Advice

- Mon 17th Sep 2007
As I’m considered by my nearest and dearest to be a mildly neurotic eco-warrior I was very enthusiastic about trialling these new bio-nappies from Wiona. Was even more eco-excited because Ben's bottom was the very first in the UK to be caressed by one!

What are they like? The first thing you notice is the feel – the outside is really really soft and silky, not plastic or paper but actually made from corn starch. This makes them really thin; they wrap themselves around the baby in a very comfortable way. Other eco nappies I’ve tried have been quite bulky and much stiffer (is that a real word? Well, it works, anyway).

To date (two full weeks using these), and touching wood, we’ve had no leaks.

Not one.

Not even during the long 12-hour nightshift.

Also, unlike Laura’s Ella (who's a one-a-week kinda gal. HOW??), Ben is a very frequent and challenging poo-er (he’ll never forgive me for putting THAT on the web when he’s 18!). If filling a nappy with the smelly stuff was an Olympic sport, he’d be on that gold medal podium with a very satisfied baby grin indeed.

The Wiona has stood up to the challenge and then some – not an icky back, leg or vest in sight.

I’m also pleased to report that we have not had one episode of that mini-drama called “Arrrgghhh The Tag Ripped Off on a New Clean Nappy” which, I hate to say, has happened on quite a few occasions with other eco nappies.

While we’re on the tags, I should mention that if you are not going to throw these into your compost bin, say, because you are out-and-about, you will definitely need your nappy sacks available (eco-friendly ones of course) as these nappies don’t self-attach when you roll them up. Juggling an open stinky nappy plus baby is not a feat I have ever mastered.

The packaging pleases me very much. It has always bugged me that other eco brands will still wrap them all up in reams and reams of hard-to-get-open plastic that can not be put to any other useful purpose once you've cracked the package open. Not so with the Wionas. The packaging is genius and has been developed with just as much attention as the nappies, not just as an after thought. The very clever and useful recyclable outer cardboard box could be used again and again for storing whatever. I love the non-plastic handles too, see, it's all in the detail, genius! They even thought to make the inner boxes just the right width for holding CDs. I say it again, genius! If you go to the Wiona web site it lists a whole heap of uses for them after the nappies are gone; www.wiona.de/english/html/packaging.html/.

From an aesthetic point of view (because the look of a nappy is very very important…) I really like the pure white and clean appearance of the Wiona. No more do I have to look at naff cutesy wootsey little cartoon animals when I’m changing a nappy. As if those ‘adorable’ (and often copyrighted, at our expense) little images are going to make what’s hiding inside the nappy any less ick. Yeeesh. Seriously - what IS that all about??

I digress. The Wiona. I like them. Ben’s bum likes them. Price-wise, they’re only a small amount dearer than the big branded eco-nasty flavours, so your bank AND your conscience can like them too. I have to add that Laura was miserably topping up landfills with Ella’s stinky cast-offs, completely unconvinced that an eco-nappy could be up to the job. She’s just ordered a second box of Wiona, ha!. Completely converted.
Reviewer's Name: LittleStuff.co.uk

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