Nappyneedz

When it comes to washing cloth nappies, choosing the right laundry detergent can be a bit of a challenge.  Choosing the wrong one could mean that your nappies just don’t get clean enough, become smelly or possibly even damage the nappies.  Different people find that they like different laundry detergents depending on their situation, so hopefully this will help you to choose the right laundry detergent for your cloth nappies. What to avoid in a laundry detergent. There are a number of things that can be in laundry detergent you really don’t want to use on cloth nappies.  Many commercial laundry detergents contain softeners, these can build up in the fibres of the cloth nappies.  When they build up in the fibres, they can stop the nappy from absorbing liquid.  Softeners can also react with urine and cause the nappies to start smelling.  There are other additives in laundry detergent that can also cause similar problems, and if you are having problems with smells or leaks, trying a diffe

One of the first questions that comes up when thinking about cloth nappies is the question how many cloth nappies do I need?  The answer to this of course varies depending upon the age of your child, if you are using them full time, and what your washing facilities are like.  Here we will try to answer this question for you. How many cloth nappies do I need for a newborn baby? Newborn babies tend to need more changing than older children, you will therefore need more nappies at this stage. When considering how many cloth nappies do I need for a newborn baby, bare in mind that you may not feel up to washing every day to begin with. Cloth nappies such as our ecobots cloth nappies dry relatively quickly. For a newborn baby you should aim to have enough nappies for two days full use, and some back up in case you are not able to dry quickly enough. For full time use most people will need around 20 nappies and four or five covers. For day time use then between 12 and 15 cloth nappies should

Finding the right cloth nappy to use at night can sometimes seem like a bit of a challenge.  A night nappy needs to be absorbent enough to last a whole night long without changing and still being comfortable for your little one.  After successfully using cloth nappies day and night on all four of my children, I thought I’d share some of my top night nappy tips and tricks. What a night nappy needs Ideally when looking for a good cloth night nappy, you are looking for something that will last all night long.  This may well change as your baby gets older.  A newborn baby will not need such an absorbent night nappy, as they will probably need changing at each feed.  As your little one gets older, you will only need to change them in the night if they poo, so the night nappy you choose will need to be absorbent enough to last all night. Extra boosting your day nappies is fine for some babies and children, don’t worry if you find that they are very bulky.  A large night nappy shouldn’t bothe

Being a parent is a wonderful thing but no matter how well you think that you have prepared yourself for taking on parenthood, there’s always some things that take you by surprise.  Here is a quick round up of ten things that you didn’t expect about being a parent:  1. Your concept of ‘luxury’ and ‘treat’ changes All of a sudden little things become a real luxury or treat; drinking a hot drink, while it’s still hot, getting five minutes to yourself without someone asking you where something is, going to the toilet on your own. (At least it would be a treat if it ever happened…..) In some ways one of the (many) great things about being a parent is that you appreciate the little things more. 2. There’s no such thing as nipping to the shops any more Back in your pre-child days, you could run out of milk, and just go and buy some more from the shops.  You discover that one of the less great things about being a parent is that you can’t quickly nip anywhere any more, every outing has to be

Green parenting, or trying to make sure that your little one doesn’t have huge environmental impact is a great idea.  Not only is it better for the planet that your little one will grow up in, but it will probably also save you money.  Here are our top ten ideas for green parenting: Use reusable nappies It probably goes without saying that here at Ecobots we’re into the idea of reusable nappies.  Choosing a good reusable nappy system is a great idea if you want to save money and are interested in green parenting.  Reusable nappies, such as our Ecobots nappies have far less impact on the environment than disposable alternatives. Dry your washing on the line Harnessing the power of the wind to get your clothes dry is better for the environment and for your clothes.  There are lots of great reasons for drying your reusable nappies on the clothes line, but it’s also the best way to dry your babies clothes.  They will probably last longer, and save you money and electricity. Walk more Going

Have you tried Eco strip washing?  Quite often people talk about the need to strip wash their reusable nappies, as they have become very smelly.  There are all kinds of ways to do this, and we will be discussing these in more detail in a future post.  In the meantime here is something a little less harsh; eco strip washing, which may help get rid of the stinky nappies. Eco strip washing To be totally honest, this isn’t really a method of washing as such, but something that you might like to try before putting your nappies through any harsher methods or adding extra chemicals to them.  Eco strip washing helps to remove build ups of laundry powder, which is one of the main causes of stinky reusable nappies.  You don’t need any special equipment for eco strip washing, just the right weather: Wash your reusable nappies as you normally would. Hang them outside, either on a clothes line or over an airer. Wait for it to rain, and them leave them out in the rain for a day or so. You can then e

Once you’ve discovered the world of modern cloth nappies, it’s easy to find yourself spending a fortune on more and more cloth nappies, especially when you discover modern cloth nappy pretties.  These are reusable nappies that have been decorated in all sorts of fantastic ways to create beautiful artistic creations.  Recently we asked some of our facebook  likers to share some photos of their favourite modern cloth nappy pretties.  We’ve also got some of our own to share and those of fellow nappy makers. Modern cloth nappy pretties Here is a selection of some of our fans modern cloth nappy pretties, as you can see these range from the super cute, to the full on extreme artistic creations.  Who wouldn’t get addicted to such pretty Modern cloth nappies?          New Zealand pretties I asked some of my friends who run modern cloth nappy businesses to share some of their favourite creations with us.  Here is a selection of their favourites, each photo will link to their website page or fac

Natural fibre cloth nappies are a great choice for your little one, there are many advantages of using a natural fibre, rather than a synthetic fibre in your cloth nappies. Why choose natural fibre cloth nappies? Many modern cloth nappies are made almost entirely from man made fibres.  The stay dry layer which sits against your baby’s skin is a type of polyester and microfibre, which has become a popular choice for the absorbent part of cloth nappies is also a type of polyester.  Although these fabrics do have some advantages, there are some great reasons for using natural fibre cloth nappies: Absorbency Breath-ability Chance of causing allergies Natural choice Absorbency of natural fibre cloth nappies Natural fibres such as cotton absorb liquid directly into their fibres, this means that they hold onto it well and it doesn’t leak out when squeezed, as microfibre does.  The reason for this is that a polyester fabric holds liquid between the fibres, rather than actually in them, which i

There are many different types of cloth nappies on the market that are either made fully or partially from bamboo fabric, but what exactly is it? What makes it ideal for use in cloth nappies? What should you look for when buying cloth nappies made out of bamboo fabric? Why use bamboo fabric for cloth nappies? What is bamboo fabric? Bamboo fabric is usually actually a type of rayon, which is what we use in cloth nappies.  Rayon is a fabric created by the processing of plant material into fabric, if you want to learn a bit more about the process of creating bamboo fabric, then have a look at this link .  It is possible to create a fabric that is more like hemp in style, and that involves less processing than rayon bamboo, but it creates a very hard fabric, and this is not ideal for cloth nappies. Bamboo fabric, and other rayon fabrics, are a little unusual as they are not strictly speaking natural fabrics, having been processed to create them.  They sit somewhere between a natural and ma

Many modern cloth nappies use flat inserts that fold out to dry, these are often known as cloth nappy trifold inserts.  Prefolds are another type of cloth nappy insert, and sometimes people use the two terms interchangeably, so what are the differences between these types of insert? Which is better to use? Should you choose cloth nappy trifold inserts or prefold inserts. What is a cloth nappy trifold? Cloth nappy trifolds are so called, simply because they fold into three before they are placed in the nappy.  Both pocket nappies, and snap in (also know as all in two) nappies use this type of insert.  It can either be a rectangle shape, or a long thin insert.  Long thin inserts are also sometimes called snake inserts as they are long and thin, a bit like a snake. For both types of trifold, they fold into three and then are snapped into, or inserted into the nappy. Cloth nappy trifold inserts come in many different fabrics, our dinky nappy trifolds are made of bamboo and microfibre, but