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laundered nappies could save parents around £500 on the cost of
keeping a baby in nappies.
Assumptions
Paediatricians recommend
that babies’ nappies are changed after every sleep and feed. This
works out at an average of six changes a day as suggested by paediatricians
Miriam Stoppard and Dr Christopher Green.1
The average price per disposable nappy is 16.9p.
This is based on WEN research (February 2006) of both branded and own
brand nappies. The same research found the average price of branded nappies
to be 17.1p per nappy (branded nappies hold 92% of the market)2,
and an average of 13.6p per nappy for own-brand.
With six changes per day at 16.9p per nappy this equates to an average
cost of £7.10 per week, and an overall spend of £922.74
over 2.5 years.3
Real
Nappies
Real Nappies vary widely in their cost depending on the style chosen.
You can buy all the nappies, waterproof covers and fastenings required
for 2.5 years on the high street for just under £50. The same amount
of money would only buy 7 weeks of disposables.4
Boots5
| Terries |
|
Price |
Quantity |
Total |
| Boots
Terry Nappies |
Pack
of 5 |
£9.50
|
4 |
£38.00 |
| Boots
Baby Pants |
Pack
of 6 |
£2.60 |
4 |
£10.40 |
| Pack
of six nappy pins |
Pack
of 6 |
£1.10 |
1 |
£1.10 |
| Total
|
|
|
|
£49.50 |
Alternative
fasteners
- Nappi Nippas are available as an alternative to pins and are designed
for use with terries.6
| Pack
of 3 ‘nappi nippas’ fasteners |
£
3.85 |
Cotton
Bottoms7
| White
Modern 100% cotton nappies (pre-fold) |
|
Price |
Quantity |
Total |
| Small
|
Pack
of 6 |
£14 |
4 |
£56.00
|
| Medium |
Pack
of 6 |
£16 |
3 |
£48.00 |
| Large |
Pack
of 6 |
£18 |
2 |
£36.00 |
| White
polyester wraps all sizes |
|
£8.95 |
12 |
£107.40 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total
nappies & wraps |
|
|
|
£247.40 |
Bambino
Mio8
| Cotton
pre-fold nappies |
|
Price |
Quantity |
Total |
|
size 1 |
Pack
of 8 |
£15.95 |
3 |
£47.85 |
| size
2 |
Pack
of 6 |
£14.95 |
3 |
£44.85 |
| Wraps
all sizes |
Each |
£8.95 |
12 |
£107.40 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total
nappies & wraps |
|
|
|
£200.10 |
Motherease9
| |
|
Price |
Quantity |
Total |
| Motherease
one size shaped |
|
£6.9510 |
20 |
£139 |
| Motherease
wrap 4 each of small, medium & large |
|
£7.25 |
12 |
£87 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total
|
|
|
|
£226 |
Washing
Machine
The average lifespan
of a washing machine is 9 years.11
The Average price of washing machines including washer/dryers for Jan
– Dec 2005 is: £295.6012
Therefore:
Depreciation based on 30% use of a machine to wash nappies over 2.5 years,
where the machine has a life expectancy of nine years:
| (£295.60
x 2.5/9) X 30% |
£24.63
rounded to £25 |
Washing
Powder
For a standard wash, the weight of washing powder used per wash is 100gms
13
Average cost of washing powder per wash is 20p.14
Average number
of washes for real nappy use is 2.8 per week over 130 weeks or 364 washes.
| 364
X 20p = 72.80 |
£73
over
2.5 years |
Electricity
Most real nappy manufacturers recommend a 60°C wash15
NHS guidelines suggest only 65°C for hospital disinfections cycles,
if the temperature is maintained for 10 minutes, or 71°C if maintained
for not less than 3 minutes.16
The energy consumption for different energy rated washing machines for
a 60°wash is shown below17:
| kWh
per cycle/Energy Rating |
A
|
B
|
C |
| 60°C
wash |
0.94
|
1.12
|
1.23 |
The average
unit cost for electricity for 2005 is 8.67p per kWh.18
Therefore,
based on a B energy rated machine, a load of nappies washed at 60°
uses 1.12kWh and costs 9.71p.
If a family has an average of 20 nappies and uses an average of six per
day they need to be laundered every 2.5-3 days, using a maximum of 3.14
units of energy per week assuming a wash every 2.5 days. This also assumes
that no nappies are laundered with the family's other laundry, which happens
quite frequently in reality.
| 2.8
X 130 weeks X 9.71p |
£35.34
rounded to £35 |
Overall
laundry costs
Washing machine depreciation + detergent + energy
| £25
+ £73 + £35 |
£133
over 2.5 years |
Overall
cost of home laundered nappies over 2.5 years
| Terry
Nappies:19 |
£49.50
+ 133 |
£182.50 |
| Shaped
Nappies:20 |
£226
+ 133 |
£359.00
|
Disposable
v Real Terry Nappy Nappy Cost Comparison
| £922.7421
- £182.50 = |
a
saving of: £740.24 (based on 6 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
| £768.95–
£182.50 = |
a
saving of: £586.45 (based on 5 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
| £615.16
- £182.50 = |
a
saving of: £432.66 (based on 4 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
Disposable
v Real Shaped Nappies Cost Comparison
| £922.74
- £359 = |
a
saving of: £601.24 (based on 6 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
| £768.95
– £359.00 = |
a
saving of: £409.95 (based on 5 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
| £615.16
– £359.00 = |
a
saving of: £256.16 (based on 4 changes a day over 2.5
years) |
Branded
Disposable Costs £934
@ 6 changes a day22
£778 @ 5 changes a day23
£622 @ 4 changes a day24
Laundry
Service
WEN Research (February 2006) found services range between £6.00
and £11.34 per week. Some services charge a one-off registration
fee, which ranged between £32 and £45. Most services are inclusive
of nappies, wraps and a bin and many give discounts to families with more
than one baby using nappies. Parents could save money with a laundry service
as compared to using branded disposable nappies.
References
1Dr
Christopher Green, Babies! A Parents’ Guide to Enjoying Baby’s
First Year, Simon & Schuster 2002. Stoppard, Miriam, New Babycare
Book: A Practical Guide to the First Three Years, Dorling Kindersley.
2Mintel International Group Ltd. [04-2004] Nappies and Baby
Wipes - UK
3£768.95 based on 5 changes over 2.5 years at average
16.9p per nappy, £615.16 for 4 changes.
4 At an average six changes per week at 16.8p per nappy: 16.8p
x 6 changes/day x 7days/week x 7 weeks = £49.39
5www.boots.com 24/02/06
6 www.plushpants.co.uk, www.purpur.co.uk 01/3/06)
7 www.cottonbottoms.co.uk 24/2/06
8 www.bambinomio.com 24/2/06
9 www.babykind.co.uk/mothereaseonesize.htm 24/2/06
10 Motherease sell one size shaped nappies at £7.25 when
buying less than 10.
11 Sheffield Hallam University and National Energy Foundation
(February 2006).
12 GFK Marketing Services Ltd
13 UK Cleaning Products Industry (March 2006)
14WEN research March 2006 which concurs with UK Cleaning Products
Industry (March 2006).
15 www.kittykins.co.uk/advice/id/9; www.borndirect.com/info.php?pageid=97&parentid=8&homeid=3;
www.butterfly-babies.co.uk
16HSG(95) 18 – NHS Laundry Guidelines
17 According to the Government’s Market Transformation
Programme sourced from National Energy Foundation at: www.natenergy.org.uk/washing.htm
(updated: 5 Jan 2006)
18 DTI www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy_prices/qep_dec05.pdf
19 Based on Boots price above.
20 Based on Motherease price above.
21 Based on average price from WEN research.
22 17.1p X 6 (per day) X 7 (per week) X 130 weeks = £933.66
rounded to £934
23 17.1p X 5 (per day) X 7 (per week) X 130 weeks = £778.05
rounded to £788
24 17.1p X 4 (per day) X 7 (per week) X 130 weeks = £622.44
rounded to £622
|
