Composition: 50 % recycled cotton, 50 % recycled plastic (something like Repreve…?)

Weight: 210 g/m² declared by the manufacturer, 235 g/m² counted by us

Size: 6 (?) – length 434 cm

Half Jordan’s back carry

Let’s be honest. The most interesting thing about AYU wraps is their exotic origin and their story. They are Columbian, handwoven by single mothers and women who are victims of domestic violence. Aside from being fair-trade, they are also super-eco-bio – they are woven from recycled cotton and synthetic fiber made by recycling of PET bottles (which is the same process as in the case of Repreve, however, this one is manufactured in a different factory that does not own the trademark, I suppose) – the website of the Czech distributor even says that it takes to recycle 15 PET bottles to make one of the AYU wraps and that the fabric is not dyed with chemical dyes. If you also count in that the brand supports the Columbian Indian women who decorate the wraps by traditional techniquesand that it promotes babywearing in Columbia, it is basically impossible not to get excited about AYU’s philosophy.

The wrap itself, Nenes de Leche (translates as ˈchildren of milkˈ, isn’t that cute?) is a true newborn skinny piece but quite rough to touch, with plenty of lumps and irregularities of the twill – this is understandably due to being all made of recycled materials and it creates a very interesting structure of the wrap, which fully compensates the lack of a pattern in my opinion. Being rough, it slides very little while tying and holds tight in the carry, but it is not springy or elastic very much and it was not easy to tighten it perfectly. I felt my shoulders quite considerably with my nearly 9kg Emilka after a while in the front cross carry – it really is not a toddler piece. On the other hand, I would not recommend it for little babies because of its rough structure.

I also want to comment on the length of the wrap – the information I had when I signed up for the testing was that it should be size 6. In reality, I measured 434 cm, and moreover, the wrap has very long bevelled tips. Therefore, I am quite positive it is a size 5, dear AYU, please do not feel offended (however, size 5 is my base so I was OK with it in the end).

Concerning the tips of the wrap, there is a cute pocket on one of them, fastened by a piece of Velcro. The only positive thing I found about it is, however, its cuteness – I cannot imagine putting keys or a cell phone in it. One thing is that it is quite small, the other thing is that it would not be very comfortable to load the pocket with heavy stuff and have it swinging around while walking. Moreover, the combination of a wrap and Velcro as its integral part is at least a little bit problematic in my opinion (try to guess why). Anyway, the colour is beautiful, that I have to say, and being made of what it is made of makes it super-easy-care – the synthetic fiber makes it crease-resistant and durable when it comes to laundering, while it does not seem prone towards pulls at all. Moreover, if it develops lumps over time it would not be visible thanks to its structure.

I was not especially intrigued by AYU as a wrap, but I find the story and the purpose of the brand very interesting and laudable – this is the main reason why I would consider buying or recommending the wrap as a decent and durable working piece. However, despite being fond of such charitable initiatives and willing to spend some money on them from time to time, I would consider spending money on Columbian single mothers by the means of purchasing the AYU wrap in case the price of the wrap (as offered by the Czech distributor) was lower by approximately a half. I would rather spend similar amount of money at some of the Czech manufacturers’ e-shop (despite the fact that they do not employ Indian domestic violence victims) and get a class better quality wrap.

I hereby want to thank the Facebook group of Modern Wearers for the opportunity to test the wrap!