Reusable Nappy Week coming soon!

Events all around the nation will mark Australia’s fourth annual Reusable Nappy Week (RNW), from October 12-18, 2009.

This year’s theme is choice, highlighting the huge range of modern, fun, affordable and environmentally friendly options now available with reusable nappies.

“Reusable nappies can be fully customized to you and your baby’s needs,” says Kira Jessup, mother of two and RNW coordinator.

“You are not limited to one style of nappy that has been designed to fit an ‘average’ baby.”

“You can choose quick-drying nappies, natural fibres or high-tech synthetics, budget or couture – the options are limitless.

Reusable nappies can give you a perfect fit for your baby, and your lifestyle,” Ms Jessup said.

Modern reusable nappies do not require soaking, folding or pins, and are often made from sustainable, highly absorbent fabrics like bamboo and hemp. Waterproof outers can be made from polar fleece or polyurethane laminate, which are far more breathable alternatives to old-fashioned PVC pilchers.

RNW 2009 events will include casual get-togethers, expos, nappy displays, information sessions and sewing workshops.

To keep up to date with events happening in your local area, visit www.reusablenappyweek.com.au.

RNW is organised by the Australian Nappy Network, a non-profit volunteer organisation promoting the use of reusable nappies in Australia.

For more information and local media opportunities, contact:
Georgina Ker 0431 867 546 / media@reusablenappyweek.com.au
Kira Jessup 0411 628 433/ rnw@reusablenappyweek.com.au

Related press releases:

1. Why Australia and the world loves CUSHIE TUSHIES modern cloth nappies

Cushie Tushies at The Baby Show in Sydney!

The Baby Show, Royal Hall of Industries in Sydney, 18th – 20th September

We are getting very excited now about The Baby Show, which opens for the very first time this Friday! The show starts at 9:30am each day and runs till 5:30pm on Friday and Saturday and 4pm on Sunday.

We will have all our new Coutures available – High Tea, Jungle Fever, London Mod Squad, Rocket and Spotty Doggy! We only have limited numbers of these new ones, hot off the production line, so if you’re keen to grab one of these prints be sure to come early!

We will also have all our gorgeous new Basix available – now with the booster snapped-in to make it a truly versatile One-Size-Fits-All design.

Plus of course, we’ll have our full range of wet bags and accessories available.

Our 20% off Show Special will be available across our entire range, and if you buy the Full Time pack of 24 nappies, you will also get all your accessories for FREE!

Cath and I will be manning our stand, so if you live in Sydney please come in and say hi! You’ll find us on stand number E16.

Stock update

Those of you who placed pre-orders with us at the Perth PBC – we are busy working through your gorgeous new nappy orders. We hope to have these all posted in the next week. Thank you for your patience!

Our new Couture prints and Basix range will be avaialble to purchase on our website in approximately 2 weeks. Our production run is almost complete – we’ll send out a newsletter to let you know when it hits the shelves!

How To: Cloth Nappies at night!

Sorry for being a few days late with this one! I can't even remember what happened on Friday to make me miss Blog Post Friday but here we are anyway :)

This week we are talking about Night Nappies and it should be a pretty easy one! There are a few factors to keep in mind when selecting a Night Nappy as the usual Day time stuff isn't usually going to be absorbent enough to last the distance in the MCN world.

Absorbency - When you want to put a Nappy on your little one to last overnight you need to make sure it is going to be absorbent enough to do the job. Usually you are trying to get something to last you 12 hours (if you are lucky enough to have a Bub that is sleeping that long). Bamboo is quite simple in that 1 Layer is usually 1 hour of absorbency (obviously that would vary depending on the size and thickness of the Bamboo but from a Cushie Tushies Perspective our 1 layer is 1 hour). Therefore to go 12 hours you need 12 layers. A Cushie Tushie Couture has 6 layers of Bamboo (2 in the Shell of the nappy, 2 in the Long booster and 2 in the small booster) so you are already half way there. You need to then Boost it by another 6 Layers. This is where the Bamboo Fold Ups come in (if you are a little tight for cash you could use the Boosters from another nappy for this job). This is a great rule of thumb with any Cloth Nappies that you are buying to use overnight. Find out how many layers of Bamboo it has and go from there.

Waterproof Layer - If you have yourself a serious wetter overnight you might also need to cover the Couture to last the distance. Wool is fantastic for this and we try to have Wool Soakers on our website but they sell out so fast that we have had to take them down for the moment whilst we work on producing them in higher numbers. Wool is fantastic as it works as a cover over our nappies the same way it does on a Sheep! It actually absorbs the moisture into its fibers and then evaporates them into the air! Neat huh! When Buying a Wool Product for a Cover make sure is it is a minimum of 8ply 100% Pure Wool.

So there you have it! A nice and easy one :) I wish you all the success in using cloth overnight as there is nothing better than waking up to a Dry bum and happy baby.
Cheers,
Shell

Strip Wash (ie: what to do when you made a Cloth Nappy washing boo boo)

Hello again!

How did everyone go with their Washing? We have had such a lovely response from the Blog earlier this week in regards to washing your Cloth Nappies.

As promised we are back again to tackle the issue of Strip Washing. For those of you that are wondering what on earth I am talking about 'Strip Washing' is a MCN (Modern Cloth Nappy but you knew by now though, right!?) term that relates to a very handy washing process that pops up every 3-6 months when using Cloth Nappies or if you or someone you know has done a bit of a opsy (Napisan or Fabric Softener kind of opsy) when washing your lovely Nappies!

As mentioned in our Washing Cloth Nappies Blog from Tuesday using Napisan or Fabric Softener on Modern Cloth Nappies can have a very negative affect. In the short team these products will cause your nappies to start leaking. Fabric Softener is simply an Oil that is coloured and made to smell nice! It does have the added affect that it makes your clothes and towels oh so soft and silky, but it has the negative affect of leaving a layer of Oil over the top of your Washing and in the case of Nappies this is very bad. We all know that Oil and Water don't mix so if you have a layer of Oil over the Waterproof and outside layer of your Nappies the waterproofing no longer works. In the long term the Elastic and Waterproof Layer will deteriorate at a very fast rate deeming them useless.

Even if you wash your Nappies perfectly every 6 months or so you might find that all of a sudden the Nappies that were once Absorbing machines are now leaking before every change. This is a simple case of Washing Powder (or Liquid) build up that has coated the waterproofing of your Nappies.

So enough of the 'who dun-its!' lets move on to how to fix it! This is the easy Part I promise!

• Place all of your affected Nappies into your Bucket (or sink for those without a Bucket).
• Fill the Bucket with Hot Water.
• Add to that Water a Squeeze of your regular Household Dish-washing Detergent.. Yep the stuff you use on your dirty Dishes (remember that we are trying to dissolve an Oil Build up in your Fabrics so a degreasing detergent is exactly what we need here)!
• Leave the Nappies in the Soapy Water overnight (please please please put it up high, in the laundry tub or something... way too many babies die every day in a bucket of water!).
• The following Morning drain the bucket and pop the Nappies into your Washing Machine WITHOUT any washing Powder at all. Put on a Pre-Rinse if you are worried you over did the Soap!
• Hang out to Dry as normal.
• Go back to enjoying those fantastic Absorbing machines we call MCN.

And there you have it! Once again our Washing is done. All Cloth Nappy hints and tips are going to become a weekly thing for us here so Subscribe to be kept up to date. Next week we are going to look at Night Nappies and Bamboo.

See ya then!
Shell

Washing Cloth Nappies

Have you ever considered Cloth Nappies but were instantly put off at the idea of Washing them?

Lets go through a few things that I have learned over the last 4 years of 2 Boys in Cloth Nappies and see if we can calm some of those nerves :)

Firstly the Soaking myth - Soaking Cloth Nappies is a tradition that has been left behind with the invention of MCN (Modern Cloth Nappies which is what Cushie Tushies are). Back in the day of Terry Squares you did need to soak them as there wasn't a layer to protect the absorbency fabric from stains. Cotton is also lacking in any sort of Antibacterial properties which is another reason Napisan had its place.

With MCN times have changed for the better! MCN are designed with the most user friendly Fabrics to rule out some of these unnecessary tasks for you. Lets start from the middle and work outwards. The inner Fabric in most MCN is a Stay Dry Fabric, we use Micro-fleece.. and I have seen some with Suede cloth. The reason we choose these fabrics is because 1) they keep moisture away from Bubs Bum and draw it through to the absorbent fabric underneath and 2) the Fabric is such a tight weave that solids can't penetrate the Fibers of the Material meaning they just literally sit on top! It just a matter of taking the Soiled nappy to the Loo and giving it a little shake and off rolls the Poo! This also means that the inner layer of your Nappy won't get stained!

The Bamboo/Cotton used in most MCN for absorbency is another factor in not having to Soak. Bamboo is a Anti-bacterial Fabric meaning it will take care of itself when it comes to bacterial build up!

These are great advancements in the Cloth Nappy world as soaking has many disadvantages from the yucky nature of having to do it, the drowning issue of a bucket of water with toddlers present and the fact that still water breads bacteria on its own. Soaking and using Napisan on MCN is also a no no because of the Elastic and Waterproofing used inside the Nappy as Napisan can eat through these 2 materials.

So now that we have ruled out that messy job lets move onto the actual washing part!

Here is what I do!....
I take the dirty Nappy off, Clean his Bum and put a clean nappy onto my little guy and send him on his way to play whilst I deal with the Dirty Nappy.
I take the dirty nappy to the Toilet, shake it over the bowl (or use the already dirty cloth wipes) to motivate the solids to fall off.
Then it is just a matter of placing the Nappy into my Dry Nappy Bucket that sits in my Laundry Sink (I got mine from Sam's Warehouse for $5, I have seen them in Kmart and Target too).
Once my Bucket is full I have a full load of washing.

It is not recommended to leave your nappies in the Bucket for more than 2-3 days as the ammonia from the urine can start to eat through the Elastic. I wash every day anyway, its not like you can avoid it with 2 Pre-School boys and a Husband :)
I actually have never put a lid on my Bucket and have never had a smelly laundry so if you find you are getting smells with the Lid on the bucket try it without! You should be pleasantly surprised.

To Wash I simply tip all of my Nappies into the Washing machine. I have a Machine that offers a Pre-Wash setting which I select. This sets the machine at 40 degrees which is the perfect MCN washing temp. Anything over 60 degrees will damage your Waterproof Layer inside the Nappy.

I use half a scoop of washing liquid as a full scoop is too much for MCN due to their absorbing nature.
Fabric Softener and Napisan should not be used on your MCN ever... This is because the fabrics are so absorbing that they will draw the soap into their fibers and cause the Nappy to start having an opposite affect in not holding Moisture which causes Leaks! Not something any body likes. If you feel you have done a bit of a boo boo and used something you shouldn't have then you need to Strip Wash your Nappies which I will blog about for you this week!

Once the Wash is done I hang them all over the line.. By over the line I mean that I actually lay them Flat across the top of the line with the Bamboo facing the lovely Sunshine. There are a few reasons for this. 1) The Bamboo will dry quicker when faced to the warmth. 2) There is no pressure on the Elastic when laid across the line. If you hang them by their wings hanging down then all the weight of a Wet Nappy is resting on your elastic causing it to stretch and eventually give out and 3) The Sun is a fabulous stain remover! Did you know that back in the days of 'Rags' for menstruating women they use to lay the Rags over a Shrub or line to burn out the stains? Mix Oxygen from the Tree and UV from the Sun and you have yourself one mighty Napisan without the bad chemical eating fabric bit :)

Once your nappies are dry they can get packed away at the Change Table ready for the next days use. Make 100% sure that your Nappies are dry though before using them again. If the Bamboo feels cold to touch then it is pretty safe to say the Bamboo inside your Nappy is not going to be dry. It takes a full day in the sun here in Sunny QLD to dry my Nappies. If I haven't got a full day then I will hang them over the clothes horse for the night and they will be dry by the next morning. Cushie Tushies MCN can also be popped in the Dryer on Low but please check the Wear and Care labels of other MCN before taking this advice as they are all slightly different in their make up.

And there you go! Our Washing is done. That wasn't so bad now was it! I have many Nappies in my Stash that have been going for 4.5 years on 2 different boys so if you are mindful of your washing system you can get such great value out of your Cloth Nappy stash.

Any Questions please feel free to Comment!
Shell