Another reason to go cloth.....

[MuddyWitch]

I'm prepared to give this a go, but I doubt my daughter & her b/f will be happy about it. I already use washable 'ladies' knicker fashions' so the cloths can go into the same bucket I use for that. I only do one 60* wash load a week, (knickers and pyjama bottoms) so I'll soak 'em in cold water (usually rain water) 'till the laundry night. (I had thought they'd be like the nappies & need a boil wash, but I will still use the 60* choice as human faecal pathogens are not killed below that.)

Will let you know how we get on. It'll be one less expense, if nowt else.

MW

[Annpan]

I never do a boil wash for nappies - towels, bedding and wee wipes/nappies all get done at 60 to avoid certain allergies and kill infection and everything gets dried outside.... and I don't soak anything either.

You will love wee wipes, I feel cleaner after using them too, and thay are more absorbant than paper... and, I though of another benefit we only have to flush the toilet twice a day or so (just for poos) beacause there is no paper to flush away

[MuddyWitch]

See, that's why I love our 1970's retro advacado loo...we only flush after two or three uses. You're so right though...t'is the paper that's the give-away!

MW

[Clara]

That's the spirit Muddy Witch! well done

TBH our hot water is never 60* (because it gets mixed down to somewhere between 40 and 50 max by the solar thingy), we haven't yet had any problems, though as I say we wash and wipe so we don't have poo covered cloths going in the washer.

I think you'll be converted. Paper just seems so yucky and inadequate these days to me - which is one of the things I'm not looking forward to when I move to the city to wait for this baby (this afternoon). Not going to be a very ISH time I feel

[Ovalina]

Good Luck with the baby Clara

I've been discussing this thread with my husband and I think we might give it a go, just have a small issue with the physical practicalities.

Like - our cold bathroom - we could warm up the water by puting it into a recepticle and leave it on the range to warm, but not having a bidet I'm just not sure how to wash

You're right that knickers go into an ordinary wash so no real hygiene issues there.

[Moonwaves]

I did this for a while but wasn't quite organised and just used ordinary scissors to cut some squares from an old towel. They did fray fairly quickly in the wash though so I want to cut a few bigger squares and hem them (the stupidly expensive pinking shears I ordered and bought couldn't cut the towel properly!). Thought it would be a good way to get some practice on the sewing machine though. In the meantime I also had visitors so ended up buying some recycled loo roll. They're almost at an end now and I still haven't gotten round to switching the sewing machine on. Think I'll attack an old t-shirt with the pinking shears and use that to tide me over.

Have to say I thought I'd have to work myself up to using them for poo as well as pee but once I was actually using them it seemed silly to not use them the whole time. The visitors I had left some empty water bottels behind too, the sports type with the nozzle bit so I think I'll put one of them in the bathroom and try the rinsing as well. I wash the wipes in a 60 degree wash with whatever towels or bedding needs doing anyway, my machine can do an economy half wash at 60 though so I can usually manage to fill it. I just make sure not to have any of the kitchen towels or cloths in with it.

[Clara]

I've found that flannel sheeting/pyjamas or thickish jersey work better than towelling, which like you I found quite difficult t cut and frayed really easily.

[Fizzy Izzy]

I'm expecting a baby in July and think this is something I'd like to try when I need to do lots of washes for nappies anyway! Like Annpan, I'm not sure about using this for no.2, but I've got 'til July to think it over and I find the more you consider this sort of thing, the more it seems to be normal...

[Moonwaves]

...and I find the more you consider this sort of thing, the more it seems to be normal...

That's really true. The first time I heard about the mooncup I thought it was a joke email and then the first time I read about cloth TP I thought it was definitely just a shade too far for me. But actually I very quickly came around to being really frustrated at sharing a really small house and not being able to easily start using wee wipes (without causing major hassle with housemates). I think my subcounscious knows far better than me what I want to be doing so it takes in all the information, lets it stew for a while and then brings it back to the fore of my mind with a much different attitude attached to it.

[Ellendra]

I also use an american forum and people often discuss how to make the transition from paper to reusable plates, napkins etc.

Speaking as an American myself, that's just . . . How do these people even dress themselves?

[Millymollymandy]

I also use an american forum and people often discuss how to make the transition from paper to reusable plates, napkins etc.

Speaking as an American myself, that's just . . . How do these people even dress themselves?

Ellendra perhaps they wear disposable paper clothes! Does anyone remember paper knickers which were 'big' (no, not size wise!) in the 1960s/early 1970s?

[Clara]

I also use an american forum and people often discuss how to make the transition from paper to reusable plates, napkins etc.

Speaking as an American myself, that's just . . . How do these people even dress themselves?

Don't despair of your fellow americans they are often met with the same "well duh!" that would occur to us. I guess they are just young and have grown up with those things as the norm.....on the same website is where I found out about cloth tp - so a broad spectrum!

I was just trying to show that some people, having grown up with something else as the norm, question the "hardwork" or hygiene of something that other people would laugh off.

[Urban Ayisha]

clara, i didnt realise you were so prggers! congrats! it says 39 weeks ad 6 days but im guessing its all done now? WOW! what an exciting time!!

in the islamic culture it is considered the pinnacle of your faith to mantain a level of hygiene and this includes cleaning your bum and bits with water after every time you go. my hubby is of muslim faith and the bum cleaning with water is one of his good habits i have adopted. soooo much more hygienic than coventional paper methods! we keep a plastic jug with an angled spout constantly filled with water by the loo and clean ourselves after every time. to dry, i use one flannel a day which doesnt get dirty as all you really end up doing is 'patting' yourself dry. you can buy said pots fairly cheaply but a small plastic watering jug (for plants) is basically the same thing!

a good analogy is... if your hands were dirty, you would wash them in clean water then dry them. as you would with your face. why not down 'there'?!

i have to say, we do use a little bog roll for number 2 but probably only one roll a month or so. we ran out the other day and my father in law had done a massive shop at costco and gave us a pack from the bulk load he had bought, and said "its not 'recycled' or anything like that, but its good value for money" as if being recycled was some posh luxury akin to quilted, padded, super soft, oyster pink with printed flowers!!!