The Great Cloth Diaper Thread

tosh24

I'm starting to obsess over my stash again so I thought others might be too. Time to start up the cloth diaper discussion!

I'm hoping this can be a place for cloth newbies, cloth veterans, and those even just toying with the idea of cloth to ask questions, get advice, and talk about all things cloth, like:
1. types of diapers available,
2. brands,
3. washing routines,
4. stripping and troubleshooting,
5. deals/sales,
6. etc.

Here are some links that have been suggested so far. If anyone wants to add others along the way, just LMK!

All About Cloth Diapering:

Cloth Diaper Glossary

https://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Terms-and-Abbreviations_ep_208-1.html

Fluff University

https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/

Kelly's Closet

https://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html

Cloth Diaper Retailer Suggestions:

Nicki's Diapers

https://www.nickisdiapers.com  

Green Mountain Diapers

https:www.greenmountaindiapers.com

Happy Diapering!!!

tosh24

For mamas who have used cloth in the newborn phase: what are your favourite brands for both daytime and nighttime (other than prefolds - I don't like prefolds at all)?

For daytime I mainly used Lil' Joeys which worked well for us but I hear it's hit and miss with others (and who knows if they will work for this LO). I'm looking for a few other options, preferably AIO but not opposed to other varieties. I tried out Fuzzibunz with DS and hated them - they always leaked. Also had a couple bumGenius which were hit and miss. Since cloth diapering him, I see that both Thirsties and Tots Bots have come out with newborn AIO diapers. I used both those brands when DS was out of the newborn stage and loved them, so looking to see if anyone has used the newborn style recently in either of those brands and can give a review.

For nighttime I used fitteds with a wool or PUL cover which was the only combo that worked for my extremely heavy wetter. The brand I used and loved (Kissaluvs) has been discontinued so I'm looking for other fitted brands that people have had success with.

*Edit formatting

galactickates

I have to ask, with cloth diapers.. how do you not spend hours upon hours cleaning them? That is the major turn off for me.  Where do they get washed? Bathroom sink? Bath tub? Do you wash multiple at a time? Then you wash in washer, right? Then you have to disinfect sink/bathtub after.  I'm just afraid of the cloth diaper route because I imagine spending half my waking hours cleaning cloth diapers while trying to take care of a newborn for the first time.   It seems like so.much.work and so time consuming. What am I missing? How much time and energy does it actually take? 

Eta - Ok, i'm reading more and apparently you rinse them in your toilet

DLpanda08

@galactickates a friend recommended a website for me called Fuff University when I first started researching and I found it incredibly helpful! Worth checking out if you’re on the fence. 

I’ve arranged to borrow some diapers from friends who cloth diaper before I buy a whole stash. This way I can try out some different brands. I also got some pockets for cheap during prime day and they are so freaking cute!!!

KariAnn323

Our plan for newborn is to use the Green Mountain Diaper fitteds and prefolds with waterproof covers. Once LO is bigger we will switch to inserts and prefolds as inserts during the day and fitteds with a booster at night. As for once she starts solids I'll start using flushable liners. That way the poop is a little easier to deal with.

tosh24

@KariAnn323 Thanks for sharing - I had totally forgot about Green Mountain Diapers. I've heard good things about them and they are so reasonably priced. I think I'll add a few fitteds to my stash.

@galactickates No pre-rinsing necessary in the first 6 months (until solids). Just throw them in the wash - everything is water soluble. Even then, it depends what kind of pooper you have on your hands once you introduce solids. DS was a "Houdini" pooper. He would poop and none of it would stick to the diaper or to him. Even in the peanut butter poop stage. I would just turn the diaper over and plop it into the toilet and it would barely even leave a mark. If you have a messier pooper you could always use a disposable liner. They are sold in huge rolls and kind of look a little like dryer sheets. So, if you're going through a messy phase you haven't figured out how to deal with yet, just throw a liner in the diaper. FWIW, fluffy laundry was always my favourite kind of laundry...I never minded washing and drying cute little diapers!

ETA: Also, I wanted to add a list last night but really needed to go to bed. If anyone has any great website recommendations, post them here and I'll add them to the original post. I'm going to add a link to Kelly's Closet and a good online discussion group, but if anyone else has website links or youtube videos or whatever, please share!

KariAnn323

@tosh24 I haven’t bought anything yet but Nicki’s Diapers has a good selection. https://www.nickisdiapers.com/

BitterBetty12

@tosh24 my newborn stash is probably my favorite stash but it’s also the most all over the place. I decided to try a ton to figure out what I liked.

Least favorite for newborn phase: lil joeys and thirsties. I had the most leaks with these.

Favorite AIOs for the newborn phase: blueberry simplex and tots bots. Also had a few Nikki’s and they’re pretty great. And the grovia newborn.

My favorite nighttime was a newborn cloth-eez fitted diaper from green mountain diapers with a cover. I almost never used these during the day but I SWEAR by them at night. As she became a slightly heavier wetter I would add a small cotton insert in. 

Least favorite one size AIO: ecoable.

Favorite one size AIO: blueberry simplex and nickis diapers. Mama koalas are absolutely my jam BUT they’re not technically true AIOs because you have to stuff the insert into the pocket. These work AMAZINGLY WELL for being microfiber. And they’re also only around $40 for 6 diapers on amazon. Now that DD is older I do use a booster cotton insert in them as well. 

Favorite night time solutions: Grovia ONEs all the way. Before I had a full stash of them I would also stuff a pocket diaper with a flour sack towel, prefold, and cotton insert all tri folded and that worked exceptionally well. Plus fitteds and covers are always a good night time option.

@galactickates So only babies who are EBF have water soluable poop. Since I formula fed my DDs poop was not water soluable. That being said - I use diaper liners. They kind of look lIke dryer sheets and make it so that you can throw the majority of the poop away. Then I used a diaper genie to keep the poop in so it didn’t smell. And I would throw the diapers into a wet bag (this is just a bag that prevents from liquids from coming out- you don’t actually put any water in it) that I hung in our bathroom. So I spent about 0 time cleaning diapers other than washing and stuffing them. Unless I forgot a liner. Then I did the dunk and swish in the toilet, which doesn’t have to be cleaned afterward. 

Links:

https://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/ - this website is like the holy grail of how to take care of and trouble shoot your diapers. This is where I found the wash routine that works best for my washer,
and learned what the best detergent to use is and how much in each load. I have been almost exclusively cloth diapering for 13 months and I’ve had 0 issues with the routine I got from here. It’s an amazing resource with so much information. 

My favorite diaper websites: these are where I buy most of my diapers. 

https://www.nickisdiapers.com/ - this site sells a ton of brands, but I can vouch that their personal brand is amazing. I was a huge fan of both the newborn and one size AIOs. Their diaper covers for fitteds are also cheap and amazing.
https://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/ - I bought my cloth eez fitteds from here as well as all of my extra organic cotton inserts and my prefolds (I only use prefolds to stuff).

pttomato

Copying my long-winded post from the diapering thread:

I liked pre-folds the most, most of the time. They are basically just a square of cloth. I think they can seem intimidating but they are fairly simple once you’ve done it a couple times.
Pros: They are easy to wash and dry and are inexpensive. You only have to change the cover if it gets poop on it.
Cons: There is more of a learning curve because you have to fold and fasten them. There are more steps to putting the diaper on which can be be difficult when you child won’t stay still. Other people may be less willing to use them (my DH wouldn’t). Prefolds are typically sized, but you can usually get away with a few sizes by folding them differently.

Fitted: Shaped like a disposable, with elastic around the legs, but no waterproof layer so you need a separate cover. Some people really like these, I liked prefolds better.
Pros: Shaped like a disposable with elastic around the legs, so they are more user friendly and can hold runny newborn poop in better than a prefold. Some have snaps or Velcro so you don’t need a separate fastener. You can reuse the cover unless it gets poop on it.
Cons: There are still two separate parts to put on. Some still require a fastener. These are generally sized so you need to buy more of them and are more expensive than prefolds.

Pockets and AI2 (All-in-twos): Pockets have an opening where you stuff an absorbent insert, AI2s the insert snaps in. These were my favorites when DD was uncooperative and wouldn’t stay still.
Pros: Easier to use and faster to put on than a profold or fitted, especially for people who want something more like a disposable. They dry faster and I think wash more easily than AIOs (all-in-ones), and definitely dry faster since the absorbent part is separate from the waterproof part. You can adjust the absorbency by adding more or fewer inserts.
Cons: They take time to stuff or snap the inserts in. You have to change and wash the whole thing for each change. You have to use a compatible insert with AI2s. More expensive.

AIOs: The absorbent inserts are sewn in so the whole diaper is all one piece.
Pros: Easy to use, quick to put on. No stuffing or snapping in inserts. They are the most like disposables.
Cons: They take forever to dry. You can’t easily adjust the absorbency. Expensive.

Pockets, Covers, AI2s and AIOs generally come in “newborn” size and “one size.” I think DD was in newborn until she was a couple months old, obviously that depends a lot on the size of the baby.

These are are just the kinds I tried. There are more, but I don’t have personal experience with them.

I prefer natural fibers over microfiber because I feel like it washed better. I felt like the microfiber held onto smell more, especially with hard water.

Washing was really intimidating when I was reading about how to do it, but it hasn’t actually been that difficult. I did find it easier when we didn’t have hard water. I had to change my  routine up when we moved to a place with really hard water, but I got it figured out fairly quickly. Tide is often recommended, but we couldn’t use it because DD (and DH) react to it.

I got some of my diapers from consignment stores, but that is pretty hit-or-miss. There are also online swap sites. I got a lot of DD’s diapers during Black Friday/cyber Monday sales.

Related, I love my wetbags. Besides CDs they are useful for wet clothes, swimming suits, used disposables when you aren’t near a trash can, and potty training.

pttomato

I have some prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers that held up really well, and I know their fitteds are popular too. I liked the Little Joeys in the beginning because they were easy to use and were the smallest diapers we had but they were the first diapers she grew out of. Rumparooz, Kawaii and Imagine were good for that “in-between” size when they are transitioning from NB to OS. I liked Thirsties and Blueberry Simplex a lot. I always had problems with Bumgenius leaking with DD. I had a Tots Bots AIO that I don’t like, it must have delaminated quickly because it’s not waterproof on the outside and we didn’t even use it that much. I also have an AIO from Smartbottoms that I like sometimes, but I have to make sure none of the inside is poking out of the legs or I get wicking. I have some Nicki’s Diapers pockets that I like and they aren’t too expensive.

LCRbelle

I have all happy flute diapers from a Facebook co-op I’m in.  They currently need stripped or something! I’ve been avoiding figuring out the issue/how to fix them.  
I’m excited to read about everyone’s favorites and try some new brands! 
As others have stated fluff love university is an awesome website! There’s also a Facebook group that’s great as well. 

KariAnn323

I’ve heard that Best Bottoms are a good OS to have early on. They’re a little pricier but apparently they run a little small so you can start using them earlier than other OS covers.

pttomato

KariAnn323 said:

I’ve heard that Best Bottoms are a good OS to have early on. They’re a little pricier but apparently they run a little small so you can start using them earlier than other OS covers.

I agree Best Bottoms are a good early OS cover.

tosh24

@BitterBetty12 Did you use the Thirsties AIO for the newborn phase or their size 1 Duo Wrap with inserts? If the AIO, I'm bummed to hear you didn't like them since I really love my Thirsties OS pockets so I was hoping for good things from their AIO.

+1 for Best Bottoms covers. I LOVE mine. Their double leg gussets really hold in the mess and they do run a little smaller so you can start using them earlier. Also, they have super cute prints.

BitterBetty12

@tosh24 I used the thirsties AIO for the newborn phase and since I didn't like them I never went for their duo wrap. But like you said diapers work different for every baby. Lil Joeys never worked here at all and two of you have already said you really liked them! I was surprised too because DD was so small so I figured lil joeys would be perfect for her.

@pttomato Oh I forgot about my smartbottems. I have 4 of them. I do like them and they work well as long as the leg elastics are rolled in - which as far as I know is actually a quality of some diapers (the fact that they have to be rolled). That being said, this is only word of mouth, but they've done a redesign that I've heard is MUCH better. Anyone I know who has their current diaper says it is AMAZING especially compared to the original.

amongthewildflowers

We LOVED Grovia hybrids for my daughter. Everyone who watched her was able to use them easily. We used Grovia ONES with a wool cover for nighttime, which worked well for us, but I did constantly have issues trying to get the urine smell out of them. I'm not sure what we will do this time for nights. 

We will do disposables for the newborn stage again as I'm lazy and I dont want to deal with reselling newborn diapers after only a couple months of use. 

For non soluble poop, we used liners and will go that route again as the liners really were inexpensive. 

kns1988

We did OsoCozy prefolds with a thirsties waterproof cover until DS outgrew them around 3 months (preemie baby), and then we switched to AlvaBaby cloth diapers. The way they have snaps that can grow with baby is amazing. I never was able to find a cloth diaper that wouldn't leak overnight, though. We eventually threw in the towel and switched to disposable at night. If anyone has a nighttime cloth diaper that works, let me know.

@galactickates, we rinsed them off in our utility sink when DS was on solids. Before that, we could usually just throw it in the wash and run a pre-soak cycle because BF diapers are much different than solid diapers. I did diaper laundry every other day. 

We switched to disposable when DS was a year old because I got pregnant and sick & exhausted, and he turned into a little acrobat during changing, which made it hard to keep using cloth. We do plan to cloth diaper baby #2. 

kns1988

P.S. anyone want to fill me in on how to strip diapers to prepare them for baby #2? I packed them all away clean, obviously, but they were losing some absorbency at the end. 

BitterBetty12

@kns1988 Overnights definitely take a lot of trial and error. In the newborn phase I found fitteds and covers to be the best. For OS (but really once she was a decent amount bigger) we've used Grovia ONEs. During her heavier wetting phases we would add an extra insert to the ONEs. I also make my own overnights (usually using an ALVA pocket actually) and adding in a newborn prefold and floursack towel pad folded around an insert (usually cotton). That always seems to do the trick but it is pretty bulky.

dragonette505

what are AIO's..... I'm def looking at hopefully cloth diapering so i will be hoping to get a ton of info from you second and third timers...
Also... is there any difference in type of diapers and gender of baby? I remember my mom always saying certain diapers (disposable) were better for boys for whatever reason (i guess because of where the pee is concentrated).
Hopefully I can get the real deal scoop here and not buy as many lame things.... Its so great having access to you guys' experience

dragonette505

Never mind... just saw the answer to my question in one of pttomato posts!
Great info!!

BitterBetty12

@dragonette505 AIOs are all in ones. They’re the closest to disposables you can get in terms of ease of use but typically the most expensive. Also there aren’t different diapers for different genders but if you go with a type of diaper that you have to pin on or fold I know there are folds that are supposed to work better for girls vs boys!

dragonette505

BitterBetty12 great! Which types (in your opinion) work best in the different stages: newborn and up

helleebellee

I love green mountain fitteds and wool covers during any stage, but especially during the newborn stage.  As for cleaning poop later on, I had my H hook a hose with a spray nozzle onto our toilet. It worked very well. 

BitterBetty12

@dragonette505 So I personally prefer AIOs for during the day at all stages. They're easy and they make it easier for other people to change the baby’s diaper without being too confused! For night time they're not absorbent enough though. In the newborn stage I exclusively used newborn cloth-eez fitted diapers (these look like AIOs but aren't water proof) and covers (These are the water proof part that you put on top of the fitteds - I used the rumparooz brand for the newborn stage). I really never had leaks at all. The larger size of these worked well for once she got older as well but I started having to add booster inserts as she became a heavier wetter. Now I use Grovia ONEs. Grovia is a brand and ONE is a specific AIO diaper of theirs that is extra absorbent. I also stuff my own overnights if my ONEs are dirty using a pocket diaper (Basically an AIO but you have to stuff inserts inside of them, so they take a little preparation ahead of time) and more heavy duty inserts (prefold which is an absorbant square of material you have to fold, floursack towel which is a large thin kitchen towel that you fold, and then a cotton insert).

dragonette505

BitterBetty12  such good info! Thanks!

tosh24

@dragonette505 Not that you asked, but I'll give you my unsolicited opinion anyway 

I basically +1 everything that @BitterBetty12 just said haha...that was easy!

No but really, for newborns, fitteds with a waterproof cover were the only combo I'd use for nighttime. AIO will likely leak at night, especially if you don't change the diaper at every feed. Like BitterBetty12 said, I also preferred AIOs for daytime use. They are the easiest. They are more expensive and do take longer to dry, though. 

For the later stages, I still preferred AIOs for daytime but did also use a lot of pockets since they allowed me to customize absorbancy and the location of absorbancy better.

As for the baby's sex vs. diaper type, boys and girls do concentrate their urine in different areas - girls will be more in the middle of the diaper and toward the back (especially when newborn and laying on their back a lot) and boys soak more toward the front of the diaper. If I ever had issues with the location of soaking and subsequent leaking, I would just take a thinner piece of cotton or bamboo and fold it up and place it where I needed the extra absorbancy, even in an AIO. Usually solved the problem. But, you totally may find that certain brands work better on your baby purely based on how they're made and how your child soaks/messes their diaper. Same thing for disposables.

dragonette505

tosh24 i DID ask! I want to hear it from anyone who wants to say how they did it in the past.... i know its not always possible for ppl to cloth diaper, but i have always wanted to...I'm old enough to have been cloth diapered back in the day when they used a big ass pin with a pink top! lol. My mom cloth diapered her first four, but couldn't keep it up with her last two
I feel like it feel like the right move for me so learning as much as i can about the process from experienced moms is bound to give me a leg up!

tosh24

Also, great piece of advice someone gave me when I was building my stash - don't get velcro (aka aplix, aka hook and loop) for nighttime diapers! They are super loud when ripping them open and, depending on your child, you may otherwise be able to change their diaper while they're still in a milk coma. Snaps are quieter so best for night. My kids could sleep through diaper changes so I was grateful for the advice!

BitterBetty12

I also sometimes say AIO to mean any thing that isn’t a cover with something underneath it. So I say it to mean AIOs and AI2s (all in 2s) and pockets.

I think the majority of my ‘AIOs’ are actually pocket type diapers that have to be stuffed which makes them AI2 (if the diaper comes with it’s own insert to stuff in a pocket or if it comes with an imagery to snap in, it’s considered an AI2 since it isn’t just one piece, but it comes with everything you need to use it). The only brands I have that are a true AIO are my blueberry simplex and a couple of my bumgeniuses. A true AIO should literally be just one piece. And to differentiate pockets from AI2s, pockets don’t have any absorbancy attached to them and instead have a pocket to stuff whatever you want in, but don’t come with their own inserts.

The difference between pockets, AIOs and AI2s can kind of be a grey area. 

dragonette505

tosh24 said:

Also, great piece of advice someone gave me when I was building my stash - don't get velcro (aka aplix, aka hook and loop) for nighttime diapers! They are super loud when ripping them open and, depending on your child, you may otherwise be able to change their diaper while they're still in a milk coma. Snaps are quieter so best for night. My kids could sleep through diaper changes so I was grateful for the advice!

That makes sense! lol You do everything you can to get the lil booger to sleep then destroy it with a harsh tearing Velcro sound!

pttomato

@dragonette505 My mom used cloth diapers when we were growing up and I remember the big diaper pins. Our had a yellow duck on the top.

dragonette505

pttomato said:

@dragonette505 My mom used cloth diapers when we were growing up and I remember the big diaper pins. Our had a yellow duck on the top.

The pink ones were probably just for her girls...She had two boys back to back, then two girls... we were probably deep into pink pin territory by the time i arrived (if only mama knew me better shed know i prefer ducks!)
i AM glad it doesn't sound like i will need to be worrying about using pins THESE days! lol

pttomato

Also the Velcro tends to wear out faster than snaps and it is much easier for little ones to figure out how to take off (see poop all over the crib).

BitterBetty12

Velcro is also annoying when you’re washing and drying the diapers. If you don’t fold it over it will catch other diapers. Sometimes even when you do fold it, it comes undone. It also always gets lint stuck in it.

That being said - I do find the Velcro diapers the easiest to use for other people because they are as close as you can get to disposables. I had a lot of them for the newborn phase. 

dragonette505

BitterBetty12  it sounds like you need a range of diapers for each stage: newborn or toddler, day or night, easy diapers for other folks...
I wish there was a cloth diaper starter pack of a mix of these products

BitterBetty12

@dragonette505 yeah having variety definitely makes it easier! But I DO know people who use one brand and one type and are happy with it as well! So it doesn’t have to be too complicated. The way that I figured things out was by buying different types in the newborn style and then building up my one size stash once I got a feel for what I liked!

tosh24

@kns1988 I had the same question that I was going to post! All of my diapers have been in storage for 5+ years and I was having some ammonia and repelling issues with them when we stopped using them (we had really hard water at the time). They're all clean but now that we have soft water, I want to do a good strip on everything and hopefully find a better routine to prevent issues from cropping up again. I took a look at the Fluff Love University site that a couple of people mentioned (I posted the link in the OP) and they have some amazing information on stripping and wash routines. I'd suggest taking a look there because I found it really helpful!

BitterBetty12

@tosh24 brings up a good point because it’s incredibly important to know if you have hard water. If you do it will eventually cause all of the issues she mentioned above. This can be avoided by using specific amounts of water softener in each load of laundry! You’ll be able to find all of that information on fluff love university’s website. They also have a Facebook group where you can ask any questions including sharing information about your washer, dryer, and water hardness if you need help establishing a routine. Though their website literally has a section where you can pretty much find any washer!

ETA sorry @kns1988 I don’t know how but I completely missed your post before!

kns1988

@BitterBetty12, @tosh24 I have suuuuper hard water, so that must have been contributing to my problems at the end. I'll check out fluff and use some softener this time around. Thanks!

gorgeousariel

I have recently lined up our stash. It makes my heart full to see a drawer full of cute, clean diapers lol. I only stopped cloth diapering DD about 2 months ago so I didn't really didn't have to get them out of storage. I separated the girl prints ( and let's be honest, I am super sad I won't be using some of those again). I have about 30 diapers of gender neutral diapers so I really don't have to buy any. Although I'm sure I will get a few. I use pockets exclusively with the exception of overnights- that is an AIO with a hemp insert added. I didn't start CD until DD was a year old so I have no idea about NB CD. I dont want to have to buy a whole stash of NB so I think we are just going to start CD when DS is big enough for OS.