You may have seen on my Facebook page that I sent some worn out hook & loop diapers off to be converted to snaps. I received them back and wanted to share my experience! As I’ve already said, I really would have preferred to just have the Velcro replaced, but I don’t have a sewing machine, and I was having a hard time finding someone to do it for me. Plus, I knew that Velcro would just need to be replaced again in the future, while snaps would last nearly indefinitely.
I sent a total of 9 diapers to Convert My Diapers: 7 Bumgenius, one Thirsties and one Blueberry. She has a price list for different diapers; some that require additional work are more, but most are around $3.75. She also offers elastic replacement if your diapers need it. The shipping was a pretty large expense, around $10 each way, putting my total close to $55. She does accept Paypal, but you have to cover the fees.
It took less than 3 weeks to receive the diapers, and the only issue I had was a little confusion about the status of my diapers. She has a “status” page, but because she works pretty quickly and the page is updated once per week or less, it’s not very helpful. The Paypal payment was also a bit confusing since payment is sent to a different address and name. Here’s a quick timeline to show what I mean:
2/29 I went on her site & selected my ship date as 3/2.
3/1 I had the package ready to ship, printed the label online, selected the check box to notify the recipient via email w/tracking, and paid via Paypal
3/2 The package was picked up by my mail carrier
3/5 Tracking said the package was delivered
3/8 I realized my Paypal payment was showing unclaimed. I contacted Convert My Diapers and she said that the Paypal payments go to a different address, and that they will send invoice when the package is opened
3/15 I’ve been checking the status page regularly and I’m getting worried. The status page hasn’t been updated since 3/4 and at that point, it didn’t even show that she had been notified of the shipment. I still haven’t gotten an invoice, so I was assuming that meant they hadn’t even opened my package yet after 10 days. I was starting to wonder if the package had been mis-delivered and she hadn’t received it at all. I hesitated to send an email because I don’t want to be “that customer” who drives her crazy. I ended up sending an email on 3/15 asking about the status of my order. I didn’t initially receive a reply, but I received an invoice from a different name & email address saying that they were done & ready to ship when paid. I paid right away, then about an hour later, received a reply to my email saying they were done & ready to ship when paid. Later, the status page was updated as of 3/15 saying that my diapers were completed 3/14 and ready to ship when paid.
3/22 I received the diapers in the mail
I think 3 weeks is pretty awesome for shipping them, completing 9 diapers and shipping them back, so I’d almost rather just see an estimated turn around time rather than the updates, since all they did was make me worry! I had to pay $1.61 in Paypal fees, which I didn’t initially realize when I decided to pay by Paypal rather than mail money with the diapers. I also didn’t know that I was supposed to wait for an invoice, or that it would be a different address. I just assumed I needed to pay when I mailed the diapers, since non-Paypal payments are supposed to be included with the diapers.
The diapers look fantastic. Naturally, you can see where the closures and strip were removed.
Above is a converted 3.0, a converted 4.0 and a 4.0 that was purchased with snap closures applied by the manufacturer. Not much difference!
I went ahead and washed the diapers before using them again, since they were out of my home of course & smelled a little musty after all the shipping. I think I found a couple of animal hairs on the diapers, but I could be mistaken. I don’t see any indication on her site that they have pets. I also put the diapers in the dryer for a bit, since I know the heat can help seal up sewing holes. After that the holes from where the Velcro was removed were much less noticeable.
I would LOVE if Cottonbabies would start offering a Velcro replacement service (I wasn’t the only one who mentioned it during the Jennifer Labit Twitter party!) but otherwise, I would definitely send diapers to CMD again. I do think it’s a little bit pricey after the shipping costs, and it would be really expensive if you also needed all 3 elastic pieces replaced. However, you end up with totally refurbished diapers for the same as or less than a used diaper in similar condition, and you know the diaper’s history (which sounds weird, but I think you KWIM!)
Have you had any diapers converted to snaps? Have you done any yourself?
FTC compliance: I paid normal retail price for this service. I was not asked to write, nor was I compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.
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. 
Thank you! !!
Just curious if you have had any leakage problems where the hook and look was removed? I’m considering changing mine to snaps but I’m worried they’ll leak. Did she put the snaps through the inner linner behind the PUL or not? Thanks!
Btw. …you can purchase best bottoms hook and loop replacement kits on most sites that sell best bottom diapers. I’m assuming you could make it work for bum genius as well if you had someone to sew them.
No I haven’t had any leaking where the H&L was removed. Bumgenius sells the refresher kits. I have another post about sewing them. 🙂
A few of my oldest diapers have the PUL worn through at the middle rise snap – all the way through the backing and I haven’t had any leaking with even them so maybe I’m just lucky!
Here’s the BG refresher post: https://change-diapers.com/2011/02/replacing-bumgenius-3-0-aplix-or-velcro-laundry-tabs-without-a-sewing-machine-bumgenius-refresher-tutorial/
Here are photos of the rise snap wear I mentioned: https://change-diapers.com/2014/11/if-you-wore-your-favorite-t-shirt-once-a-week-for-12-years/
I just grabbed a converted BG 4.0 and one that has “OEM” snaps and flipped them inside out. Both have the snaps through the backing just like the rise snaps. Hope that helps!
Hi there — Not sure if you’re checking this old post, but I was wondering how the snap-converted diapers worked for you and if they have held up. I’m looking into having the same WAHM snap convert some covers for me. I’d love to hear a follow up!
Yep I am still using them! I had another batch of diapers done as well (my Bumgenius original artist series) and I did have ONE of those snaps come off, but otherwise they are fantastic!
[…] I had my diapers converted, I did wonder how they would do long term, especially after a few people said they had issues with […]
I converted a Thirsties cover to snaps. I did cause holes in the PUL when removing the velcro from the wings – thankfully the placement of the holes do not cause leakage. I will soon be converting another cover, but this time I am waiting for the velcro tabs to fall off by themsleves so I will not make holes in the PUL! I also added rise adjustment snaps to a Happy Heinys side snapping pocket trainer so I could use it as a diaper on my youngest child.
Awesome! What a great idea to add rise snaps to the trainer!
Looking forward to a follow-up on if they all worked. We need to have a few done.
I need to remember to check them as they come out of the wash!!
I’m glad they turned out well for you. A friend of mine sent her BGs to them about a year ago. When she got them back only half the snaps worked. She ended up having to have them redone locally.
Oh no! I didn’t check every snap. Maybe I should.