This time we talk about Cloth Nappy styles. When I say, cloth nappy styles do you think of types of nappies or how they look. Lucky we cover both subjects.

 

Transcription: #60 Cloth Nappy styles

[Music]

Andrew: How are you doing, Vashti?

Vashti: Good thanks Andrew, how are you?

Andrew: Good.

Vashti: Why are you giggling at me? Anyone would think you hadn’t said hello to me yet this morning. 

Andrew: It just amazes me how quickly you put on your podcast voice. 

Vashti: It’s awesome, isn’t it?

Andrew: Hello Vicki.

Vicki: Hi, Andrew.

Andrew: She doesn’t have a podcast voice. 

Vicki: Just me.

Vashti: My Mum calls it my P.R. voice.

Andrew: Your P.R. voice.

Vicki: I’ve heard it at expos. It’s like a switch. 

Andrew: So, what are we doing today? So thanks everybody for listening to the podcast, we really appreciate your reviews, and we got a review here for Lucky Katie7. 

Vashti: Lucky Katie.

Andrew: Lucky Katie.

Vashti: Lucky us.

Vicki: Is Lucky Katie going to be lucky, or having a baby in nine months’ time?

Andrew: Maybe.

Vicki: I reckon there’s a baby boom coming. 

Vashti: There is.

Andrew: Oh yeah, there’s a lockdown baby boom coming.

Vicki: There is.

Vashti: Or there’s a divorce boom coming. One or the other.

Andrew: We already know there’s a rush on the bottle shops, so could be both. 

Vicki: We’re going to call it Iso AA. I think I might head it up.

Andrew: So her heading is heavy on fluff, light on content. Some good content sandwiched between a lot of waffle. I wish they’d edit the podcast and cut down the blah, blah, blahs. Just to let you know, I do cut the podcast down. There was an episode recently I cut 20 minutes out of. 

Vashti: Wow. Sorry, Katie.

Andrew: Mainly because of the poor audio, but yes, I do actually edit the episodes. You should see the episodes. A couple of, when people come up to me at shows and stuff like that and ask how many, how long it takes to do the podcast, and I usually tell them it takes between 5 to 10 minutes per minute of what you’re listening to. And just lately it’s actually been more than that. I do cut a lot out. Sorry about that.

Vicki: Don’t feel sorry for him.

Andrew: I’m obviously not cutting enough of her, enough of it out for her.

Vashti: Sorry, Katie. 

Andrew: We’ll do better, Katie. No, we really won’t. 

Vashti: I don’t know if Vicki and I could cut the fluff. So. [laughter]

Andrew: They can’t see you padlocking your lips closed, Vicki.  Well actually, one of the reasons I get the girls to do this, obviously none of us get paid. We do this just basically to inform people. And the way I sold it to Vicki, I said Vicki, all you’ve got to do is talk to your best friend for 20 to 40 minutes, and just let me guide the conversation. And she goes yeah, I can do that. Thus the podcast was born.

Vashti: It was. Vicki is not saying anything. She’s cutting the fluff.

Andrew: She gave us two stars, you know, so she’s obviously not really disappointed with the fluff. 

Vashti: That’s good.

Andrew: And that’s obviously in response to Vicki’s request for honest feedback. Thank you.

Vicki: Yeah, yeah.

Vashti: I think it’s good.

Andrew: Constructive feedback, because now it doesn’t look like we’re fake. So I hope everybody had a good Star Wars Day the other day.

Vicki: You do realise it’s still April?

Andrew: For us. We’re talking in the past.

Vashti: So May the 4th.

Andrew: May the 4th, yeah.

Vashti: Two of my best friends, that’s their wedding anniversary.

Vicki: I know someone who was married on May the 4th

Vashti: Big shout out to Andrew and Sarah, if you’re listening. Not that you are, because you’ve got teenagers.

Andrew: It’s quite a commitment now, Star Wars Day. Star Wars Day you’re supposed to watch all the Star Wars movies, but there’s so many now.

Vashti: Oh really? Gosh.

Andrew: You can’t watch them in a day anymore.

Vicki: And who’d waste their time anyway?

Vashti: They can’t see your hand up, Andrew. 

Andrew: I know. And the 15th is Choc Chip Day.

Vashti: Choc Chip Day? What do you do on Chop Chip Day?

Andrew: I don’t know, I’m just deliberately adding waffle at the moment. 

Vashti: You’re shocking. I was going to say something else then.

Vicki: This is all my planning. This is all of my planning, he thinks that he’s really smart and that he’s got it. No, this was me back in January…

Andrew: Oh yeah, I’ve just copied this.

Vicki: Copy in my plan.

Andrew: Literally copied and pasted it.

Vashti: OK, what’s Choc Chip Day then Vicki?

Vicki: I don’t know, it’s just International Choc Chip Day. So I assume that you make choc chip cookies or you eat chocolate chips. I don’t know, it’s like International Women’s Day.

Andrew: It’s just the way Cadbury get people to buy choc chips out of the Coles.

Vashti: Awesome.

Vicki: After Easter. 

Vashti: OK, so what was that, the 15th?

Andrew: Eighteenth.

Vashti: Eighteenth. 

Andrew: No, sorry, the 15th.

Vashti: Fifteenth.

Andrew: And the 18th is No Dirty Dishes Day.

Vashti: Well that’s not going to happen in my house.

Andrew: And 28th is Hamburger Day. 

Vicki: That’s right, I know why I picked Hamburger Day, but depends when this publishes.

Andrew: This publishes before Hamburger Day.

Vicki: Before Hamburger Day, OK. Because I have ideas for Hamburger Day. 

Vashti: Are you going to share?

Vicki: No.

Andrew: And so I didn’t copy and paste them, so I don’t know either.

Vashti: Dammit. 

Andrew: So onto the show. Today we’re doing nappy style. Now, when we’re talking nappy styles are we talking different types of nappies or are we talking about the cute prints that a lot of brands put on them these days?

Vicki: You’re the host.

Andrew: What do you think?

Vicki: You’re the host.

Andrew: Oh, I’m the host?

Vashti: Sorry, I missed that. I was too busy scrolling Facebook. 

Andrew: I am so cutting that out. 

Vashti: Honestly, I’m sorry. 

Andrew: There’s something else I cut out too. You know how you hear Vashti laughing? You hear a fifth of what Vashti laughs. Sometimes less.

Vashti: You’re cutting all that out, aren’t you? 

Andrew: So nappy styles. So when I saw this subject I thought, are we doing the styles of nappy or are we doing the cute prints? So I thought we’d cover a little bit of each.

Vashti: Oh, OK.

Andrew: So who’s got some cute prints out? What’s your favourite print out there at the moment Vashti, I know you’ve got one.

Vashti: I’m loving Maui by Petite Crown. Absolutely… it’s a beautiful print that was just released in April, and we almost sold out of it in a week, in under a week. 

Andrew: What’s the print of? 

Vashti: It’s whales with these beautiful blue bubbles. The pictures, when I was ordering it, the pictures just didn’t do it justice. It turned up, and I went OK, I’ve definitely under ordered on this one. And I had, it went like there was no tomorrow. So I’m really hoping Maui has more, because it was, I don’t think Maui was even prepared for how quickly it went. 

Andrew: Does every brand do colourful prints now?

Vashti: Most brands.

Vicki: Don’t look at me, I don’t know.

Andrew: Well you know Bubblebubs does. 

Vicki: Yeah.

Vashti: Yeah, Bubblebubs does gorgeous prints. But we just, I did a photo one up a while ago and there was something like six brands who had whale prints out all at the same time. Bubblebubs was in there with deep blue. 

Vicki: That was the whales with the hot air balloons?

Vashti: No, deep blue was the…

Vicki: Oh yeah, yeah. The dark background.

Vashti: Whale of a time was the hot air balloons.

Vicki: That’s it, yeah.

Vashti: You’ve done whales a few times actually. Whales are very popular just recently.

Andrew: And dinosaurs. 

Vashti: Dinosaurs are always popular.

Vicki: Dinosaurs are always popular. We’ve run dinosaurs almost every print range for the last four, five print ranges.

Andrew: And it’s still the first one that goes?

Vashti: Yeah.

Vicki: Pretty much.

Andrew: Why don’t we just do all dinosaurs for a print range?

Vashti: Well I was talking to Vicki about dinosaurs last night. We’ll wait and see if it comes off.

Vicki: I’ve already picked the next range.

Vashti: Yeah I know, but the range after, maybe.

Vicki: Which is like next year.

Vashti: I know.

Vicki: I’m not kidding, it is actually next year. 

Andrew: That’s right, that’s how far in advance Vicki has to order stock.

Vashti: Yeah, so don’t ask me what my favourite print is, because I cannot tell you, because it won’t be out until September. 

Andrew: So you’ve got a favourite…

Vashti: Yes.

Andrew: It’s always like that though isn’t it, there’s always a favourite one in the last batch you did.

Vicki: I can tell you, well there’s actually two. I can’t tell you one of them because it’s very specific, but I can actually say one of them has got a gecko on it, and that’s going to be my favourite.

Andrew: Any dinosaur ones?

Vicki: No.

Andrew: What, no dinosaurs?

Vicki: I really don’t know. 

Vashti: You don’t have a…

Vicki: So much comes through that is in production, about to be produced, or you know, working on getting all of the art files and all of that kind of stuff, and working on the next range that…

Vashti: You’re like three ranges ahead most of the time.

Vicki: Yeah. 

Andrew: Have to be because…

Vicki: And I was planning to actually drop the, drop it down, instead of doing nine prints every three months, I was actually planning to do six prints every two months. But again, that has gone out the window due to production. 

Vashti: Have to actually, that’s another one that I’m loving at the moment, it’s about to drop. It will have dropped by the time this one happens, is Ceiling(?) Babies new native range. They’re pretty gorgeous. 

Andrew: Native range, what has it got pygmies on it?

Vashti: Native flowers.

Andrew: Native flowers, nice.

Vashti: Yeah, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Vicki: I love girly prints, but they never sell. Everybody says they want a feminine print. They want flowers and all.

Andrew: Audrey’s doing alright though. 

Vicki: That’s actually been the first, like it is so overly pink it’s not funny.

Vashti: It’s so in your face girly.

Vicki: It’s a pink chipmunk with pink peonies and you know…

Andrew: The first pink nappy to sell. 

Vashti: It’s like it vomited pink.

Vicki: It did. 

Vashti: But it’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely beautiful. 

Vicki: It’s a perfect newborn nappy actually.

Andrew: OK, so let’s go to styles, and let’s start with, what’s the easiest one to put on?

Vashti: And all in one. 

Andrew: All in one?

Vashti: Yeah, because it’s just one piece. There’s nothing to think about. You’ve got all your absorbency stitched in, you’ve got your water resistant shell and you’ve got your closures, be it Velcro or snaps. So it is really, it is exactly the same as a disposable. The only difference is that you wash it.

Andrew: Are they one size? Can you get one sized versions of those, or are they sized?

Vashti: Yeah, you can get sized, one sized, newborn. Extra large.

Andrew: One size fits most, can you get one size fits most in those?

Vashti: Yep.

Andrew: Excellent. So OK, the next one is ones that need an extra step, where you’ve got to assemble the nappy first. What styles would they be?

Vicki: Your pockets and all in twos. 

Andrew: What do you have to do beforehand? So the stuffits, you’ve got to actually stuff it? 

Vicki: You’re asking a person who doesn’t do a pocket. I don’t like pockets.

Andrew: We had pockets though.

Vicki: We had some really cool shark pockets. They actually looked like a shark.

Andrew: You didn’t buy them because they were pockets, you bought them because they were sharks?

Vicki: Yeah, yeah, I don’t like pockets. I’ve never really liked pockets.

Vashti: Pockets are good for day care. I liked my pocket nappies for day care because it meant that the day care staff had a really easy, simple nappy to put on, because it was all one piece, but I got to pull it apart and throw the inserts through the clothes dryer. 

Andrew: So you assembled it before?

Vashti: Yeah. I’d put it all together.

Andrew: So as far as they were concerned, it was an all in one.

Vicki: That’s my objection to them. I just do not like, and it was always, because we didn’t have that many pockets, every single pocket always had one of those fruit poos that just went everywhere. And you’re unstuffing a nappy…

Vashti: That’s full of poo.

Vicki: …so you just cannot not get it on your hands, and it was just revolting. And you can wash the poo off beforehand, which just makes the inserts even wetter, or you can pull them out. It’s just…

Vashti: I will admit, I wasn’t a huge fan of pockets. They were not my preferred nappy, and they were the last one that I reached for. But as far as day care went, I thought they were fantastic for day care. Because nine times out of ten, my kids pooed first thing in the morning when they were at day care, so I got to deal with it before they went to day care.

Andrew: I remember when the kids started eating grapes. Not grapes, sorry…

Vashti: Sultanas?

Andrew: Sultanas. Yeah…

Vashti: Yeah, and they poo grapes.

Andrew: They poo grapes. They eat a sultana and it comes out a grape. Because they didn’t chew it properly.

Vashti: Yep, it just gets swallowed whole.

Andrew: I remember those days, it was hilarious. 

Vashti: No, I mean pockets weren’t my preferred, but they had their place in our stash.

Andrew: OK, so pockets you’ve got to stuff. An all in two nappy you’ve got to actually put it together first too, don’t you.

Vashti: Yeah.

Vicki: Yeah.

Vashti: So it will have an insert that snaps or clips in somehow into the shell.

Vicki: Or sometimes don’t they have elastic at the top? Like you can actually just poke it in.

Vashti: You can. Most of those…

Vicki: Is Thirsties like that? 

Vashti: Yeah, the Thirsties Duo Wraps you can buy inserts for those, that just lay inside the wrap.

Vicki: Yeah, so the top and the bottom go over…

Vashti: They’ve got a…

Vicki: It’s like a mini pocket. 

Vashti: Yeah, it’s got like a little gusset at the top that you can just slide it under. But I feel that’s more of a prefold with cover situation. A true all in two to me, is where the insert actually clips in somehow, doesn’t just lie in. And that’s the other thing with pockets, you don’t actually have to stuff a pocket. You can just lay the inserts on top of the shell and use it like a prefold or a flat and cover situation. 

Vicki: And that’s always what I found is the advantage of an all in two, over the pocket, is you can reuse the shell, which you can’t do with the pocket.

Vashti: Well not with my kids. My kids were prolific pooers. 

Andrew: Prolific. 

Vashti: Prolific pooers. And like my kids had mushy poo. I never, ever had the holy grail of poo, which was plopable. My kids always did mushy poos.

Vicki: See, we did, except if they’d been sitting in it a long time.

Andrew: Except those grapes. They just fell off. 

Vicki: Yeah, when they go through that fruit bat stage, that’s pretty foul.

Andrew: Where they eat fruit bats? That’s how we got the coronavirus, isn’t it?

Vicki: Yeah, true.

Andrew: Now, ones that take a little bit more assembly. Flats. If you pre fold all your flats up, you’re pretty good though, aren’t you?

Vicki: I used to fold them for my niece actually. So my niece is 30 something now, so I was 12 when she was born.

Andrew: She’s got her own kids.

Vicki: She’s got her own kids, some of her kids are older than my kids. But yeah, I remember baby sitting and folding up terry flat squares for her. And back when I could clearly fold a flat. Can’t do it now.

Vashti: See, I used to pre fold all the flat for Braith when he was a baby, and Brent stil wouldn’t touch them. He just would not use them. So you can pre fold them. They’re not for everyone. They do take a little bit more work, and you’ve got to be a bit more careful when you’re unfolding them, because if you pick them up by the corner, you’ll unfold the whole thing. 

Andrew: Yeah, it all comes apart.

Vashti: But there’s lots of easy folds for a flat as well. You don’t have to do elaborate origami fold on your flat. You can just sort of fold it into a…

Vicki: Triangle it.

Vashti: …pad or into a triangle.

Andrew: But if you’ve got a good cover that’s going over the top of it, you can be a bit more lazy with a flat. 

Vashti: Yeah, definitely. You just have to fold it into a pad and sit it in the flat. If you want the wing coverage, like the hip coverage, yes you can sort of fold it into a triangle and just bring the corners around and it will work.

Andrew: Some people don’t even use snappies or pins either, they just keep it on with the cover.

Vashti: Yep. So flats are probably one of your most versatile nappies, because they really can be used for everything, and they’re so quick drying and easy wash as well. I always say, have a stash, have a pack of flats in your stash as emergency back up nappies. Use them as spew cloths and burp rags and change table covers. Flats are awesome. They’re very under rated.

Andrew: We’ve pretty much gone down the pricing structure too. We’ve started with some of the most expensive ones, and we’ve come down the pricing structure. The flats are probably the cheapest.

Vashti: They are, the most cost effective. But you have skipped a couple of nappies in there too, Andrew.

Andrew: I have skipped a couple of nappies, yes. 

Vicki: That’s no unusual, we’ve only been doing this for 15 years, you can’t expect him to know everything. 

Vashti: He’s just the muscle, he’s not the brains.

Andrew: I’m technical support.

Vashti: You are. 

Andrew: Fitteds, kind of a little bit like flats, except they’re shaped?

Vashti: Pretty much. So most fitteds have elastic in the legs, and they’ve got saps or Velcro or something like that. The Bam Bams and the Bigs don’t have any closures. And Raw has just brought out their contoured prefolds. So that doesn’t have any closures. But it doesn’t have as much absorbency, it’s just one piece, you’ve got to buy extra pieces to add absorbency to it.

Andrew: So when they say contoured, do they just mean with elastic in it? 

Vicki: It’s just shaped, it’s a shaped flat.

Andrew: It’s a shaped flat?

Vashti: Yeah, they’ve sort of, they’ve got the front, it’s a prefold at the front, and it sort of comes out into a t-shape almost, and they do have a little bit of elastic where the legs would be, but not much.

Andrew: OK, and it still needs a cover?

Vashti: It still needs a cover.

Andrew: How long have they been out?

Vashti: Very recent release, we don’t even have them at Nest yet. 

Andrew: Oh, don’t you? OK. I was going to sent people there, but obviously I can’t do that.

Vashti: Yeah, well Tasmania, or Northern Tasmania has gone into Level 4 lockdown late last week, or late last month.

Vicki: What’s Level 4?

Vashti: Level 4 is like nothing, like New Zealand.

Vicki: Oh, OK.

Andrew: Nothing in, nothing out.

Vashti: Northern Tasmania went into Level 4 lockdown.

Andrew: Except for they’ve have to get food though.

Vashti: So we’re not getting, I was just on the verge of putting in an order when they went into Level 4. So by the time this airs, we may have them at Nest. But I mean, we sell so many Bam Bams anyway. We’ve got other fitteds and we just still, Bam Bams are the most popular, and there’s a reason for that, they’re amazing. That’s why we got the Bigs. 

Andrew: A gentle plug there. It’s supposed to be non-branded.

Vashti: Sorry.

Andrew: But hopefully by the time this airs, you’ll have those in, and you’ll have an opinion of them. You obviously haven’t put them onto a baby yet. It’s hard to tell.

Vashti: No, we haven’t tried them yet, I’ve only seen pictures…

Andrew: When you stick them on a baby…

Vashti: …of them and stuff like that. So we’re hoping to, as soon as this Level 4 lockdown eases in Northern Tasmania, we’ll get some in and have a play with them. And if they meet all our criteria, they’ll end up on the shelf. 

Andrew: Nice. And you do have quite a few criteria, don’t you? 

Vashti: We do. So anything that hits the shelves at Nest generally goes through a minimum of two to three months testing, before it goes onto the shelf.

Andrew: Because you’ve got a bunch of customers who actually try new things out for you, haven’t you?

Vashti: We do, we have several customers.

Andrew: Because you don’t have a baby anymore.

Vashti: I don’t.

Andrew: Last one on my list is prefolds. What’s a prefold?

Vicki: Prefold is like a flat, except it’s sewn. It’s in three pieces, like a trifold. And it’s got extra absorbency in the middle. So there is no set rhyme or rhythm for that. It can be two pieces in the side, four pieces in the centre, and two pieces on the other side. Or it can be eight, twelve, eight, depending on the fabric and the style, and all that sort of stuff.

Andrew: And are they stretchy?

Vicki: Some of them are.

Andrew: Some are, some aren’t? Depends on the fabric that it’s made from.

Vicki: Yeah. 

Andrew: OK, which is easier to put on, the stretch or not stretchy?

Vicki: Stretchy is always going to give a better fit. Because you can stretch it.

Vashti: You can really get it nice and snug around the back of the thighs to hold everything in.

Vicki: Especially when they get bigger.

Andrew: So it’s like an all in two, it’s got the stretchy parts on it. Like the elastic.

Vashti: No. There’s no elastic on it. It’s more like a flat, because you can get…

Vicki: It’s like putting a t-shirt on, versus putting a shirt on.

Vashti: Yeah.

Vicki: Like if you’ve got a beer belly, a t-shirt is going to be more forgiving than a shirt…

Vashti: A button up shirt.

Vicki: …that is not quite fitting.

Andrew: I don’t know, my button up shirts fit fine. 

Vicki: You’ve clearly got the right side. Was I looking at you, saying that?

Andrew: Yes, you were.

Vashti: I’m wearing a t-shirt today. 

Andrew: I’m wearing a long sleeved t-shirt today because it’s starting to get cold.

Vashti: Mine’s a wine belly anyway, not a beer belly.

Andrew: Wine belly. Cool, well did I miss any? Did I get them all?

Vashti: No, I think that’s it. 

Andrew: Excellent.

Vashti: Your all in ones, all in twos, pockets, fitteds, flats and prefolds, they’re your six major styles.

Andrew: What’s your favourite?

Vashti: My favourite? Fitted, hands down. Every single day of the week.

Andrew: Vicki, what’s your favourite?

Vicki: I don’t really have a favourite. No, I’m so far out of nappies. If I was to have another child, I would probably do all the things.

Andrew: All the things? You mean try them all out? 

Vicki: Yeah, I’d have a play.

Andrew: Oh, OK.

Vashti: I did all the things with Kylan. 

Vicki: Yeah, my kids were pretty much not in nappies that I was producing, so I’d produce a new nappy, and I’d try it on them. If I didn’t, if that wasn’t the goal, I would just play with you know, I do remember when I had Gabe, that I had all different types of nappies for him and just played around with them. Had Bam Bams and all in ones…

Andrew: All in twos.

Vicki: …all in twos, oh, is this going to fit? You know, made it fun. It doesn’t have to be boring. The only thing I didn’t really try were flats. And prefolds. But you know, I would change that again. I would do that.

Andrew: My favourite is all in twos. 

Vashti: There you go.

Andrew: Thank you Vashti.

Vashti: Thanks, Andrew.

Andrew: Thank you, Vicki.

Vicki: Thanks, Andrew.

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Andrew: Bye everybody. Vicki Simpson is wife and mother to three children, and owner and founder of Bubblebubs. Vicki has been making and selling cloth nappies through her website for 16 years. Bubblebubs is now one of the most recognised and awarded cloth nappy brands in Australia, and is currently expanding to other countries. You can find out more and contact her through her website, bubblebubs.com.au. Vashti Wadwell is mother to three children and has been using cloth nappies for 14 years. She is the owner of Australia’s first cloth nappy store, Nest Nappies, located in Brisbane, Australia. Vashti can be contacted through her website, nestnappies.com. If are finding the podcast helpful, and would like to make it easier for other parents to find, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. I am your host, Andrew Simpson. 

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