Complete Rehab: Giving My Pocket Diapers A Second Life Part 2

So now on to the scary part.  Taking the diaper apart. (If you are just joining us, please check out Part I)

First step, remove all of the old hook and loop tabs. Lots of seam ripping, but very doable. Try to avoid snagging the stretchy tabs whenever possible, as it will weaken the diaper. (Don’t worry, I snagged mine a few times, it’s unavoidable sometimes unless you are an expert seam ripper.)

Second step, this was the big one, open up all the seams (both inside and out) to remove the front loop strip. Start by ripping out the stitches on the front loop itself. Then take out the stitches at the top of the diaper. This will help you to see whether your PUL is already in two convenient pieces of whether you will have to cut it.

This whole process was terrifying. I found a great youtube video that walked me through it. Unfortunately the video didn’t document putting the diapers back together as well as I would have liked so I kind of had to fudge it. Having to cut the PUL on the top edge of the diaper on all the 3.0s and some of the 4.0s scared me. I kept telling myself that at this point I had nothing left to lose. I did cut a lot of them crooked, which made reassembling harder, but I did get better at it as I went along.

Ripping out the top seams and part way down the side seams of 28 diapers was a very long process that I did while watching TV in the evenings over the course of weeks. It was frustrating as it led to lots of loose bits of thread all over my house. This was one point where I was almost ready to pack it in. If you feel that way now, try and persevere. The good part is coming.

Reassembling the Diaper

I found it easier to reassemble the diaper in the following way:

Replace elastic

Attach front loop strip

Reassemble diaper

Sew on new laundry tabs

Attach new hook and loop tabs

Sew the ends of the leg and back elastic channels where elastic was replaced.

Replacing Leg and Back Elastic

The first few times I replaced leg elastic I tried to use the sewing machine. This was a disaster. Finally a friend suggested that I sew the elastic on by hand, using a thimble if needed. I quickly realized that she was right.

The below pictures are of replacing the back elastic, but it works pretty much the same regardless of it you are replacing the back or leg elastic.
Sew the new elastic to the old elastic as close where it is attached as possible.

Use a seam ripper to pull out just enough stitches to expose the elastic on both ends. Turn the diaper inside out.

 Then cut the old elastic. Secure the detached end of the new elastic to the detached end of the old elastic with a safety pin.

  Pull on the attached end of the old elastic until the safety pin comes through the channel dragging the new elastic. Then remove the safety pin, attach the loose end of the new elastic and then clip off the last of the old elastic.

Sewing on new front loop strip

This can be scary, but really isn’t so bad. Use the old strip as your model for cutting a new strip of loop. I like to cut mine a little long. If you have as many diapers to replace as I did, I recommend cutting several strips at a time so you have a stack ready.

I’ve seen demonstrations pinning the elastic on with the pins running in either direction. I used the typical rule and pinned in the short direction. I tried pinning just the ends initially but it led to too much bunching when I tried to sew.

The hardest part of sewing on the new front loop strip is keeping the nylon sheet the goes behind the loop strip from getting sewn into the loop during reattachment. It is a pain, but doable. I’ve had to rip out a few and redo them, but ultimately no permanent harm was done. It might be worth using a safety pin to hold it out of the way. Better one or two holes then a whole row of holes from stitching through the vinyl.

Sewing the Diaper back together

Restitching the hems on the interior sides (this can be done in several different ways depending on how you choose to do it). Mine had fairly intact creases so I just lined up the fabric, folded it over, and let the presser foot hold it in place while I sewed the sew. It wasn’t the easiest and it definitely led to some crooked seams, but so far it hasn’t affected the functionality of the diapers.

Then turn the diaper right side out and stitch the side and top seams.

This image beautifully highlights my crooked top stitching, but the diapers do work, so I guess that’s all that matters.

I debated whether to serge (well, really just zig zag stitch since I don’t own a serger) the inside seams after I top stitched the outside, but it seemed like to created more problems than it prevented.

In Part 3, I’ll cover sewing on new laundry tabs, attach new hook and loop tabs and sewing the ends of the leg and back elastic channels where elastic was replaced. Stay tuned.

Combating Disposable Diaper Propaganda: Do Your Own Research

I totally understand that cloth diapers are not for everyone. I am not even a cloth diaper purist. I’ve been known to use disposables when we travel or when my children will be under the care of others for an extended period of time. (Such as our five day trip to Colonial Williamsburg). Fortunately my family is very cloth diaper friendly and I even converted my sister to using them as well.

But I really can’t stand the misinformation that is peddled by many disposable diaper companies and distributors. So I feel the need to provide a little balance to their propaganda. These are some reasons this particular company claims disposable diapers are better.

Convenience. Yes, disposable diapers are convenient. You can throw them out anywhere and they can be purchased relatively easily. But on the flip side, cloth diapers can be nearly as convenient. When I’m out with my kids, and I need to change a diaper I pull out a clean diaper and a wipe. Change the diaper and then instead of throwing away the diaper, I just put it in the wet bag and throw it in the diaper pail when I get home. Depending on where you are, you may need to do this with a disposable anyway. Regarding the dumping of feces of diapers, this should be done with ALL diapers, not just cloth. Disposable diapers should not be thrown away with the poo still in them. Yes, I know we all have done that at one time or another. But the long term environmental impact of tons (and I mean actual metric tons) of feces wrapped in non-biodegradable plastic in a landfill is disgusting if not terrifying.

Expense. It has also been argued that disposables are less expensive because they can be purchased in bulk. In fairness, cloth diapers cost more up front for sure. But they get used many, many times as opposed to the one use disposable diaper. (There are cases of those who reuse disposable diapers, but this is very dangerous and unhygienic, causing infection and sometimes death in babies.) There are so many varieties of both reusable and disposable diapers that it’s hard to show definite numbers. There are ways to make either option fit your budget, but generally, cloth will be less expensive in the long run. Especially if you are able to reuse your cloth diapers for future children.

 Efficacy (i.e. comfort) and Absorbency. I’m a little tired of the argument that disposable diapered babies always have less diaper rash. Several studies have shown that prior to the invention of disposable diapers rashes were a normal part of babies’ lives, but not common by any means. Since disposable diapers have been almost exclusively embraced by so much of the western world, incidents of diaper rash are up significantly. Yes, I realize that some children need the “super dry” feeling provided by disposables. But products like fleece liners or fabric like suede cloth can help provide the same function for a cloth diaper, at least until fully saturated. I also feel the need to point out that regardless of how much a disposable diaper “can” absorb, most pediatricians recommend that no baby be left in any diaper (cloth or disposable) longer than four hours (less for newborns). Ideally your baby should be changed immediately when his or her diaper is wet or soiled. Obviously this isn’t always possible. Just because the diaper may or may not leak doesn’t mean your kid should sit in it for 6 or 8 hours at a time. Let me tell you, a fully saturated disposable feels wet too. My son has had a few nights in disposables for various reasons and most times when he woke up, he was soaked from crotch to chin and the extra urine was actually rolling around inside of the soaked disposable diaper. Plus, the little fluid absorbing pellets were all over him. I’m not crazy about my child’s genitals being exposed to those toxic chemicals. (Though it concerned me more with my daughter since these are the same super absorbent chemicals that were banned in tampons). As far as absorbency goes, that also varies widely. It is “generally” regarded, that disposables are more absorbent than cloth, but that really depends on the product. Not all disposable diapers are equally absorbent and many of the more “eco-friendly” options are less so because they use less of the super absorbent chemicals that many eco-friendly parents are concerned about. Cloth has so many absorbency options from micro-fiber and cotton to hemp and wool. Some parents actually switch to cloth diapers to get better overnight absorbency then disposables.

Environmental Impact. If I have to hear this argument one more time I may personally mail a poopy cloth diaper to that offending PR rep. Saying that washing cloth diapers is as bad for the environment as disposable diapers sitting in a landfill is like saying that using disposable plates or throwing away all your children’s clothes has an equal environmental impact to doing dishes and laundry. If you are overly concerned about the environmental impact of the resources used in the manufacturing and care of cloth diapers there are many ways around that. There are organic products available. Many diaper companies recommend line drying your diapers to reduce wear and tear, which has additional environmental benefits. But let’s keep in mind that in the average child’s life, he or she will produce nearly 1 ton of garbage in disposable diapers alone. (In most cases, those calculations don’t even include disposable training pants like pull-ups which can continue another few years after your child is officially “out of diapers”.) I really don’t think that doing an extra three or four loads of laundry a week can be fairly compared to 1 ton of waste in a landfill.

Most studies quoted by disposable diaper companies claiming equal environmental impact are older studies that use comparisons of diaper services to the use of disposable diapers. In the past, diaper services used super hot water and high levels of toxic chemicals to clean diapers. Not only is this no longer the case of modern diaper services, most cloth diaper users today wash their diapers at home. The “special” detergent I use is actually less expensive and more eco-friendly then most main stream diaper detergents. But many families do fine washing their diapers in standard detergent, albeit much less than the recommended amount. Most cloth diaper users rarely use bleach, and in fact doing so voids the warranty on most diapers. (The exception being that I occasionally bleach my micro-fiber inserts, as recommended by bumGenius). As opposed to the large quantities of bleach used to make disposable diapers white. (Disposable diapers are actually clear but that would look disturbing to most parents so the plastic is dyed and bleached white. Even eco-friendly brands like 7^th generation dye their diapers for effect.)

Fit and Comfort. I find this argument perhaps the most mystifying of all. Cloth diapers are available in many different sizes as well as one-size varieties; the advantage of one-size being that you buy fewer diapers and spend less money. Of course disposable diapers are available in so many sizes. They want you to size up as often as possible (many times before the previous package is finished) so that you have to buy more diapers. I think what I hate most about this argument is that it seems to imply that there are so few options when it comes to cloth diapers. When in fact there are more options available than disposables. With the exception of a few companies who use alternate absorbent materials (like corn, or unbleached wood pulp), all disposable diapers are about the same. They have different pictures printed on them, but really they are all the same basic design and ingredients. Where as with cloth diapers, there are so many different styles, sizes, colors and fabrics. You are almost guaranteed to find something that will work for your baby and your budget. In some cases you can even resell your diapers when you are done to recoup some of the cost.

I’d like to add one more of my own.

Attractiveness. Yes, sometimes cloth diapers can be bulkier, though I mostly find this to be the case at night when aesthetics matter less to me. But during the day I don’t find the extra bulk unattractive, if anything it’s cute and provides extra support for my sons’ bottom as he learns to walk. In the cuteness department, you can’t beat cloth diapers. I don’t care what kind of kid’s cartoons you plaster on them, disposable diapers are just plain ugly. No wonder they put bloomers under little girls dresses. (Ugly diaper butt anyone?) When my daughter was little, I would pick out a bumGenius that most closely matched her dress and she was good to go.

As I said earlier, I recognize that cloth diapers are not for everyone. I admire companies like g-diapers that have pursued hybrid options for areas where water use is an issue. But for the majority of us, water is more readily available than landfill space. I don’t object to families using disposable diapers when it is the right decision of them. But it really irks me when biased and often inaccurate information about cloth diapers is dissembled as fact, to discourage and perhaps even scare families away from cloth diapers. Cloth diapers are a legitimate and potentially healthier and less expensive option for many families. Do your own research. Don’t let the disposable diaper companies do it for you.

The majority of the facts in this post can be better documented here.

http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php