Bummas "The Wild Ones" Cloth Wipes Review & GIVEAWAY!

There has been an evolution of wipes in our household.  When my son was born, we used disposable diapers, and disposable wipes.  Once he grew big enough to fit into the Kushies AIOs we had at the time, we switched to cloth diapers, and homemade disposable wipes (paper towel & homemade mix of distilled water, lotion, and baby wash).  We soon got tired of the inevitable crisis whenever we ran out of homemade wipes, because the middle of a baby poop emergency is totally not the time to start making a new batch of wipes.  Plus, with the money we were saving on diapers, I figured that having to buy wipes every now and then was not the end of the world.  So we went back to disposable wipes.  It drove me bananas every time I opened the washing machine and found little specks of disposable wipes all over the diapers in the wash.  I mean, it's so easy and second nature to roll up the dirty diaper, stuffing the wipes inside.  Plus, the garbage can got kind of nasty where it was full of used wipes that were not contained by disposable diapers.  I thought there had to be a better way, but honestly it never occurred to me that CLOTH WIPES were the answer.

Thankfully this time around, I had the brilliant realization that cloth wipes were a much more reasonable solution.  You have to wash the diapers anyways, and instinctively, you put the dirty wipes in the diapers, so why not cloth wipes?  They go in with the regular diaper loads of laundry, and don't require any special treatment.  There are several options for when you use them - the easiest is to run them under the tap when you need them.  For the upcoming winter, I have opted to dampen them in advance and store in a wipes warmer.  Others use a wipes solution in a spray bottle and spray it on baby or wipe at change time.  The wipes I have been using are basic handmade squares of double layered flannel serged together.  I made them from a stack of old receiving blankets I had kicking around in the baby-stuff-I-saved-for-our-second bin.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a package of Bummas in the mail to test out for this blog.  They have been #1 in my rotation since I got them.  Made of a single layer of cotton velour fabric, they are velvety soft on one side, and terry-cloth textured on the other side.  This makes them perfect to clean up big messes and small ones.  I was surprised at the size of them, 5" x 7", which I thought would be too small to do the job well.  However, they seem to be just right.  They basically cover my palm & fingers, so I can use them terry side out for bigger messes, and do a final cleanup by folding in half and using the soft velour side to get any remaining mess.  I wet them before use, and wring them out, so they are damp but not dripping wet.  So, I don't have any issues with moisture on baby's bum before applying her diaper.  However, Bummas wipes are also excellent for drying off baby's bum if you had to use wetter wipes to get things clean.  I agree with one of the cute sayings on their eco-friendly minimal packaging that states: "After the wipe and before the dipe, use a soft kiss of cloth to dry bums off."  I also got a kick out of some of the other rhymes on there, such as "Avert the squirt", since, according to their website, one Bummas wipe can absorb an entire pee - this would have been great when my boy was in diapers...

The wipes have held up very well, going through my usual diaper laundry routine of soak/wash/rinse/rinse and line dry (or occasionally in the dryer) without any ill effects.  They have not shrunk or frayed AT ALL, which I'm impressed with because I am ALWAYS re-edging my homemade wipes because the corner where the serged edges meet is always fraying on those.  Bummas wipes are also great to use as facecloths, cleaning up after mealtime, or wiping a runny nose.  They also say on their packaging that they could be used as burp cloths, but I don't think that would work well for my little one because when she spits up, it tends to be an epic affair that goes from my shoulder to my elbow (and often ends up splatting on my hips, thighs, or calves, depending on how I'm standing or sitting).  So for now, I'll stick to burping with a receiving blanket.  If your little one doesn't spit up much though, using a Bummas for a burp cloth would definitely cut down on the bulk of cloth you would need to carry around with you in your diaper bag.

Bummas wipes come in 4 adorable colour combinations - the fabric is white cotton-woven terry velour, and the serged edges are done using bright beautiful colours.  They used to have different colour fabrics and different coloured edges but it seems they are phasing this out on their site.  They now have a "The Boys" set which is edged in shades of blue and green, a "The Girls" set that is edged in shades of pink and purple, a "The Calm Ones" set edged in shades of orange, brown, and green, and finally the "The Wild Ones" edged in ten different random shades of every colour under the rainbow.  They are sold in sets of 10, and each set sells for $16.99.  They ship worldwide, and accept paypal, so if you're reading this, you can buy them!  Check out www.bummas.com for more pictures and information on their wipes.

Great news!  Bummas has agreed to sponsor a giveaway right here on Geekmommy Reviews, with the prize being your very own 10 pack of Bummas wipes!  To enter, you must visit the Bummas page on Facebook and "Like" them, then comment back here that you did so.  Be sure to include your name on Facebook and your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!

You can earn up to 3 extra entries by:

1. Liking "Geekmommy Reviews" on Facebook and telling me you did this in the comments (be sure to let me know your name on Facebook)
2. Following @geekmommyreview on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to link to the tweet in the comments)
3. Following this blog on Google Friend Connect and telling me you did this in the comments

Winner will be drawn on Friday October 7th, 2011 using Random.org.  Your odds of winning obviously depend on number of entries received.

*Disclaimer:  Geekmommy Reviews was given free of charge the product(s) to review in exchange for featuring this product on http://www.geekmommyreviews.com.  Any opinions or statements given above come only from Geekmommy Reviews and were not influenced in any way by the product vendor.