FAQ

What kind of nappy is the Pop-in?

The Pop-In is a next-generation all-in-one nappy, in that the inner soaker attaches to the outer shell by means of poppers so you can take it apart (when you want to wash it) and put it back together (when you’ve washed and dried it before putting it on the baby).

This is useful for a number of reasons. The first and overriding reason is that this makes the nappy really simple to put on and take off. If after you’ve washed and dried the nappies you take 5 minutes to popper them all back together (more tips on doing this quickly in the washing advice section) then you have a whole stack of nappies assembled and ready to put on your baby at changing time. No fussing around with putting a different inner into the outer you’ve just taken off. You take a nappy off your baby and replace it with a clean nappy, simple as that.

How do I use this nappy?

The nappy is comprised of 3 parts; the outer shell (picture A), the inner soaker (picture B) and the insert (picture C) all of which popper together to form an all-in-one nappy. The inner soaker fastens to the outer shell with 2 poppers at the front and 3 at the back – you’ll find the popper sockets on the outer shell underneath the pockets.

How many nappies should I buy?

We recommend buying 20 nappies. You’ll need more when your baby is small (a newborn baby goes through 7-8 nappy changes per day), and fewer as baby gets older (5-6 per day). The more nappies you have, the less often you need to wash. So if you have 20 nappies you’ll have 2-3 days worth at the newborn stage and 3-4 days worth of nappies later. This means you can wash them every other day in the early stages, and every 2-3 days when your baby gets older.

What else do I need?

Check out our Accessories section for other items that will come in useful, including:

• Biodegradable nappy liners - can be flushed away at each nappy change. Useful for keeping mess to a minimum!

• Tote Bags –for storing wet nappies in both at home and when out & about until you’re ready to wash.

• Washable wipes – if you’re washing nappies anyway you may as well wash the babywipes (saving you even more money, you go through so many and disposable wipes are so expensive!)

Do I need to soak my nappies?

No, absolutely not! It’s far better, environmentally, not to soak nappies, as it wastes too much water. Modern washing machines wash so well that soaking is just not needed. When you take the nappy off the baby, simply flush away the disposable liner containing any solids, and pop the nappy in a tote bag until you’re ready to wash.
This method is far less hassle than soaking the nappies but be warned it does leave your nappies prone to stains, so if this is something that really bothers you you should consider soaking (see more about dealing with stains below). You’ll need a nappy pail, fill it with cold water and half a dozen drops of tee tree oil to prevent bacteria and smells developing and pop the nappies in until you’re ready to wash.
A possible compromise is to soak the nappies in the washing machine before it goes through the normal washing cycle; load the machine at night, begin the cycle but turn the machine off as soon as there is enough water in it so that the nappies are left to soak overnight before switching the machine back on the next day to complete the cycle.

How do I wash my nappies?

First you need to un-popper your nappies so that they wash really thoroughly. You don’t need to undo every popper though, you’ll find that if you undo just the 2 poppers underneath the front pocket of the nappy, the whole nappy (including the insert) opens out into a chain. This means every surface of the nappy is opened out to wash thoroughly.
As we don’t generally recommend soaking nappies, we advise you to put them through a 60 degree wash. You don’t need a higher temperature, 60 degrees is sufficient to completely sanitise the nappies.
You can use your usual detergent – non-bio is best and you often don’t need to use as much as the manufacturer recommends – and don’t use fabric conditioner as it impedes the absorbency of the nappy. Please don't use vinegar either as it deteriorates the bamboo fibres in the bamboo nappies.
If your nappies begin to smell of ammonia even when washed your machine may not be rinsing well enough or you may have detergent build up. Modern washing machines use so little water that sometimes this can cause a problem. Doing a cold rinse before your hot wash helps stop smells setting in. You may also need to run an extra rinse cycle at the end of your wash once in a while. If you still have a problem try putting all the nappies through a hot wash without detergent.

How can I treat stains?

The ultimate environmentally-friendly stain remover is sunshine! See below…

The best way to dry your nappies is to put them over a line outside in the sunshine. On a fine day it’s the quickest way to dry them, plus the sun has a bleaching effect so the appearance of any stains will be reduced after a day in the sunshine. On a nice sunny day they’ll dry within the day.
If you need to dry them indoors, then over a line near a radiator is the quickest method, they should dry within 24 hours if you can manage to turn them over at some point during the day. If you’ve undone just the front poppers you’ll find that you can place a whole nappy (outer shell, soaker and insert still poppered together) over the line in one piece, although if you do separate all the elements they will dry just that little bit faster. If they’re left poppered together over a line indoors and not near a heated radiator it can take up to 48 hours to dry the nappies.
If space is an issue during the winter we’d suggest washing your nappies every day so that you can keep drying a few at a time, taking up less room on a line.
The inner soakers can be tumble-dried if necessary, but it does mean you have to take the whole nappy apart as the outer shell can’t be tumble dried (and dries very quickly by itself anyway).
By the way never iron your nappies, they don’t need it and it uses up far too much energy!!!

Will my baby be more prone to nappy rash?

No. In a study on infants with nappy rash, 'the type of nappy worn did not emerge as a significant factor. Therefore, and contrary to widespread belief, disposable nappies seem to have little protective effect.'* The most important factor in avoiding nappy rash is keeping your baby clean with regular nappy changes. *Research conducted by Professor Jean Golding of Bristol University.

From a personal viewpoint I’ve found that bouts of nappy rash can sometimes be caused by illness or teething, due to the pH of the stomach contents becoming more acidic; my baby’s bum goes bright red literally as soon as he poos when he’s teething, we have to be extra vigilant and change him within seconds! I’ve found that a layer of Vaseline on his bum before putting his nappy on prevents it entirely, for him nothing else works but I’m aware that as it’s a petroleum product it’s not great (I only use it when I know he’s teething and so prone to rash) so you may want to try other more natural products first and only use this as a last resort. Red clover cream is great for soothing nappy rash.