Earth Friendly Baby Wipes and Nappy Sacks Review

As you may know, I am a bit of a baby wipe snob. I am also someone who would always choose the environmentally friendly option, if it were as effective as other options which is why we have been reviewing some of the baby change products from the Earth Friendly Baby range.

When Lara was first born Earth Friendly Baby was one of the very first brands of baby wipe that we tried. I'll admit that I had totally forgotten that we had tried them but as soon as the packet of baby wipes arrived to review, I recognised the packaging. I was delighted to find that the scent of the Earth Friendly Baby eco baby wipes had improved since we first try them back in spring 2009 - the interesting fact here is that they are actually unfragranced, which means that you are at the mercy of the smell of the ingredients that the wipes contain. It seems that now the soft, floral smell of natural chamomile and calendula is strong enough to fight off the slightly raw, plant smell of aloe vera.

All of the plant-based ingredients in the Earth Friendly Baby eco baby wipes are organic in origin and the wipes are 100% biodegradable which for me is the single most important aspect of a baby wipe, given the volume of them we use with our babies in the UK. The strength and texture of the wipes is good, better than the supermarket own degradable wipes that I use. There are 72 wipes in a pack which makes the Earth Friendly Baby wipes a real competitor when it comes to value for money. My only negative comment is that I found the pack hard to open and because I had to yank the packet open at first, this made it tricky to reseal properly in the future.

I have found the wipes to be effective and kind to Lara's skin and I'd be happy to use them on the new baby when they get a little older.




The Earth Friendly Baby nappy sacks to me don't look any different to any supermarket branded nappy sack available. The material doesn't feel any different, size and number is no different (you get 50 to a roll) and the perforations between bags are no different. I found the bags hard to tear off the role, but then I found that with other brands too!. The only difference, as far as I can see is that the Earth Friendly Baby nappy sacks are 100% biodegradable, whereas many supermarket own brands ones are not. The nappy sacks have tie handles and are unfragranced. Simple and useful to have in your changing bag for when out and about so that you can take all your mess away in one go.

Earth Friendly Baby wipes can be bought in some supermarkets including Waitrose and John Lewis, larger Mothercare stores and in numerous online baby boutiques. You can follow Earth Friendly Baby on facebook for details of offers and competitons.

The Sunday Review - Cheeky Wipes Reusable Baby Wipes

A few months back, I blogged about re-using baby wipes. Several of my readers recommended Cheeky Wipes to me as an alternative to re-using packet wipes and then Cheeky Wipes got in contact to ask whether I wanted to give them a try... so I did! I had to find out for myself whether they were up to the hype.

Cheeky Wipes are re-usable, washable, towelling baby wipes that can be washed and re-used again and again. They come in a handy all-in-one kit which provides wipes, storage boxes, carry bags for when you are out and about, and a set of aromatic essential oils.

The concept is simple. Everything colour-coded in blue is for clean, fresh wipes. Everything colour-coded in red is for mucky, used wipes. When it comes to changing a nappy, you take a wipe from the blue box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of the blue oil that contains lavender and chamomile) , use the wipe and then discard it in the red box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of red oil that contains tea tree and lemon). If you are on the move, you can take clean wipes out with you in the blue bag, and bring them home for washing in the red bag. Easy.

We like the wipes. They're soft and kind to Lara's skin and they clean incredibly effectively... more so than any packet wipe I have tried. I'd say that the wipes themselves were a little small and they curl at the edges after washing. We find they wash well in our normal washing (although I do tend to put particularly mucky loads of wipes in with nappies or soiled clothes along with some nappy sanitizer) and they dry very quickly.

We like the oils. They smell fantastic and once again, I've not come across a brand of baby wipes of which I prefer the smell, not even Jackson Reece!

I love the idea of the blue/green storage boxes that sit on the shelf of my changing unit but I do struggle to find enough hands with which to open the boxes when we are mid-nappy-change. I also struggle with the mesh bag that I stretch over the mucky box to prevent me from having to handle the wipes when I put them in the washing machine - the bag absorbs the water from the mucky box and so does the draw-string. The draw-string rests against my wooden changing unit making it wet. I am reliably informed that all of these issues are being resolved with the launch of their new boxes at the end of February - well done Cheeky Wipes HQ!

This aside, the Cheeky Wipes really have changed things in the mellow household. I do occasionally need to buy a new pack of baby wipes for use in the nursery (for days when the Cheeky wipes are in the wash or still drying) but the number of packs I have bought since using the Cheeky wipes has reduced A LOT. For every weekly shop I do without needing to buy baby wipes, I can FEEL the money that I'm saving. I will, occasionally need to replace the bottles of essential oils and I was worried that this would be expensive, but the prices on the Cheeky Wipes website are competitive with any other aromatherapy retailer and, given how little you need to use, the bottles will last a long time.

I've enjoyed using the Cheeky Wipes and have been converted to re-usable wipes for nappy changes. I will definitely continue to use these baby wipes.

Would You Reuse Your Baby Wipes?

Have you ever thought about re-using baby wipes?

When Lara was first born, I did. Given that I had chosen to use reusable nappies, it seemed sensible to use reusable baby wipes too. When she was just a few weeks old, once I thought I was on top of things, I did try using a few cut up pieces from an old bed sheet as baby wipes but I wasn't impressed. I found that they didn't clean well and that it was hard to shift any solids from them before I put them into the nappy bucket.

At the time, I did look at branded reusable baby wipes but they seemed like a big expense and I wasn't sure that they'd be any more effective than my hand-made attempts.

And so, I reverted to disposable baby wipes. You will know from my Baby Wipe Index that I tend to opt for biodegradable wipes where possible but the cost still adds up and the amount of waste we generate is phenomenal - it seems a shame to be adding it.



A few weeks ago I blogged about how I had been converted to toddler wipes and I got a bit of friendly criticism on twitter about how this went against my green credentials. I promised to try re-using the toddler wipes that we use on Lara's face and hands after a meal.

Since writing that blog post back in October, I have used only 1 pack of the Vital baby face and hand wipes. Each time we finish a meal, I clean Lara up (using between 1 and 5 wipes) and then place the used baby wipes in a little pot on my window ledge. When I next come to do a white wash, I put the used wipes in to the washing machine.

I've tried this with some of the other baby wipes that I've had around the house and found that 'most' of the wipes just about survive the wash but that the Vital baby ones come out as good as new. I can put the Vital baby wipes through the wash umpteen times without worry of them disintegrating.

After they are clean and dry, I put the wipes into a sealed tupperware container with a little bit of calendula oil and a sprinkle of water. When I first started, I also added one or two drops of lavender and tea tree oil but I found I couldn't get a small enough amount evenly distributed over the wipes and the ones which ended up with all of the oil on irritated Lara's skin.

I have found that with just water and calendula oil the wipes smell lovely and are NEARLY but not quite as effective as they were when they first came out of the packet. I'm really happy as I am saving money and reducing my waste. I'm still not brave enough to give it another go with the nappy change wipes though!

Why I've Been Converted To 'Toddler Wipes'

I'd never quite understood why there was a market for 'toddler wipes' as well as 'baby-wipes'. Surely they're the same thing? Why do toddler wipes seem more expensive per-wipe? Until recently, I'd dismissed the thought.

Last month we went on holiday abroad. When you're travelling, it's hard to take everything you need with you. At home we tend to use kitchen roll or a cloth to tidy up Lara's mucky face after a meal. On holiday, we used baby wipes. By the end of a one-week holiday, Lara's face was red and raw with little spots all around her mouth. I was convinced it was to do with the baby wipes (We were using Pampers Sensitive).

Lara does have sensitive skin but I hadn't realised quite how different the skin on the face was to elsewhere on her body. For the days following our holiday, I made a conscious effort to use just water on Lara's face after meals but sometimes baby wipes are just so much more convenient for tidying up after a mucky toddler. A cloth needs washing after every single meal these days and kitchen roll seems to be eaten up at an astonishing rate. Baby wipes are just there, moist, effective and.... harsh on the skin.



I was sent a sample of the Vital Baby Hand and Face Wipes to try. They aren't marketed as baby wipes, and now I understand why. Since using the Vital Baby wipes at breakfast and dinner, Lara has had no problems whatsoever on the skin around her mouth. The Vital Baby wipes are paraben-free and alcohol-free which certainly helps.

I found the Vital Baby wipes to be a good size with a perfect level of moisture which made them effective at thoroughly cleaning. We all loved the apricot scent of the 'fruity' wipes but the unfragranced version was just as impressive.



We have been so impressed by the Vital Baby wipes that we have been out and bought a huge pile of them from Boots to keep in the kitchen and in the changing bag. Maybe there is a market for toddler wipes after all!

The Vital Baby wipes have just entered the Mellow Mummy baby wipe index at number 4 (They would have been higher if they were an all-purpose wipe).

Mellow Mummy's Baby Wipe Index

So how is this for a baby wipe review? A full index of british baby wipes as ranked by Mellow Mummy.

As much as I tell myself that baby wipes are an environmentally unsound solution to the mucky baby problem, I do use a lot of them. One day, I will try a re-usable wipe but for the time being, I'm on the lookout for the perfect baby wipe.

Since Lara was born I have tried a large number of different brands (and I'm still trying them, I have a few to add to the list over the coming weeks). I have decided to document them all (not just the ones for which I have written blog reviews) so that the world can share my thoughts on how they all rate compared to one another.

I have ranked each wipe based upon the criteria that are important to me as an environmentally conscious mum to a daughter with sensitive skin:-

1. Effective cleaning
2. Natural skin friendliness
3. Environmental Impact
4. Fragrance

Please excuse the enormous gap here - blogger insists on putting it there!

Rank	Brand	Pro	Con
1	Jackson Reece	Ticks all of the boxes	Hard to find on the high street
2	Waitrose	Best supermarket biodegradable	Hard to get out of packet
3	Clearly Herbal (standard)	Smells fab	Expensive and not biodegradable
4	Vital Baby	Paraben free, great scent (& unscented ones too)	Only suitable for face & hands
5	Pampers Sensitive	Large surface area	Still packed full of chemicals
6	Nature Babycare	Large surface area, kind to skin	Pricey, Lacking fragrance
7	Earth Friendly Baby	100% biodegradable and natural ingredients	Unattractive scent
8	Huggies Natural Care	Large packs, fresh scent	Disintegrate as you pull them out
9	Aldi Mamia	Unfragranced. Great price.	Dry out quickly.
10	Boots (sensitive)	Often available at a GREAT price	Too wet and still harsh on skin
11	Huggies Everyday Wipes	Fresh scent, good value	Funny texture and break easily
12	Tesco Baby (sensitive)	Average in all ways!	Packaging is not user friendly
13	Mio Wipes (Bambino Mio)	Biodegradable and kind to skin	Awful scent and VERY expensive per wipe
14	Natracare	Free from harmful chemicals	Smells like public loos
15	Johnsons (sensitive)	Gorgeous smell	Far too wet and foamy
16	Wilkinsons (standard)	Soft & good scent	Small and not absorbent
17	Huggies Pure	um...	They smell chemically and disintegrate
18	Pampers (standard)	Often on special offer	Very harsh on the skin

If you sell/make/represent a baby wipe that is not featured on this list and would like me to review it, you can contact me at jumblyMummy[@]gmail[.]com .

A Tale About The Indispensability of Baby Wipes

You may have noticed that I've been a bit quiet on the twitter, and blog front this week. I was enjoying some deserved time off – a short break with the munchkin to Center Parcs, which I shall review, in good time. For the time being though, I want to tell you a story about our return, and a lesson in ensuring you are prepared for anything!

So, I'm at the cattery ready to pick up munchkin number two from his holiday (he seems to enjoy himself at the cattery as much as we do on holiday, so I have no guilt leaving him there). I'm stressed because the blimin' credit card machine has rejected my card twice already (apparently there was a technical fault due to inclement weather... what???), I have no cash so I've been rushing in and out of the cattery trying to secure some form of payment from the husband who is sitting patiently in the car park. Finally, after coming to some sort of IOU arrangement with the proprietor I head in to pick up my cat who doesn't seem that thrilled to see me, and who I practically have to drag out of his cage (this may have something to do with the endless supply of biscuits, the staff who drool over him, the tortoises and budgies placed temptingly in front of his cubicle, and the soft heated blanket in his bed).

I trek back into the snow-covered car park and manage to squeeze myself in to the car with the cat carrier perched precariously on my lap. Just as the car engine starts, both me and the hubbie notice a very unpleasant smell, far worse than any nappy Lara has previously managed to produce! To our utter disgust, the cat has gone to the toilet in his basket between leaving his cage inside the cattery, and making it out to the car. There, at the far end of his basket, is the biggest poo known to man. The stench is overpowering; there is no way we are going to make it home. Argh.

I jump out of the car, cat basket in hand, and grab the nappy changing bag as I go. Armed with a nappy sack and a handful of baby wipes I feel prepared to take on the challenge! Goodness only knows what I'd have done pre-baby, back in the days before I kept a stash of baby wipes on me at all times! The smell is obscene! I've spent the last 6 months cleaning up someone else's poo (Lara's, not my husband's!) but nothing has prepared me for this.

With my hands covered in a protective layer of baby-wipe, I tentatively open up the top of the cat basket in an attempt to reach the offending article (mysteriously the cat is sitting at the opposite end of his carrier, totally oblivious to the stress he is causing me at this time). Before I know it, the cat has rocketed out of the basket like a jack-in-the-box and is legging it across the car park, back towards the door of the cattery.

At this point, the hubbie steps out of the car, offering to help. You should see his face when he notices that not only is the poo still in situ, but that the cat basket is devoid of cat, and that I am now sprinting, like a white, overweight Usain Bolt, across the car park, wildly waving a nappy bag. I set the hubbie to work dealing with the poo, while I chase after the stowaway cat. I finally manage to isolate the cat under someone else's car. He's sat there, just out of reach, miaowing with a vengeance.

By now, there are other customers arriving and the sight of me, on all-fours, up to the elbows in snow, peering mysteriously under a stranger's car has obviously started people talking! Members of staff now appear bearing cat treats and blankets. We have the car surrounded.

At this point, it's probably worth saying that my cat is a rescue cat; he's nervous and distrustful of most human beings. Being surrounded by anxious humans in the snow probably isn't his idea of fun. I know it isn't mine. After a few (increasingly freezing) minutes sitting in the melting snow with no gloves and no jacket, calling his name and shaking the cat treats tantalisingly, the cat finally plucks up courage to show his face. I make a grab for him (by now I'm practically face-first in the snow) and physically haul him, limbs flailing everywhere, from beneath the car.

With the crisis averted, we get back into the car... I retrieve the nappy sack from the ground but we are both too embarrassed to head back into the cattery to get rid of it, so we end up driving off with the evil-smelling stench-bag still in tow. Once we are far enough away that we think no-one will notice, we find a bin to put it in!

The cat has forgiven us now and has remembered that home is just as much fun as the cattery. He is currently sitting on the hubby's lap, getting hugs. So, let that be a lesson to you – take baby wipes with you EVERYWHERE.

On a totally unrelated theme, stay tuned for Lesson 3 in my series on 'Free baby stuff', coming as soon as I find time to write it!

My Baby Wipe Wishlist

Jackson Reece Kinder By Nature Baby Wipes

Ever since Lara was born, 5 months ago, I have been on the lookout for a baby wipe that does four simple things:

1. Effectively cleans up nappy mess!
2. Naturally cares for baby bottoms, faces and hands
3. Bio-degrades and therefore flushes guilt-free down the toilet
4. Smells nice (trust me, the number of wipes you get through as a mum, you can't be doing with a baby wipe that smells worse than the stuff it is designed to wipe away!)

I've tried about 10 different types of wipe up until now and (mainly because the hubbie was fed up of me experimenting with different brands... some of them appalling) had recently decided to plump for a brand that only achieved 3 of the 4. Up until now I'd found that most biodegradable baby wipes either smelled of public toilets, or were totally and utterly useless.

I've recently tried Jackson Reece 'Kinder By Nature' flushable wipes and I think I've finally found a brand that ticks all of the boxes.

EFFECTIVENESS:-

The wipes are noticeably softer than any other baby wipes I've tried; they are strong (which is rare, for a degradable wipe), quite stretchy and great for getting in between tiny little mucky fingers and for in between gorgeous plump legs.

KIND TO BABY'S SKIN:-

The blurb states that 99% of the ingredients that go into the wipes are plant or vegetable based, meaning I have no worries about putting shed-loads of unidentifed chemical nonsense on my baby's skin. Perhaps more importantly, it means that there isn't the waft of a chemical cloud every time I open the packet as there is with some of the bigger named brands.

The wipes are hypoallergenic and dermatalogically tested so would be great for babies and little ones with sensitive skin.

BIODEGRADABLE:-

This really is the most important factor to me as a mum... but, weirdly enough, its also the one point on my wish list, which, up until now, I've been willing to sacrifice. The other degradable wipes on the market just aren't good enough – not soft enough, not cheap enough, not fragrant enough etc. etc. As environmentally-minded as I am, I won't use an eco-friendly product just for the sake of it – it has to compete, functionally, with the evil environmentally unfriendly option.

To me, it just makes so much sense for a baby wipe to be biodegradable – even if you can't bring yourself to use an eco-friendly nappy (which, actually, I do... and I find works really well for me and my munchkin) then the least you can do is to prevent the ever-growing baby wipe mountain building up in landfill. A baby wipe seems like a small thing, but when you think about the number you get through in a week... well, need I say more? The great thing about the Jackson Reece wipes is that not only is the wipe biodegradable (in just 8 days), but the packaging is too. Genius.

SWEET-SMELLING:-

Wow, the fragrance of the Jackson Reece wipes is pretty strong and I guess, if it wasn't your thing then it would be mighty overpowering. But the fragrance (mostly) comes from those natural ingredients such as lavender, tea tree and aloe vera so they smell just lovely to me and they leave a fresh waft of loveliness in the nursery every time I change a nappy.

So, that's it, I've found a baby wipe that does all the things I want it to. And, their RRP is cheaper than my existing brand (that's not to say you can actually find anywhere that sells them at that price!). Now I just need to find a local shop that stocks them! Jackson Reece baby wipes are stocked by some Sainsburys, Londis and Budgens stores but they are also available online at a number of websites (for more details, see www.jacksonreece.com ).