For women only please!

[Carolyn]

Are they made with microfiber? I did try the microfiber inserts with GS #3, but decided to change to organic cotton terry and organic bamboo velour. We prefer cotton flannel or velour for the inner of the diaper, but some people like suede cloth or poly velour for inners of the diaper. I have to get back to spinnning--for wool covers, but ohhh where to fit the time in. That is why i had to go back and forth with the sposies and cloth with DD2--dr said it was the chemical residue from the city water. I have a front loader now and well water, but GS #3 didnt' have a problem--but we use our own clothes soap made with goats milk soap. DD1 and I can't use store bought clothes detergent or hand/ body soap. DD2 had a bit of clothes detergent that one of her friends gave her, because she was moving and didn't want to move it. DD2 used it when she had a few of my clothes in with her things and I am just healing- burn blisters now across my stomach and on my legs. I haven't noticed a difference between the top loader and the front loader--the same as long as we use the home made clothes soap.

 

[Aidenbaby]

My prefolds were all cotton and my BumGenius inserts were microfiber (I think).

I used to have (and still have) several wool diaper covers. I got to experiment with kool-aid dyeing with them so they are very vibrant colors. I used plain old fisherman's wool.

 

[hennypenny9]

Well I'm going to resurrect this thread yet again...

So I'm going out of town this month, and staying in a hotel room with two other ladies. And guess who else will visit on this exact weekend? Aunt Flow, of course! Last month I was so proud because I didn't use one single store-bought pad, even at work. So any suggestions on how to deal with them while I'm in close quarters with other people? I could wash/rinse them out at night and put them in a plastic bag, but if they're wet will they mildew? And what about if I'm not at the room... Like walking a mall? I will bring store-bought ones just in case, but if reasonably possible, I'd like not to use them. I remember someone said they did something similar to the plastic baggy thing, but now I can't find the post.

 

[freemotion]

How long are you gonna be away? I used a ziploc freezer bag and didn't even rinse them and they were fine.....but my Aunt Flo is very petite! I so wanted to be comfortable, I'd decide that I would toss them and make some more if the experiment didn't work out, but it did, for me. I think they stayed five or six days in the bag.

 

[hennypenny9]

Aha, it was Free! It's only going to be 3-4 days away. So maybe it'll be okay. Or I'll make it okay. It's nice not to be tied down to always buying them. I mean, goodness what a business those pad companies have!

 

[ldburton]

Definitely should have bought stock or invented an upgrade, but then, that is what you've done, isn't it. How to turn it into a profit?

 

[freemotion]

Have you seen the price of the ready made cloth pads?

I bet there is a market out there for my "tinkle pads," as I now call them. My gifted light incontinence supplies are a huge hit. Older folks washed cloth diapers by hand, so this is not much different. And the fixed income makes even one disposable pad a day a burden. If they need 2-4 changes.....Huge!'

If someone wants to dabble in this, my biggest hints are: use velcro on the pads and on the underwear for best results. Use contrasting colors for poorer vision issues! Use the loop side on the undies just in case....and make LOTS more pads than undies. Also, contrasting colors for top and bottoms of pads, but be consistant with the bottom color, especially if you don't use the velcro-on-the-undies method.

I bet a few quiet fliers left at doctor's offices and senior centers would work quite well.

 

[hennypenny9]

Even if my sewing skills were up for it, it's too much work for me. I make mine as quickly as possible, and sometimes after the first wash I notice some bit that I didn't finish properly, so I just zig-zag it down. I do like sewing, but this is a lot of turning inside out, pressing, and top-stitching, my least favorite things.

The more I think of it, the more I understand why buying handmade cloth pads are that expensive.

 

[freemotion]

What I ended up doing, after many prototypes, was stacking the layers, stitching around the edge once with a wide zigzag, then trimming the uneven bits of cloth from the top view and again from the bottom view. Then I would go back and do a wide zigzag satin stitch all the way around, and another row that halfway overlapped, so they would hold up better in the wash. These are actually the ones that were reported to be more comfortable, too, which surprised me.

The ones I made for myself were all turned and topstitched so painstakingly! And sewing those snaps on by hand in those little pointy corners.....yikes! Yep, the final tinkle pads took a fraction of the time of the "nicer" pads......something like five to one. No, probably more like 10 to one!

Fear not, entrepreneurial stitchers!

 

[hennypenny9]

Oops, didn't mean to scare anyone with the sewing. I'm super OCD about things like that, and that's why it takes me so long! Plus the style that I like is the harder one to make. If I made the all in one kind it would be much easier! But I made a couple different styles before settling on this one, including an all in one. We're all different, I suppose. It might be that my Aunt Flow is on the heavy side.

Oh, I did skip the snaps, I just use a safety pin. Anyway, I hope these will last a long time. Next time I will pick a darker print. The fabric I used is bright and happy, but does show stains. The darker the better, I say!