HELP - 1st time mum nappy to choose washing service or wash at home?

[glitterbird]

I really need some advice. I will be a 1st time mum in June 08 and really want to use washable nappies but live in a small flat with only a balcony for outdoor space and don't have much space for drying although we do have a washine machine. I have been thinking of using one of the nappy washing services in my area but don't know anyone who has used them and have a read a few negative comments about the service. I know they are more pricy but thinking they might be the only option at the moment as also don't want to spend all my time washing. Has anyone had any experience of nappy washing services in London both good and bad or any suggestions on what I can do to minimise drying times if I do decide to have a go at washing myself.

thanks

I think, generally, there is no need to use a nappy washing service if you have only one child. This is based on the fact that WE didn't need one when we had only one child

but if space is at a premium, and you have no tumble drier, then yes I'd go for it.

The best way to minimise drying times IMO is to use terries. They are honestly NOT that scary, not now there are newfangled nappy nippas.

I'd also go for a nappy washing service at least at first, if you are scared of the washing. It will be better, and I think cheaper, than using disposables, which is what you might end up doing (if you are lazy like me)

Just to say that we have one child in washable prefold) nappies and DO tend to have washing hanging around the house most of the time so if space is an issue a laundry service could be worth it, unless your budget can stretch to a washer dryer?
If you use the laundry service I suppose you can choose the type of nappy totally by which you are most comfy using, regardless of drying time.
I think I read somewhere that using the laundry service has less impact on the environment than washing them yourself - more efficient as bigger loads presumably?

I think it depends on the service that is offered. I haven't used one (none near me anyway) but my sister looked into it and she isn;t too far from you. They only offered a limited choice of nappy and they weren't the best nappies you could have tbh (unreliable, a bit leaky). Without knowing what the service offers it is hard to say how good they might be. What were the bad comments?

That said there are plenty of nappies you can use that will dry quite quickly. Terry squares are one sort, microfibre shaped nappies come out of the washing machine almost dry, pocket nappies are very quick to dry - just an hour if you use microfibre inserts. I know someone in a similar situation to you who uses one of those ceiling mounted hangers in her flat and her nappies dry very well (uses the heat rising principle and keeps the nappies out of the way). If you don't want to use the service there are many ways to cope with your lack of space and tumble drier and there is a lot of advice out there and in here

thanks for the comments Fillyjonkiscalm and Yorky. We do have a washer dryer but I am thinking that using it will outweigh any environmental and cost benefits that we had in mind. Also know what when we do have to dry clothes in the dryer they don't last so well so worried that the nappies will wear out quicker. is this possible??

Its bad enough having washing on our clothes horse for 1/2 the week but thinking having nappies draped around 24/7 might really drag the place down. I am not the greatest and keeping up with the housework at the best of times but both DH and I do our best or should I just get used to the constant washing being around.

Hi Bigbadmouse. Sorry posted before I read your comment. Never even heard of ceiling mounted dryers where can you buy them from, John Lewis perhaps?? Its a whole new world for me so just trying to investigate before I end up spending a whole heap of money and giving up so really want to choose the right thing from the start.

Bad comments similar to what you said that the nappies are not the best quality and are prefolds (although to be honest I don't yet know the difference between them and any other nappy). I have never changed a nappy in my life lucky me you may be thinking but makes me feel so ignorant .

I use prefolds (bambino mio) because I was given a load and although they weren't the ones I liked best when we were researching I have to say they haven't leaked. Getting more challenging now he's mobile though!
Where are you - I can do free hands-on nappy changing courses in Oxfordshire!

hi glitterbird. i used a nappy service for my ds, and loved it. we were given a choice of 4 types of wraps 6 of which were supplied to us, until DS outgrew them, at which point we then had to buy our own.

However, having 70 clean nappies turn up every week was FAB. TBH i'm a big big fan of letting DS have loads of nappy free kicking time, so it was bliss to be able to spread a load of nappies all over his playmat and let him wee to his hearts content, without having to worry about washing them

however, they've cancelled the service in our area now so i've started using tots bots. of the 2 types, i would say the tots bots are slightly easier to use, as the prefolds take a bit longer to fold them. However, i would say the prefolds are slightly less bulky, which can be an issue with clothes.

saying that, if i buy any more nappies they will be tots bots purely because i think they look really cute. but if i had another baby, i would probably go for the nappy service again for at least the first 4 months.

HTH !

oh and i had very little leakage with any of the real nappies, in fact for DS's fit, pampers were quite literally a pile of poo

oh sorry - one last thing, if you are opting for a nappy service, you need to have somewhere you can put a large bin. they can get a little bit pongy when they're full of pooey nappies. i used to keep mine in the downstairs cloakroom, and when it was half full, replace the bag and put the nappies in our shed ready for collection. that's an important consideration IMO !

ceiling airers thus

glitterbird - not ignorant at all. I had never held a baby before my own were born let alone done a nappy change . Not sure where you can buy those driers from (although I'm really thinking of getting one myself) they sort of suspend from the ceiling and you pull them up and down on a pulley - pretty cool (if you like hoisting your pants like a flag ). Have a look on the ethical living or good housekeeping threads saw a thread on there about them a few weeks ago - or post your own.

Prefolds are not everyones cup of tea, some people find them reliable but most find they leak. I used them for a while and found they took quite a while to dry and dried quite stiffly without a final tumble.

Personally, I think you'd be better off getting a quick drying nappy of your choice rather than having only one choice of nappy. Loads of people do cloth and do not tumble dry. I have a washer drier, my nappies cope well with being tumbled as and when I need to (when I'm fed up of seeing clothes everywhere). But when I used pocket nappies and microfibre nappies I never used the drier. Terries and prefolds are big so take up more room than shaped nappies when drying.

Have you looked to see if there are financial incentives offered by your local council for using cloth nappies? There are nappy trial services you can use to see what suits best and a few sites where you can buy second hand nappies to try before committing to buy a whole load of one type.

X post with several others

thanks for all the info it certainly gives me something to think about. There are a couple of services in my area of London No1 one for Nappies and Nappy Ever After. I am glad someone has a good experience of nappy services I don't want to rule out washing them myself as I think there would be more choice and less restrictions on a service but its great to have the option I guess

thanks everyone

glitter, I really doubt that using the dryer would cancel the environmental benefits. It would REDUCE it, certainly, but disposables are massively environmentally destructive.

Reusables are lower impact in terms of manufacture (using non-organic cotton/bamboo, while not marvellous, is still better than using our very limited oil reserves). They are not dumped in landfill, with, aside from the pollution and so forth, the emissions resulting from transporting the nappies to said landfill. You also do not have the carbon emissions resulting from repeated transport of raw materials to the factory, transport of the nappies to the shop, and then to your home.

So yes the environmental gold star approach is to dry them on a clothes horse.

But if your choice is between disposables (even "nice" ones like moltex or tushies), I would not choose disposables for enviormental reasons.

(I would, however, not criticise anyone for choosing disposables for CONVENIENCE. I don't think they ARE more conveniant but that is only something I can say of me, in my circumstances IYKWIM)

How does your dp (if you have one) feel about this all btw? Dp has always done most of the nappy washes, especially in the early days-I doubt very much I'd have managed to stick with cloth if I'd had to sort out the nappies...

we assuage our dryer-using guilt by having a green electricity supplier, so all the energy we use to dry the nappies is handwoven by hydroelectric fairies in Scotland...

Hi FillyjonkisCALM I was not actually thinking of using disposables just comparing the options between washing at home and using a nappy washing service. So planning on doing one or the other.

Fortunatly DH is all for it although its probably more the cost that he is thinking about rather than the enviromental stuff. he is worried I will be taking on too much work if I decide to wash and he knows he will have to do his share too

I have a poky little house and no tumble drier - I DO have clothes or nappies drying all the time but you get used to it lol.

If I was buying now, after using a variety of nappies for a while, I would go for something like fluffles, or Bumgenius - both dry very quickly on an airer and are reliable. Fluffles are very bulky though.

I looked at nappy services but a)didn't fancy prefolds, that's all thats available in my area and b) it was really expensive!