The Close brand of reusable baby wipes come in a gorgeous and soft rainbow pack of 10. They are made from a bamboo/cotton combination and come in a reusable mini wet bag. Bamboo is naturally very absorbent and anti-bacterial so it is an ideal material for nappying accessories.
To use reusable wipes, simply dampen with warm water or a wipes solution and wipe baby's bottom clean. The wipes are then washed along with your nappies and can be line or tumble dried.
Savings
Reusable wipes can save you up to $1000 per child if you're using the most environmentally friendly option.
But even the cheaper options, at an average of 6 cents per disposable wipe, will cost you over $130 a year if you use 6 a day. That's nearly $400 for 3 years of using the cheapest brand very conservatively! Many families use disposable wipes for everything from wiping bottoms, to fingers and noses, to cleaning the high chair at a fast food restaurant. Reusable wipes will do the same thing for a fraction of the cost!
What's in disposable wipes?
Disposable wipes contain a plethora of ingredients including glycerin, chloride and alcohol.
Some of the more awkwardly pronounced ingredients include propylene glycol and sodium lauryl sulphate, methyl and propyl parabens.
Many mainstream brands of disposable wipes contain propolen glycol, which is a chemical that is also found in anti-freeze and paint solvent. This ingredient has been linked to birth defects in laboratory animals (Material Safety Data Sheet, revised 25 November 2010).
Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) is a surfactant or in layman's terms, a detergent. It is used in baby wipes as a cleanser and in stronger doses in products which degrease car engines and clean floors. SLS is used extensively in body care products and give that 'foamy' look and feel and is a widely recognised skin irritant.
Methyl and propyl parabens are preservatives and are considered to be endocrine disruptors. This means that they mimic hormones and interfere with the endocrine system.
It has not been conclusively established that any of these products are carcinogenic, however we tend to err on the side of caution when it comes babies and their sensitive little bodies.