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DnD, just scroll down in this forum and you'll find a wealth of info. You should also do a google search on "diaper primer". The link you find will have a LOT of great info, mostly pertaining to cloth diapering.

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I have posted a lot of info about cloth in different places on this site, and one of them is here. Angela Bauer

is also a cloth wearer and has her own input. I hope this helps;

http://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?showtopic=29337&hl=&fromsearch=1

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I also wear cloth and pretty much always have. Originally (before seeing DL publications, before the internet, before I knew you could buy them) I used towels. Then I made them by sewing toddler-sized diapers together. Then I found various places to buy them. I've tried different fabrics, shapes, prints. You just have to try different ones until you find the ones that are right for you.

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I have a need for diapers, and therefore been using disposables however I been wanting to try cloth. Can anyone recommend best wasy/place to get started diaper wise and suggestions on pants to go with them?

Hi Diapered In Dayton,

Square Duck already provided you with a link to one of my messages about wearing and selecting cloth diapers from the DD Incontinence Forum.

Before I start to reccomend specific styles and brands of cloth diapers and waterproof pants, I like to ask people how they plan to wash and dry cloth diapers? Please understand that when you include the cost of washing and drying cloth diapers as well as the value of your time doing that washing and drying, there is seldom and actual cost savings compared to disposables.

You also need to consider your situation as to a need to keep your diaper need a secret from your family, close friends and neighbors. The fact is that if you share washing machines and dryers with others, your cloth diapers cannot be kept a secret.

It is ideal to wash and dry cloth diapers within 24 hours of wetting them with urine and even sooner if soiled by blood, semen or fecal material (poop). If you must use coin laundry machines, washing and drying cloth diapers this often gets very expensive very fast.

Let me give you an example: By the summer of 1981 when I was preparing to leave home to study at a university, I had needed diapers for bed for over 5 years, since 1976. Back then adult disposables were very expensive and hard to find. Many women in my family were urinary incontinent, so were experienced washing and wearing cloth diapers. As a young bedwetter I never even considered trying disposables.

Then for university I found out my dorm bulding had no coin washing machines. I was and still am urinary incontinent so I did not care if my dorm mates knew I wore diapers, it simply was not practical for me to wash them in my dorm. I had to learn to use disposables. Fortunately in 1981 Attends were available and not terribly expensive.

I was not able to resume wearing cloth diapers to bed until the summer of 1991. That was when I fell in love with my future husband. He owned a home with his own private washing machine and dryer. Suddenly I could discreetly and conveniently wash cloth diapers as often as I needed. By then I was a young attorney, meaning my spare time had actual cash value. At least at home I could start a load of wash, keep on working at my home office, take a break to move the diapers from the washer to the dryer, go back to work at my home office, and take another break when it was time to empty the dryer and fold my cloth diapers. Imagine how much more time it would take if I had to travel to use the laundry. Some paper work can be done in a laundromat, but not confidential legal research.

I prefer cloth diapers for bed because I am used to them and it is not terribly inconvenient for me to wash and dry my diapers every day.

Okay, so if you decide you can deal with washing and drying diapers, then washing and drying your waterproof pants is going to be easier.

I only wear pull-on soft vinyl pants. Those need to be washed immediately after being worn, even if the diaper was not wet with urine. The killer of vinyl pants is your own body sweat and any protective oils or lotions you need to keep your skin healthy. I have found that the most effective and practical way is to keep a small plastic basin and mild liquid dish washing detergent near my bathroom sink. I put a pint or so of warm water into the plastic container, add just a drop of the detergent (just enough it makes a few bubbles but not lather). I swish the worn pants in that warm water, turn then inside out and swish them again. Then I pat the pants dry and hang then right side out on a smooth plastic hanger on the shower rail. An hour of so later I turn the pants inside out and re-hang them until completely dry at room temperature and away from sunlight. Once dry I store my vinyl pants in a drawer flat, On a typical evening before bed I might need to change my cloth diapers twice, so that means I went through this washing procedure that often. For me it is routine and takes only a few seconds. I keep several smooth plastic hangers ready on that shower rail.

For me this is practical and discreet because my loving husband knows I need diapers and vinyl pants.

What kind of cloth diapers and what kind of waterproof pants should you buy? I have not met you face-to-face, so I have no way to know your preferences and past experience. Considering that you asked the question on the Diaper Lovers forum on DD I am assuming you have no memory of wearing any kind of cloth diaper or waterproof pants.

I can only share my personal experience. Remember there are a lot of styles and brands of cloth diapers and waterproof pants I have never tried.

Currently I buy my large outer gauze 36" square 2-ply diapers from Adult Cloth Diaper Company (ACD dot com). I can fold those square diapers to fit my petite body. A larger person might prefer 44" square diapers. A single 36" gauze diaper absorbs very little, so I use ordinary Gerber baby Birdseye Prefold diapers as soakers. The Gerber Birdseye prefolds are sold in such local stores as Babies-R-Us and sometimes Target, etc. Often they cost about USA$12.00 per dozen, which is far less than one of the ACD large gauze diapers. With care my ACD diapers last 4-5 years and the Gerber at least 2 years. I fasten the ACD diapers with one ordinary baby diaper pin at each side. Finding diaper pins these days is more difficult than finding the Gerber prefolds. Probably ACD sells diaper pins.

The pull-on soft vinyl pants I prefer are the model 10300V made by the KINS division of Babykins of Canada. The price with shipping is fair. With the kind of care I mentioned those pants can last over a year and some as long as 2 years.

You could spend much more on cloth diapers and on waterproof pants. It might be the simple kinds I wear will not work for you or make you happy. There are many vendors. I have been buying from Babykins for over 20 years. I switched to buying my adult gauze diapers from ACD in 2007 because DPF went out of the cloth diaper business. Babykins does not make gauze diapers and I am not happy with flannel diapers which Babykins does make.

By the way, I only use DREFT detergent to wash my cloth diapers in hot water in my machine. I use Palmolive dish washing detergent with my soft vinyl pants.

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I have a need for diapers, and therefore been using disposables however I been wanting to try cloth. Can anyone recommend best wasy/place to get started diaper wise and suggestions on pants to go with them?

Hi again, Diapered In Dayton,

Please understand that you are not required to stop using disposable after you try cloth diapers.

Personally I do not suggest simply wearing some sort of waterproof pants over disposables. That can be very uncomfortable and also not very effective. Instead, wear a pair of cottn briefs over your disposable and then cover those with waterproof pants. The cotton briefs will improve comfort and soak up minor leaks inside the waterproof pants.

You also might do as I do when wearing cloth diapers. For me playing adult baby is only a way to cope with my profound urinary incontinence. Most days I must function as a responsible productive adult except when getting ready for bed and sleeping. In my case no kind of disposable puts me into my AB mood.

It used to take me an hour of more in the morning to accept the change from comfy gauze diapers in bed to disposable slip-in pads for work. In the evenings it was less of an issue going from daytime disposable slip-in pads to pinned gauze diapers.

Since P&G introduced their Pampers Cruisers several years ago I followed a suggestion from an incontinent woman I know well who lives near me. She had already been cutting the wings off baby disposables to use those as slip-in pads. I did not like those when the baby diapers had plastic outer layers, or even the early cloth-like layer. But when I tried the Cruisers I could deal with the sensation.

The advantage is nobody cares when an adult woman buys baby disposables in a store. Okay, so these days they might assume I am the grandmother, or am just a really old mommy. I doubt they assume I am a teenage babysitter or nanny, but I really do not care. All kinds of stores sell Size 4 Cruisers, which size works best for my petite body. Larger folks might prefer Size 5 or 6. Size 7 Cruisers are hard to find in stores and are not wider than Size 6, only slightly longer. When P&G introduced Pampers Extra Protection in late 2010 I started using them instead of Cruisers when having an extra hour capacity is important to me.

The downside to Extra Protection is that the only place I can be sure of finding them in large cartons is Target. Size 4 EP cost about a cent or two more than Cruisers 3-Way stretch Size 4, so the EP are for me cost effective.

Previously I shared that I use Gerber baby Birdseye Prefolds as soakers. I still only use those when I am relaxing as a big baby before bed.

Now, when I change diapers for bed, I replace the soaker next to my skin with a modified Size 4 Extra Protection. This combination ensures me enough capacity to last while I sleep from about 9 PM to when I must get up at 4 AM. The bigger benefit is my body is so used to the EP or Cruiser that I am not uncomfortable for the first hour of the morning.

Maybe this sort of compromise will help you.

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thank you for the help, and I have gotten some good information. I am not trying to hide anything from my family, so washing should not be an issue. I find that disposables during the day apart from the mental part not bad, at night however I find them to be very uncomfortable for me eithier not using right ones or I just not tolerating it very well. So I thought I would try a different approach. My wife knows of my need, hopefully I can find a way to at least reduce my issues until then I would like to find a combination I can tolerate.

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So what is the big difference between a prefold and a flat cloth diaper you fold yourself other then the obvious? I was looking over the adult cloth diaper company's website. I take it if a pair of pants do not say quite in the description then they make noise? I am sorry for the questions but I really am a noob

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So what is the big difference between a prefold and a flat cloth diaper you fold yourself other then the obvious? I was looking over the adult cloth diaper company's website. I take it if a pair of pants do not say quite in the description then they make noise? I am sorry for the questions but I really am a noob

My experience is that many vendors of waterproof pants focus on the incontinence market and sell to AB/DL when they can without making much effort.

As for modern waterproof pants, hardly any make noise, unless selected from an obvious AB/DL site. I wear soft vinyl pull-on pants. That material is inherently quiet. Only when it is so stiff it is worn out does it make noise. So if I were you I would not worry about any pants noise.

Gerber Gauze of Birdseye prefolds are intended for infants. New over all they are 20" long and 14" wide. Running the long way and centered the short way there is a soaker panel, a bit less than 7" wide running the entire 20" Outside the soaker there is a double layer of the gauze or Birdseye material. These are called "prefold" because hardly any additional folding is needed to provide good fit on most infants heavier than 8 pounds. Gerber uses non-woven synthetic material as the "artificial sponge" soaker. Originally that non-woven material was "KodaFill" but once that patent ran out many firms make similar materials. I have not noticed any deteriation of utility since 1991, back when those prefolds were still called "Curity" and the KodaFill patent was in full force.

The downside to adult prefolds is that adults vary so much in shape. The thicker center panel needs to be just the right width for every person. Same for the length of the soaker panel. Back in 1991 I made do with DPF style 101 Baby Heaven adult gauze prefolds, although for me it would have been more comfortable if the soaker stopped several inches below the back waist.

Adult prefolds use all kinds of soaker material. It is a matter of your preference. I do not care for the feel of flannel layers or terry cloth as a soaker, but many must because so many cloth diapers are made that way.

For me it is ideal to buy the Adult Cloth Diaper Company gauze 2-ply 36" square diapers. Those I can easily fold to fit me exactly correct. I can insert the Gerber baby Birdseye prefolds in just the best place. Then I pin only the thin part of the big diaper. I can flip and rotate that square big diaper so the pins only go through the same place every fourth wearing, which reduces the wear. With the DPF prefolds the pins always were in the same place so I would constantly need to patch the pinning area.

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I agree with Angela ... Kins makes wonderful plastic pants. I've used them for years and the quality is always top notch. Her method of caring for them sounds like a great idea.

Dayton - let us know how you do when you make your choices ... we're always interested!

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might I suggest that you shop the baby section of your local thrift store and pick out several infant receiving blankets to use as your first "outer" pin on diapers, because they are usually about $1 in cost and come in lots of pretty patterns/prints/colors, and various sizes so you can find the ones that fit you best. No big investment. Most are of flannel. Fold one or two lengthwise to use as stuffers and experiment until you find what is comfortable for yourself. Once you determine what you like, then upgrade into a more permanent stock.

I use 36" heavyweight Birdseye squares from GranitSmith on ebay which run about $32 a dozen. Great pinning strength. For soakers I use Curity style 21x40 gauze diapers, also from GranitSmith. Many members here will attest to the great soft comfort of gauze. Being "flat" diapers, they wash and dry easily. A cup of white vinegar in the final rinse will keep them soft. Never use a fabric softener otherwise.

HAPPINESS IS WEARING COTTON DIAPERS

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Cloth diapers ROCK. You HAVE to use plastic pants, which in food terms, "adds another layer" - in this case, texture and sound, besides protection. Woo-hoo. And, cloth diapers afford a bulk that is not easy to get with disposables. As far as cleanup, if you are going to mess, there will still be odor and cleanup. With cloth, you are less likely to have the "soil" creep out, much better contained in the folds of a flat-fold in the crotch. A contour cloth diaper won't give you the bulk in the crotch, but also don't give the containment value of a flat-fold.

I echo one sentiment, start out with towels. Terrycloth is not that uncomfortable, and to get started, use what you need to use to get the feel and the flavor of cloth. It is truly a different sensation, and a rush, with the bulk, to "get away with", unnoticed, in public while trying to be discreet!

Have fun! And, pinning them on can be tricky at first, but that's fun, too. And, if you can get a partner to diaper you, it is a very sensual and erotic sensation to lay there exposed, as another adult tenderly - or roughly, if you're into the domination scene - diapers you. Hmmmmm...

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Oh, one more thing. To limit cleanup problems, you will want to soak dirty cloth diapers, but if you use some sort of liner - disposable or as mentioned, cloth baby diapers, which will downsize the amount of cleanup - your work will be greatly reduced. And, if you don't do laundry every day, having your own diaper pail, as an adult, is kind of cool, too!

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I do not use stuffers or "soakers" I want the wetness and harsh liquid away from my body as fast as possible. I double-diaper, which has the material of even thickness all over. If you use a stuffer, it is thicker between the legs and the wet takes longer to soak to the panties. Rubber panties do something folks do not think about. If I can get the wetness that goes between my legs out in a hurry, it runs up against the waterproof material, since it has nowhere to go, it spreads along the outside of my very thick diapers. In essence the diaper wets from the outside in so I am drier longer and can go longer between changes. I used to use stuffers in other kinds of diapers and I would be uncomfortable before much of the diaper was wet. Now the outside of my diapers are pretty wet but some of the insdie is still damp or dry. The diapers I wear now are made like the homemade ones that were put on me from 1952 to 1955 at night and mid 1952 to late 1953 in the afternoon as well, when I stayed over at 3 places

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  • 2 years later...

My proablem with insers is that, because they add more layers of material which takes longer to soak through, they keep the wetness in contact with the delicate earas between the legs longer than necessary which means "burn, baby, burn". Beyond that. If there is more material in the center than in the outsides, the outsides will be soaked to capacity while the center, in contact with that delicate area, will be able to hold more but that "more" will have nowhere to go so "burn, baby, burn" revisited. If you have a prefold with say 4 layers outside and 8 layers down the center. you are better off with 6 layers throughout. It probably holds at least as much liquid as the 4:8. Now it will be thicker all around but that is why rubber panties are cut very full

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So if I am understanding correctly it seems that the flats with say some inserts would be more versatile then a prefold. I have decided to go with a quality disposable during the day and go with the cloth when I am at home for sake of convenience.

.

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In the meantime, you should look at the different ways to fold flats

https://www.google.com/#q=diaper+folds

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