The future of Cloth, Part III of ? Types and sizing

Nov 25,2010 / By Maria / 2 Comments

>This is part 3 of my ramblings on the future of cloth. See Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them!

As modern cloth evolves, I expect to see more “hybrid” diapers like the Amp Duo Diaper and the Softbums Omni. Diapers that allow you to use them as a pocket diaper, all-in-two, or a cover with prefolds. So you don’t necessarily have to choose and invest in just one type. We’ve already seen a pretty big boom with the hybrid/all-in two styles with wipe-able shells like the Best Bottom Diapering System, the Flip and others.

I also hope/expect to see even more insert options, more natural fibers, trim inserts, perhaps combined with a soft, wicking fabric on top, like microfleece. I think if there were even more disposable/flushable/compostable inserts available, it would help people test the waters with cloth, and realize that washing the inserts really isn’t a big leap!

One-size diapers have gained enormous popularity in the past few years. When I researched cloth in 2004 for my daughter, I don’t recall seeing any pocket diapers with the “snap down” rise one-size feature that is so common today. Bumgenius was founded in late 2005, but I don’t know who was the first to do this style. I believe the “one size” fold down rise that’s common on fitted diapers today, was introduced by Mother-Ease.

While they are great, in the future I see more companies considering a two-size system like the Thirsties Duo Diaper. I didn’t start cloth diapering my son until he was about 14 pounds at 4 months old, so I don’t have experience cloth diapering a newborn. Many “one size” diapers claim to fit starting at 6 or 8 pounds, but I hear many say they didn’t fit well until about 10 pounds, and I don’t at all doubt that is truth. This means that most people will need to purchase newborn/extra-small diapers, unless they plan to use disposables in the beginning.

On the other end of the spectrum, Moms with larger babies or late potty trainers (learners) say the “one-size” diapers didn’t fit through potty training. Not only that, but you can’t necessarily expect a diaper that’s been in constant use for 2 1/2-3 years, to last through another child.

The two size diapers seem to be the perfect compromise between sized and one-size diapers. No need to buy newborn, one-size and extra-large, or newborn, small, medium etc. Two sizes truly cover the range from newborn to potty training. it seems like such an ingenious idea to me, I’m surprised more companies haven’t caught on. I am still hoping that Bumgenius will come out with a mini-one size pocket diaper!

I think I’m going to stop here since I’m trying not to make these posts tl;dr worthy (too long, didn’t read!) I have more on my mind about the future of cloth, so stay tuned!

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Cloth Diapering

The future of Cloth, Part II of ? Cloth in Big Box Stores

Nov 23,2010 / By Maria / 7 Comments

This post is a continuation of my ramblings on the future of cloth diapering. Check out The Future of Cloth Part I if you missed it.

My big hope for cloth is that it will become more widespread, more accepted, and more commonplace. I think there are a lot of things that can help that happen, but the first would be to make cloth more readily available.

I do not have a cloth diaper store nearby, and I’ve never gotten to see a diaper before buying it. That’s part of the reason why I take so many photos for my reviews, I’ve been surprised by items when I got them sometimes.

I noticed that online, Target sells Grandma El’s products and also a few cloth diapers. I’ve seen Kushies at Wal-Mart online, Buy Buy Baby has a couple of cloth diapers, and my local Organic Market sells gDiapers. Other than the gDiapers, the only “cloth” I’ve seen in a store near me is the Gerber prefolds people use as burp cloths.

So, what if Target sold cloth diapers? What if they could be added to baby registries along with all the other necessities? It sure would be great to see “Bumgenius 4.0 pocket diaper – Zinnia – Aisle A14” in black & white on a baby registry! Not only would it get modern cloth in front of more mommy-to-be eyballs, but also the eyes of Grandparents, Aunts and friends. I’d love for the choice of cloth to be as common as Huggies vs. Pampers.

I just don’t think it would work. Stores don’t have the space for the huge selection that online cloth diaper retailers have. Even if they carried just one or two brands, I don’t know if the demand would be high enough to justify keeping them in stock.

The other big problem is support. If you call or email any one of my favorite online CD stores, you will be connected most likely to someone who has cloth diapered her own babies, knows the inventory inside and out, and can help you understand the differences between diapers. They can help you choose the right brands and styles to start with, and help you troubleshoot, suggest detergents, diaper creams and help with wash routines. Sure, I guess “big box” stores could put a few employees through a crash course in cloth diapering, but sometimes you need experience behind the advice. From my own experience, cloth diapering can be overwhelming and frustrating at first, and you really need information and support to keep you from giving up.

So, in my dream world, there would be a successful brick and mortar cloth diaper store in the busiest shopping center of every town. They would partner with hospitals to do cloth demos at new parenting classes, maybe host La Leche League meetings or baby wearing classes in their stores also. Everyone would know about the cloth diaper store, and it would be the place to go for diapers, slings/wraps/carriers and safe toys. Lots of online cloth diaper stores offer baby registries, but many people I know would be far more likely to shop at a local store than to order a gift online.

So should cloth diapers be in big box stores? What do you think? What do you think we can do to make cloth diapering more “oohh” and less “ewww” to others?

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Cloth Diapering

The future of Cloth, Part I of ? Cloth and Disposables

Nov 11,2010 / By Maria / 7 Comments

>When I asked for Mailbox Mondays submissions back in August, Hannah gave me the following idea for a post:

I think this would make an interesting blog post:

What do you think or hope cloth diapering will be like in the future (5-10 years)?

-Hannah

Interesting indeed, but as long winded as I am, even when I am trying to keep it short, I could never fit it all in one post. I had thought about writing a post about what my “dream” diaper would be, but I think this is even better.

As I thought about this, it got me thinking…why haven’t disposable diaper companies gotten in on the action, instead of attacking cloth diaper users? I don’t know if anyone followed the Pampers Dry Max debacle, but there were a lot of fingers pointed at the cloth diapering community, saying that we were making it up/instigating it to further our “agenda.”

With designer disposables actually selling at their crazy prices, people clearly want a cute diaper. GroVia and gDiapers both make disposable inerts/soakers for their covers, so why aren’t the big names in disposables getting in on the act?

Now, if they did, I would expect it to be a marketing scheme; I wouldn’t expect inserts they manufactured to be compostable or flushable. But really, why not? They could sell their own covers, or even just make a durable disposable cover that could be reused several times. They could make a thin soaker, maybe even work on making it compostable/flushable.

All of my thoughts on the future of cloth diapering are pretty intertwined, but maybe the baby step of getting disposable diaperers used to the concept would be a step in the right direction?

On a totally different tangent, I think another huge leap in the right direction would be getting the free disposables out of hospitals. I know that even the biggest cloth diaper companies don’t have infinitely deep pockets, but what if we “practiced” diapering babies with cloth diapers in the classes at hospitals? What if every hospital used prefolds and covers on newborns instead of disposables?

I know that will happen at about the same time they start refusing the formula freebies but hey, even a choice would be huge! In fact, if I had the money (or the sponsorship) I would LOVE to take some diapers over to my local hospitals, and offer a quick Q&A on cloth during all of the new parent classes!

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Cloth Diapering Warranties

My Bumgenius Warranty Experience

Sep 8,2010 / By Maria / 21 Comments

So, for anyone who inevitably says “tl;dr,” (that is, too long; didn’t read…and I don’t blame you if you do!) here’s the cliff notes version: I big puffy heart Cottonbabies customer service.

My first ever cloth diapers were Bumgenius 3.0s. I bought three in October 2009, and bought three more maybe a week or so later. Those 6 diapers have gotten a lot of use, since my strategy was to wash often, saving the money I would have spent on disposables. I used that money to build my stash gradually, and it was several months before I finally had enough to go to every other day washing!

I knew from reviews that Bumgenius aplix didn’t last very long, but after a few months, my diapers started looking like this when they came out of the wash!

These two saw the worst of it. The laundry tabs were pilly, one was rather shrunken, and the closure tabs were curled.

I know that Cottonbabies sells refresher kits, but I don’t have a sewing machine. My Mom has an older one that she would let me use, but it’s kind of awful (sorry Mom!) and would probably make a mess of it. I was thinking I could just buy some white thread and try to do them by hand, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check first, to see if this would be covered under the 1 year warranty.

I contacted Cottonbabies customer service on Monday, August 23rd and had a response the same day. To my surprise, it indeed would be covered under warranty. On the one hand, a product advertised to take your baby through potty training should last at least a year without needing “refreshing,” but on the other hand, it didn’t seem surprising to have aplix issues after nearly a year of lots of use. I was pleasantly surprised!

I read on, and the other shoe dropped. The email said I would need to include info on how I cared for the diapers, including detergent. Dun dun dunnnnnn! We went back and forth for a few days, since the insinuation was that my warranty would be voided since I used detergents that were not “5 stars” on the “safe” list.

Finally, on August 27th, I received word that it should be OK, and I could go ahead and send them in.

I filled out an easy form online, received an RMA number, and packed the diapers up with a copy of my receipt, info about what was wrong with them, and included the RMA number inside and on the label. For the record, the RMA form did not ask me to include any info about how I cared for them.

Cottonbabies requires that diapers sent back be clean and stink free, and I think mine were. They didn’t say whether or not I need to send along the inserts and doublers, so I went ahead and put them in. I sent them via USPS priority mail, printed online with delivery confirmation, at a cost of $5.05.

I put them in the mail on Saturday, August 28th. I actually felt a little sad saying goodbye to these, since they are two of the three diapers that started me on my cloth diapering journey. Am I weird or what?

On Monday, August 30th, I received an email saying that my exchange was processed, and that I’d be receiving another email when my replacement diapers shipped. #1, hello, that was fast! #2 how awesome that I was kept aware of every step!

On Thursday, September 2nd, I received a shipping notice with a tracking number.

On Tuesday, September 7th, I received two brand new Bumgenius diapers in the mail!! They were in the next town over the weekend, so I know they would have been here even sooner if it weren’t for the holiday.

The surprise was that they are 4.0 diapers! Yay!! So that means I probably won’t have any more problems with the aplix, though I assume replacement diapers don’t come with their own warranty.

I am just beyond thrilled right now. Essentially for $5.05 I have two spanking new diapers, and got 10 1/2 months use out of the original diapers.

Awesome, just awesome! Especially when I think about the trouble I had with my Blueberry aplix after only a month or so, and the “too bad for you” response I received when I contacted them!

I have heard Bumgenius referred to as the “Wal Mart of Cloth Diapers” and while I do think they are a big name in cloth diapering, they didn’t get there with poor business practices. They make an awesome product; I have lots of favorites, but BG are still the ones my husband reaches for (past others) and they have just been all around great for us! This is just icing on the cake for me!

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Cloth Diapering

My $15 disappearing clothesline / The world’s cheapest, most effective stain remover

Aug 31,2010 / By Maria / 6 Comments

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I have been cloth diapering for over 10 months, yet I had never “sunned” a diaper! I didn’t have a clothes line, and I’m pretty sure one critter or another would make off with-or make a home in-anything I laid on my porch or sidewalk!

This retractable clothes line was $14.29 at Lowes, and took my husband less than 5 minutes to put up (I’m sure I could have done it myself too!)

The line is easily removable with a single pin, so you can bring it inside over the winter.

49 feet of clothesline easily retracts into the reel.

There is a simple hook on the other side.

Just pull the line, and hook it on!

You loop the line over the “peg” on the bottom, to keep more from pulling out as you hang your laundry. I had to loop mine a second time when I hung a soaking wet Superdo on the line! That thing is heavy!

We don’t have too much of an issue with staining, but we had some messy diapers in the wake of Blueberrygate 2010 that led to some stains! I took pictures of the most stained before and after, but a) decided that was a little disgusting and I didn’t want anyone to lose their lunch and b) The results don’t seem as impressive in a photo as they did in person! The first time I used the line, it was fairly late in the day, so the diapers were only hung for maybe two hours. Even in that time, I could see a big difference!

I’m finding that diapers and inserts made of natural materials (hemp, bamboo, organic cotton) need a quick tumble in the dryer to soften up, but I am loving line drying!

P.S. I’m on Mom’s Misc Adventures today!

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