Travelling With Cloth Nappies: What We Learned Living in a Caravan With Two Under Two

Most people who use cloth nappies at home hit the same wall the first time they plan a trip away. The nappies are fine at home, where the washing machine is ten steps from the change table. But a road trip? A week in a caravan park? A hotel room with no line and no laundry?

I understand the hesitation, because Earthside Eco Bums did not start in an office. It started on the road, in a caravan, with two babies under the age of two and a stash of cloth nappies that were not even mine.

Here is what I learned out there, and why travelling with cloth is far more doable than it looks from your kitchen bench.

It started in a caravan

Two children in nappies at the same time, a caravan, and a lot of kilometres of Australian road. That was the reality that shaped this brand.

I was not making nappies back then. I was using other people's, whatever I could get my hands on, and finding out the hard way which parts of them held up on the road and which parts did not. Elastics that gave out after a few months of sun and constant washing. Fits that gaped the moment a baby started moving. Bulk that made an already tight caravan feel tighter.

Every one of those frustrations went onto a mental list. The list got long enough that I started fixing them myself, one problem at a time, and that is honestly how Earthside Eco Bums began. Not with a business plan. With a caravan, two babies, and a lot of things I wished worked better.

The other thing those months taught me is what I still say to anyone who asks about travelling with cloth. It is not a gear problem. It is a routine problem. Once the routine clicks, the location stops mattering.

How many nappies do you actually need to pack?

Start with the maths, because guessing is what leads to panic packing.

A newborn goes through roughly ten to twelve nappies a day. A baby over six months usually needs six to eight. Multiply that by the number of days between washes, then add four or five as a buffer for the day everything goes sideways.

For most families washing every two to three days, that lands somewhere between 24 and 30 nappies for the trip. It sounds like a lot until you remember that a stack of cloth nappies takes up about the same space as the packet of disposables you would have bought instead, and you are not hunting for a supermarket at 9pm in an unfamiliar town.

You will also want two large wet bags, one in use and one drying, plus a small one that lives in the nappy bag.

Washing on the road is easier than it sounds

You have more options than you think.

Caravan parks and holiday parks. Almost all of them have a laundry. Coin operated machines are not gentle, but they are perfectly fine for a week or two. Take a small container of your usual detergent rather than relying on whatever is in the dispenser.

Laundromats. Every regional town has one, and they are the easiest place to knock over a full load while you grab a coffee.

Hand washing. For a night or two, a sink or a bucket with warm water and a bit of detergent will get you through. Wring out well, hang out, done.

Rinse and store. If you are between washing options, knock solids into the toilet, rinse the nappy, then store it damp in a wet bag and do a proper wash within two to three days. In summer heat, aim for the shorter end of that. Nappies left too long in a hot car will not be ruined, but they will need a longer prewash to come clean.

Nappies on the line, and why there is no shame in it

This is the part nobody warns you about. It is not the washing that stops people, it is the idea of their nappies being visible.

A row of cloth nappies pegged out at a caravan park. A wet bag hanging off the balcony rail of a hotel room. Inserts drying over the back of a car seat while you drive.

It is laundry. That is all it is. And the truth is that other travellers are far more curious than they are judgemental. I had more conversations at caravan parks that started with someone asking what the colourful things on the line were than I ever had awkward looks.

There is also a very practical upside. Australian sun is the best stain remover you will ever own, and it is free. Hang a nappy with a stubborn mark in direct sunlight for a few hours and watch it disappear.

If you want something tidier for hotels, a small travel line with suction hooks or a folding rack takes up almost no space and gives you a discreet drying spot in the bathroom.

The wet bag I could not find, so I made it

Of everything on that trip, the wet bag was the piece that frustrated me most.

I wanted one bag that did three things at once. Compact enough to live in a nappy bag without swallowing half of it. Genuinely waterproof, so nothing ever seeped into the boot of the car. And sealed well enough that a used nappy did not announce itself to the entire caravan park. Every bag I tried managed one or two of those. Not one managed all three.

So I made the bag I wanted. That is the whole reason our wet bags exist.

And this is the story I tell whenever someone asks me if they really hold the smell.

On one trip I put a used nappy into a wet bag, tossed the bag into the back of the car, and then life happened. I found it a week later while cleaning the car out. A full week, in a car, in the Australian heat.

Nobody had noticed a thing. Not on the drive, not when we loaded groceries in, not once.

That is what a waterproof PUL lining and a properly sealed zip do. The bag needed a good wash and a long air out afterwards, and I am certainly not suggesting you leave a nappy in there for a week on purpose. But if you have been worrying about your car smelling on a four hour drive, you can let that worry go.

Two small habits make the difference: keep the zip fully closed, and empty and air the bag out when you get the chance rather than storing it shut and damp.

Flights, hotels and very long drives

Flying. Pack a day's worth of nappies plus one wet bag in your carry on, and the rest in checked luggage. Change, roll, zip, forget about it.

Hotels. Rinse in the shower or the sink, wring well, then hang over the towel rail or shower rail. Most nappies will be dry by morning. Inserts made from bamboo or hemp take longer, so hang those first.

Long drives. Keep the wet bag somewhere you can reach it, and do a proper nappy change at every meaningful stop rather than trying to stretch it.

Give yourself permission to be flexible

A quick word for anyone about to overthink this. Using a few disposables on a long haul flight or on the first day of a big trip does not undo the hundreds of cloth nappies you have used at home. Hybrid is not failure. It is the reason most families stick with cloth long term instead of burning out.

Take what you can manage. Wash when you can. Hang them proudly on the line.

Because if it can be done in a caravan with two under two, it can be done on your trip too.