A Question For Cloth-diaper-wearers...

[Eric D]

Ok,

When my last Tena Slip was used up I had placed an order with my usual supplier for more, he also has a good selection of various (lower and higher end) Cloth diapers... I thought I should give it a try too... now yesterday in the morn the pack arrived and besides my usual TENA there were also two cloth diapers in there...

One is a more "traditional" Cotton-flanell thing (pre-fit, with velcore fasteners) designed to be worn under a plastic- or rubber-pant...

http://www.saveexpress.de/save/index.php?c...mp;product=0803

the other one is a more "high-tech" all in one pant:

http://www.saveexpress.de/save/index.php?c...product=8811502

Being curious, instead of wearing my TENA for the night I deicded to give the "traditional cotton-flanell" cloth diaper a try...

well I did drink a lot during the day and also a loth before going to bed... I had them on for about 40 minutes before I went to bed...

The whole thing felt very soft and very comfortable (albeit I have to say I prefer the feeling of a disposable diaper any time)...

so around 3 o'clock in the morning I slightly awoke with a serious pressure on my bladder... so I started to wet.

the diaper soaked it in all, and at first it felt really great... and I went back to sleep... I had wet a lot.

in the morning I woke up and it felt quite colder than my disposables ever would ... also it felt quite more wet. it's not that it's more urine - but rather the fact that it didn't transform into some gel-like stuff as with the super-absorber of disposables.

so I went downstairs and sat down for some small breakfast... geez - I could feel the urine squishing out of the diaper and "respreading" - all quite cold... it didn't feel good... so I changed out of the cloth diaper and into some disposable - boy felt that good.

now I haven't tried the other "more high-end" cloth diaper - but I will maybe at the end of the week... but from my first experience here with this normal cloth diaper I'm kind of "annoyed"... I mean my disposables they do feel wet when they're wet - but never as "soaked-wet" as the cloth did... which was ok as long as the urine was nice and warm - but awkward in the morn' ... not to mention the sitting down wet-feeling... My Tena Slip Super does this only when it's well OVERSATURATED but to that point it feels quite dry throughout the wear.

Now after having read so many comments here on this board by girls & guys about how much more comfortable Cloth Diapers are, and that some would never go back to disposables, I am left to wonder if I had made a bad choice with that specific product, or if I made something else wrong, or my experience is the way it is supposed to be ??

thank you for some feedback...

[lynniehyde]

A question. Did the company you bought the disposables from also make the cloth diapers you received with the order? If so, I would suggest that their main interest is not in producing quality cloth diapers, focusing more on their disposable line of diapers. It's true, cloth diapers can get cold in wintery times. Especially, if you go outside, wet. As for being hotter in warmer climes, I live in Arizona, USA and wear cloths exclusively. I have no complaints about their comfort or lack of. It gets to 120 degrees F in the summertime, sometimes. Of course I'm not wearing any trousers over them either. Rubber panties are my outerwear. The diapers are the underwear. I'm 24/7 and cloth suits me just fine. After your initial purchase, they are cheaper in the long run. If, you plan to be in this for the long run. If you're a binge/purge type, your probably better off with disposables.

Cuddles,

--heidilynn

[Eric D]

sq^duck - thank your for the reply... it's reassuring to try again.

I mean for the night & at home a good cloth diaper would make some sense...

I'll see how the other model performs and maybe try to source some of the mentioned materials locally or "close by" and give them a try...

lynniehyde - well no, the company is just a huge supplier - they don't really make any products themselves (they have a few disposables and plastic pants branded under their own name ... but that's a different story).... they are one of the largest european suppliers on the market these days and offer a largest choice in both cloth and disposables I have come across in europe.

Shipping from the US, at least for disposable diapers is a non-sense acation for me (switzerland) as shipping is quite expensive (not to mention customs-taxes and dealys)... but if I don't find good cloth here I'll put up a post here to get some recommendations and a recommended supplier and order from the us.

and about binge/purge - well been there, done that, got the lousy t-shirt and went and bought diapers again - nah' I'm over that... luckily.. what a waste of diapers and money - only in the end to realize that I hurt no one, and make myself a happier human when I can wear. I have not binged/purged in quite some time (maybe I should agian, just to get the feeling ).

[Eric D]

One more question .... now laundry.

well after yesterday having used my first cloth diaper - it needs to get cleaned...

do you guys use regular washing-detergents, what temepratures??

also about "storage" of used (pee soaked) diapers - is there an easy good way to contain the developing "odour" ?? I can't run the washing machine every day...

machine-drying?? can I safely use a tumbler or hot-dryer?

thanks.

[tndyperboy]

I agree with Square Duck that gauze is the better cloth diaper. I have worn cloth diapers to bed for years and find them just as comfortable if not more so that a night weight disposable. I also layer mine depending how long before bed I put them on; in that case I have flannel inserts which work well as they do soak up a lot. If you were "sloshing" around in the morning you need more layers or a thicker diaper is all. I prefer layers as it makes laundry easier. Takes forever to tumble dry a super thick diaper.

Laundry; hot water and detergent. I use non-chlorine bleach to get the ordor out, vinegar works too. Don't use fabric softener as that lessens the absorbant capability of your diapers. Once in a while you have to bleach them to get your diapers snowy white again, but chlorine bleach shortens the life of the diaper. Tumble dry hot until dry. Plastic pants you have to hand wash and line dry. To store wet diapers until laundry time, rinse well and toss in a bucket with a lid. I do mine during my morning shower. Some will put vinegar or borax in their diaper pail, helps keep ordor down. Wash every 3 or 4 days depending how many diapers you use.

[Angela Bauer]

To be sure, all cloth diapers are an investment. We need to respect them and take care of them, because the diaper we care for today will care for us tomorrow!

It would be fantastic to wave a big magic wand and turn back the clock to a time when Kendall Mills still made their classic Curity 21x40" flat gauze diapers. Please do not blame the change in those entirely on the sale of Kendall's cloth diaper business to Gerber. By then the traditional Kendall diaper-weave gauze looms were beyond repair. Also the world cotton market had changed enough the particular varieties of cotton necessary to make that fine thread was not available in sufficient quantity.

Decades before the Dundee Mills had perfected the mid-1800's Birdseye weave to diaper use by reducing the size of the htread, increasing the thread count and using varieties of cotton that were especially spongy. Although I grew up in Curity 21x40" classic diaper gauze, Dundee sold a lot of their square flat diapers. Gerber actually purchased the entire Dundee company a couple of years before they made the deal with Kendall.

Even while Gerber was selling off the existing stock of Curity gauze and Birdseye prefold and flat diapers, their R&D folks were working with experienced Kendall and Dundee staff to perfect a replacement gauze that could be made on modern looms with cotton that could be obtained. The result combines the better qualities of old Birdseye and classic Curity diaper weave. The easiest example to buy in adult sizes are the square gauze diapers sold by Adult Cloth Diapers (ACD) Once Gerber started using their logo on the prefold diapers made using a similar method as formerly used by Curity, the Birdseye was nearly the same as before, which Kendall bought from Dundee. The Gerber gauze has thicker threads and thus a lower thread count. It still works well, but is not identical to the classic style. Frankly I never liked the Curity gauze prefold design and always bought the Birdseye as soakers.

Okay, an important step has been neglected in this topic. That is, be it flannel, Birdseye, gauze or terrycloth, and cloth diaper needs to be washed a few times prior to first use. All fabrics are treated with a special starch to prevent shedding in the manufacturing process. Not only does sizing prevent absorbsion, it is irritating.

The classic way to remove sizing from diapers is to use Ivory Snow for the first wash in very hot water. The second wash, without drying between, is in just hot water. After that a few new diapers can safely be washed to fill out loads of wet and even soiled cotton diapers. After 3 or 4 washings cotton diapers have shrunk as much as they will and are ready for use.

Even with soaking in water with vinegar or Borax, it really is bad for diapers to be left wet more than 48 hours. Perhaps if you only wet cloth diapers a couple of times a week, short life is not such a big deal. But I use 2 or 3 a night, and 6 or more a day if I am home all day, so getting maximum life out of my cotton diapers is very important to me. I find that it does not harm sheets to be washed along with diapers in Dreft and some added Borax, so long as the sheets are white of pale colors. This way I can run a load of diapers every day. That reduces odor and increases the life of the diapers.

Vinyl panties do not do well in sunlight or high heat. It is best to wash most kinds of vinyl by hand in water no hotter than is comfortable for your hand, with just a hint of liquid dishwashing detergent. Then let the vinyl panties air dry away from sunlight or direct heat. I use plastic hangers that are carefully sanded where the vinyl will touch to prevent tears. Once a week I take all my clean and dried vinyl panties, put them in an old pillow case, and run them in the drier the first 20 minutes of a diaper drying cycle. This makes the panties slightly warm without melting them. After that run I return them to their plastic hangers until I need to wear them. This weekly warming seems to prolong the softness and delays the hardening of vinyl that ends their usefull life.

There is another form of vinyl used in some institutional pants called

"Boilable Vinyl" that is formulated to be washed in commercial machines along with diapers. That vinyl needs the high water temperature to be as soft as it will get. Prior to 1991 there was a manufacturer using Boilable Vinyl but today that is rare.

A well washed cotton diaper is delightful and can last years. I still have a handful of DPF Baby Heaven cat 101 gauze adult prefolds I bought in 2002. Mind you those are ones I did not put into use until just before DPF stopped selling diapers. Some of my 101s lasted over 5 years, not bad for $20 diapers. The diaper cost was $0.08 each, but remember the cost of time, the washing machine, the drier, water and so on. Still, that is low compared to disposables.

Angela Bauer, Washing Cotton Diapers 101

[Diaperteddy]

Hi Eric, i wear padycare diapers with a cottondiaper from Save Express 160x160 cm folded as a long stuffer, 12 ply so it fits inside the Padycare diaper from top of the front to top of the back, and a pair of Hi-Back plasticpants over, it never leaks and i never be cold.