The Real Deal With Cloth Diapers in Hong Kong?

T

thanka2

Registered User
Well, it's time again for me to consider if cloth diapering is worth it for the baby I'll give birth to early next year.

I'd like to hear the advantages vs disadvantages of cloth diapering in Hong Kong (especially if one doesn't have a washing machine with hot water and no electric dryer).

Some of the things I'm interested in are:
-How much did you spend initially to start cloth diapering?
-Which brand/style(s) did you decide upon and why?
-Where did you buy your diapers from?
-Any additional products you bought to help with the diapering? Cost?
-Durability of the products
-What type of system do you have for laundering (do you soak the dirty diapers first and then wash them or what?)
-Any other details that might be helpful?

Thanks for the input.
 
1) Not sure exactly, between $1000 - $1500
2) Fuzzi Buns on recommendation
3) 360
4) Biodegradable flushable liners about $65 for 100
5) Yep product lasts really well as long as you follow the washing instructions with regard to type of washing powders etc
6) Just wash them all at the end of the day. (We don't have a helper but I don't find it a big chore.)
We don;t have a dryer either, but they dry very fast in front of the dehumidifier. The inserts take longer so i have more of them.
Also, I waited until my baby was big enough to fit into the medium size (3 months I think) so I didn't have to buy two sets (she still fits medium now at 15 months) although other brands are one size fits all.
The Fuzzi Buns are recommended to be washed in Hot water, not sure about the other brands.
 
Have been using Mother Ease one-size cloth nappies and would highly recommend them. Visit www.mother-ease.com for lots of info.

1) About $2,500
2) Mother Ease one size nappies
3) Bought online and shipped to a US address. Hubby handcarried the lot back whilst on a biz trip there. You can buy in HK at City SUper, Wing On or Eco Mama. There is also a HK website. But the HK prices are about 40% higher than the online prices
4) Biodegradable nappy liners
5) Excellent, can be used for another baby. The helpers who 'inspected' my baby's cloth nappies are keen to have the set to ship back to Indon/Phils! They noticed my baby had a rather large bum (cloth is bulkier) and asked my helper.
6) Followed instructions on the Mother Ease website.
7) Get the largest biodegradable liners you can find to 'catch' baby's poo to avoid the yukkiest task which is washing a soiled nappy. I tried different brands and found the Mother Ease liners to be the largest. They are almost like kitchen towels - bought at Wing On. Also its best to make sure the nappy liners are biodegradable. Some brands are not, which means they could clog up loos. Also check out www.doubibou.com which is Macau based for cloth nappies & accessories. They do HK deliveries.

We virtually never use clothes dryers all year round, and with cloth nappies managed to get by with air-drying. If I recall correctly our set came with 24 nappies, 12 inserts and 4 plastic covers.
 
With the Fuzzi Buns there is a padded cloth insert. It is not disposable, just removable and you wash it separately (although in the same load!) If your baby is a heavy wetter you can put 2 inserts in to improve the absorbency. They come in different sizes just like the covers. When you purchase them you get one cover and one insert per package. The insert can also purchased separately if you need more.
The disposable part is optional, it is a paper liner similar to toilet paper (you can get biodegradable, flushable ones) and these sit against the baby's skin and 'catch' the solid material. You then flush this away rather than having to scrape/wash it from the nappy. However it is quite easy to do without these, especially after the first few weeks when it becomes more solid if you prefer to have nothing that is disposable. You may need to soak depending on the nappy brand however. Hope that helps.
 
I think eco-mama might sell Mother-ease nappies, as well (www.eco-mama.org). I've tried different cloth nappies and like mother-ease the best. They are very absorbent and last a very long time - I am using mine on our second child now. I've tried Fuzzi-bunz and bum genius pocket nappies and find that they do not hold as much pee as mother-ease and they leak very easily around the legs, which drives me nuts. The elastics in the legs and back of the pocket nappies needed to be replaced on the ones I bought - not a hard job, but time consuming. We wash in hot water and dry outside on the line or inside near the dehumidifier, depending on the season.
When I was looking for the 'best' kind of cloth nappy, I bought a few different types and then made a decision based on what I thought was the best. I really do think mother-ease are the best!
 
Contrary to what Flack said, I think the (paper) diaper liners are indispensible!! I suppose this depends on the consistency of your baby's poo, but from my experience there was absolutely no joy in scraping poo off the cloth liner!! Was hugely relieved to just plop the soiled liner into the loo!!

Yes Mother-ease diapers are available in HK but at a higher mark up.
 
I would recommend you take a look at www.cottonbabies.com and www.kellyscloset.com which are US sites but they answer a lot of your questions and compare a lot of brands.
I decided on Flip, by Bum Genius. They are a one size cover and I got 2 different types of inserts (microfibre and organic cotton) I really love them and to answer your questions....
1) $4200 but $1300 of that was shipping grom the US. (I bought 8 covers, 15 microfibre inserts and 15 organic cotton inserts, plus 2 wet bags and 3 packs of disposable liners incase of travel)
2) Flip by Bum Genius. Decided on these because they will last my little one for the duration of her nappy life and for the versatility - the microfibre inserts are amazing - keep baby completely dry like a disposable nappy would - they suck the wet through so no wet touching baby. Also I double up overnight so that no changes are necessary.
3) Purchased online from the US - I used Kelly's Closet because they would send internationally
4) The wet bags are great. Means I can use my cloth nappies happily when out and about for the day. They also sell disposable liners which I am yet to use but I think will be really handy when travelling
5) I've been using them for 6 months so far and they still look like brand new
6) I bought enough so that I only have to wash every 3 days roughly. Laundry instructions do recommend hot wash followed by cold wash as most effective method, however the hot wash cycle on my machine takes more than an hour and a half so i do a quick 30 minute warm wash and then a cold wash which takes 45 mins. There are sometimes poo stains still on the nappies after washing but the sun is your best friend to remove those. I try to have them outside to dry, although twice in the last 6 moths I have had to use the dryer because I didn't wash often enough and needed them urgently! They dry quickly on a rack inside near a heater or dehumidifier or will be dry overnight if not.
7) As mentioned above - check out the websites I mentioned. I did heaps of research and read loads of reviews before I made such a significant financial outlay. I am so pleased with my choice, everything working brilliantly for our family! Investment worth every cent.
 
Just a question about washing cloth diapers. Our washing machine only is connected to cold water but I read on the instructions in cloth that they need warm wash??
 
i also love my cloth nappies.
I use baby beehinds - i mostly went with them because my friend in australia is a rep for them. I can't remember how much i spent initially, but i think it's worth it! i'm not sure if you can get them here/get them shipped here (www.babybeehinds.com.au). i got enough to was roughly every 2nd day. they get a bit stinky if you leave them sitting for any longer than that!
i went with a mix of 'one size fits most' which need a liner (they press-stud onto the nappy) & a cover, and 'magic-alls', which are similar to fuzzibunz. for the one size fits most, the same nappy can be used from newborn to whenever (for most kids). i prefer these to the magic alls as i've found them to be generally more absorbent. the magic alls are good for when you're out as they're much easier to put on & take up less space in the wet bag (i would recommend getting at least 2 wetbags - i only got one & it always seemed to be in the wash when i needed it!)
as for extras, i got a few booster liners, which give some extra padding for night time. i also agree that flushable liners are the best thing ever! if there is some remaining poo, i just hose them off into the toilet (i have a hand-held shower head, right next to the loo).
i have never soaked them. I have hot water, so not sure how you'll go with cold only...but i thought the washing machine itself heated the water...maybe i'm wrong, or maybe it depends on the machine. I don't have a dryer & think that drying them in the sun is definitely the best way to go - gets rid of stains. i dry mine flat so the elastic doesn't stretch - that prolongs their life, apparently. if they get a bit stinky, i put a bit of bi-carb soda in with the wash & that seems to help. there are a lot of tips online about washing them, which i've looked at frequently!

you'll need a decent sized bucket with a lid, regardless of whether you'll soak or not.

i also bought cloth wipes, but in the end i didn't use them for long coz a few of them went mouldy over summer (they were wet for too long, i think).

that's all i can think of right now!
 
I am also investigating cloth diapers, and have found the cloth diaper reviews on youtube to be rather informative. Just type in the brand of cloth diapers you are researching.

Can anyone give any feedback on the Charlie Banana cloth diapers, which are available at ThreeSixty? Any good?
 
RileyC - I'm seriously considering buying the Charlie Banana nappies from 360. The price seems reasonable and I like the fact they can be used with either the cloth or disposable inserts. Additionally the website says you can wash in cold water (but recommends hanging in the sun). I haven't found any HK reviews but checked on Amazon and the reviews there are overall favourable, it seems a lot of Fuzzi Bunz users like them.

I also have Motherease which I used for my first from around 18 months, but I only ever used them at home and thus didn't bother with a cover or inserts. For the second I want something that has everything in one hence my interest in CB nappies.
 
Ozmerc, we should exchange notes on CB! I've decided to take the plunge and see how it goes. If I don't like it, I can always try something else.
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I'm also using cloth diaper for my baby at home. I use muslin, nappy liner and then a water proof cover. I recommend to use cloth diaper when baby don't poo as much or the poo is not as liquid. The liner is really a life saver when my baby poo on a cloth diaper. I then use disposable when I am out.
 
Hi ladies,

Have you had a chance to try to Charlie Banana diapers yet? I'm curious to know the results. Any problems with leaking? I saw them at Jason's marketplace and they seem decently priced.

Thanks!
 
If anyone is interested, I have 3 rumparooz all-in-one cloth diapers (includes 2 inserts for each diaper), wet bag, diaper pail bag, that I'd like to sell. The diapers are adjustable and can be used from newborn on. They were ordered new from the US. I was given these but found I prefer flats with water proof covers, so never used them.
 
evgreen - I've been using charlie banana diapers for a week now for my newborn. I bought 'one size' and they are pretty big on a 4kg baby, but both the waist and legs are adjustable. They seem to be fine - no major leakages so far (though a newborn doesn't produce that much!) and I'm happy with them. I chose them for the price (around $750 for about 6 diapers and inserts) plus they have a disposable system option (disposable inserts instead of cloth inserts) and they say to wash them in cold water or water less than 40 C. We only have cold water at home and some cloth diaper brands recommend warm to hot water. I figured out that we'd pay for them in around 2-3 months by using them in place of disposables.
 
thanks, ozmerc. very useful information. I'll probably give them a try. the amazon reviews look promising as well.
 
I just bought 12 size small Charlie banana diapers from 360. They are on promotion for $719/pack of six. It's even cheaper than the web sale price offered on Charliebanana.com...apparently they are a HK based company made in china which makes me feel better about buying from a local company!
 
evgreen said:
Hi ladies,

Have you had a chance to try to Charlie Banana diapers yet? I'm curious to know the results. Any problems with leaking? I saw them at Jason's marketplace and they seem decently priced.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not yet, but that's only because my baby hasn't arrived yet!
 
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