TotsBots

Until recent­ly, all dia­pers and access­ories were pro­du­ced in the United King­dom. Sin­ce 2020, TotsBots has also part­ne­red with a Tur­ki­sh manu­fac­tu­rer. The Bam­booz­les, Pee­Nut Pads and Boos­ters have recent­ly been pro­du­ced in Tur­key. The­se pro­ducts are reco­gnizable by their ​“made in Tur­key” label. All other pro­ducts, howe­ver, are still pro­du­ced locally.

All manu­fac­tu­r­ers must meet the strict con­di­ti­ons set by TotsBots. The com­pa­ny checks all manu­fac­tu­r­ers for qua­li­ty con­di­ti­ons as well as working conditions.

TotsBots uses dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als for the absor­bent fabric in the dia­pers. One is a towel fabric made from bam­boo vis­co­se. This appears to be, at first glan­ce, a sus­tainable mate­ri­al, as it is a natu­ral one. The cul­ti­va­ti­on of bam­boo is alre­a­dy sus­tainable; it is a fast-gro­wing plant that requi­res few fer­ti­li­zers and pesti­ci­des. Unfort­u­na­te­ly, the pro­duc­tion pro­cess of bam­boo vis­co­se is less sus­tainable. It requi­res many che­mi­cals and lar­ge amounts of water, in addi­ti­on, the pro­duc­tion pro­cess often takes place in distant count­ries such as Chi­na. Due to the lack of infor­ma­ti­on, COSH! can­not esti­ma­te how sus­tainable the bam­boo vis­co­se used by TotsBots in their coll­ec­tions is.

As water­pro­of fabric, TotsBots uses recy­cled poly­es­ter deri­ved from upcy­cled PET bot­t­les. This fabric is then trea­ted with a water-repel­lent lay­er of poly­ure­tha­ne. Unfort­u­na­te­ly, the­se syn­the­tic mate­ri­als are not dura­ble. The mixing of dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als makes the dia­pers dif­fi­cult to recy­cle after use. Howe­ver, this is neces­sa­ry for appli­ca­ti­ons such as swim dia­pers, whe­re water­pro­ofing is very important. 

For other pro­ducts, TotsBots does use sus­tainable mate­ri­als. For exam­p­le, the brand uses GOTS-cer­ti­fied orga­nic cot­ton. This cer­ti­fi­ca­te gua­ran­tees that the cot­ton was grown orga­ni­cal­ly, that no harmful che­mi­cals were used in the pro­duc­tion pro­cess and that the pro­duct was made in ethi­cal conditions.

In addi­ti­on, TotsBots has the OEKO-Tex Stan­dard 100 label for all its pro­ducts. This cer­ti­fi­ca­te gua­ran­tees that no harmful che­mi­cals are pre­sent in the pro­duct. TotsBots scores in the hig­hest class here, with the stric­test stan­dards. This means that the pro­ducts are com­ple­te­ly safe for your baby.

TotsBots use recy­cled poly­es­ter deri­ved from PET bot­t­les. This is a good step toward cir­cu­la­ri­ty. Using biode­gra­da­ble mate­ri­als such as cot­ton also helps. 

Unfort­u­na­te­ly, TotsBots’ pro­ducts are dif­fi­cult to recy­cle after use becau­se dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als are com­bi­ned. Mixing syn­the­tic and natu­ral mate­ri­als also makes the pro­duct no lon­ger biode­gra­da­ble. This dis­ad­van­ta­ges the cir­cu­la­ri­ty of the TotsBots collection.

TotsBots says it sources all mate­ri­als local­ly as much as pos­si­ble. Pro­duc­tion takes place in the United King­dom and Tur­key. This gives a fair­ly short sup­p­ly chain. Howe­ver, at COSH! we remain cri­ti­cal becau­se the lar­gest bam­boo vis­co­se pro­duc­tion count­ries are in Asia and South America.

TotsBots does not use mate­ri­als of ani­mal ori­gin in their pro­ducts. Good for ani­mal wel­fa­re! A side note here is the impact that using the pro­ducts can have on our pla­net. Unfort­u­na­te­ly, due to the use of syn­the­tic mate­ri­als, the­re is a chan­ce of micro­pla­s­tics being released when the dia­pers are washed. This has a major impact on the envi­ron­ment and the eco­sys­tems in our water­ways and oce­ans. Read more about micro­pla­s­tics in water here.

The lon­ge­vi­ty of the dia­pers is very important to TotsBots. The dia­pers are desi­gned to grow with your baby. Snap fas­ten­ers allow you to adjust the dia­per to dif­fe­rent sizes. Bes­i­des a stan­dard white dia­per, you can also choo­se bet­ween the many colorful prints TotsBots has to offer. With fun rain­bows, ani­mals or stripes, the­se dia­pers make every baby happy.

The qua­li­ty of the mate­ri­als is also important to ensu­re a long life. In addi­ti­on, TotsBots pro­vi­des clear ins­truc­tions on how to use the dia­pers, along with washing ins­truc­tions. To ensu­re the dia­pers main­tain their qua­li­ty lon­ger, they should not be washed too hot. The dia­pers should not be iro­ned and should not be machi­ne dried. The­se washing ins­truc­tions not only ensu­re the qua­li­ty of the dia­pers but also the environment! 

TotsBots recom­mends washing the dia­pers at lower tem­pe­ra­tures and han­ging them to dry. This ensu­res that the dia­pers keep their absor­bent pro­per­ties lon­ger, this also redu­ces the release of microplastics.

Totsbots is unfort­u­na­te­ly not very trans­pa­rent about their pro­duc­tion loca­ti­ons and mate­ri­als. We know the count­ries whe­re pro­duc­tion takes place, but other­wi­se the­re is no infor­ma­ti­on about the manu­fac­tu­r­ers. The ori­gin of the various mate­ri­als is also unknown. Thus, it is dif­fi­cult to find out exact­ly how sus­tainable the mate­ri­als are.