Why arent cloth diapers as popular?

I have tried them but they didn't work for me. I don't like the way they feel when wet. They fell almost hard, I guess the lack of 'squish' feels uncomfortable to me. Also, too much laundry. Laundry is already one of my least favourite jobs without adding cloth diapers to it! I don't have a drier and the weather is rarely warm here so it is a pain to get laundry washed and dried, plus I don't really want to be hanging cloth diapers out on the line for the neighbours to see or to have them drying out in my house for days on end. Also I don't want to be storing wet diapers in the house between wearing them and getting the chance to do my laundry., I live alone and don't seem to generate huge amounts of laundry so some weeks only need to do it once. I also prefer to wash on a lower temperature but I feel if I was washing cloth diapers I would need to hot wash, however most of my clothes say to wash below 40 degrees Celsius so I would likely need to do a separate load for the diapers. I don't wear disposable period products for the same reason, too much faff to hot wash, potentially too much smell while storing them and difficult to dry. I also think I would feel less anxious about somebody discovering I had a stash of cloth diapers for some reason than discovering my disposables, I feel like I could feign a medical issue for the disposables but that it might seem less believable if I had cloth. I also find its really hard for me to get plastic pants to fit comfortably; they are always either too tight at the legs or too loose at the waist, I've never found a pair which fit well in both areas and so when I tried cloth in the past they leaked a lot more than disposables.

There's also the fact that cloth diapers were mostly obsolete when I was a baby and growing up. I was only ever in disposables and have only ever known disposables to be used with others so there is no nostalgic side to cloth diapers for me. They seem quite old fashioned to me and definitely don't leave me feeling the way I want to feel when in diapers.
 
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For me at least my early impressions were that disposable nappies were what I saw and cloth nappies were a bit old fashioned. That's what imprinted on me and I think a lot of people in and around the ABDL diaspora.

Personally I want to try cloth nappies but I'm held back by buying them (I don't know what I'm doing), caring for them (I don't know what I'm doing), cleaning them (I know what I'm doing but I can't see it being too pleasant) and drying them (every option having down sides). With their popularity waning in the general population their niche seems doomed to shrink and accessibility issues like mine only to expand.
 
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Scotty97645 said:
Wish there were an easier way to control cloth diaper smells…I like wearing them, EXCEPT for the smell.
I definitely smell myself when I'm in a wet cloth diaper. Wearing vinyl pants instead of PUL helps a little, but it's no miracle. (Plus a I like my PUL pants. They're Lion King-themed!!) I usually wear loose shorts or sweatpants when I'm around the house, and it occurs to me that this could contribute to air moving in and out of my diaper. I'm contemplating my first ever onesie and will be looking forward to seeing if better support and compression of the diaper helps keep odors in. I'd sort of expect it to.

I also have my diaper pail in the garage. The cat litter box is also in the garage, so if there's ever a smell, I have a scapegoat in mind. ;) Although my diaper pail has a good lid on it, and I've not noticed any smells coming from it--when the lid is on, of course.

KaleidoscopeKitty said:
There's also the fact that cloth diapers were mostly obsolete when I was a baby and growing up. I was only ever in disposables and have only ever known disposables to be used with others so there is no nostalgic side to cloth diapers for me. They seem quite old fashioned to me and definitely don't leave me feeling the way I want to feel when in diapers.
I can totally get that. It's fun to talk objectively about diapers, but relatively few of us are prepared to change our affiliations. :) My childhood definitely programmed me with a love of cloth diapers. The economic benefits are nice to have, but essentially irrelevant.
 
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I prefer disposables. I consider cloth like this. "if you're gonna wet or even poop a cloth diaper, it's almost like not wearing any protection at all. You still have to do laundry.'

As for the environment. Hi Tech is a bigger problem. Because many companies make it very impossible for users to fix their own products. I also wonder how many smartphones get thrown away, because the glass body cracked. Or how some companies want to use proprietary ports instead of more universal ports.

Sadly, Recycling used goods is not prevalent anymore, especially in rural areas.

All in all, I believe the environmental aspect could be solved, if only more common sense was involved, instead of banning plastics.
 
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Cottontail said:
I definitely smell myself when I'm in a wet cloth diaper. Wearing vinyl pants instead of PUL helps a little, but it's no miracle. (Plus a I like my PUL pants. They're Lion King-themed!!) I usually wear loose shorts or sweatpants when I'm around the house, and it occurs to me that this could contribute to air moving in and out of my diaper. I'm contemplating my first ever onesie and will be looking forward to seeing if better support and compression of the diaper helps keep odors in. I'd sort of expect it to.

I also have my diaper pail in the garage. The cat litter box is also in the garage, so if there's ever a smell, I have a scapegoat in mind. ;) Although my diaper pail has a good lid on it, and I've not noticed any smells coming from it--when the lid is on, of course.


I can totally get that. It's fun to talk objectively about diapers, but relatively few of us are prepared to change our affiliations. :) My childhood definitely programmed me with a love of cloth diapers. The economic benefits are nice to have, but essentially irrelevant.
Ooohhh! Lion King themed? That's my favorite animated movie! Where did you get them?
 
Spidermanbatman said:
Ooohhh! Lion King themed? That's my favorite animated movie! Where did you get them?
Custom, from Monika at DependEco. I bought the Lion King fabric and sent it to her. She’s super nice to work with.
 
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jamiejamie said:
Who wants to wash wet and stinky cloth diapers?
People who know how good they feel, right out of the dryer!

I can see the point of your question, though.

I was in disposables as a baby, until I was about 3, because of CP, and I promise you, I swear there is autism kicking around in my CP somewhere. Anyway, the disposables available to me set off my sensory issues so bad, when I was little, I wanted out! O U T out! I wanted out! So, I got out, as quickly as possible, even with a problem in the system.

Then I had surgery when I was about 6, and the disposables available to me then, would have been too small, so, I got cloth! Nah-nah, nah-nah booboo! And they were great. They didn't feel like punishment. They just felt like mine.

People who like a process, will like cloth. People with the spirit of Angus MacGyver in them, will like cloth. People with certain sensory issues, although, certainly not every sensory issue, will like cloth. People who think running out of diapers sucks, need a small stash. You could put anything, from a towel, to a tee shirt, in a pocket diaper, and boom, you got a diaper. You can make exactly what you need with cloth. New fabric technology is coming out. We now have Super Absorbent Fabrics.

Laundry isn't all that bad, if you like a process. It's either in you, or not. I was a sposie baby. Who'd have imagined?

Vinegar helps control oder. Internal deodorants are a thing. My biggest problem as a Clothie, is Sposie package envy.

Diapers at all are hard on the planet. The jury is still out as far as rather disposables, or cloth, is better. It seems like cloth would be better, but consider how much water it takes to wash them.

Poop happens. Try a disposable liner, if you can find them big enough, or a disposable booster in the back.
 
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I miss my cloth best thing ever for side sleepers...hands down. But my current place I don't have a washer and dryer. Which is annoying but what do you do
 
Raven801 said:
I miss my cloth best thing ever for side sleepers...hands down. But my current place I don't have a washer and dryer. Which is annoying but what do you do
What kind of cloth diapers did you use?
 
Scotty97645 said:
I like BOTH disposable and cloth diapers too, and use some of both. I don’t wear cloth out of the house though, because of the bulk makes them too obvious. Agree that the effort to launder them is considerable. However, I feel guilty about the environmental impacts of 24/7 disposables, so I try to balance them both. However, here’s the big problem I have with cloth (that I want to remedy): odor control. I used to LIKE the smell of wet diapers (love the smell of ammonia) but now my pee smells worse/different (possibly due to medicines I now take? 🤷🏻‍♂️). I go through a lot of air freshener trying to clean up the smell in my house. Wish there were an easier way to control cloth diaper smells…I like wearing them, EXCEPT for the smell.
Try using several drops of scented oil in the diaper. Just search internet for "scented oils." One company is Abbey & Sullivan. There are many different fragrances, one of which is baby powder. I always use several drops in my diapers whether disposable or cloth. Only use several drops, the oil is very concentrated. I am confident that this will remedy the odor.
 
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SpAzpieSweeTot said:
What kind of cloth diapers did you use?
Leak Master
 
DonGlover said:
Ive been using disposables for years and until recently ive been using a rearz omustu cloth diaper for bedtime for about a week now and wow they hold up great probably better than some expensive abdl diapers. Ive been wanting to wear for bedtime for awhile as i probably have an OAB when sleeping because i wake up atleast 3-4 times a night to pee and the diapers i tried either leak from overfilling or a bad fit. but ever since i tried cloth there has been 0 leaks and im not even using stuffers or inserts, they are expensive for a single diapers but id say its worth it since you can simply take it off throw it in the washer, dry on low heat and hang dry the rest of it and boom its clean, no waste or giant bags of dirty diapers.

The only downsides i can think of for cloth diapers are
they can be quite stinky if you've been wearing it for awhile
no squish
most require a waterproof cover or pull on pants (but honestly everyone here should have one)
extra clean up if you go #2 as you need to dump/spray in the toilet (I recommend not doing #2 in them)

The upsides now
Reusable, no more worrying about blasting through your stockpile of dips
better for the environment
you can make them as thick as you want with either cloth/bamboo inserts or hell a disposable
super comfy even when soaked, i sometimes forget im wearing one when sleeping
potentially the worlds most absorbent diaper, just keep stacking the layers wear 5 cloth diapers over another and maybe 10 inserts and a megamax for for good measure then you have yourself a portable seat
I have no interest in cloth diapers but I think it is because I experienced plastic backed diapers as a child so that is what I associate with my happy place. But I mean no disrespect to those who are a fan of cloth diapers, they deserve their love too, they just aren't for me.
 
Anemone said:
Personally I want to try cloth nappies but I'm held back by buying them (I don't know what I'm doing)
If you were wanting to try something I personally would suggest though little expensive but go with a pocket diaper setup like Ecoable has. Pockets are great and Ecoable brand has diapers from baby to adult so they offer quality. Pockets are great because you can make as thick(within reason) or thin as needed. The other thing I personally like about pockets is you could use the cover as a diaper cover unlike plastic pants if whatever diaper your wearing leaks the pocket will absorb leaks. I do know Ecoable has few different pattern options more geared toward medical so no babyish prints. But as someone else mentioned no matter why you wear having cloth diaper stash is great for emergencies had few times during pandemic shipments were late or had really bad pain days.

Will say alot of information on cloth diapers can be found online you may have to look under baby care but when comes to diapers for most part what is done for babies can be used for adults.

I do have my own home but won't dry outside usually set up a drying rack in shower in summer I do set up a fan for circulation. But will admit if you don't have access to your own washer & dryer it probably not a thing you want to do. Some cloth you can dry on like low air. Also one thing I learned hard way cloth needs to be washed like 3-4 times before use but it's amazing to see how fluffy they get.
 
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I don't wear diapers enough for the cost of the an issue and I don't want to have to wash a stinky diaper pail full of used diapers either. Though I wouldn't mind purchasing a couple just for trial purposes to see what all the talk is about. At that point I might put them in my rotation and where one day a week preferably the day before laundry day.
 
There must be more than a few of us who wear cloth diapers, otherwise I can't understand why there are so many sites that sell adult sized cloth diapers in a variety of colors and child like patterns. I can't be their only customer! As I said earlier I've wearing cloth diapers since I was a kid and I know many others who grew up when cloth diapers were all that was available, but we are getting long in the tooth so their must be younger diaper lovers out there who also enjoy pinning their diapers on from time to time.
 
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I would like to feel them between the legs. I imagine they are much snugger than the disposable diapers. And it excites me immensely to use them once in a while. But I wear diapers secretly and rarely have enough time to wash and dry them afterwards. But maybe I'll get myself one sometime, just to cuddle 😊
 
For me, the convenience is definitely the main appeal of disposables.
You need to care a lot more for cloth diaper than a regular disposable (tbf I've never used cloth diapers, so I can't really tell how much of a hassle is it, don't stone me for that pwease)
But apart from that, I like the crinking and the feel of the plastic backing of disposables and how SAP absorbs the liquid and keeps me dry 😊
 
Laundry inconvenience stops me from using mine.

Some other reasons to me are:
they don't feel like a disposable, so they don't feel like a diaper to me.
I find you get a much different fit with pinned on cloth than you do with a form fitting disposable, so to me it feels not as secure.
I find pins to give more of a drawstring feel over a wide belt feel, if that makes any sense.
I might add that I hate how plastic pants dig into my skin too.

But yeah, top of the list being laundering/stench for reasons why I don't enjoy cloth diapers.
 
I'm incontinent no way my wife is dealing with the laundry that involves with poopy diapers....
 
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