It’s been ages since I had a chance to concentrate on our blog, what with opening the first dedicated real nappy shop in the country, and moving our business and home 200 miles north to West Yorkshire. But I wanted to write something about how real nappies are evolving.
In recent years, we’ve seen the cloth nappy world change at an exponential rate; terries gave way to prefolds (which, when we started the business, were still seen as a real innovation) and then shaped nappies were born. These allowed for a better fit, and with less fabric, were therefore more comfortable for baby. Performance increased, with fewer leaks, length between changes and ease-of-use all improving.
In the meantime, fasteners improved, with aplix, poppers and nappi nippas replacing the traditional cloth nappy pins which used to grace terry nappies everywhere.
And a real revolution came about with fabrics - more and more absorbant fabrics started to be used in real nappy manufacture, with bamboo and microfibre being the two most commonly found. Bamboo is antibacterial, antifungal, and three times more absorbant than cotton. (for more details of the benefits of bamboo, click here) as well as being much more friendly to the environment in its growth and manufacturing processes. Microfibre is the quickest drying of the lot, and ideal if you don’t have much drying space, but still absorbs loads of moisture.
So we slowly found that the products we sold were becoming more and more impressive. But there was one big holy grail that no one seemed able to reach - until this year, that is, and that is the all-in-one nappy. The benefits of a nappy which doesn’t have a separate waterproof wrap are obvious, especially to time-stretched parents. Having only one piece to put on and take off at changing time, to store and wash, makes the whole process simpler. But there were problems associated with the one-piece nappies of old - notably that you just didn’t get the same performance out of the that you do from a two-piece system and that, being one big mass of fabric they take ages to dry.
So I am delighted that this year we’ve seen a real move away from that. Two brands have addressed the problems associated with all-in-ones, and really come up with a solution. They are Tots Bots, with their Easyfit range, and Close Parent, with their Pop-In.
Tots Bots Easyfit
Close Parent Pop-in
Both of these nappies really address the problems of old. In terms of performance, the main factor was that all-in-ones tended to have a seam at the leg and waist where the fabric and wrap element met, and that no matter how carefully they were put on, this could cause rolling-out - where, with movement of the seam against the baby’s leg, or back or tummy, the inner fabric would roll out and then as soon as it came into contact with clothing or bedclothes it would allow moisture to wick out onto that. Both of these nappies have the fabric element at least an inch in from the edge, and that means that there is no chance of it peeking out of the wrap element. And they can do this because the new fabrics are so much better in their performance that only having a strip down the middle is now possible - you just don’t need to bulk of fabric which cotton requires.
This also makes for another advantage. Because the fabric is built in as a strip, all the absorbancy is focused between the leg, where it’s needed. This means that there is no fabric (apart from the outer PUL) around the hips, which makes for a much slimmer fit than old-style all-in-ones, and than shaped nappies. So easier under trousers, babygrows etc. And baby doesn’t feel wet across the hips too, which is an added advantage.
Both of the nappies have also integrated design elements which allow for more efficient drying. The Pop-in, as the name suggests, has a removable inner which is fastened with poppers. The Easyfit has a strip of fabric which folds back in on itself. This description is fairly convoluted, so we’ve illustrated it below to clarify! One full length is sewn in along half of it’s length to the wrap element. (1) The remaining tongue is then doubled with another half-length of fabric sewn on. (2) Neither of these have the final width sewn up, which means that both at the point where the fabric meets the wrap, and where the fabric is doubled up, there is an open mouth which forms a pocket. On the tongue, this pocket accommodates another booster (which comes with the nappy), and this whole tongue then folds in to the remaining pocket (3).
As well as being less bulky, and drying quicker than previous all-in-one designs, both of these also wash more efficiently, because in both cases the fabric folds or comes out, meaning that each layer is in contact with the water and detergent.
All-in-all, we feel this has been the biggest change in real nappies since we set up shop three years ago. More and more people are being won over by the ease of using nappies like this - which are no more difficult to change than a disposable. And with both of them being one size, you only need to buy the one nappy to last you from birth to potty, making them a really economical choice too. This new era of all-in-ones is really helping real nappy use become more of a mainstream option.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Tots Launches new prints and lovely new all-in-one
- We won’t promise you the earth this Christmas…
- Clean Green Nappy opens new real nappy shop in Hebden Bridge
- The Pop-In real nappy launch
- New site structure launched
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