Budget cloth nappies
I have been using cloth nappies on my children for 5 years. In that time I have I have tried a whole host of different brands and even started a nappy library to promote cloth nappies to local families. I love helping families make the switch to a more environmental, purse friendly alternative to disposable nappies. One of my favourite go to nappies were what I call budget nappies. Budget nappies are nappies that cost £100 or less for a full kit. Terries, Pre-fold’s and pocket nappies tend to top the leader board for cheap nappies but that doesn’t meant the quality is compromised. Terry nappies were the “Original” cloth nappies, the ones our parents probably used and our grandparents did use! They are basically a square piece of cloth which is folded and gripped together and covered with a wrap. That is it!
Top tips!
1. Check your local Freecycle/freegle pages for anyone giving away free cloth nappies. These sites are fantastic for getting pre-fold/terries and pocket nappies
2. You can buy wraps for as little as £4 each, teamed up with Terry nappies or Pre-folds you would have a great cheap birth to potty option.
3. Pre folds and Terries are great to use either in a wrap or inside a pocket, with multi folds you can find one to suit your child’s needs.
4. A full time nappy kit (when using Wraps and pre-folds/terries) you would need around 6 wraps, and 20 pre-folds/terries. You can re-use the wrap again and again. Costing under £50, if you use second hand/free pre-folds/terries.
5. Be Savvy! Contact your local library to trial any nappies you are interested in, you can then go onto buy nappies you have tried and tested.
6. Reusable wipes can help save you even more money, you can make your own using towels/face cloths and hemming around the edges to prevent fraying. Tupperware boxes make great containers to keep your wipe solution in.
7. You can make your own fleece liners by cutting a washed fleece blanket. Use a liner/insert as a guide.
8. To wash efficiently always wash a full load of nappies at a time, (this will vary depending on the size of your wash drum, but around 12-15 nappies is sufficient)
9. If you do not have enough nappies to wash a full load you can always pop some towels in.
10. Nothing beats the sun and wind to dry your nappies, Where possible dry your nappies on the line.
11. If drying outside is not possible, then you can use a clothes airier or a radiator airier to dry them inside, ensuring there is enough ventilation in the room you choose to dry them in.
12. Pretty prints might be lovely but you don’t often see them. Focus on function not form.
Wish we had been able to use cloth nappies when our daughter was small – we lived with my MIL at the time and she wouldn’t let us wash them in the washing machine!
I wish I had tried cloth nappies with my daughter . There isn’t a lot of suppport by me for this . A cloth nappy library would be awesome
Some fab tips here! I have been using cloth nappies with my daughter since she was 4 months! Hoping to save them and use with any future children (i am a fan of custom made pretties!) I got lots of my nappies from pre-loved facebook pages!
I found a cloth nappy starter kit at my local NCT Nearly-New sale when I was pregnant with my first child. The nappies are still going strong with our second daughter, good old-fashioned Terry nappies. We use Nappy Nippas (available on Amazon and eBay) instead of safety pins. They are much easier. I am also a fan of Tots Bots, mostly sourced secondhand online.