Any Tips For A Cloth Diaper Newbie?

So, as someone who has only ever worn disposable nappies, I was thinking of trying cloth.
Thing is, everywhere I've looked throws jargon like "contour," "cotton gauze" and "twill weave" at me, leaving me unsure as to what I'm actually buying.
So could someone who has experience with cloth give me the tl;dr version of what I want to look for in cloth nappies, and what stuff I'll need (plastic pants, nappy pins, etc.)?
Thanks.

P.S. What I'm looking for is mainly absorbency and fitting, if it's comfortable and doesn't leak easy I'm happy, bonus points if it makes me waddle! If anyone can point me towards a type of cloth nappy that does this, I'd appreciate it.

i am still somewhat new to cloth as well i say somewhat, i was raised in them and had an old skool mom and grandma i picked up a few things.


i use baby-pants for getting diapers and pins, i have seen the boingo and snappi fasteners but have not personally tried. i went out and nobody in my city carries them so will try them later sometimes. baby-pants has pins that work good for me going on 2 years so far. i prefer the birdseye prefold mainly due to how durable they are. i did pick up some gauze contoured fit just to see and they are pretty comfy however not very thick feeling if thats what you want, but do work good. they sell a wide variety of plastic pants i prefer the gary "tuffy" ones. again durable once i got over the fear of washing them in the washing machine they dont smell bad anymore either lol... leak issues with cloth really depends on how thick you have and that your "cover" or plastic/rubber pants are fitting correctly. i can go something like 14 hours and still not need a change (found that out when i was sick awhile back) i am 24/7 diapered due to medical and have almost made it to fulltime cloth for night. i still use a throw away 1-2 nights a week. i hope my ramblings give you some useful info

Well, sure. There is a lot we could talk about, but here's some basics.

For diapers, try adultclothdiaper.com. If you want to reduce bulk on the sides, try the contour diapers. The material doesn't much matter for function, but birds-eye holds up a little better.

If you are hoping to wear them in public undetected, the only hope is a contour diaper, and you'll have to be creative with your wardrobe. For sleeping, nothing beats two day-weight pre-folds. You get used to the bulk after a few days, and no disposable can compare for preventing leaks. The flat-fold diapers are too thin to hold much.

For pants, vinyl gets brittle and cracks--not cost-effective for that reason. The PUL pants at adult cloth diaper are good, quiet, and last, but are a little heavy. I like the "Gerber white PEVA" pants at baby-pants.com. Way too loud for public wear, but great for sleeping.

Try regular baby pins. The big ones tear-up the fabric. Boingo cloth diaper fasteners are strong-enough to help with adult diapers. Skin protection is helpful. Expensive creams work, but try putting a little tea tree oil in olive oil. Cheap, works.

Beyond that, just try some. Just try for yourself.

I've worn cloth for a long time as I would have been diapered in cloth and vinyl when I was little. Going in order with the longest lasting first: birdseye, twill and then gauze. That said, I wear night time weight gauze. I have a 32" waist so small fits me well in that I can pin the corners and not have to fold the sides and top of the diaper in. I can't find twill in small size so I wear gauze. I have bought some birdseye cloth diapers, but the cloth seems scratchy where as gauze is very soft and quite absorbent.

If you want to waddle, you could pin on two diapers. For me, I would have to pin on the small first and the medium second, something I've occasionally done. I usually rinse out my cloth diaper when I take my shower unless I've been day wearing. I wash the diapers on the cotton, longer time cycle in the washing machine.

You can wash PUL plastic pants in the washing machine but never put any plastic pant or plastic product in the dryer as that will ruin them. Soap is not good for vinyl plastic so I rinse mine thoroughly in the shower and then let them hang dry on a plastic hanger. I do the same with my PUL plastic pants.

Shadow456 said:

So, as someone who has only ever worn disposable nappies, I was thinking of trying cloth.
Thing is, everywhere I've looked throws jargon like "contour," "cotton gauze" and "twill weave" at me, leaving me unsure as to what I'm actually buying.
So could someone who has experience with cloth give me the tl;dr version of what I want to look for in cloth nappies, and what stuff I'll need (plastic pants, nappy pins, etc.)?
Thanks.

P.S. What I'm looking for is mainly absorbency and fitting, if it's comfortable and doesn't leak easy I'm happy, bonus points if it makes me waddle! If anyone can point me towards a type of cloth nappy that does this, I'd appreciate it.

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OMG! you're so american! jeez, man! burrito! Starbucks! McDonalds! :laugh:
it's okay, i'm just taking the piss. :biggrin:

now, th' want's summat else that'll t' piss, dun't th'?
first off, diapers are primarily american and nappies, british. there's a history to it all, but you'll have to read my previous posts on such. if you want an all-in-one or contoured set-up (something which resembles or mimics disposables), then american is the way to go. if you want a simple cloth material wrapped around you, british is the way. the difference is in the cloth material used and simplicity (both of which will dictate cost).
the americans will use all kinds of materials (whilst strangely avoiding the generally accepted most absorbant material, even though they use it for absorbing fluids anyway) and convoluted methods for 'diapering'. i gather that this is what's caused your confusion.

for you, your best bet is to nip down to Asda or Aldi and buy a bath-sheet (£6 to £9-ish; there are various grades of towelling) and that there will be your nappy. if it's a fairly thin towel (and correspondingly less costly), folding it in half lengthways will do for absorbancy. higher quality (thicker) towels can be cut in half to give two nappies.

suitable pins are hard to find and they always have the usual problems of opening and pricking. i use mini-bungees:


sharpening the points of the hooks helps, as does slightly crimping the hook to make it more hooked, as you may see from mine:


i'm assuming that you're already aware of not using the dirty, germ-harbouring gunk known as 'fabric softener' on nappies (nor owt else for that matter; it's only for scruffbags)? as such, if softness is needed, 'frost protection fleece' is ideal as a nappy liner. cut to size and wash before use.

plastic pants can be had from Incontinenceshop, direct through their website or Amazon (their Drylife Basics pants are noisy). Amazon also offer Haian, which are noiseless.
sizing of pants is another story (and too long for here). generally you'd size-up or go by the thigh diameter (if given). Haian pants are quite generously sized and more in keeping with you'd expect for your size. i'd go with XL, if i were you (billowy is better than ripping at the seams, or biting into the leg). XXL for Drylife Basics (their XL legholes are tiny).
XL would be a starting point for Gary Pants (when worn over a decent nappy).

you should be able to set yourself up for less than £20 (even less if you just use an old towel that's lying about).
if you go the american way, you'll be forking out mega-bucks for less absorbant gear and then all the buggering about of trying to make them work.

oops, nearly forgot about folding:




you can suss that, can't you?
it's intended for mobile children and it also creates a cupping channel to help with containment.

ade said:

OMG! you're so american! jeez, man! burrito! Starbucks! McDonalds! :laugh:
it's okay, i'm just taking the piss. :biggrin:

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Actually, I am British, I just switch between nappy and diaper because, despite being what I wore as a kid, I haven't heard the word nappy used in general conversation for the last 6 years (since my little sister stopped needing them) and I see diaper used far more often online.
But thanks for the response, it was very informative :smile:.

Fyi, the term nappy was first applied (in the UK) to describe cloth diapers which use a seperate diaper cover. The term diaper was first applied to describe disposables when they were invented (in the US.).

I know some UK people like to use the term nappy interchangeably, but it really only applies to reusable cloth. Disposables are pretty well know as just being called diapers.

Crap, I typed a long answer to this and the thing disappeared on me.

OK, cloth diaper styles.

First, cloth: Almost always cotton, terms are used to describe the weave. Flannel is fine and dense, gause is more open. Birdseye has a "twill" woven into it that is small little dents that supposedly look like birds eyes. What you like is really a matter of taste. Sometimes it's a matter of what you remember from your childhood.

Second, shape: Originally diapers were just flat, rectanguar pieces of cloth. The rectangular was the standard when I was a child, but you saw triangular ones sometimes. Contour means that it has the hour glass shape similar to what modern disposables look like. Again, it's a taste thing. I grew up with brothers and sisters in rectangular diapers so that's what I wanted. I wear the contour ones from time to time. They do have less overall bulk having removed cloth from where it is not neeeded.

You may see the term "prefold." As I said diapers were initially just pieces of cloth. You need to double (or more) them up to get absorbency where you wanted it and there was an art to getting more fabric in the middle and less where you didn't need it on the edges. Then someone got the great idea of just sewing extra layers in the center. This is "prefold" as it doesn't require excessive folding. It's still rectangular overall so you have to fan out the ends and leave the crotch narrow.

All-in-ones have the waterproof barrier on the outside of the cloth negating the need for plastic pants. Pocket diaers have a waterproof shell and take a central pad down the middle.

If you don't have a diaper with an integral waterpoof layer, you'll need plastic pants. These are available out of a variety of materials, even rubber which was classic back in the day. You can also get them as slip on style or with snaps or velcro to allow you to open them.

Some diapers (paritcularly the contour and the all in ones) will have snaps or velcro attached. If not, you'll need some sort of closure. Pins are the classic way of doing it although these days you don't tend to find diaper pins in the baby sections. They make clips to do what pins do without the pointyness. I use Snappis which are t-shaped stretchy closures with teeth. The arms of the T pull the two sides of the diaper wrapped fro the rear together and the center leg of the T pulls up on the front of the crotch. While designed for babies the larger of the two sizes work fine for me.