I can still remember the day it happened. It was the end of an era that lasted three years. Never again would you find them in our home—cloth nappies and nappy buckets.

Yes, before disposable nappies, nappies were 40cm squares of terri-toweling. Depending on the age and size of your  baby, nappies were folded into various shapes to fit your baby’s bottom and secured with one or two nappy pins. Today, the loss I am celebrating is the loss of cloth nappies, the nappy bucket and our nappy washing routine.

What is a nappy bucket you ask? It is a large plastic bucket complete with a secure lockable lid. This kept the smell of the dirty nappies inside and the baby outside to prevent a tragedy. All   ‘sweet smelling baby waste’ was removed, before placing the dirty nappy into the bucket for storage. The nappy bucket was filled with water and Napi-san, a bleaching solution and kept in our bathroom beside the toilet. Nappies were added until we had enough for a washing machine load, usually 4-5 days.

When we were ready to wash our nappies, the approximately 10 kilo bucket was carried down the twenty stairs to the laundry under the house, where they were emptied into the washing machine. At times, there was a competition between our friends to see who had the whitest nappies. Ours often won, which we put down to the love that went into cleaning them.

Despite all the fun that cloth nappies and nappy buckets created—especially with two children under two—it was champagne all around when they were no longer required. Our loss was someone else’s gain. It was a great era. One that we didn’t realise how time consuming it was until our nappy washing ritual had left the building. Never to return. But the question remains what will be our next adventure?

Day 4 Writing 101

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