Review - Limited Edition Baba + Boo Cloth Nappy

This review is from my review blog, http://housethatdo.blogspot.com/ but as the content is relevant to this blog I thought it would be a good idea to copy it over.

 

Baba + Boo was born when Eve wanted to use cloth nappies on her daughter but found that the nappies that were on the market were expensive. She decided to use her skills from her previous job as a buyer to source excellent quality nappies at a  fraction of the price, and also funky designs. The company has quickly expanded and now Eve designs and produces her own nappies and shoes. All of the products are of excellent quality, and have been produced under strict codes of conduct so you an be assured that they have been produced ethically.

The lovely Eve has sent me her new Limited Edition Green Camouflage cloth nappy to review. I love cloth nappies, and I also love green camo nappies, I have three of them, so I was very excited when I received the parcel.

The nappy is suitable for children that are between 10lb- 37lb, so it is a birth to potty nappy, and it has a high rise so it is a good fit. The outer fabric is a printed poly/cotton with a waterproof lining, and it comes with two microfibre inserts. The nappy is fastened by poppers.

My first impression of the nappy was fantastic, it had an extra popper on either side that meant no wing droop, which has started to become a problem for us with some of our nappies. The material was very stretchy and the inserts were thick, seemed like they were very good quality, and they also had poppers down the middle so I could change them into a boy fitting for more absorbency for up front.

When the time came for Zane to wear the nappy after it had all of its prewashes I was a bit worried. The insert could only go as far as the poppers, all of my other nappies can be stuffed right up to the waist band. I was a little apprehensive and thought he might have a wet tummy within a short time. I put it out of my mind and we went out to play. The fit was lovely, Zane is a big boy for his age, and is easily pushing the top of the weight limit for the nappy but he still had lots of room left to grow into. The nappy wasn't a slim fit, but it wasn't that bulky either, and I used both inserts as Zane is a heavy wetter.

When we were playing I observed how he moved in the nappy, it was very flexible, probably one of the most flexible nappies that we own. His walking and playing wasn't affected, and the best bit was that he wasn't waddling! He put the nappy through its paces going down the slide, sitting in his sand pit and running up and down the garden. At no point did he have a builders bum, or gaping between the legs, he looked really comfortable. When it came to changing the nappy easily lasted three hours, it could have probably lasted longer but it was time for bed so we couldn't carry out a longer test. Daddy was testing the nappy with us and he was very impressed with the design, and fit, so if you need to try and persuade your other half to try cloth nappies, then Baba + Boo could help you.

The Baba + Boo Limited Edition nappies retail at £9.75 each, which I think is very reasonable for the quality that you are getting. Take a look at the Baba + Boo web page to see the rest of their funky designs, and also the rest of their lovely products.

How to Strip Cloth Nappies.

I have thought that recently my nappies have started to still smell of ammonia after washing. I have had this before and I adjusted the way that I wash and it got much better, it turned out that I needed to use more detergent and rinse a couple of times after the main wash so that all of the extra bubbles washed out. I have continued to do this but they started to smell again so I needed to take action.

I did some research and I came across stripping. I had heard of this before but never looked into it as I hadn't thought my nappies needed it, but they definitely did now, the smell was putting me off using them. After researching it made sense that stripping my nappies was the best course of action. I have been using them for over a year now, and quite a high proportion of them are preloved so I think it was sensible to strip for general maintenance. As I use a full dose of detergent a build up would be more likely, plus they have been wicking recently.

There are three popular ways of stripping cloth nappies.

The first method is manually cleaning with dishwasher liquid.

* Fill a bath up with hot water and dishwashing liquid.
* Soak all nappies, wipes, liners, boosters, and inserts over-night.
* Scrub the surface of all nappies with a scrubbing brush and neat dishwashing liquid.
* Soak the scrubbed nappies over-night again.
* Wash and rinse all items in the washing machine over and over again until no more bubbles can be seen
* Hang everything on the line to get as much sunshine as possible.

This method is very time consuming but gives brilliant results. It makes the nappies and boosters look like new and they no longer smell. The scrubbing and soaking in the bath gets rid of all of the hidden muck in the nappies that you can't see, so you know that they have had a really thorough clean, the evidence will be in the bottom of the bath.

The second method is using a dishwasher tablet in the washing machine.

* Put all PUL items in the washing machine
* Add 1 dishwasher tablet to the drum of the machine with the nappies
* Set machine to wash items at 60 C on a good wash cycle
* Set machine to do an extra rinse one first cycle has finished
* Hang items on line to expose to sunlight.

This method is good for ease of use and is very simple for someone like me who doesn't want a lot of faff when doing something for the first time. It isn't the best method for stain removal, but it is fantastic for smell busting. This could be a good method if you haven't got much time and are hanging out to dry on a very sunny day, as the UV rays will bleach the stains away.

The last method is a vinegar soak.

* Soak all items not containing PUL in a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water over-night.
* Rinse out the vinegar in the washing machine.
* Hang items on the line to dry and expose to sunlight.

This method is excellent for eradicating smells and is also quite good for stain removal. It is also pretty simple to follow, not as simple as a dishwash tablet, but still pretty easy. Vinegar is a natural grease remover which is brilliant for getting rid of a detergent build up, it is also very good for putting in your washing machine on an empty wash to get rid of the excess detergent in your pipes and drum. The downside to this method is that as my stash is mostly pocket nappies and as vinegar can erode the elastic and PUL I couldn't put my whole nappies into the wash, so they are not completely stripped. Something to counteract this would be to use a squirt of washing up liquid in with a PUL wash as it is also a grease remover, but milder than vinegar.

I decided to go with the vinegar method and I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. The inserts are very fresh, they don't have any smell at all which is perfect. The only negative that I have is that the method took longer than I thought it would. I started at just before lunch and my machine was still rinsing at 8pm. There were an awful lot of bubbles so that shows how much of a build up there was, and also how well the vinegar was working. The inserts are not as white as I thought they would be, maybe I was a bit too hopeful there, and they are drying on the line now so I will see the end result in a few hours.

I am very pleased that I took the time to strip my nappies, it feels good to know that I am maintaining them and also I know that they are fresher against Zane's bottom. I will definitely do the dishwasher liquid method when I have a lot of time, it seems to produce brilliant results and I would like to know that they have had a really thorough clean.

Review - Bum Deal Giraffe Print Nappy

This is a very special review as it is my first, and what else could I do as a first review except for a cloth nappy! I have been sent a gorgeous nappy from Ella at Bum Deal Nappies. Bum Deal Nappies specialise in  funky, easy to use cloth nappies that are affordable prices, making cloth nappies seem so easy.

I received a Bum Deal Giraffe print nappy, with a soft minky outer, and Velcro for fastening. It is suitable from birth to potty, and it has poppers up the front so that you can adjust the size. They also sent me a Bamboo/cotton booster which can be used for heavy wetters, or to convert the nappy into a night nappy, a reusable wipe which was double sided with fleece and terry towelling, and some Little Lambs flushable viscose, and paper liners.

When I received the nappy through the post it was gift wrapped beautifully, like I was getting a  present, which lets face it, buying nappies is like buying yourself a little present, everyone knows you don't just buy them for your babies bum except of course to make them even cuter! I put the nappy, booster and wipe in with the rest of my nappy wash and did extra prewashes to make it all more absorbent, and then pegged them out on the line to dry. I was amazed at how quickly it all dried, even the bamboo/cotton booster, usually mine are the last thing to be dry.

When we came to use the nappy I was very pleased with the fit. The Velcro meant that it was snug around Zane's waist, and there was no gaping around the legs.  I had used two microfibre inserts and it was still very slim, I had no trouble at all fitting his trousers over the top of the nappy. I changed the nappy after three hours and there were no leaks, no red marks around the legs, and the most important thing is no wet bum!

I changed Zane into one of our own nappies but used a microfibre and the bamboo/cotton booster. I also used a Little Lambs flushable viscose liner. It was nap time so these were really going to be put to the test, I had my full faith in the booster as I rate bamboo very highly, but I was worried about the viscose liner not keeping the moisture away, making him uncomfortable and waking him. I must add that I was suprised at how soft the liner was, not at all coarse or unflexible. He had a lovely long nap and the nappy was still reletively dry, I changed it after four hours and again there were no leaks, I think he could definately have worn the nappy for longer, the liner had kept his bum reasonable dry, he was only very slightly moist which I think is still good performance because of the length of time that it was worn. I later used the paper liner and was equally impressed.

This was the first time that I had used a double sided wipe, usually I use just fleece. I used a solution of water and a drop of bubble bath to soak the wipe before use. I was extreamly happy with how the wipe performed, it was thick, which for me feels like it is more effective, and with it being double sided the terry was very good at getting solids off without having to keep going over an area, and then the fleece side was lovely for drying his bum.

Overall I am very impressed with Bum Deal Nappies. The nappy was gorgeous and a superb fit, which is excellent as the nappies retail at a very affordable £6.45. I feel that you could have a whole stash of these and you wouldn't be disappointed, or take too much of a hit to your bank balance either. The bamboo/cotton booster was my favorite item, I was so impressed with the time that it took to dry, and its performance whilst in use was excellent, I would definately buy more of these, and again the price is excellent at £1.50 per booster. I loved the double sided wipe, using it felt like I was really caring for his bottom as he was lovely and dry when I had finished, and there were no chemicals. Also I wasn't adding anything at all from the nappy change to the landfill which is important to me. I think that the flushable liners both performed well, and I was impressed with their softness, personally I prefer fleece liners for day to day use, but the flushable liners would be perfect for if you were out for the day and didnt want to carry soiled fleece.

Check out these products and more on http://bumdealnappies.co.uk/ I sure you will find something that you love!

Perfect day for a nappy wash!

What a beautiful day! A perfect day for giving my nappies a good wash and hanging them out in the sun. I have tried a few different methods of cleaning my nappies over the last year and I think I have found the best combination so far. I now do a prewash with the temperature off so that the solids don't bake on, then with a full dose of Fairy gel and a scoop of Napisan I put them on a 60 degree wash for 2 hours and 20 minutes. After the main wash has finished I rinse and spin until no more bubbles come out into the water, usually it takes two rinses. When they come out they smell lovely and fresh, no ammonia smells or stains, and they are so soft, who would want to wear paper pants when you can have such soft and squishy cotton against your bum!

I will continue to experiment though, I love using different oils so that they are fragranced with tea trea, or lavender, but Fairy smells so fresh I have stuck with that until I find something special to try out.