Real nappies

Do you like the idea of using natural cotton nappies for your baby, but stories of folded terries, safety pins and plastic pants have put you off? Todays modern cotton nappies have left that image in the past; they are easy to use, easy to care for and very stylish and attractive too.

Real nappies can be used again and again unlike disposable nappies which are disposed of in landfills. They are real because they are not made from plastic, do not contain chemicals, fit easily with your lifestyle and are as simple as disposables to use.

What are the options?

Home Washing

• The cheapest option, even taking into account the cost of washing powder, energy and depreciation of the washing machine, is buying your own real nappies and washing them at home.
• There is a wide range of nappy types to choose from, so you can select the best style for your baby and individual circumstances.
• You can find a routine that suits you, maybe washing every 2-3 days.
• You can store nappies before washing in a lidded nappy bucket or in a waterproof bag. You can soak or dry pail your nappies, perhaps try both to see which suits best.
• Washing at 40-60oC is perfectly adequate to sterilise nappies, there is no need to boil wash.
• Lemon juice is a good natural whitener and softener

 Nappy Laundry Service

• Nappy laundry services use prefolded nappies in a wrap, which you hire from the laundry service provider.
• The Laundry services supply, deliver, collect and launder your baby’s nappies. All you do is place all your baby’s dirty nappies in the bin provided.
• The used nappies are collected every week and clean, freshly laundered nappies are returned to your door in their place.
• After the nappies have been worn out they are sold as rags to all sorts of industries.
• This is very convenient for working parents.

Why choose Real Nappies?

•  You no longer need to boil, soak, use pins or fold. They are no harder to put on than a disposable and are normally fastened with velcro or poppers.
• Babies who have worn Real Nappies tend to potty train up to 6 months earlier than those wearing disposables.
• Real Nappies save you money! It is estimated that you could save up to £500 for your first baby if you home launder Real Nappies from birth to potty training. Re-using cotton nappies for second and subsequent babies saves you even more.
• Nearly 6,000 babies are born in Bedfordshire every year, each baby could use up to 5,000 nappies by the time they are potty trained. That’s a lot of nappies!
• Around one tonne of disposable nappies per baby are landfilled from birth to potty training. This costs councils over £40 million to send to landfill each year.
• The first disposable nappies are still slowly rotting in landfills in Bedfordshire. It can take up to 500 years to rot away completely.
• It uses less energy to wash Real Nappies at 60oC than it does to produce disposable ones.

If you live in Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire County Council will give you £25 cashback when you spend over £50 purchasing washable nappies, covers or training pants from any company, or subscribe to a nappy laundry service.

The terms and conditions are on the application form which can be requested by calling Bedfordshire County Council’s Recycling Officer on 01234 276376 or download the Real Nappy cashback form below.