In your opinion, what makes the perfect cloth diaper?

Update (2010/06/26): Since a couple of people have asked, here is what I consider to be the perfect diaper:

• Hidden snaps
• Not too few and not too many snaps
• Breathable
• Made of organic and/or OekoTex certified (natural) fabric
• Does not leave red marks on the baby
• Very absorbent, but not too bulky
• Not too wide or too narrow between the legs
• Does not create a “bubble” butt
• Does not create wing droop
• The fabric stays relatively soft
• Lasts more than a couple of years

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1. How long have you been using cloth diapers?
Answers varied from around 1 month up to 18 years.

2. How many children have you cloth diapered?
Most said 1.  The highest number of cloth diapered children was 6.

3. Have your family and friends been supportive?
Yes: 84%
No: 16%

4. What was your first cloth diaper purchase and why?
The top 5 diapers:
1. Prefolds
2. BumGenius
3. FuzziBunz
4. Happy Heinys
5. gDiapers

The reasons included, cost (Prefolds), convenience and/or recommendations.

5. Which type of cloth diapers is your favorite?
Top 5:
1. Pocket
2. Fitteds
3. AIO
4. Prefolds
5. AI2

6. How many cloth diapers do you own?
1-5: 0%
6-10: 1%
11-15: 6%
16-20: 8%
21-25: 17%
26-30: 18%
31-35: 6%
36-40: 9%
More than 40: 35%

7. How did you acquire most of your cloth diapers?
Most people bought the diapers themselves. A few people made them, received them as gifts, traded them or won them in giveaways.   A couple of people also mentioned Miracle Diapers as the source.

8. What are your top 5 favourite diapers?
Top 10 answers:
1. Prefolds
2. FuzziBunz
3. BumGenius
4. Thirsties
5. Goodmama
6. Happy Heinys
7. BSRB (Bagshot Row Bamboo)
8. GroBaby
9. GAD (Green Acre Designs)
10. Smartipants

9. If you use pocket or AIO diapers, which of the following do you prefer as the inside lining?
Top 5:
1. Microfleece
2. Bamboo Velour
3. Suedecloth
4. Bamboo Fleece
5. Cotton Fleece

10. What type of fastening do you prefer?
Snaps: 66%
Velcro/Aplix: 21%
Snappi: 12%
Pins: 1%

11. Why have you decided to cloth diaper?
Top 5:
1. To save money
2. For environmental reasons
3. Chemicals in disposables are a concern
4. Allergies to disposables
5. Cloth diapers are cute

12. What laundry detergent do you use for washing cloth diapers?
Top 10:
1. Rockin’ Green Soap (This is by far the most popular detergent among those who filled out the survey).
2. Charlie’s Soap
3. Tide
4. Country Save
5. Purex
6. Soapnuts
7. All (Free and Clear)
8. Crunchy Clean
9. Nature Clean
10. Arm & Hammer

13. What’s your favourite diaper rash cream?
Top 5:
1. Burt’s Bees
2. California Baby
3. Northern Essence
4. Lanolin
5. Weleda

Quite a few people said they haven’t needed any with cloth diapers.

14. What is the biggest challenge you encountered with cloth diapering?
- Finding the right detergent that wouldn’t cause rashes and/or detergent build-up
- Initial cost
- Night-time cloth diapering
- Smell of dirty diapers (once babies/toddlers start eating more)
- Ammonia build-up
- Figuring out a good washing routine
- Travelling with cloth diapers

Some answers that I wanted you to see:
“I have to handwash all my diapers nightly because we don’t have a W/D”.

“Honestly, not getting angry with people at the grocery store with cases of disposables in their cart!!! We just want to yell at them! It is so much more cost effective to cloth diaper, just as easy and you aren’t ruining the environment for the child you obviously have!”

“Hmmmm, when to stop buying?  Lol. Finding the perfect fitted.“

“My toddler started leaking at night when he was about a year old. No number of doublers solved the problem…I used disposables at night for several months…and then I tried wool longies and it solved the problem!
I started getting smelly dipes when I used AIOs for my toddler. I think AIOs are great for little ones (who don’t pee much, don’t eat solids, and get changes really frequently) but I don’t like how they turn out for older kids. I also found that the stink was worse with synthetic fabrics–so even though I started with a full stash of microfleece inners/microfiber cores, I’ve slowly been replacing them with hemp, bamboo, and cotton. It seems to come cleaner and be less susceptible to the stink!!”

“My boyfriends family wouldn’t even try to learn, and then they were always putting sposies on him when he was there, and that kind of felt like a slap in the face, that they didn’t respect our decision”.

“rash overnights on my toddler.  Her urine is just too acidic to be sitting in any cloth diaper for more than 3 hours.  I’ve tried everything from creams to liners, to different fabrics, stripping, baking soda in pockets, wool vs. PUL vs. fleece covers…everything; and nothing seems to help but a disposable and some cream for overnights.”

“My husband. He hates them”.

“Getting the heavy-duty diaper cream we use out of the microfleece liners. Due to my son’s medical condition, not using cream isn’t an option, and getting that stuff out is almost impossible!”

“Buying too many, LOL. My addiction makes me think I won’t save any money, although I still will even with diapering costs. Plus I can use them for my next kids! “

15. Do you ever use disposable diapers?
YES: 75%
NO: 25%

What I found interesting is that most people who said “no” also chose “Allergies to Disposable Diapers” as one of the answers to question #11.

16. If you answered yes to the above question, which brand(s) do you use?
Top 10:
1. Pampers (This was by far the most popular brand).
2. Huggies (Regular)
3. Huggies (Pure and Natural)
4. gDiapers with gRefills
5. Seventh Generation
6. Kirkland/Costco
7. Nature Babycare
8. Target Brand
9. Luvs
10. President’s Choice (PC) Green Diapers

17. When you shop for cloth diapers, which of the following matters to you in a baby store?
Top 10:
1. Low price
2. Great customer service
3. Low shipping cost
4. Friendly store owner(s)
5. Large selection of cloth diapers
6. Fast shipping
7. Availability of American/Canadian cloth diapers
8. A lot of cloth diapering information on the store’s website
9. Large selection of cloth diapering accessories
10. Large inventory

Thank you so much!

UPDATE (2009-12-06): Thank you everyone for taking the time to fill out the cloth diaper survey! I will be posting the results later today.