KrazyJoe67 said:
I wear plastic pants all the time. As I've got older its hard to hold it when on road trips and motorcycle rides. Will a liner hold enough fluid to be discreet. I got me some cloth reusable diapers but it says need a liner or insert. Are there different types of liners that hold more. I know depends don't hold a full bladder if lets go. any tips on what I can do. I ordered two pair one purple and one blueish colored with scales.
First up just a slight correction to avoid confusion here.
A Liner usually refers to a very thin piece of non absorbant material placed on top inside the diaper (against the skin) to wick moisture away fast and help you feel dry, they also make cleaning up messes easier as they generally dont let poo cling onto them and make it easier to remove and rinse off in a toilet (under the flush) keeping the mess off the rest of the diaper.
An insert or booster is the absorbant pad that you put inside a diaper to soak up and hold your wee, usually multiple layers of cloth (with an insert being the bigger, thicker one and a booster being smaller to add just a little extra).
I've seen some diapers like the one in that picture in a few places and if it is the same as I have seen they are pocket diapers (meaning the middle of the back waistband is sewn with a hole in which to place an insert/bootser inside.
I personally am not a fan of pockets as I find for me they tend to be leaky, either because they can't fit enough inserts to hold everything before they are overstuffed, or because the general construction of them makes it easier for leg cuffs to wick moisture outside. They also tend to be more prone to wicking/leaks after longer periods or while sitting as
@Cottontail suggested.
They can be good though and different people will get on better or worse with them so it's worth a try, but you may need more inserts than you think to hold it all. I use
These Inserts which are 50cm x 20cm and 4 layers of bamboo microfiber blend, one of those holds about 450ml max and 300ml after compression and wringing out which is about 33% loss which is better than pure microfiber at an average 40-50%.
There are many types of inserts made from different materials and all have good and bad points.
Luvshugs said:
Allot depends on how thick the cloth diaper is to be gain with. But assuming the one you have, says it needs a liner, than it’s probably not all that thick. There are liners that do a better job of soaking up, and holding liquids better than others, yes. Off the top, I think maybe a liner made of Zorb, would be a good start.
Here is some info that can help too:
- Microfiber – This material absorbs liquids fast. It’s cheap and does a great job as a cloth diaper insert, which is why so many manufacturers use it. The downsides of microfiber are: It can’t be put against baby’s skin, it’s known for holding in smells like “microfiber funk”, it can be bulky if you need to add more than 1 insert for a heavy wetter.
- Minky – It’s extremely trim and seems to hold about the same as a microfiber insert that is comparable in size.
- Bamboo – This material is super absorbent and is often used in conjunction with a Hemp Blend. You’ll often see Charcoal Bamboo inserts used in cloth diapering.
- Cotton – Cotton inserts are an excellent choice for anyone, especially if you are a tighter budget as they tend to be less expensive. Cotton does tend to dry stiff if you air dry, but is a relatively good absorbent inserts for the price.
- Hemp – The Cadillac of Inserts – It will hold about 2.5x the amount of a microfiber insert comparable in size and is very trim.
This is basically right though minky shouldn't really be on the list if you are talking about the types of fibers the inserts are made from as Minky is just the name given to the method of knitting the fibers together just like terry, twill, jersey etc. Minky can be made from microfiber (synthetic), bamboo, cotton etc.
When looking at inserts the main 5 used in diapers are:
Microfiber - which is synthetic fibers like polyester and as
@Luvshugs said is fast to absorb, cheap, holds quite a bit and is the least prone to staining but it also loses the most fluid when compressed (i.e. sitting down) out of all fibers, can hold smells and can dry out your skin if on it for longer times.
Cotton - is pretty much the general purpose, it's more expensive than microfiber but cheaper than the rest, average absorption speed, holds a lot, loses less after compression and is ok against the skin. But it can get stiffer and can be harder to fully rinse out all detergent leaving a buildup which causes smells and lower capacity.
Bamboo - is a big up and coming fiber that is used more and more, it's supposedly slower to absorb than cotton but holds maybe slightly more, it also holds much better under compression than most others (average of 6% loss on inserts I've tested), it is incredibly soft and gets softer over time but is more expensive than cotton, is also prone to detergent buildup and smells over time like cotton but doesn't stiffen like cotton and is wonderfull against the skin.
Bamboo/Charcoal is a variation on this which somewhat reduces odors but is slightly less effective than bamboo on its own.
Hemp - as
@Luvshugs states is a prime diaper fabric in some ways but falls short in others. It is incredibly absorbent and holds a lot but is also slow like bamboo, it does hold onto fluids well under compression and is slim, it supposedly doesn't hold smells as much as others and also doesn't stain too easily. It is however the most expensive of the fibers, can be a little rough against the skin and can also stiffen slightly over time
Zorb - technically should be under microfiber as it is a proprietary blend of fibers (including syntheics) that are mashed together into a nonwoven sheet (think like cotton wool) it can be bought in sheets like that which need to be sandwiched between other fabrics or it falls apart or bought presandwiched between something (usually cotton), it can supposedly hold 10-20 times it's weight in fluids and is very fast to soak up, it is also supposed to be good at holding under compression. My tests with it so far though have shown it is not as good as claims say, this may be due to my methods or maybe due to not enough prewashes to prime the insert. It is still worth considering though as when it works one layer of Zorb is like 3-4 layers of cotton and 6 of microfiber and is very thin in comparison meaning you can have more layers of it without it getting too bulky.
