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!!

Have you shown the rash to a medical professional? Impetigo can often be mistaken for "just" nappy rash, and it's on the rise at the moment.

DS had it exclusively in his nappy area (and it didn't look like the pictures I Googled!). Antibiotics cleared it up in a week.

@30degreesandmeltinghere

What happened to a flannel?

Indeed, an ordinary flannel will do.

I shove a damp flannel in a ddog poo bag and shove it in with the picnic stuff for sticky hands!!
Youngest is 6!!

I washed her bum under a warm running tap, and dried her off with flannel squares that I cut up myself from blankets

I just use a muslin to dry off my baby's bottom after wiping with cotton terry cheeky wipes. They do get crispy after washing but I only use them wet so it doesn't seem to matter.

Muslinz.com squares via amazon (think they're cotton/terry) - packs of ten wipes and they stay nice and soft with washing.

Thanks @HavelockVetinari - no I've not seen a GP about it. I'll keep an eye on it and book a doctor's appointment if it doesn't clear up.

The various suggestions for drying her off using a muslin rather than a dry wipe are great, I think I'll try that before switching to a new brand of wipes.

And @30degreesandmeltinghere - I'd be happy to use flannel, but they all dry fairly hard. I wash and dry her with the wipes so want something that is soft and gentle on her skin when drying her off. The flannels I've used are all quite rough.

I have microfibre face wipes which stay softer but then again they’re not as good for the environment.

As previously suggested drying with a muslin is a good idea as the cheeky wipes are soft enough when wet (we have some that are 12+ years old that we still use as flannels).

Thenappylady premium wipes cotton/fleece

Or cheeky microfibre

Bambino Mio, Reusable Baby Wipes, 10 Pack, Cloud www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WQB67C5/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_HE2YK7Q5JYT20ZBT6MSM?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I have 2 packs of these now, they're lovely and soft after washing, even if line dried outside. They do go in the tumble drier too if it's a wet day. I don't use them on bums but have replaced wipes for sticky hands, wash faces, bath flannels. They get a lot of use but never deteriorate!

I use cheeky wipes bamboo and easy peasy bamboo. The latter are still soft but much newer - I've only been using them for about 9 months.

I use muslins to dry her after the wipes. I got a length of muslin from a fabric shop, and cut it into smaller sizes than shop bought muslins and hemmed them roughly with my sewing machine. Literally just a zigzag stitch along the edges, not even folded under. They've lasted years as I made them for my eldest.

Alyernatively, when I wash my nappies I add clothes to bulk the wash. I then remove the nappies, and throw the clothes back in for a rinse with fabric conditioner. If I accidentally get a cheeky wipe in, it comes out much softer. So maybe you could put the wipes either in with the clothes, or in a softener rinse after washing?

We had a similar issue with recurrent nappy rash, and exactly the same as you, kept switching between cloth and disposable to see if either were better / worse.

DS had thrush a few times, and an infection once requiring antibiotics. Unfortunately nothing we did made an awful lot of difference until he potty trained, but we did work out that he responded better to cloth, and we strip washed them once a fortnight to keep any budding thrush at bay. One thing that cleared nappy rash up quickly was a GP gave us a cream that was part hydrocortisone and part anti-fungal. As soon as he showed any sign of redness that wasn't cleared up by metanium, one or two applications of the cream cleared it up again (until the next time!). Hopefully your GP can help with something similar. It's awful seeing them so sore

Do you use a fleece liner with the nappy? They wick moisture away from the skin, plus they're easier to flick poo off! I used wet cheeky wipes and disposables, never dried their bums and was fine.

Maybe your wipes could be less wet, so moist enough to wipe but not enough to leave much water behind? I just tip a bit of water in the tub and they soak it up, I squeeze them out a bit before using.

Im a cotton wool and water fan. Wet wipes give my dd a rash.

I learnt the very hard way that persistent nappy rash is almost always thrush. I would say you need thrush cream and for the full course.

Do you use oils or anything with your wipes? I just use plain tap water now but when I used oils it did irritate my daughter a skin a bit.

Like others I've also found that persistent nappy rash tends to be thrush and they've needed canestan or similar to clear it up.

Also I don't know how old your DD is but we had a lot of success introducing a potty from an early age, even just to catch poos so it doesnt sit against their skin in a nappy and this really helped reduce skin irritation.

I just cut up a big fleece blanket I got cheap from IKEA blanket also made great nappy liners as could cut to shape and stopped nappies getting soiled.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/vitmossa-throw-grey-90304889/
Like this one

Thanks all. Sounds like i need to make an appointment with the GP to get her checked out.

@Duploisthebest - She's 12 months and we were having quite a bit of success at putting her on the potty first thing in the morning as she was waking up with a wet but not soiled nappy. However, she's recently started waking up most mornings with a soiled nappy so we don't do it much any more. We've not managed to identify when else in the day she reliably poops so haven't been able to try the potty at other times (she goes anywhere between 2 and 5 times a day)