Cloth diaper liners.. question

[newlywed2013]

This is our first baby, and my moms getting a major headstart and is making our cloth diapers. She was using purchased liners, but then decided to experiment with making her own. She now says I have to decide between purchased (pro- dries faster than the homemade) or the homemade (pro-cheaper than purchased). But, since I have no experience with this, I don't know if we should pay more for convenience, or if it's better to go cheaper... she said they seem to have the same absorbancy, but the homemade ones wick the moisture away faster than the purchased ones.

 

[Rachel_C]

Do you mean inserts, like for pocket nappies?

I'd say it depends what materials the bought ones are and what your mum plans to make them from. If they're not from the same materials, it's not really a good comparison e.g. if the bought ones are microfibre, there's not much point comparing the cost to homemade cotton ones, you'd be better working out whether you want microfibre or cotton (or a mix) and then comparing the cost of each.

 

[newlywed2013]

Yeah, that's what I meant

 

[Rachel_C]

Do you know which ones the bought ones were? Some are better than others, but really I think it's good to have a mix of different materials because they all have different strengths e.g. microfibre will dry very quickly but it's prone to compression leaks and also detergent build up. Natural fibres can take ages to dry but they're more absorbent. Bamboo stays nice and soft even in hard water but it's quite delicate, whereas cotton can go a bit crunchy but it can be treated harshly... a variety gives you options

 

[newlywed2013]

Interesting, that's a lot of great information! The one's she got were bamboo. I'm not sure what the ones she made were. I want to say cotton? She was talking about a gauzy material?

 

[Rachel_C]

Was it maybe a muslin type material? It's kind of thin.

You can buy bamboo fabric by the metre if you like the bamboo.

 

[newlywed2013]

Since I couldnt make a decision as quickly as she wanted me to (LOL) she bought some bamboo fabric to give a try.