I was speaking to a client the other day, showing her some nappies at home.
After using terry cloth squares with her two older children, she was really excited about cloth nappying her new baby with modern cloth, but it turns out her husband was against the idea.
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Why?
Because of COST.
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Now I won’t deny that using modern cloth is more economical compared to disposable nappies, but when faced with someone who has previously used terry cloth nappies without a problem, the cost argument pretty much falls flat on its face.
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Quite simply, using cotton terry cloth nappies are THE most economical way to use cloth nappies.
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And having said that, who hasn’t used terry cloth nappies on occasions when the modern cloth stash has fallen short, due to long winter days (nappies not dry), young baby (more changes but not enough nappies) and simply for the simplicity of it all?
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These are the tips I collated for the client to make her cloth journey easier with terry flats:
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1. Washing routine:
If you have a modern washing machine, there is no need to soak the soiled nappies in a nappy bucket with Napisan or Miltons.
Simply use the modern cloth washing routine of
a. scrap off solid waste into toilet and store in a dry pail.
b. first prewash without detergent, then wash in half the recommended amount of detergent on warm/hot
(detergent needs to have no fabric softeners, no optical brighteners or enzymes).
c. line dry in the sun (kills germs and removes stains).
a. After taking off the nappy, rinse off solid waste into the loo, and place in a dry pail for wash day
b. First prewash with no detergent to rinse off excess urine, then warm wash with 1/3-1/2 recommended dose of detergent.
3. Line-dry in the sun
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Being cotton and having no elastic, hot washes are fine, and using a hot dryer is definitely ok, though cotton dries fast enough without requiring a dryer.
If bleach is used, ensure the nappies are thoroughly rinsed to prevent skin irritations for your baby.
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2. Reusable stay-dry nappy liners:
Simply go to Spotlight (or your local fabric store) and purchase 50cm-1m of microfleece (100% polyester fleece), not thick polar fleece but the thinner ones. Cut them to about 13 x 33 cm and lay one in the nappy under baby’s bottom.
This keeps baby feeling dry, replicating the stay-dry inners found in modern cloth nappies.
It is also softer than cotton terry (which tends to get crunchy at times), and poo is easier to scrape off liner instead of getting stuck in the terry towelling.
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3. Snappi fasteners:
This is an alternative to using safety pins. It’s a rubber fasterner shaped in a T with grippers to grip onto the terry without piercing through the cloth. These you can buy in BigW, packs of 3 for about $9.
4. It is still a good investment to get good PUL modern covers to prevent frustrating blowouts.
PUL covers are more breathable compared to PVC pilchers, helping to reduce leaks and reduce red rashy bottoms.
They also last longer than PVC pilchers.
Rotate 2 covers per day, air drying the previous cover between changes and wash at the end of the day or if poo soiled.
They dry very fast so at least 4-6 is a good number to start off with.
Small babies can use 4-6 Small size with terries, which will fit past 6 months before needing to upgrade to medium size.
Do you have any more tips to use flat nappies to cloth nappy on a budget?
I’ve never done cotton panel nappies before. Using cotton on the outside of a brown minky nappy made me nervous (flashback to customers finding leaks when I did cotton outer nappies when I first started!), but the effect is cute enough that I would consider making more.
I find I need time and practice to get into the groove of making something new. I’m never comfortable with asking for money for a new technique I simply picked up in 1-2 hours, unless it turned out perfect! 
Isn’t he a cutie?
Photos used with permission: livingserenely.blogspot.com
