Cloth Diaper Review

Okay, it’s time for a review. First and foremost, let me tell you cloth diapering is EASY. I hate cleaning up poop, but the reality is that having a baby requires you to clean up poop, no matter if you use disposable diapers or cloth. Our dogs poop has been much worse than the baby's. Cloth diapering is really simple, its literally as easy as running a load of laundry. I will also include a tip or two on how to save costs and bad smells.

We were given a package of disposable diapers (36), and we bought 1 package of disposable diapers (32). We were also just recently given another box of disposable diapers from Samsclub (210). We choose to use cloth diapers early on, and bought 20 diapers, and 30 diaper inserts (I will go into this a little bit later, as these are NOT necessary since the diapers we bought each came with 2 inserts).

We opted to use disposable diapers for the first week, until the meconium (tar poop) ran its course. We quickly used both of the smaller packages of diapers within the first week. I guesstimate the cost of those 2 packages at $20 each, totaling $40.

When we ran out of the "free" diapers, we started using cloth.

We bought BumGenius 4.0 snap cloth diapers. The diaper works with babies from 7 -35 pounds. We familiarized ourselves with the diapers before baby Judah's arrival, using a stuffed monkey for testing purposes. It gave us a dry run (no pun intended) to get used to how they worked. We purchased 20 diapers from Amazon at $18 ea. Some cost less becuase of the color, but I checked this morning and they are all $17.95 ea no matter the color. Our total cost was $359. Free shipping. Each BumGenius diaper comes with 2 diaper inserts: a small size and a larger sized insert. 

We choose to use a different insert made organically of 55% hemp & 45% cotton. We choose this because Hemp is the strongest fiber known to man, four times more absorbent than cotton, and also possesses natural antifungal, antibacterial properties. Sounds expensive, but they aren’t. Two hemp inserts came in a package of two for $8, or $4 ea. We bought 30 inserts because diaper inserts take longer to dry, no matter the material. So this investment cost us $120. Free shipping.

Another cost for cloth diapering is detergent. We have to use a special detergent without fabric softener. Fabric softener applies a layer of film on materials, making them "soft" to the touch. We don’t use much, it’s recommended to use 1/4 the amount of a regular load. We use Dreft from Samsclub costing $25 for 110 regular loads. Side note: the diapers are still very soft after multiple washes.

Liners are next. You may wonder why you need a liner, and surely some opt out of using them. A liner is a thin fabric that is laid on top of the diaper to "catch the large stuff". Think of it like a SOFT 1 ply toilet paper that’s biodegradable. There are 6 rolls in a package, 100 liners in a roll. $30 for the package. These things will help the cloth diapers last longer, look cleaner. 

:::TIP::: Diaper bucket - DO NOT buy a special bucket to soak the diaper, its wasted money. We use a 5 gallon bucket with an airtight lid. If you dont have one of these laying around, they are easy to find for free if you are willing to stop by BurgerKing, McD's or even a Coldstone creamery. Any restaurant that uses pickles or frosting will have spare buckets. If you really want to make life simple, you can buy a "Gamma" lid ($10 on Amazon I think) so the bucket has a screw top lid.

Below is a breakdown of our costs. It does not include the extra costs of running a washing machine and dryer, but then those costs are small, comparable to trash removal for disposable diapers, probably less.

Cloth Diaper Expenses:

Diapers - $359

Inserts - $120

Soap- $25

Liners - $30

    TOTAL: $534

Everyone we know has told us how difficult it is to use cloth diapers; this may have been true in their time but we have found it fairly easy. Here is our process:

Set the bucket near your changing table, fill half way with cold water, and add a little vinegar. Vinegar helps with both smell and preventing discoloration.

When you remove the old diaper, toss it in the bucket. When the bucket gets full, or you need more diapers, simply drain out the excess water and wash the load of diapers & inserts.

When the wash is done, toss everything into the dryer and dry with "air only". If the inserts are still damp, remove the diapers and run the inserts on a delicate dryer cycle.

That’s it. Very simple.

While many websites seem to suggest it costs thousands of dollars up front to use cloth diapers, we have found a way to do it for under $600. If you decide to use the inserts provided, its just over $400. Disposable diapers on the other hand would cost about $160 for the first month, and probably another $160 for the second month. Roughly $320 for the first two months and how long do babies wear diapers?

In conclusion, if you haven’t looked into cloth diapers and you have the time to do a load of laundry every other day, it’s a sound financial decision that is nowhere near as difficult as others may lead you to believe.