The Cost of Cloth

Have you heard people say that once you add in the cost of washing that the costs of cloth nappies end up the same as disposables? We can tell you that's definitely not true! We've done some investigation using our own machines and recommend you do the same. You'll find our conclusion on laundry costs down the page a bit.

Here we've got some comparisons (general only, of course) to help you get an idea of what you can expect to spend on cloth and disposable nappies. These figures are based on full-time comparisons and will depend on when your child is toilet trained. You can of course spend less on disposables than our indicative figures, and you can spend more than we've shown on cloth. Take these figures as a guide and, using your preferences for brands and styles, work out what your costs would be.

CALCULATION OF SAVINGS ON CLOTH VERSUS DISPOSABLE

Disposable Nappies

Single use nappy at 39 cents each
(based on 10 changes a day for 3 months)            $  354.90
Single use nappy at 52 cents each
(based on 6 changes a day for 27 months)         $2,579.85
Baby wipes at $6.74 (tub of 80) per fortnight    $  438.10
Nappy disposable bags at $6.81
(based on one pack of 200 per month)               $  204.30
One year night nappies for toddler 87c each     $   317.55

Total cost for disposables for one child             $3,894.70        

All figures based on requirements for 2 ½ years plus night nappies for a further 12 months

Total cost for disposables for two children       $7,789.40

(Costs sourced from ColesOnline June 2009)

Reusable Nappies

Cheapest option - Full-time nappy package

24 reusable prefold nappies at $35 x 6 pack      $ 140.00
24 reusable nappy liners: pack of 4 at $6.00ea     $  36.00
24 reusable nappy wipes: pack/5 at $9.95ea         $  49.75
10 nappy covers at $18 each                                 $180.00
Laundry costs over 2.5 years (see calcs below)    $146.98

Total cost full time cloth nappies                          $552.73

Premium/Fitted Nappy Option - Full-time nappy package

24 reusable fitted pocket nappies                   $ 600.00
12 overnight boosters (pack of 3 at $19.00)           $   57.00
24 reusable nappy liners (pack of 4 at $6.00)         $   36.00
25 reusable nappy wipes at (pack of 5 at $9.95ea  $   49.75
Laundry costs over 2.5 yrs (see calcs below)         $ 146.98

Total cost full time fitted pocket nappies  $889.73

LAUNDRY COSTS

These are our calculations, based on our machines and washing regime. So it will differ for you - so please take these figures as a guide and work out your own usage.

I wash a load of nappies 2 or 3 times a week - let's assume 120 loads of nappies a year.

Water Usage  

I have an 11 year old Hoover 5.5L top loader - not the most efficient machine available! It uses 30L for a rinse cycle and 120L for a full cycle. I do a rinse cycle first and then run through the full cycle - so each load uses 150L of water = 18,000L a year. Since I also flush poo (or rinse it out) I'm adding 3L a day (a half flush is adequate) = 1,095L a year. Total water usage for a year 19,095L or 19.09kL

I'm charged $1.5343 for each kL water I use, so the yearly cost for water is $29.29. A more modern and water efficient machine would cost you less and use less water.

Electricity

I use cold water for washing my nappies. My washing machine uses 0.18kWh for each cold load and 1.33kWh per warm load. My electricity company charges me $0.1583/kWh, so a cold load costs $0.03 and a warm load costs $0.21 in electricity.

In a year I will pay $3.60 in electricity (or $25.20 if I used warm). If you use a dryer, you will have to add the cost of electricity for the dryer to these calculations.

Total Costs for 150 washes over a year

Detergent (2 x 1kg boxes of EcoStore Laundry Powder)  $25.90

Water                                                                         $29.29

Electricity                                                                    $ 3.60

Total                                                                          $58.79

Total per load                                            49 cents

We've used these figures to calculate the laundry costs of $146.98 over 2.5 years in the total cost comparisons above, but it is quite easy to spend less depending on the methods and frequency you choose to wash your nappies.

A premium reusable fitted pocket nappy system will last your baby from birth through to toilet training and will cost less than $900. To keep a baby in single use disposable nappies for the same amount of time will cost almost $4,000 for the first baby and nearly $8,000 if you have two children.
Depending on which nappies you choose, you can save up to $3,000 for your first child, increasing to over $7,000 for two children.
The financial choice is an easy one!