Eco-friendly baby wipes - cheeky wipes or biodegradable?

[sarahb083]

Hi, I'm trying to work out the most environmentally friendly way to do nappies & baby wipes. It seems like reusable nappies are the way to go, but I'm not sure about baby wipes. If you use cheeky wipes or other reusables, do you wet them every time you do a nappy change? How? And I'm not sure if the water usage from washing reusable wipes would actually be worse than just using biodegradable ones?

Cheeky wipes are the way to go. Mine just go in a container with a bit of water & the tiniest amount of essential oil. A pot of 15 wipes generally last a couple of days. After use they just get chucked in the bucket with the nappies so no extra washing. Easy Biodegradable wipes are a marketing ploy imo - they come in plastic packaging and even though they are biodegradable they are still unnecessary waste.

For hand and faces we have a separate stash of dry cheeky wipes in the kitchen which we just wet as required then chuck in with the normal laundry.

For nappies I'd highly recommend little lambs.

The amount of water used on manufacturing is frightening! Wipes get washed with nappies, so no additional washing.

I use Cheeky Wipes, other brands are available. Still use on my 4 year's hands and face! I store bum ones in a container wet. I wet enough to see me through the day. 90% of Nappy changes just need 1 wipe. When I've used disposable I've needed loads!

Cheeky wipes

I have a dry stash and wet as required.

Cheeky wipes are amazing. We just use ours in the toilet for us all his the kids are out of nappies. Get thrown in with other washing so no extra water, although I do then wash at 40 rather then 30.

Really helps assuage the fear when you see the rest of the country running out of toilet roll too

Cheeky wipes. You can also get them second hand so don't even need to consider the resources used for cotton growth.

Like others, I wash with nappies so don't have additional resource use. Worried a bit about that too as I'd seen people saying that reusable nappies used as many resources as disposable, but the data this was based on was older, assumes you wash on boiling with older less efficient machines and tumble dry hot, which you don't need to do. I also bought my nappies second hand and used them for 3 DCs.

Even if this isn't for you, you can wash them with other items. Now that my youngest is toilet training and needs them less I just make sure that they go through with white sheets or towels on a 60 wash with no softener (lots of people do 40, but mine gets a lot of nappy rashes so I like to be careful).

One thing that's less eco friendly but has kept me going with reusables has been paper liners for nappies once they're no longer fully breastfed, it catches most of the poo and helps you do an initial clean so it's not too hard to face. I also do keep some supposedly eco friendly disposable wipes and nappies for stomach bugs, but mostly have been pleasantly surprised as fabric wipes are so much better at poo cleanup!

Oh yes and you can get a starting kit with wet storage and lovely essential oils that make the whole bathroom smell nice. Out and about I carry them dry and wet a couple with my water bottle before starting a change, but you can get wet pouches.

I also use the same ones for faces and hands, because I wash at 60 and aren't squeamish, but have friends who have 2 sets in different colours for this, then you can wash the colours (for hands and faces) at 30/40 with a regular wash.

If you're using cloth nappies definitely get cloth wipes. Otherwise you still have to bag and chuck the wipes which is an extra job. I got the whole cheeky wipes system but now wish I'd just got the wipes. I put a bowl of hot water out in the morning and give DS a wipe down then just use the cooled water for the rest of the day and just store in a wet bag with his nappies. I have a set for after meal times now DS has started weaning and one will wipe face, hands, high chair, tray and table then gets put in the wash, I've found it a really easy way to do it.
Have a look into some different wipes too, a lot of the cloth community don't rate cheeky wipes. Check out the nappy lady website and Facebook groups for recommendations.

Reusable wipes all the way - we used generic WAHM made wipes from a local lady and loved them. They were much cheaper than Cheeky wipes but just as good as the ones friends had. Also had a few Little Lamb bamboo wipes that we were gifted and are still in use 7 years later!

I used a tub at home, made up a solution of chamomile tea and coconut oil every morning then soaked 10 wipes at a time. If we were going out I grabbed a pre soaked stack and sealed them in a zip lock sandwich bag. They all got washed in with nappies or the next wash load so no water waste either :)

We got a couple of sets of cheeky wipes for my first DC. Said child is now 8 and wipes still going strong. The plain cotton ones last the best.

Both.

Cheeky wipes are better for cleaning. You can put a bit of soap on if it’s really tough, but texture cleans better.

I use disposables sometimes too, just for convenience or if the cloth are all in the wash.

If I’m not doing a full nappy wash, then I rinse them in the machine then add my whites for a 60 wash.

Personally I store dry in the winter and dampen under the hot tap, just for comfort. (Disposable wipes are also cold though.)

Another vote for cheeky wipes

Cheeky wipes rock.

I've used cloth nappies and wipes for the last year and a half, and if I had to choose between the two, I would choose the wipes. I reckon I've saved over 15,000 wetwipes. Plus not to mention they are useless - I was caught out the other day (surprise second poo while we were shopping) and had to use the wetwipes provided by the shop and I have no idea how people use these things, they just don't clean!

Biodegradable wipes will not biodegrade in landfill, they do not have the conditions they need.

I wouldn't bother with overpriced cheeky wipes though, flannels work just as well and are a fraction of the price. You don't need essential oils either (they're not good for baby's skin), water is just fine.

If you use both cloth nappies and cloth wipes, you can wash them together. I couldn't be bothered with cloth nappies this time around (too much laundry) but we are still using cloth wipes as they are so much better than disposables. Gentle on baby's skin and to put it bluntly they are much better for getting poo off

Thank you! Sounds like cheeky wipes (or similar) are the way to go.

Cloth wipes all the way! If you are doing cloth nappies they are no extra hassle, and they clean so much better than disposable wipes. I have white cotton ones for bums and coloured microfibre ones in the kitchen post-mealtime cleanup.

Ours are kept in the cheeky wipes lidded boxes - I just put all the clean and dry wipes in at once with water & oil and then refill once the box is empty. I'm washing nappies every other day so they're always getting replenished.

Wipes we just store dry and wet as needed. Far easier as then at home we just get a bowl of water water so he isn’t being washed with freezing cold wipes.
Out and about I have my water bottle if needed to wet, but tbh 99% of the time out I change baby in a bathroom where I can just wet them warm at normal tap.