Need some help with your cloth diapers? Every week (on Monday!) I answer questions readers have asked, and ask my other readers to weigh in too.
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Katie says:
Hi Maria! I have a few diapers I’m considering donating. I got them for free so I should donate them, rather than sell them, but I don’t know where to start. Do you have any experience with donating diapers or know of a good route to go through? Thanks!
Sincerely,
Katie
Hi Katie! The only “official” way I have donated cloth diapers was to The Cloth Diaper Foundation (formerly Miracle Diapers.) They have been going through a move and complete reorganization and have hit some bumps with the IRS and non-profit status. As far as I know, their site is down and they are not accepting donations at the moment.
Giving Diapers, Giving Hope is another cloth diaper lending service for low-income families (that accepts donations), though I do not have any personal experience with them.
Teeny Greenies also lends cloth diapers, but to any family interested in cloth, not just low-income families! Again, I don’t have personal experience with them, just passing along what I know.
I also recently discovered Spreading The Fluffy Love and Cloth Diaper Utah!
I’ve also sent diapers to a mama in need that I “met” on a Twitter party. You could also consider posting them on Freecycle, though I know from experience that listing anything on Freecycle can sometimes turn out to be a hassle!
Another option is to offer them up “free for shipping” on any number of cloth diaper groups, forums or boards.
One thing to remember is that if you are giving the diapers away, you have to be satisfied that you gave them with the best intentions, and don’t be upset or surprised if you end up seeing them up for sale, or it turns out that the person you passed them along to didn’t tell you the whole truth. You can certainly ask that they pass them along to someone else when they’re finished with them, but naturally you can’t control what they ultimately do.
I think that unless you were asked not to re-sell them, you could certainly do so. Though, I understand where you’re coming from if you’re not comfortable with that. I wouldn’t feel right selling a giveaway win or review item (though I think bloggers who do so are well within their rights, since the item was “payment” to them!)
How about everyone else? Have you donated diapers?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
[…] Dust off those diapers that have been shoved in the back of the drawer, need repair, or are always last on wash day and donate them! […]
Another idea would be Craig’s List. When I first started making diapers, I made the AIO thinking it would be fantastic, but with our dryer, yeah, they would take 3-4 hours to dry (IN THE DRYER!) I didn’t want to throw them away, but I knew I wasn’t going to keep using them. Since they were my first attempt I felt bad about trying to sell them, so I posted them for free on craig’s list, they went to a very sweet young family with both parents in school and the baby starting cloth. Worked out well for all of us.
Thank you so much, Maria! These are some great options! I appreciate the thoughtful response!