Why do my nappies smell all of a sudden?

Why do my nappies smell all of a sudden?

Around this time of year, most of this glorious country we live in is rejoicing in some warmer, drier Spring weather. What's not to love? You sure can't beat the lovely sunshine and slight breeze we've been having in Sydney every day this week for nappy drying effectiveness!

But something we do get asked around this time of year is: Why have my nappies started to smell lately? They don't smell after they've been washed and dried, but as soon as my baby pees in it, there is a pungent smell of dirty wet dog that is overwhelming!

Eww gross huh!

Well, first of all, you need to get strip washing and pronto! I often recommend two really good rinse cycles at the end of the strip wash too – plenty of plain water to rinse every last bit of detergent out of the fabric.

But why does this happen sometimes? Well let me tell you. It's actually quite simple and quite logical.

1. In winter, the nappies are not exposed to much sunlight. UV is a natural bleach and the warmth from the sun plus the dry outside air plus a natural breeze help to get the fabrics bone dry. Whereas, drying indoors makes it hard to get the fabric completely dry – any dampness in the fabric will lead to smells developing.

2. More so than point 1, though, is detergent choice. 99% of detergents contain ingredients that just seem to build up inside the fabrics, starting to coat the fabrics and lock in some of that dank smell. (If this is the odour-causing culprit you will really know about it because your nappies will also start to be less absorbent than they once were.) To avoid this situation, try to find a detergent that is not salt based and contains absolutely no additives (perfumes, softeners, brighteners or any other enzymes).

3. Last but not least, and this is a point that often gets overlooked these days, but you really need to use plenty of water in the wash cycle! What with the relatively recent invention of economic washing machines that use very little water, one could be forgiven for overlooking the potential need to use more than the machine's "standard" setting. But trust me when I say this – bamboo fabric will not rinse clean with a small amount of water. (The same will go for any absorbent towel.) Using more is not going to break the bank – you are still using way less than it would take to manufacture disposable nappies for your baby's nappy-wearing lifetime!

So there you go – that's my top 3 tips for smell-free cloth nappying!

Cloth solution a boon for bottom line

When Michelle Fowler's first son was born seven years ago, the new mother had made up her mind she wanted to use modern cloth nappies rather than adding to landfill by throwing away soiled disposable nappies well into toddlerhood.

But looking at the basic folded-cloth nappies snapped together by stretchy plastic available at the time, the former computer games designer couldn't warm to any of them, and decided to make her own.

Drafting them in the shape of disposables with funky colours and patterns, and using Velcro and fabrics such as hemp, bamboo and microfleece, she got going on her sewing machine.

Word spread, and she was soon making them for family and friends, including a fellow new mother she had met through an online pregnancy forum, Catherine Langman. Today she is Fowler's business partner in what has become a growing $600,000-a-year business, Cushie Tushies. Langman, a former advertising account manager, joined Ms Fowler in 2007, working out a business plan, taking on the marketing and investing some of her own money to help turn the start-up into a viable enterprise with a professional website and branding.

It was a steep learning curve for the two: as Fowler kept sewing some 60 nappies a week in her home, they struggled to find a factory that would mass-produce their nappies. Every Australian textile factory they contacted knocked them back, saying the product was too fiddly and costly to make. With the help of an agent, the two women eventually found a small factory near Shanghai that took on their first 1000-piece order.

''The first trip over there was a little bit of an emotional thing, seeing these lovely ladies sitting there with piles of our fabric and churning out nappies with our brand name on them,'' says Langman. But there was also ''a bit of a culture shock'' doing business in China, taking samples there to explain how the nappies should be made and negotiating over drinks and dinner.

Then just as the pair was about to secure money to fund expansion, the global financial crisis hit and banks that had previously been supportive went cold. ''All of a sudden the bankers thought, 'a modern cloth nappy, what is that?' '' Langman recalls.

Persuading them their product had caught the zeitgeist just as mothers were increasingly aware of environmental and health concerns took a ''stressful'' six months, she says. ''We had all this demand from customers but needed to sort out the finance to get production going.''

Word of their modern cloth nappies had been spreading through mummy boards and pregnancy forums on the internet. In 2009, the pair also started marketing their business at baby expos and through parenting publications. Soon, they had to shift from Fowler's double-garage to a small warehouse on the Gold Coast and get help packing orders to keep up with demand.

Today, Fowler and Langman - who have four staff - sell 2000 nappies a month, about half of those online and the rest through retailers such as nursery shops and pharmacies.

While the price of $35.95 apiece may seem steep upfront, Langman argues that parents will spend less than they would on disposable nappies.

Passion with a plan

Catherine Langman has this advice for other mothers wanting to start a business: ''You really need to have thought out what your business is going to be. And you need to be passionate about it.

''A lot of mums think it would be easy to do an online shop. But every business needs to be extremely well planned. You can't just go by the seat of your pants. You have to have your business plan done properly, and make sure you have professional advice from an accountant. If you're talking to banks, you need to provide [detailed] information to them.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/growing/cloth-solution-a-boon-for-bottom-line-20120909-25mb0.html#ixzz262L12Dzu