I’ve been sewing like mad. I actually wore through my machines, they both gave up and decided to go on strike resulting in a trip to the repair shop. I’ve also been researching like crazy as well, you know…that futile pursuit of the “best cloth diaper solution”. Well, I couldn’t find one, so I decided to put together a starter stash so I could tell which diaper worked best on the Newbs once he arrived.
So what were the results?
A stash worth $1288 retail value including 323 diapers + 34 organic bamboo diaper wipes, 2 diaper pail liners, 2 changing pads, 2 travel changing pads, 2 small wet bags. 9 wool dryer balls, 53 microfleece stay dry liners, and 65 extra doublers/inserts/soakers.
I know what you are thinking: how the hell is $1288 a budget? Because that was retail, not what I spent. That there stash only cost me $380 for 264 items and I’ll probably be able to sell a lot of the items in it for about $315 conservatively, assuming baby monster doesn’t beat it up too badly.
So how did I do it?
1.Invest in a serger.
Seriously, it pays for itself instantly. We pilled up some Amazon points from other baby purchases of things I couldn’t DIY (like the baby bath seat, crib, mattress, etc.) and ended up with a decent Brother 1034D for about $99. Considering I saved about $908 from retail costs for the stash, it was worth it. Things like inserts, fleece liners and washclothes are simple projects for someone starting out.
2. Upcycle.
I started stocking up early on things I knew I would need: flannel sheets for the wipes, 100% wool sweaters for the dryer balls and wool covers, towels for the terry cloth (ok, so I bought a lot of fabric new, but could have saved even more if I had thrifted for the terry cloth and such), microfiber blankets or snuggies for the liners, plus normal fabric and vintage sheets for projects down the road later. A lot of this was found around the house, I raided the linens my husband had before we got married. A good overview of fabrics to familiarize yourself with before you hit the stores can be found here.
3. Test your fabrics.
Depending on what project that you are making, test your fabrics out prior to making them. Is that snuggie you picked up the best choice for the stay dry liners? Which combination of fabrics will lead to the best prefolds or inserts? Will two layers of this fabric be too thick? Will this 80% wool 20% other sweater repel water correctly? Will that piece of cotton or that piece of terry absorb liquid faster? A simple test: try it out with 4 tbsps of water which is about average for a baby tinkle. Remember that the diaper will have some pressure on it from the baby’s body which may effect the way the fabric responds (like microfleece, which will help the water seep in faster.
4. Start Early
I’m 34 weeks now and I have about 5 adjustable PUL diaper covers left to sew…thankfully everything is cut out for me because I couldn’t lean over the floor very long if I wanted to. Also sitting in front of the machine is brutal. And I’m exhausted. /rant. I’m down to one a day. I couldn’t imagine trying to sew the stash if I started now.
5. Resell value.
There were a few splurges in our set (we spent about $80 on AOI and AI2 that we couldn’t really pass up on…including $22 on a Mr. Roboto Charlie Banana Diaper) but for the most part, we kept our cool. But even our splurges have a silver lining: in the land of cloth diaper resell those $80 splurges have a $75.50 resell value. The best way to check resell value of cloth diapers? Ebay. Head over to ebay, click on “Advanced” at the end of your search bar, type in your search and be sure to check “completed”. Once the results come up, be sure to click on “used” under condition in the side bar. Look for the green listings, those will tell you what people are actually spending on used (insert brand name) diapers, not just what they are TRYING to get out of them.
6. Make it interchangeable.
I have two sizes of inserts/doublers/soakers both using the dimensions from this tutorial: a small and a large. Not only will they fit the different sizes of gDiapers, but the larges will fit the Flip covers and a bunch of my AI2 pockets and the smalls and larges can both be used as doublers for at night and in prefolds. Additionally, I sewed 10 pillowcase prefolds to fit the large inserts (instead of 4x6x4, think 2x2x2, then slip the insert in the center).
7. Refurbish
I have to tell you a secret: I went on for four months NOT wanting to spend $2 a piece or more on cloth prefold diapers. I really, really, really couldn’t justify spending $30 on a dozen prefolds. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. There had to be a cheaper way. I also didn’t want to sew my own considering it takes about a yard and an 1/8th to make one 4x8x4 (that is the layer count, btw), so if I am spending $3+ on the fabric alone at this point…bah. I didn’t trust using old t-shirts, they didn’t get as poofay.
So here is what I found: retired diaper service rags. Many Diaper Services sell their rags per pound (10-14 diapers per pound) for around $5 or so. I had no idea what to expect, but I took the plunge and ordered 40 diapers for about $25 including shipping. Worse case scenario, I make mop covers out of them. But when the box came, it was best case scenario. Sure, a lot of them were stained or had holes, but here is a secret: the baby is only going to poop on them resulting in more stains and holes. You aren’t going to impress anyone with the quality of your prefolds…no one cares. But I set to work anyway, because I am a neurotic mother who does care. So I stripped the diapers in a nice DAWN boil, then washed them once. I sorted out the stained ones, covered them in oxyclean gel stick and set them outside to sun bleach while I dried the rest in the dryer. Afterwards, I washed them 3 more times as if they were new. I was left with only 3 diapers out of 40 that had some visible stains…and they were so light it didn’t matter.
Now for holes. Most of the holes weren’t that bad, but I had three diapers that were. We’re talking well loved to the point the top layer was shredded. It needed some TLC. I set about to refurbishing and came back with a diaper that was brand new. Luckily I took pics and will post the tutorial for you all in the next week or so.
Additionally, things like elastic and aplix or velcro can be easily replaced. CottonBabies sells Bumgenius Refresher kits (new elastic and aplix) for $1, or you can find someone like AlfordDesigns on Etsy who will change out the velcro entirely for snaps (which are less likely to come off when baby gets big enough to…pull them off) for a lot less than buying a resin snap kit yourself. You can also replace worn elastic with buttonhole elastic, like the Fuzzibuns systems. More on that in #9.
8. Know a good deal
Familiarize yourself with diaper prices and which brands resell the highest, that way, when you come across a good deal…you will be good to go. Stalk craigslist, ebay (buy it now is best…moms get into a bidding war on the auctions) and some of diaper forums.
9. Make it adjustable
I fell in love with Fuzzibunz from first “adjust”. The nifty little buttonhole elastic system was awesome. In fact, all of the one size diapers were pretty sweet (for sizes 15 lbs and up) with their little snaps and softness. But the buttonhole elastic, that was swoon. I noticed that you couldn’t find that in any other style of diaper, specifically PUL covers. So I set about to creating an adjustable PUL Diaper Cover that I will be posting later on. But that brings me to the next point: adjustable is good. Sure, most one-size diapers are more expensive than the single size diapers, but if you divide that number over the various sizes they cover: small, medium and large…it ends up being a better deal. So when purchasing or making, make it as adjustable as possible.
Additionally, places like AlfordDesigns on Etsy offer diaper extenders which can help let out the waistbands of cloth diapers, helping to keep baby in that size a few weeks longer.
10. Multi-taskers.
AIO and AI2s are super cute, but honestly, the idea of having 60-80 full AIO/AI2 diapers hanging around our minimalist abode is a bit nerve wracking. They are cute, but I don’t want to be swimming in them. Which brings about the multi-taskers: PUL and Wool.
PUL diaper covers can be alternated with another PUL cover and washed or spot cleaned at the end of the day or when they are dirty and because of the anti-bacterial properties of wool…you can go days with only a spot cleaning on these bad boys (or so the rumor goes). I’ve heard mixed reviews about the gDiaper, but in theory this brand can be rotated out (and their inner waterproof lining changed) a few times before retiring to the diaper pail as well.
This is how only with 32 AIO, AI2 and diaper covers…I can go theoretically 323 diaper changes without having to do the laundry. I won’t of course. I’m just saying that the option is there.
