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Day in the Life of a Diaper Service-John Dunn
FOX 17 News By: John Dunn
It is a dirty job, but one Nashville woman says she is glad to do it.
Pippa Gore runs Music City's only cloth diaper service.
It may sound like a throw back in time, but it is actually all about the future.
Pippa Gore spends her day with diapers.
They might look a little different than what you are used to. These are 100% cotton, cloth diapers.
Pippa's day begins with deliveries.
She loads her Smile Mommy! van with the clean diapers, and she is soon underway.
After a few minutes, and a couple of turns, it is time to get to work.
"This is our first stop," says Pippa Gore.
Pippa drops off clean diapers, and picks up the dirties.
There are about 30 stops this morning.
Smile Mommy is a full service cloth diaper business.
"They can just throw it in the pail, and we do all the rest," says Gore.
Pippa and a friend started the company to fill a void in Nashville.
Cloth diapers are an eco-friendly option, but until Smile Mommy!, there was no diaper service in business.
"And we actually had a lady whose daughter had a rash for six weeks straight and she begged us and begged us to start, so we said alright I guess this is as good a time as any," says Gore.
Smile Mommy now has about 60 customers in parts of Davidson, Sumner, and Williamson counties.
"I have met so many cool interesting people," says Gore.
Emily Jones has been using cloth diapers for 16 months.
"Once you learn how to do it, it just becomes an automatic hand movement type of thing, where you just fold and you put it on, and there you go," says customer Emily Jones.
Her daughter Maya Marie is used to the quick change.
"And then you pull up the cover which keeps it from leaking," says Jones.
It is not as hard as you might think.
Smile Mommy doubled in size last year, but because babies eventually get potty trained.
It is important to find new customers.
"We start everybody out in the newborn size, says Pippa Gore.
Each new client is given a private tutorial on how to use cloth diapers.
"Fold it in thirds, between the legs, bring it up in front," says Gore.
Pippa always points out the positives. She says cloth diapers are gentler on your baby, and do not fill the landfill.
After picking up all her diaper deposits, it is time to wash.
Just remember to hold your nose.
"Definitely gets a little smelly, especially toward the end of the route," says Gore.
Diapers are loaded, 50 pounds at a time, into industrial washing machines.
A cocktail of cleaners is used to get each diaper sparkling white.
"Not much to it. The machine does all the work," says Gore.
After and hour of washing, the diapers are dried, sorted, and checked for stains.
"Nothing on here whatsoever," says Gore.
Pippa says she is doing her own small part to help the environment.
"Instead of throwing those disposables away to the landfill, we're washing these diapers and reusing them," says Gore.
And mommies all around Nashville are smiling too.
Smile Mommy Diaper Service has a number of packages ranging in price from $10 to $30 a week.
Day in the Life of a Diaper Service-John Dunn
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