Planet Wise Diaper/Swim Wet/Dry Bag Review & Giveaway CLOSED

Is there a company that you love?  One that makes great products, has great service and great company practices?  Do you get excited when you find out they're coming out with a new product?  Do you tell everyone you know about them?  For me, that's Planet Wise Inc.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love my small, medium and large wet bags, wet/dry bag and wipes pouch.  Planet Wise are the only wet bags I've ever bought; I never felt the need to look for any others because they are so great. 

In case you're wondering, I bought all of my wet bags myself.  I haven't been paid to endorse Planet Wise.  I'm having no luck coming up with a clever joke about how I'm cheap and can be easily bribed.  Hmm...

In any case, I had the opportunity to review a brand new item from Planet Wise, the Swim/Diaper Bag.  I also have one to give away, so that's your carrot to see this through to the end (or just scroll down, but I know you would never do that, would you?)  By the way, who would seriously be enticed by a carrot?  How about a cupcake or something at least.  Jeez.  If you're gonna bribe me, it's going to have to be better than rabbit food.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to shine the spotlight on Planet Wise, but I accidentally brought my interrogation lamp instead of my spotlight.  Hee hee.

Planet Wise is owned and operated by Nicki Maynard and her husband Jesse.  Their products replace their disposable counterparts and can be used for so much more than just diapers.  Their prints and colors are fantastic and are a departure from the usual "baby" prints.  Wet bags are great for travel, to keep toiletries, shoes or dirty clothes separate.  Wash and reuse instead of putting another plastic bag in the landfill!  Their packaging is also printed on recycled/recyclable paper using soy based ink!

I wish I could work for Planet Wise; employees are allowed to work flexible schedules to work around family time and school schedules and employees are welcome to bring their young children to work with them!  Alas, Planet Wise is based out of Wisconsin.

Planet Wise chooses as many USA-made materials as possible, and all products are manufactured in a locally women-owned facility.

So why do I like the wet bags so much?  Not only do they look pretty with their beautiful prints and hidden seams, they have sealed seams that will not leak, and a locking, lead free zipper.  The bags do not wick and hold in smells like nobody's business.  They're both versatile and durable.  They're not going to wear out before your kids are out of diapers, but you won't be passing them along either because you'll be using them for a dozen other things.  Mine have been washed nearly daily since I got them, and still look new.

So clearly, it's no secret how much I love Planet Wise.  I was like a kid on Christmas Eve when I found out the company was sending me one of their brand new swim/diaper bags to review.

I chose the spring green color which is pretty, but still neutral, and not too girly for my hubby to carry.

The swim/diaper bag has the same great features as their other wet/dry bags.  It measures about 19" x 15" by 8". 

It has a large, waterproof, PVC-free inner section.

Plus a generously sized "dry" zippered section.

They say it can hold two large swim towels, plus clothes and accessories.  I of course put that to the test.  The bag looked like the perfect thing to use for a long or overnight trip. 

13 diapers, plus my Planet Wise wipes pouch stuffed with wipes and a spray bottle of wipes solution.

Yep, it all fit!

No trouble zipping it, and the structure of the bag made it stand up nicely, it didn't topple over.

So how about 4 large beach towels, my swimsuit, my hubby's swimsuit, my daughter's swimsuit and my son's swim diaper?

It all fit, zipped with no problem, and I could have fit a few snacks/toys in as well!

For swim lessons I put in: a towel, a blanket for my son to sit on, water wings and toys and snacks.  There was tons of room left!

This is a spankin' new product, so your favorite retailer may not have them yet, but you can win one!

Planet Wise is sending one of my blog readers their own swim/diaper bag in their choice of color (subject to availability, substitutions may be made.) 

Here's how to enter:  The first entry is mandatory, you may do as many or as few of the rest as you like.  Leave a comment for each entry  and be sure to leave your email address in at least one comment.  If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner.

1. Visit Planet Wise and tell me what your favorite print is.  Since the swim/diaper bag is a new product, the prints aren't yet listed on it's page, but it should be available in all the usual colors and prints.

2. Follow my blog.

3. "Like" me on Facebook.

4. Follow me on Twitter.

5. Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post.  One tweet per day please.  You may use this tweet if you like: @chgdiapers has a Planet Wise swim or #clothdiapers bag #giveaway for #summer #swimming! http://bit.ly/datbg3

6. Blog about Planet Wise, the new swim/diaper bag, this giveaway or this blog.  Please be sure to link back to this post and leave me a link to your blog post.

This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only.  I will accept entries until Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 9 P.M., Eastern.  I will select a winner using random.org's true random number generator, and contact the winner by email.  S/he will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and another winner chosen.

Planet Wise provided the review product to me at no cost, and is providing the winner's item as well.  I was not given any monetary compensation.  I wasn't requested or required to write a positive review, Planet Wise is a great company that I personally support.

Planet Wise wet bags

I love my Planet Wise small wet bag, but I wanted a few more.  You can read more about why I love them in my wish list post.

The colors and prints are adorable. 

I got a medium, to give me a little more wiggle room than the small I have now (that holds 2 diapers but it's a tight fit).

I also got a wet/dry bag, which is almost exactly the same size as the medium bag.  However, it has a separate "dry" pocket on the outside to hold clean diapers, and also has a snap loop handle.  I thought this would be great to keep several diapers in the car when we were going to be out and about for a bit longer and would need more than the two or so I could easily fit in my bag.

I fit four clean diapers with no trouble & tons more room.

I also got a large wet bag to keep in the laundry room to use as a diaper pail basically.

I looped it on the drawer handle for now.  It's awesome!  It fits a day's worth of diapers (10) easily, with no wicking & no smell.  Boy does it stink when I unzip it at the end of the day, ha ha!  I've put dripping wet diapers in it after rinsing, and it doesn't leak when closed, even if I hold it upside down.

At the end of the day, I just unzip and shake the diapers into the washer.  I pull the inserts out and fold laundry tabs in before I put them in the wet bag to make things simpler.  Then I toss the bag in too!

You can dry these in the dryer, but I want to baby them, so I hung them to dry.  The insides of the bags are PUL.

By morning, it's dry & ready to use again, but I'd love to have a second one, so I can have one in use constantly.

I wish all of the wet bags had the loop handle.  A medium would be great to hang on the dishwasher handle to hold wet towels, dish cloths, and cloth napkins (when I finally get some!)  It would also be handy to be able to loop a wet bag around my diaper bag handle.  I love the wet/dry bag, but I usually just keep 1 or 2 diapers and a folded up wet bag in my bag for short trips.  It workd wonderfully, but would be convenient to hang it on my bag handle instead of trying to shove it back in the bag.

I also got a large "basic" pail liner.

The outside is super soft and it has an elastic drawstring and PUL inside.

I haven't tried it in my diaper dekor yet.  As I said in my post about pails, I'm not sure if it would be worth the trouble, it might be easier to stick with what I'm doing now!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

I've been a very good girl this year.  I won't elaborate since you see me when I'm not sleeping and you know when I'm awake rocking someone or tucking someone else in!  As such, I am going to go crazy with my wish list.  Hee hee.

First and foremost, I would like more diapers, so I don't have to wash twice per day anymore!

I have one Blueberry Minky one size diaper in blue latte, but there are so many other styles and patterns I'd like to try!  The Blueberry One-Size Minky Bamboo Velour has a bamboo/organic cotton inner instead of microfleece.  Then there's the Blueberry One Size Bamboo Velour Diaper.  Lastly, there's the Blueberry Deluxe One Size Diaper in snaps and hook & loop.  Microfleece wicks moisture away from baby's skin, but it is man made, and some babies can be sensitive to it.

Some come in snaps only and others come in snaps or hook and loop (velcro applix).  Generally speaking, I prefer velcro for ease of diapering and adjustability, but Blueberry's velcro is apparently super strength!  I have such a hard time getting the tabs off of the laundry tabs, I think the laundry tabs may just rip right off.  However, I would not complain if Santa brought velcro!

The prints I love are:

Blue on Chocolate

Blue/Yellow Dots

Lemon Lime

Blue Pop

Sage on Chocolate

Mint Patties

Winter Sage

My favorites are Sage on Chocolate and Lemon Lime.  I try to choose gender neutral prints but I gravitate towards cute boy stuff!  I don't think any of these are too boyish for a girl, but I'm sure if we ever cloth diaper a girl, I will want to buy all the cute, pink & ruffly cloth diapers too.   Eek now I'm feeling kind of guilty for not CDing my daughter.

I love the monkey print velcro diaper I have.  I would love to try one with snaps, as well as other prints in the velcro.

The monkey print on the left is what I have and love.  My daughter loves it too, she doesn't want me to change her brother when he's wearing it!  The peace bears print on the right is the one I'd most love to have!
 
I think the blue hibscus is adorable and would be great for a boy or a girl.

Of course, I'm a sucker for a cute print, so I like them all!

I am really anxious to try Rumparooz.  My favorites are the Lil Monster and kangaroos, but all of the colors and prints are cute!

There are also several accessories I'd love to have

I am definitely wishing for a BumGenius Diaper Sprayer.  We've just started solids and I'm scared.  Heh.  I was scared of some of my daughter's solid food eating dipes, and she wore sposies!

I have a single, small Planet Wise wet bag, but I am coveting several more types.

Why Planet Wise?  First off, they are PVC free and lead free.  Did you know most zippers are painted with lead containing paint?  Scary!  The bags come in awesome prints and are incredibly functional.  They have a locking zipper and hidden/sealed seams for no wicking.  They can be washed & dried with your diapers, though I hang mine dry, as I also do with my PUL diapers.  You can even use the wet/dry bags or large wet bags as a hanging diaper pail. 

Planet Wise is family owned and has very family friendly employee practices.  Not only do their products replace their disposable counterparts, their packaging is recycled/recycleable, and uses soy based ink.  When your children are no longer in diapers, you can use the bags to transport wet bathing suits, dirty laundry, even use them to separate shoes or toiletries from the rest of your suitcase when traveling.  I'm guilty of using plastic bags for all of these things!

The wet/dry bag would be excellent for storing multiple diapers when we are going to be away from home for more than a few hours.

I like the Geometric Studio

Black Curly Q

and aqua swirl.

I'd also like some medium wet bags for the diaper bag, and a couple of large wet bags to use for after rinsing dirty diapers.  The small bag fits two dirty one-size pockets, but it's a little snug.  The mediums would be a little easier for more than 1 I think. 

I like the blue vista

Black Curly Q

and aqua swirl

I'd also love to have the cloth wipes/pouch and a small squirt bottle for wipes solution in the diaper bag.  I love that you can actually pre-moisten the wipes to take with you, and the bag won't leak or wick!

This is a little off topic but they have this little mini wet dry bag.  How awesome is that.  Very discreet for using mama cloth when out and about.  I've heard ladies say they use small wet bags in their bathrooms as well.

I haven't decided if I want to use a diaper pail or not, but I wouldn't mind a large liner to try out.  I'm interested in one with a drawstring so I can see if it would work in the Diaper Dekor pails I have.

I would like some Thayer's Alcohol Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel to use in my wipes solution.  It is extra soothing to little bums, and can help preserve wipes solution as well.

I'd also like another tube of Grandma El's diaper rash remedy to keep upstairs.

We don't have a chimney, and Santa probably doesn't like Almond Milk, so I'll hang onto this wish list just in case I win the lottery.  :-D  You know, so I don't have to waste any time deciding what to spend the money on.  Hee hee.

All images used with permission.