Cloth diapers

[DailyDiapers]

Most of us wear disposable diapers these days. But have you experimented with cloth? What are the pros and cons?

[ValentinesStuff]

The Pros:

You can easily make them as thick or thin as you like.

There are many different styles to get a fit and absorbancy you like. Everything from simple flat diapers to training pants.

Nothing beats a warm clean diaper straight from the dryer.

 

Cons:

Initial expense. Many cost as much as a package of disposable diapers for just one. Of course after a while with use the price per use is cheaper.

Washing them, they have to be washed and dried.

Smell. The don't really do anything to mask the smell.

In general you will need a waterproof cover to prevent leaks.

[Babypants]

More Pros:

The wetness hugs your skin rather than being wicked away, so it is easy to determine when you are in need of a change.

More Cons:

The wetness hugs your skin rather than being wicked away, so there is a higher risk of diaper rash.  

In the event of diaper rash, you cannot use Desitin or similar products without changing to a disposable because they make the fabric repel rather than absorb.  

[TinyBunny]

I really like my cloth diapers but I haven't worn one for a long time.  I'm going through a phase where I'd rather do as few laundry missions as possible in order to concentrate on other things.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

1 hour ago, ValentinesStuff said:

The Pros:

You can easily make them as thick or thin as you like.

There are many different styles to get a fit and absorbancy you like. Everything from simple flat diapers to training pants.

Nothing beats a warm clean diaper straight from the dryer.

 

Cons:

Initial expense. Many cost as much as a package of disposable diapers for just one. Of course after a while with use the price per use is cheaper.

Washing them, they have to be washed and dried.

Smell. The don't really do anything to mask the smell.

In general you will need a waterproof cover to prevent leaks.

The fact that you need a good waterpriof panty is to the good since one good panty will work for may diapers instead of heach having a barely sufficient; often insufficient waterproof cover. The early disposables were meant to use with rubber panties and even today, in the baby world, you are told to use a good waterproof panty. As to the smell, unless you are using a marathon diaper, that should not bge a problem. There are probably odor-abatement things to use

another pro is waste control. You just arent helping to shorten the lifespan of landfillsn, nor speading toxins or germs, the early throw-aways were meant to be rinsed before dispo9al. Also, there are disposable liners for cloth diapers for use if facal matter is involved. This touches on an objection that our parents had to the early use of throw-aways "That's fine if you want to leave your shit around for others to take care of. What kind of pig did I rease?". The rise of disposables iwes much to the institutional busienss where it was felt that it would be better to chuck out the diaper than run the risk of improper care spreading infection

Economic. Pampers, Luves and Higgies were a product of a prosperity that has not existed for 50 years. In the 40's to mid '50's diapers and panties ofthe served 2 or 3 babies in theh same family or were often given to relatives for their babies. Also, sometimes the diapers were homemade. At any rate, mine are over a decade old and my snap-on panties are almost a decade old (I am not 24/7/52). So the best way to evaluate this is for disposables, low unit cost vs high overall cost of 1 shot units over time plus post consumer mainteance vs high initial cost vs low overall costs presuming you have things like access to washers and dryers, which is the default position in the First World. Consumer credit has masked the true cost by normalizing indebtedness as part of life so the full price of many aspects, not just diapers, of a modern "lifestyle" is hidden -- until it isn't: Just emember; being in debt is "in the hole" and is actually poverty

In c1986, TALES FROM THE CRIB published an article about throw-aways taking over and said that the experience was markedly inferior to that of cloth diapers. I summed it all up when feeling the plastic-backed diapers with two words "garbage bags". The seem more institutional than clothe. Also, in the baby world, there used to be diapers services. Just how that would play out in the "lifestyle" world, I do not know. For me, cloth diapers are a must as the experience of changing paper diapers os totally different from cloth and therefore totally alien. I probably would no longer bother

Beyond that, there may soon not be a choice, just as there once was not, Disposables may be restricted to institutions and medical facilities to curb landfill use that shortiens their life expactancy, with institutions having speciall disposal facilities. Another pissibility is that the core of the diaper may be disposable while the cover would be reusable as in the 1950's Playtex "Dryper", which was a flash in the pan in the US since it conflicted with  the thriftiness learned from the Great Depressionof less than 2 decades earlier. Another prod toward cloth diapering may be the upcoming steep rise in the cost of electricity due to inflation and the use of economically inferior energy production methods which will require cutting costs in other areas (YouTube up "obama energy costs would skyrocket". I have actually seen the video), which will raise other costs as well

[ValentinesStuff]

18 minutes ago, Little BabyDoll Christine said:

The fact that you need a good waterpriof panty is to the good since one good panty will work for may diapers instead of heach having a barely sufficient; often insufficient waterproof cover.

The additional waterproof cover is an additional expense, and an additional item that needs washing and drying.

[Babypants]

6 minutes ago, ValentinesStuff said:

The additional waterproof cover is an additional expense, and an additional item that needs washing and drying.

Rinse and hang to dry, but not in the sun.  I have a line over the bathtub, and hang my Gary pants there.  If you take care of them, they should last quite a while.  On average, I use 2 pairs of Gary pants daily, and get about 6 months out of them before they harden to the point of tearing.

Here's another good thing about cloth.  The products for adults in the American market place are actually very well made.  Overnight, I use the heavy diapers manufactured for Baby Pants.  They began to shred after about 100 trips through the washer and dryer (winter only) or hanging on the line (summer).  This is an easy fix; I just buy flannel when it's on sale at Jo Ann Fabrics, trim to fit, and run it through a sewing machine.  Voila!  Good as new.

[rusty pins]

Lots of differences depending on many factors.  Cloth are bulky and in my opinion don't last quite as long as a good premium disposable before you need to change, but all that depends on how thick you wear a cloth diaper.  Some are made really thick for overnight usage but you probably wouldn't be able to fit a pair of pants over them for day use.  My DL friend who was a member here until he passed away 4 years ago wore cloth diapers exclusively and always said get thin cloth adult diapers, not the thicker or overnight adult cloth diapers and layer them inside with cloth baby diapers.  That way you can adjust how much absorbency you need and have it where you need it most, front and crotch area.  The bulk is not as noticeable because it's in the crotch mostly, and a bonus is when washing them they dry a whole lot quicker as several thin diapers instead of one thick diaper.  You also don't get the thickness on the sides where you pin them on since you are just pinning the thinner adult diaper and the bulk is inside in the front and crotch with the baby diapers.  Kind of like people who use an insert in their disposable diapers for added absorbency.  Another plus he told me is being able to find cloth baby diapers at garage sales and thrift stores.  If you do it right, they can do a good job and they definitely wick the wetness throughout the cloth, unlike a disposable that tends to lock the wetness away in one area.

I found that even a thick layered cloth diaper will get wet front to back but needs to be changed sooner than a premium disposable diaper like Betterdry.  On the other hand, if you can stand the bulk around the house, cloth will last longer than many of the store type brands like the ones I get at goodwill.  Plastic pants are needed, naturally, but I often wear a good waterproof pant over my disposable diaper for extra protection.  Cloth are better if you wear at night and are a side sleeper - less leaks.  The cons to me are not being able to wash cloth diapers as I don't live alone and washing and hanging them up to dry is not an option.  I'd probably wear cloth more around the house if I lived alone.  In the long run they can be a cheaper option even with the cost of laundry if you are OK with the extra bulk.  Premium disposable diapers are single use only and some compare them to throwing money down the toilet, literally.  I grew up before disposable diapers and always wore cloth and plastic pants.  I was a bedwetter and remember vacation until I was 6 and wearing cloth diapers to bed.  Naturally my mom had to haul all the wet diapers home.  There was one time when I was almost 6 that we stayed with her sister and family for several days and I expect she took advantage of that and used their washing machine and dryer to do a small load of diapers.  You can do cloth when traveling, but you have to either throw away your investment or bring a heavy load of wet diapers back home with you.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

1 hour ago, ValentinesStuff said:

The additional waterproof cover is an additional expense, and an additional item that needs washing and drying.

But you are purcasing far fewer waterproof coverings, maybe 4 per dozen diapers, with however long they last vs a new waterproof covering for each diaper in the same time period and the expense of washing per unit is negligible. Also anyone who knows anything will tell you that that you should have a waterproof panty anyway. At least in the baby world. The manufacturerers tell you outright to use a waterproof covering

[Dubious]

Landfills are a problem, but its not really a con in this discussion. 

We burn or recycle our trash.
We have landfills, but they are for compostable materials, mainly garden waste and food. 

I have tried cloth diapers, and they are worse than ABDL diapers when it comes to feeling wet. 
I don't like to feel wet every day, that's why I rarely use ABDL diapers. 

[Alyeskabird]

Humm, cloth vs disposable again, there are actualy a lot of posts on this very board covering the topic, and on the cloth diaper board. You may want to look them up if you can.

I personaly favor cloth, but tend to use disposables a lot, mostly out of conveniance, and living siduation. Cloth, is more expensive on a per diaper basis, but, spending 30 bucks on a cloth diaper, and another 20-30 on a pair of good plastic pants, financialy makes sense as that diaper and plastic pants should last at lest 100 uses. Now that is for the basic standard flat fold diapers, the fitted diapers wear diferently, so they might last longer, or less. The all in ones tend to fail with the waterproof berrier rather than the diaper itself. With cloth absorbancy is based on bulk basicly. The more absorbancy you want, the more cloth you need.  On the other hand, cloth does not swell as it absorbs moisture, so your not going to be having to worry about hiding a swelling diaper.  There are also a large number if verious diferent types of cloth that can be worn, some are made to be as close to regular underwear as posable, aka things like SuperUndies,  all the way to old school flat unfolded diapers. There are also a number of diferent pastic pants that can be worn with them, from basic plastic, to rubber to nilon trycot to the newer PUL stuff, heck, there are flat woven polyester fabrics that are waterproof. So there are a lot of diferent options and wear styles with cloth diapers. There are a lot of options with cloth, and it is quite an adventure to find what your happy with. Wicking is also far better with cloth, you will use all of the cloth, no matter how little you wet.

On the other hand, cloth does have downsides as well. If your out and about, you really need to take a diaper bag with you, or be very carefull to ensure that you are diapered enough for the time your planing to be out.  Cloth is also very bulky, nothing you can do about that, its the nature of the material, it does not swell when it gets wet, unlike SAP. For some people the feeling of wetness is considered a downside of cloth, others consider it a pro, its very subjective and people have been known to fight over it even. There are actualy fabrics that mimic the stay dry topsheets that is disposables now adays that work quite well, someone was even selling the disposable topsheet as well, though a lot of that was to make cleaning up after messing easyer, the stay dry feeling was an extra. Cloth requires extra care after being worn as well, you need to rinse the diaper, or soak it, or something, untell its time to wash them, if you have a mess, thats extra cleanup, cause you want to get as much of it off the diaper quickly as well, rather than fold it up and tossing it. Thats partly why folks loved a diaper service, it made it a lot easyer to fold it up and hand it off to someone else to wash and dry. 

Sorry getting to be a bit of a runon, did not mean to spend forever on this subject, but it is one that is near and dear to me. I favor cloth myself, but, do to conveniance, and disposability I tend to use disposables a fair amount myself. Honestly part of that is that I can be a very heavy wetter, and getting a disposable that would last all night was not easy, or cheep. Now days there are a lot of good disposables that will take it, but, it can be a pain finding one that works well for you. Cloth, if you need more absorbancy, just add more cloth, heck pick up some cloth baby diapers to use as stuffers even.

 

Alyeska

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

To me, it is several things

1. Throw-aways feel just plain alien and the diapering process is alien: All just pplain wrong
2. Moral: It is wrong to dump my waste in someone else's lap and landfill is at a premium and it is wrong to shorten the useful life of such things when the sewer system is designed for that purpose
3. Practical; I like to be self-contained as far as such things go;  fewer "moving parts" and less Murphy bait. How many persons were busted by someone finding out doe to sloppy postal service?Also cloth diapers and panties are less prone to failure. How many persons were busted  or embarrassed to tears by blowout? After the first washing, before the first use, I know where they have been
4. Economic; While this chart is Australian, the same pretty much must hold for other palces. "Convenience" is trumped by long-term interests in a sensible person. At a rate of 2 to 4 changes a week, I have gotten over 10 years from my supply of diapers and snapo on panties

\

 

[Alyeskabird]

I fear that Christine is right, cloth feels better, feels right? I know, thats kinda weird, but it does. ALso, theres nothing so nice as putting on a nice clean dry cloth diaper fresh from the dryer in the winter, warms your insides right up, no matter how cold it is. I am a bit of an odd bird in that I was in the period between cloth, and disposables. Gotta remember, back in the day, disposables where actualy considered worse than anything, and the number of times I saw some lady throw a baby in poopy pampers onto the belt at the grocerystore, with shit leaking out the leg holes.  Very disturbing.

Also, odd as it may sound, the fact that you can feel the wetness is actualy considered a plus with cloth, lets you, or the kids in them, know  that they are wet, and makes it easyer for you to tell when you need to change, you can feel the diference in how the diaper feels the wetter it gets. Plastic pants did a mucn better job of containing messes than the early disposables did as well. Rubber pants where even better, and could help contain the smell as well.

Cloth is, or at lest, used to be better at preventing diaper rash as well, mostly I expect cause you could tell you where wet, and could tell you needed a change. Disposables with that feel dry liner, would feel dry longer, and incurage people to wear the same diaperr for a lot longer than they should have. Yes, even with poopy diapers, though that was more an issue with the third gen of disposables? WHen they came out with the hourglass shaped diapers, and started to use some real elastic, and started to advertise containment, rather than how thick and absorbant they where. Heck, there was a huggies comercial about superduper poopers even.

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

There are things you must understand about diapers. The trhow-aways are just that; use once and toss so they will necessarily use minimum quality material. Good cloth diapers are made to go the distance, so the quality of material and build will be infinitely better. Many persons who give cloth a fair trial end up switching, Pinning gives a more exact fit. any half-decent quality rubber panty will not blow out, leaks are few and far between. Now stealth will not be easy or, depending on your wants, possible, but kink is supposed to be private anyway so why not get the best experience possible? I get the whole Very Little Girl experience from a bubble bath to being in bed with my Dollies in a babydoll, unable to cross my legs above the knee because the diaper is so thick