Green Bottoms Up!

Here is a copy of the article on cloth diapers in the Time Daily in Florance, AL

Interesting article, but please note that I would NEVER suggest the use of bleach on cloth diapers. NEVER. But hey cloth diapers in the news is always a good thing! YAY cloth!


Many parents returning to cloth diapers
By Jennifer Crossley,
Staff Writer


Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:27 p.m.
Most of them are soft, smell like baby powder and favor pastels. That's not a description of infants, but the trendy diapers that pad their bottoms.



Cloth diapers are en vogue for parents choosing efficiency over convenience. But if you imagine those diapers as big pieces of white square cloth, think again. Today’s cloth diapers sport a variety of patterns and colors. Convenient Velcro fasteners do away with the need for sharp pins that too often stick Mom and baby, too.

Daniel Giles/TimesDaily photo illustration
Cloth diapers, once the only choice for mothers generations ago, are en vogue with snaps and Velcro and other added conveniences.

The diapers ride the green wave for families hoping to cut back on the amount of waste they produce. Others turn to them for their cost efficiency, though more expensive diapers with waterproof liners can cost upward of $15.

The Baby's Room in Florence started carrying cloth diapers about five years ago to meet customer wants.

"We did actually have a lot of people asking for cloth diapers for years, and the number of requests got larger and larger," said store manager Angela Kitching.

After the requests piled up, Kitching researched more diapers and added a trendy, colorful alternative to the less-

expensive brand she already carried.

Bambino Mio originated in England, as its packaging labeled nappies, the English word for diapers, proclaims.

From pastel polka dots to green and blue stars, plastic lines the inside of the diapers, which with a squint of the eye could pass for disposable diapers, save their Velcro and soft cotton covers.

For those who picture the bunched-up materials of yesterday molded to their babies bodies when they think of cloth diapers, think again. Most padding consists of thick, quilted rectangles meant to be tri-folded for extra absorbency. Other diapers include pockets to slip in padding and remove to wash.

Trusted baby brands hopped on the cloth bandwagon, too, including Gerber, which makes diapers from organic cotton. The diapers also are big on the Web, with sales of handmade diapers on Etsy and other merchant sites.

Marie Sawyer, of Franklin, Tenn., is one of those moms who sells diapers online. After the birth of her daughter, she wanted to continue the green lifestyle her family embraced.

"We decided when we had a baby we were going to include that into her care, also," Sawyer said.

After searching for retailers selling cloth diapers around Franklin to no avail, she decided to carry different brands on her online boutique, Green Pixie Baby. Diapers on the site by Happy Heinys come in a rainbow of colors and cow and monkey prints. Sawyer even sells cloth diaper advocacy T-shirts on the site.

"We've had tremendous feedback from the community," Sawyer said.

The biggest questions she gets from customers considering purchasing the diapers are "Will I have time to do laundry?" and "What do I do with the poopy diapers?" Enter liners. Some companies that produce diapers also sell biodegradable and flushable liners that look like dryer sheets to slip over padding to catch solid waste.

When it comes to washing and drying, the test of going cloth arises. For parents who choose not to purchase liners, they may wipe what they can off the diaper into the toilet and then rinse, followed by a little scrubbing and bleach in the washing machine and hot air in the dryer. In following with earth-friendly practices, line drying applies in warm months.

For all their advantages, the diapers require compromise, too, mostly of time.

Sawyer, who travels a lot, worried that using the diapers would create unnecessary hassle on trips.

"We were concerned with traveling and were wondering how it would be to travel with cloth diapers," she said.

It wasn't as hard as she thought, it turns out. She just used laundry facilities at the hotel, washing and drying as needed.

It's the constant washing though, that turns some people off to the idea of cloth diapers, despite their evolution.

That's what comes to mind when Diane Willis thinks of cloth diapers. "Wash, wash, wash, wash them and wash them," said Willis, director of First Assembly Child Care and Development Center in Florence, with a laugh.

"I used them because I had to."

She's noticed no children at First Assembly wearing cloth diapers.

"I've been in this business for 27 years, and I have not had the first child in cloth diapers," she said.

The trend took a while to get off the ground at The Baby's Room, but cloth diaper devotees remain faithful.

"It was definitely a slow start, and when they first came in I kept them close to the door and had people asking about them, and I now I have people asking about them because their friends have them," Kitching said.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley@timesdaily.com.

On the net

greenpixiebaby.blogspot.com