Boots StayDry are cloth-feel but they have adhesive tapes, not the 'velco'-ish type. They do have plastic panel 'landing zone' squares but using it on both sides would make the nappy too big and generally a rubbish fit, so I stick the tapes straight to the cloth-feel material. It sticks alright, but if you untape there's no way it's going to stick again.
I haven't tried better quality cloth feel nappies, but I agree that they do stretch out of shape and lose their snug fit. I read somewhere that they also have more friction against clothes and bed sheets etc, which might contribute to this.
Boots brand aren't all that cheap really, and they seem to be pure bags of gel crystals, no fluff. But as they aren't regarded as the best quality, I'd be interested if people could tell me; with other brands, are the sides made of only that fine, thin material, not much thicker than the material that lines plastic nappies? That material isn't water-proof is it? And I think then that plastic ones would perform better. I'd prefer cloth-feel if it performed better.
If plastic performs better though, why is it only the very cheapest baby nappies that are still made with it? Are adult nappies like the cheapest baby ones?
Another question...Back in the day, when baby nappies were always plastic, did they have some sort of lining or was it actually plastic against skin? If it was, that must have been pretty uncomfortable.
Edit: Oops, sorry WoXxY, I took ages writing my post because I was doing three things at once and then you posted and I had repeated some of yours.