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A lot of diaper makers get started because there is some need that is not being met by other diapers. If she decides to sell to others, she needs to see how her diapers fit on babies of other sizes and shapes, how they hold up to wigglers and heavy wetters, and what other moms think of her design.
Other times, an experienced diaper seller is trying a new design, or even branching out to new products, and she needs feedback.
Enter…the tester.
What a seller usually does is offer her product for the cost of shipping and materials, in exchange for brutally honest feedback, and typically also photos of the product in use.
This can be a great chance to try a new design for a great price, though most sellers would prefer a mom who has been cloth diapering for a little while vs someone brand new to cloth. Of course, that means that you may get a product with a few flaws or bugs that need to be worked out, or something that just doesn’t work for your child.
I had the opportunity to test an E.F.F.-n-Stuffs (Enjoy Fabulous Fluff -n- stuffs) diaper. The diapers will be sold in the Home 2 Home congo on Hyenacart.
She is also working on a nighttime diaper and also plans to offer custom diaper bags and combo sets!
Her regular prices will vary between $10 and $25 depending on style. She charged her testers for materials and shipping (I paid the same as all other testers and my review was not influenced in any way!)
I got a size Medium (10-22 lbs) all in two for my 15.5 lb boy. She also offers Small (NB/6 lb-12 lb) and Large (20-34 lb).
She uses cottons, cotton knit, jersey knit, interlocks, wool interlocks and more.
She ran out of the fabric I requested (you don’t get to be too picky when you’re a tester and that’s OK!) so she used some purple polyester on mine.
The inside is lined with fleece or cotton velour.
The soaker is thick, soft and squishy. Her standard soaker has microfiber sandwiched between fleece x2 and suedecloth next to babies skin. Her special soaker is the same, but has a hidden layer of PUL in the soaker.
Prior to this round of testing she made the AI2s without PUL and used fleece only but wanted to test and see if PUL makes any difference. She, herself, never used covers with her diapers, even to go out. The fleece of the cover is considered pretty water proof.
She will also offer a custom soaker with 5 layers of OBF sandwiched between fleece x2 and suedecloth next to babies skin, or hidden PUL.
I’ve actually only ever seen diapers with PUL through the whole diaper. Her method makes a lot of sense since the PUL would only be where needed, and the rest of the diaper area could breathe more.
The wings are quite wide (“extended tabs”), but she plans to also offer “minimal tabs” as an option. Her diapers are purposely cut with more of a “boy short” shape for more booty coverage, making pants optional!
I did have a little trouble selecting the right snap settings to get a good fit around his waist and rolly thighs, but I usually have a learning curve getting used to any new diaper! There is tons of adjustability, and the tabs even have the ability to overlap.
So far, so good! He wore the diaper for about 2 hours and we had no leaks. The soaker didn’t even feel wet (though I know it was!) The only thing was that his hiney & the area around his leg were very red, which is rare for him since switching to cloth. I’m not sure what to make of that.
I wondered how he’d do with the polyester, but it wasn’t touching his skin, and he doesn’t have trouble with diapers lined with PUL. I’ll have to see if it does the same thing next time we use it. It was probably just a coincidence!
Edit August 2010: I did not care for the cut of this diaper/how it fit on my son, so I ended up passing it along.
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. 
