Switch to reusable wipes as a reusable toilet paper
It's confession time here at Cheeky Wipes HQ.
Helen here.
I've been using our reusable wipes as a toilet paper alternative for about six years now. I had pondered over it for a while after having a conversation with a lovely lady at a Baby Show. Then, randomly, one Friday evening, I just thought 'why not?' and we made the switch. You might already have heard it called 'family cloth' but essentially it's just reusable toilet paper. Not as gross as you might think!
It's easy. We just bung the wipes in the wash a couple of times a week, wash and reuse. Personally, I like it because you don't get bits of tissue paper leftover in your nether regions - and you feel fresh and clean. As Chris Ramsey from 'Shagged, Married, Annoyed' podcast says, 'if you got dog poo on your arm, you wouldn't just wipe it off with tissue, you'd give it a wash!' which is essentially what you're doing if you use wipes as reusable toilet paper.
Not everyone on the team made the switch at the same time. They have all used the cloth wipes for baby bums and hands and faces and they all LOVE our cloth sanitary pads and period pants. If you've ever met us at a Baby Show, you may well have even seen Jo's used pads, she likes to bring them along so that she can show people how well they wash! However, in their households, switching to wipes as a toilet paper alternative seemed like a step too far.
This weekend however, that all changed!
Both Claire (our Operations and Business Development manager) and Jo who runs our customer services both decided to introduce Cheeky Wipes in their loo's at home. Because with things as they stand, it would be nice to at least not have to worry about wiping your bum for a while!
I asked them both if they could tell us a little bit more about it:
Jo said 'So we've been using the cloth baby wipes since before the kits were available as kits because Helen had kids, I didn't and I listened to what she told me. We still have some of the same wipes around the house from back then and our now 9 yr old uses occasionally for a particularly messy poo.
Fast forward to this weekend and the change in situation around the country and it just clicked in my head. We haven't been panic buying loo roll, we aren't even at the end of our pack of 9 but I just thought it made sense. I use our mucky box for my cloth pads so didn't want to give that up so bought a bathroom bin from Amazon (full disclosure) and got our old fresh box out and filled it with our old stash of wipes.
You can see a pic of them here drying on my washing line today! Our 12 year old daughter (who has been spreading the word about reusable period protection) set it all up yesterday evening and by this morning all the wipes had been used and popped in the bin to wash. No-one has batted an eyelid, even my husband for whom this has been the only Cheeky Wipes product he wasn't 100% comfortable with is fully on board.'
Claire added 'I've been an avid user of all Cheeky products for the past 10 years. However considered the TP kit just a step too far! Even with Helen banging on about how fantastic and easy to use they are I was still a firm.. NO! Sorry, but no way!
And then came the whole toilet paper frenzy and actually thought about the what if? What would we all use! So I've embraced it.. And have my own little set up in my bathroom.. And do you know what? It's sooooo much nicer.. Love and trust the essential oils anyway so know that they'll make the whole system more pleasant. My words to Helen.. 'So much more refreshing on ya noo-noo!! Had no idea!'
I SO love a convert!! If you want to find out a bit more about how it works, check out my blog post about reusable toilet paper from last week, have done a quick demo video too.
What about people with sensitive skin. Are they able to use these with the stuff you moisten them with?
Yes! I have eczema and very sensitive skin myself and these are great.
I can't commend the flannel TP wipes highly enough! They're well-made and wash beautifully - though I wash them alone at 60 degrees rather than mix them in with other washing. Shame I hadn't discovered your website years ago ... luckily I caught Helen's 'COVID-19' item on Radio 4. The wipes arrived pretty quickly considering the whole world changes we've experienced recently.
Thanks Janny! Glad you're getting on with them!