5 top tips to using reusable baby wipes
Just like most other single use wipes, a lot of disposable baby wipes contain plastic and when, on average a newborn will use up to 37 wipes in a day and up to 8000 in their first year, that’s a lot of plastic ending up in landfills or being flushed down the toilet. Yes, it seems people do still commit this environmental crime with 90% of sewer blockages being down to single use wipes.
You may be surprised to read that many of the single-use baby wipes are full of chemicals and toxins that you wouldn’t feed your baby so you probably don’t want them on your baby’s skin either. There are other disposable eco-friendly baby wipe options but at the end of the day they are still going to end up in landfill and take years to break down.
The alternative to disposable wipes is reusable wipes, which over time can save you hundreds of pounds plus you’ll be doing your bit for the planet!
Our reusable wipes are made out of patterned GOTS certified Organic cotton on one side and organic terry cloth on the other side. They are double sided and generally thicker then disposable wipes and so will do a more efficient job meaning you will use less wipes per nappy change. This pack of 5 contains 3x wipes with patterned cotton and terry cloth on the flip side alongside 2 dual sided terry cloth wipes.
We've been using them since Madeline's arrival and I have found the maintenance of them really easy. Here's my top tips:
- It’s also a good idea to fill both the tubs with a bit of water. This will keep your clean wipes wet and help prevent stains from setting in by soaking the dirty ones.
- You might find a mesh bag comes in handy to keep the dirty wipes in. Place inside one of the tubs filled with water. Once the bag is full you can tie up the mesh bag and fling the whole lot in the washing machine.
- An essential oil, such as teatree will keep the smells at bay! Just add a few drops into the water.
- If you’re also using wipes whilst out and about then you’ll also want a smaller storage tub and another bag to throw in the used wipes whilst your out and about.
2) You’ll use less reusable wipes than disposable ones in a day due to the nature of them but you'll still need a good stock of them. We use between 10-15 a day.
3) To wash just take your mucky tub to the washing machine, being careful not to spill any water, and put the mesh bag containing your used wipes into the washer. We rinse the wipes first before popping them on a normal wash. You can put the wipes in with a normal load or if you have a particularly dirty pile then put them on their own hot wash.
4) If you’re using the wipes wet then you can throw them straight back in your ready to go tub once washed. If you want them dry then they can be put in the tumble drier but they will also air dry very quick! If it’s the time of year where you can pop the outside the sun will also work wonders at whitening any stains. We pop ours on the top of the radiator and they are dry in no time at all.
5) Finally, don’t get overwhelmed. As a first time mum who had never even changed a nappy until 6 weeks ago, I didn't want to take on more than I can chew so at the moment I just use the wipes at home. Next step is to master them on the move before moving on to reusable nappies!