When Angie Freeman Shephard and Theresa Perez were pregnant last year, they tried to find a cloth diaper pickup and delivery service in Anchorage, but they discovered they lived in a diaper delivery-less town. They could have gone disposable, but instead they went "mom-preneurial" and started Happy Bottoms Diaper Service in December.
Now they say they've tapped into a decent dirty-diaper market. They expanded in July to the Valley.
And they're not alone. Though the majority of parents still opt for Pampers, cloth diapers have their fans in Anchorage and the Mat-Su, supporting two diaper businesses.
While Shephard and Perez were getting Happy Bottoms going, Jessica Kiehner and Lena Kilic started Mrs. K's Diaper Service last winter based out of two locations in Wasilla and Anchorage. They said they have seen consistent growth and are looking to move from Kiehner's garage to a commercial warehouse in Wasilla.
IS IT REALLY CHEAPER?
Lynn Boots, owner of the longtime Anchorage kid's clothes shop Junior Towne, has noticed more people buying cloth diapers lately at her store. Diaper bins are selling more too. In times when people are thinking about their pocketbooks, historically they have chosen cloth because it is cheaper, she said.
But is it cheaper? Both diaper services essentially rent diapers, laundry bags and deodorizers each week and supply a diaper pail. Prices depend on which options parents choose but start at about $25 per week for the standard and up to $50 per week for the most expensive set.
When you break it down, covering a baby's bottom with standard cloth diaper cost 31 cents each time using a delivery service. This is comparable to Huggies, which cost 19 to 35 cents per diaper, depending on size, at Costco.
But the math becomes trickier when the environmental cost -- washing diapers versus tossing used ones in the garbage and buying fresh ones at the store -- is added to the financial cost.
Thus the perennial debate about whether cloth diapers actually cost less than disposables.
Boots thinks cloth-diaper parents are won over in part by concern with keeping disposable diapers out of landfills.
Maria Klein, who operates Birch Tree Baby from her home in South Anchorage, has used that concern to shape her business. Through her website, people can order cloth diapers and other baby items. She targets parents who are environmentally conscious trying to raise their children with natural products.
"I think it goes hand in hand with the active lifestyle people lead here," she said.
Of course, there is a strong downside to being a cloth-diaper fan: the soiled product stinks.
Which is where diaper services come in.
THE NO-TOUCH BAG
On Friday at the Happy Bottoms headquarters -- in Shephard's downtown garage -- the women packed diapers into bags for their 21 clients. Their own toddlers, Sam and Elizabeth, were strapped to their moms' backs.
Shephard and Perez don't wash the diapers -- they leave that to a commercial cleaner's high-powered machines. They are the go-between, providing the pickup and delivery on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Their system depends on a biodegradable plastic bag, which slips inside the laundry bag. The biodegrading bag disintegrates at 160 degrees -- the temperature of a hot commercial wash. After the parents fill the bag with diapers, Shephard and Perez take it to the cleaners, and no one has to touch the dirty diapers.
Like a lot of niche services, their business model is to take something people are doing anyway and make it easier.
"It's a little like recycling," Shephard said. "I'm probably going to recycle anyway, but curbside is easier (than taking it to the recycling center)."
DIAPERS ON THE LINE
Kiehner and Kilic of Mrs. K's take a different approach, targeting an extra-eco-friendly set of customers. They don't use bleach. Instead, they wash each client's diapers separately, using hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and eco-friendly detergent. For whitening, they use lemon juice.
The women also save energy and money by hanging the diapers -- up to 1,600 of them a week -- to dry. Kiehner either dries them outside on her acre of property in Wasilla, where the sun helps whiten them, or she hangs them in her basement on stormy days.
Jessica Carr, Anchorage mother of three, saw Mrs. K's card in the South Anchorage baby boutique Spoiled just after Mrs. K's opened. She had used disposables on her first two children but she wanted to use cloth on her youngest, a newborn. She thought it was healthier for her kids and better for the environment -- but she had been daunted by the laundry.
"It's something I really wanted to do, and I hadn't felt like it had been supported in Anchorage," Carr said.
Kiehner doesn't seem concerned that Mrs. K's and Happy Bottoms share a market. She said she thinks enough parents are interested in cloth diapers to support both businesses.
"If someone decides to go with them over us, I'm still going to be glad they are cloth diapering," Kiehner said.
Find Kaylin Bettinger online at adn.com/contact/kbettinger or call her at 257-4349.
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