5 Reasons to Choose Reusable Cloth Wipes

If you’ve been around these parts long, you’ll know we’re big on anything that helps you to be more self-sufficient. Today I want to take you through one of the key ways you can do this as a busy parent, without adding extra work or stress. 

That way is, as the title suggests, by choosing to use reusable wipes for nappy change time.

1. REUSABLE WIPES SAVE YOU MONEY

I must admit, I was a little blown away when I recently learned the real (monetary) cost of disposable wipes. I honestly thought a couple hundred dollars during the course of a child’s time in nappies would cover the bill, but it turns out I was very wrong.

According to our stockist, Nest Nappies, and backed up by numerous parents I’ve spoken to, disposable wipes can cost a family up to $800 (11,000 wipes) if you use just 2 wipes per change. And we all know how many wipes you need when there’s a poonami involved, and of course wipes are used for sticky faces and hands as well. 

I’ve spoken with parents who reckon they’ve used up to 20,000 wipes over 2.5 years, but let’s sit with a conservative figure and say that you have 10,000 occasions on which to use a wipe.

That’s a lot of money on disposable products and a lot of extra rubbish heading to landfill, which brings us to our next point…

2. REUSABLE WIPES ARE BETTER FOR THE PLANET

Of course everything has an impact to some degree, but when it comes to the different types of wipes, it’s chalk and cheese. 

For a start, you’ll only need 2-3 dozen reusable wipes to get you through birth to potty, where you’ll need 10,000+ disposables to do the same job.

YES: 36 V 10,000.

Reusable wipes don’t take any extra water or detergent to care for because if you’re already using cloth nappies, they can be tossed in with your nappy load. If you aren’t using cloth nappies, they can be thrown in with your other washing. 

They require no special care and can be used for multiple other purposes once they are no longer required by baby. 

Once they’ve been loved beyond usefulness, they can be thrown in the compost to continue to break down.

In addition to creating more landfill, some disposable wipes end up in the sewerage system, contributing to the development of the infamous “fatbergs” that cost so much to remove each year.

With the environmental strain stacked so dramatically against them, it makes disposable wipes a difficult choice to justify.

3. THEY’RE VERY VERSATILE

Can you imagine keeping your used disposable wipes even after baby is all grown up? Gross thought.

Well, with reusable wipes you can do just that and use them not only for wiping bottoms, hands and noses but also continue to use them long after baby has outgrown the need for them. You can use them in the laundry, in the bathroom to wipe countertops, in your makeup bag to wipe off smudged lipstick and in the medicine box to act as cooling pads for a feverish brow.

The uses are endless for reusable wipes!

Simply use, wash and use again.

4. THEY’RE BETTER FOR BABY

As parents, we want what’s best for our babies and sometimes that means keeping things absolutely simple. The fact that most of us would have trouble pronouncing the ingredients listed on the back of many disposable wipes brands, or worse, the ingredients aren’t listed, should concern us.

Cloth wipes can be used with complete peace of mind and confidence that we’re putting nothing questionable on our bub’s sensitive skin.

When it comes to nappy rash prevention and cure, commercial nappy wipes should be avoided. For more information, please CLICK HERE.

5. YOU NEVER RUN OUT OF THEM

Ooh and this is so important! Have you ever woken up for a middle-of-the-night nappy change only to find you have NO wipes? Awkward. 

Or arrived at the supermarket only to find your favourite brand is out of stock? Annoying.

With reusable wipes, you always have one handy. Even if they’re ALL in the wet bag or wash, you can quickly pull out one, wash it in the bathroom sink and voila, have a wipe to clean that bottom!

WHY DO I NEED DEDICATED CLOTH WIPES?

Now, by this point, if you don’t yet own any dedicated cloth wipes, you’re probably wondering what the difference is between a “cloth nappy wipe” and a regular face washer. The key difference is size.

Over the years of cloth nappying 6 babes, we’ve found that face washers are just too thick and bulky. Ideally, you want something that is quite a bit thinner to get into all the little crevices that need cleaning at nappy change time. 

You also want something nice and big – at least as big as your hand.

And that’s why we created our Cloth Wipes. We noticed a significant gap in availability for super-sized, yet not-too-thick cloth nappy wipes, so we created wipes that are made from two layers of bamboo viscose/polyester and are a generous 25 x 25 cm.

We have them available in a pack of 6 if you just need a few extra to pad out your stash and also in a full kit so you can ditch disposable wipes and make the complete switch. They're also free with some of our nappy packages.

It's a small and simple change with an enormous impact.