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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think surely other people must also think it’s gross to…

263 replies

UmmJsTL3 · 15/09/2024 18:15

use re useable wipes for a baby/toddler?? I get saving the planet etc etc but surely too far?!

OP posts:
YellowphantGrey · 15/09/2024 20:10

Between this thread and the one where people were called disgusting and gross for washing tea towels and bath towels together or tea towels and clothes together, all it confirms is people are really confused by and don't understand washing machines 😂

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:10

Bandstander · 15/09/2024 20:04

My whole family uses reusable wipes 🤷‍♀️ they go in the washing machine with the baby’s nappies every two days. Why do you find them so gross?

Presumably soaked in something like napisan first.

YellowphantGrey · 15/09/2024 20:11

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:08

Presumably your underwear isn’t covered with wee and faeces when you Chuck them in the washing machine?

I've seen posts on here before where posters complaln about their husbands skidmarks in their pants, so wouldn't be too sure on that

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:11

YellowphantGrey · 15/09/2024 20:10

Between this thread and the one where people were called disgusting and gross for washing tea towels and bath towels together or tea towels and clothes together, all it confirms is people are really confused by and don't understand washing machines 😂

Yes we do, and it’s unhygienic , but don’t start that again!

justasking111 · 15/09/2024 20:11

Can you still get napisan?

I still buy Milton's for cleaning out the fridge.

HelenWheels · 15/09/2024 20:12

ITriedToStopSwearingButICunt · 15/09/2024 18:23

How do you think people managed before wipes became common 30ish years ago?
Wipes are terrible for the environment.

ahem i used wipes 30 years ago
although in the early days i used cotton wool and water, and then baby lotion

HelenWheels · 15/09/2024 20:13

what are reusable wipes?
flannels?

DazedandConfusedbyPolitics · 15/09/2024 20:13

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:09

Badly!

Yet here we all are! Healthy, over-populating the world and filling it up with rubbish that really isn't needed.

YellowphantGrey · 15/09/2024 20:14

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:11

Yes we do, and it’s unhygienic , but don’t start that again!

😂 don't worry I won't

Though how the poster thought handwashing a tea towel was more hygienic than a 60 degree wash was funny as was her further statement that she handwashed at hotter than 60 degrees and wasn't at all hot on her hands was even funnier!

MagdaLenor · 15/09/2024 20:15

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:11

Yes we do, and it’s unhygienic , but don’t start that again!

How on earth is washing items in hot water, with a detergent, unhygienic?!

Roundaboot · 15/09/2024 20:15

HelenWheels · 15/09/2024 20:13

what are reusable wipes?
flannels?

Basically yeah. You can get all kinds of fancy specially made ones but I just used cheap flannels, dunked in warm water.
DS is now nearly 17 and I still use the wipes as floor cloths, dusters etc.

MagdaLenor · 15/09/2024 20:16

I think some people didn't pay much attention in Science at school!

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:16

YellowphantGrey · 15/09/2024 19:40

You do know you don't leave the shit in the nappy don't you?! It goes down the toilet and the liner thrown away

Same with wipes, clean them off and pop them in the bucket for soaking before washing

Pre the 80s I'd say almost everyone was reusable nappies? I was born in the 80s and was in them and I used them for DS.

I find it more grim to see used nappies lying around and spilling out of nappy bins in public toilets or strewn across pavements because people have secure their bin bags in bins properly

Saves a fortune too, using reusable

Fine if it’s solid poo! Curry splats- no!

isthismylifenow · 15/09/2024 20:16

This could possibly put some folk on here into a state of shock....

I have much younger siblings who are in cloth nappies when I was a teen. We only had a cold fill washing machine. And yet there was still a line of sparkling white nappies drying in the sun.

Nappies AND bum flannels washed in COLD water. And yes, we are all alive and well.

MagdaLenor · 15/09/2024 20:17

@isthismylifenow - it's a miracle! ✨

BobbyBiscuits · 15/09/2024 20:17

They sound like a good idea if someone is fine with cleaning them. Surely if you've a baby then there's shite and vom all over the place anyway so no point being squeamish. You don't have to use them.

Nanny0gg · 15/09/2024 20:18

Rainallnight · 15/09/2024 18:28

I’m with you OP. And funny how many of these planet saving ideas end up generating more work for women. I’ve not yet seen the idea that has men washing shitty cloths.

God.

We managed perfectly fine back in the day with terry nappies and reusable liners

And cotton wool and water.

My nappies were always spotlessly clean after washing

Nanny0gg · 15/09/2024 20:21

Gigi58 · 15/09/2024 19:15

I agree tbh. Surely they need to be washed alone too and on a hot (long) wash? Feels like there’ll be a lot of wasted space when a long wash is taking place..?

Also surely they need washing really quickly after being soiled? So again, no time for them to accumulate to put a wash on with many of them in there.

Also, I don’t think they are the same as period pants.

Napisan

Soak them till you wash them

Job done

Swissvisa · 15/09/2024 20:23

It’s one thing not to use them, but to openly judge and sneer at those that do is just rude and small minded.

Hedjwitch · 15/09/2024 20:30

I use reusable make up remover pads and wouldnt go back to chlorine bleached,plastic wrapped cotton wool if you paid me.

LBFseBrom · 15/09/2024 20:32

Sprogonthetyne · 15/09/2024 18:18

Pop them in the wash and it's fine. No grosser the getting baby sick all over you or cleaning up after potty training accidents. Why would it be an issue?

I agree. If they are re-usable, that means they are washable so no problem.

Bignanna · 15/09/2024 20:35

MagdaLenor · 15/09/2024 19:14

You put all sorts of things in your washing machine. By the final rinse, everything is clean. Including the machine. A bit of baby poo is not a problem. It all seems a bit over the top squeamish.

There is residual water in your washing machine which has to be emptied via the filter at the bottom now and again - that water probably has all sorts in it.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 15/09/2024 20:36

Isn't a reusable wipe just a thin flannel?

Used plenty of decades-old terry nappies cut into four for that.

BogRollBOGOF · 15/09/2024 20:37

DS had food allergies. Every poo was a neck to knee poonami.
It was the early days of modern style cloth nappies and Cheeky Wipes so I started off with disposables as it was the default thing.
At home, I'd end up showering him down. Nursery asked me to take a baby bath in. When it happened when we were out and about, it used to take half a pack of wipes to get past the smearing stage and actually clean him.
When I started trying reusables, firstly, the nappies were much better at containing the explosion, then a mere 4 cloth wipes could clean up. Far far less time and effort.
There was no way I was binning every single outfit he ever shat in so the washing machine was used for dealing with poo anyway.

When I had two in nappies, I had plenty of bin capacity left at the end of each fortnight.

I use reusable sanitary products since then and they're also far easier and more comfortable than disposables. No more thrush from getting dried out. No more having to check for bins with capacity. When I'm out, empty cup into toilet, wipe with toilet paper, reuse, wash later at a convenient time. For pads, put into a wet bag to wash at a convenient time. The capacity is greater than plasticy disposables and there's no rubbing or reapplying sticky bits. I haven't used disposables for a decade and do not miss them one jot.

Disposable products are a blip in human history but will loiter in landfill for centuries. Modern reusables are well designed and easier to use than their traditional counterparts.

Overzealous fussing about hygiene is bad for the environment (waste, use of resources to manufacture) and has no health benefits anyway.

TriesNotToBeCynical · 15/09/2024 20:38

Nanny0gg · 15/09/2024 20:18

God.

We managed perfectly fine back in the day with terry nappies and reusable liners

And cotton wool and water.

My nappies were always spotlessly clean after washing

Indeed. I'm male and never found a bucketful of soaking nappies too daunting. I might have found it harder before washing machines were invented I suppose.