Hints and tips

Baby steps, find out what works for you.
Not quite ready to take the plunge? Some families use reusables during the day and disposables at night. You can then migrate to using reusables more as your baby grows and you become more familiar with them. Or why not start with reusable wipes and face cloths to replace disposable ones? It’s about finding out what works best for your family.

Make laundry, not rubbish – nappies don’t need to be soaked or be washed at boiling temperatures. This makes washing them much more effective, and a wash at 40 or 60 will suffice. 

Emma provided her experience using cloth nappies: "I started looking into cloth nappies when my daughter was a few months old as was getting annoyed with the bin always being full of nappies! I started off with a few and was very impressed and built up my collection over time, the pocket nappies work for us best as you can choose how absorbent you would like the nappy with the inserts. Now I have got into a routine with the washing it is no bother - I put them on every other evening on a 60 degree wash (with some nappy cleanser) and hang them out before bed or in the morning. I don’t have any issue with clothes not fitting over the nappy and the ‘cloth bum’ definitely adds more padding when there’s a tumble! I love all of the different patterns and designs and have bought some of my nappies second hand. I would love to see more cloth in the community."

Anika, who has twins said: "We were aware of cloth nappies but found it tricky at the start with the number of nappies we were getting through with twins. We tend to use a mix now (it is more work but also trying to balance our environmental impact) - the Buckinghamshire scheme certainly helped encourage use of reusable nappies. We have also used reusable swim nappies as a result. I'm now keen to avoid disposable nappies completely."

Apply for the Buckinghamshire Cloth Nappy Scheme here.