, "Very true, which is why we wash them in our washing machines."

If you are currently struggling with someone who does not understand the new and exciting cloth nappy world - don't worry, there is lots of support out there for you. The very fact that there are many Forums dedicated to discussion about cloth nappies just shows you how much they are loved by the people who use them. See our Links page for details of how to find these happy conversations! Incidentally, when did you last see a forum dedicated to the joys of disposable nappies . . . ?