A washable baby wipe that stays soft?

[pinknsparkly]

I'm posting in AIBU in the hope of traffic.

Can anyone recommend me a brand of resuseable wet wipes that actually stay soft after being washed? I'm currently using a combination of cheeky wipes bamboo velour and cheeky wipes terry cotton ones. They go stiff and hard after washing, and crunching them in my hand only softens them a bit. Tumbledrying makes them a bit softer again, but they're still a lot rougher than disposable wet wipes. My little girl is getting recurrent nappy rashes and both the nursery and I think it's likely to be due to the wet wipes. We've switched to disposable wipes for the time being which is doing the trick but I'd really like to revert to reuseables if I can find any that actually stay soft. We use them wet for cleaning and then a dry one afterwards to make sure she is completely dry before putting a nappy on, so I'm looking for ones that are nice and soft when wet and when dry.

Thanks so much!!

Fleece ones?

I used to use fleece nappy liners as wipes before I saw reusable wipes on the market.

Stayed soft for quite a while.

I made the fleece liners out of a cheap IKEA fleece blanket. I realise it's plastic, but they went through two children.

I like the little lamb one's they seem to stay softer than cheeky wipes, I think its because of how the are woven, if you use cloth nappies their liners were also our favourites they stayed really soft.

Baba and boo wipes. Expensive but very soft and wonderful quality. Most of my stash are cheeky wipes but we have some of these which sadly I view as a treat

Before you go spending out though, I assume your current cheeky wipes are in contact with her bottom for a minute or two tops, whilst wet?

Wet wipes are no longer crispy so my guess would be it’s either something else entirely different, or if the disposable wipes have cleared up the rash, a problem with your washing routine leading to build up on the wipes as opposed to the feel of them per say?

Our terry cheeky wipes come out of the tumble dryer really soft. We use fabric softener on them.

I can definitely tell when they’ve been line dried by comparison!

What happened to a flannel?

I find the cheeky wipes minky ones (are they the bamboo?) stay very soft. I've had some for 5 years and they are still soft. However there is a huge difference between when I fully tumble dry them (in wet weather) and when I line dry them. Same for the cotton ones. Tumble dried, I find the organic cotton ones are very soft too.

Another thing I found was that because they are sometimes wetter than disposable baby wipes, to avoid a nappy rash I needed to dry the bum off with a muslin after wiping. (As the bum is clean when it's being dried, I use the same muslin for a few nappy changes!) This really helped.

My children got their worst nappy rashes on nursery days when they were having ordinary disposable wipes used on their bums. I really would say the cheeky wipes are much better!

Are you using cloth nappies? If so, have you tried switching to disposable to see if that helps?
I would be surprised if wet wipes alone are causing nappy rash, given how short a period they are in contact with the skin for.

We had the same problem with cheeky wipes. Grovia wipes are brilliant. We don't have a tumble drier and they stay super soft regardless, wet or dry. And they're quite big which is helpful too. Really recommend them.

Baba and boo bamboo.

But if you get the wipes wet for use, they immediately go soft?

J cloths. You can reuse them a good 5 or 6 times each. Just Chuck them in the washing machine. One pack has lasted me 18 months so far.

Thanks so much! To answer (hopefully all!) of the questions....

Yes, we use cloth nappies. My husband blamed them initially so we tend to switch to disposable nappies when she has a rash. However, she usually only has a rash for a day or two but this rash seems to have been coming and going for ages, despite her being in disposable nappies (but we were still using cheeky wipes). It's gradually improving now that she's in disposable nappies with disposable wet wipes. Timing wise, it has definitely coincided with her starting at nursery which is a good point!

The reason for wanting them to be soft when dry is so I can use them to dry her before putting the clean nappy on. Drying with a muslin is a good idea, I'll try that!

If anyone has any other suggestions of wipes or things we could try, please keep throwing them at me!

Are you happy with your washing routine for the nappies/wipes? Generally cloth is better for nappy rash, but that’s very dependent on the nappies being clean every time without build up.

Definitely agree about drying off excess moisture with a muslin, not a dry wipe.

Overall if the rash has come and gone independent of disposables vs cloth it’s potentially unrelated. Maybe introduce one back in at a time (the cloth nappies or the cheeky wipes) and see if she gets a reaction?

We always used the wipes wet (as in kept them in a tub of water) so it didn't matter that they were crunchy out the wash.
Add approx one cup of boiled (cooled) water to a plastic lunchbox sized tub with a lid and add a drop of baby wash and / or tea tree oil / lavender oil. Swoosh it all around and add approx a day's worth of wipes. There should be enough liquid so that the wipes can absorb all the liquid and be wet but not so much that they are swimming in it. Then just take one out and squeeze any excess liquid before using.
Make a fresh batch of wipes each morning as they will go fusty if left damp for ages. Any unused ones can go in the next wash load.

Brushed cotton, aka, flannel. I made them myself and are still going strong almost 3 years later.

Just cut squares and I then finished with zigzagging stitch twice around the edge to stop them from fraying, it was super easy.

What are yoh using on them? I used your use a spray of water, oil, and Baby wash, but now I just use tap water

Assuming she’s old enough for it to be relevant, could it be something she’s eating at nursery? The worst nappy rash any of my children have ever had coincided with a short stint at a childminder who seemed to feed them baked beans/spaghetti hoops for lunch most days. Moved away and the rash vanished.

Are you using a really good nappy cream? I found metanium to be the best one, with a layer of sudocream on top.

It could also be a reaction to how you're washing the wipes. Because the area is wet/dry/wiped more often it'll be more sensitive that the rest of her body to the detergents.

You're all amazing, thanks so much! We're going to try introducing back in one at a time to see if we can narrow it down (once the rash has cleared up completely).

In terms of nappy cream, we had been using metanium which has always been magic for us but it's not shifting it this time. We had some drapolene cream arrive in the post yesterday as I'd seen that recommended on here as even better than metanium (it's a nappy rash cream that's also for adult urinary dermatitis and minor burns). But if that doesn't due the trick then we'll give metanium + sudocrem a go (we've not ever tried sudocrem).

I hadn't considered what she's eating at nursery! Funnily enough her favourite meal there is cheese and beans on toast, which they have a couple of times a week for lunch or tea. She never has baked beans at home. So she could be exactly the same as your little one.

I don't think it's to do with how we're washing the nappies/wipes as she's been using them for about 10 months and I've done a strip wash a few times and not noticed any impact from it. I've certainly not changed how we wash them recently. But a strip wash would be a good idea!

Which metanium are you using? We found the normal one didn't do much, but the thicker yellow ointment was excellent.

Close Parent and TotsBots do some nice soft wipes that stay soft when line-dried. I hated cheeky wipes because they were crunchy other than when tumble dried and I didn't like using it other than bad weather days.

Try and get timodene for nappy rash flare ups.

Also are you sure it’s not thrush or an infection if reoccurring? I reckon the tomato sauce is culprit too.

@LolaSmiles - thanks for the wipe suggestions. And we're using the thick yellow metanium. I didn't even know they did another variety

@CornishTiger - I'll get some of that if this new one doesn't do the trick. That's a good point about thrush/infection. I don't think it is as it starts in different places each time but if it doesn't clear up soon then I'll try and get her in to see a doctor (though she's got a non-covid cough at the moment that's getting worse and the best our GP could offer was a telephone appointment in 2 weeks time...).

Failing that we might have to tell the nursery to stop giving her tomato sauce which is a shame as it seems to be the only dinner they serve that she eats 100%!

You need a jersey wipe (cut up tshirt will do), or a bamboo velour one, they stay softest.

I have the microfibre and Terry cheeky wipes and haven't noticed they're too hard (and I don't have a dryer)

We have the microfibre cheeky wipes and the cotton ones. Wevebeen using the cotton ones for almost 7 years now, they are awfully hard if line dried but fluffy when tumble dried. I line dry then tumble for 20mins on cool to minimise costs of drying! The microfibre ones are soft when line dried. I wash at 60.