Wipe Solution for Cloth Wipes

We use cloth wipes with an easy to make diaper wipe solution.  We keep a big spray bottle at home to spray on the wipes and a little travel size spray bottle for the diaper bag.


For the big 32 oz. spray bottle we use at home:
-10 drops of Dr. Bronner's Unscented Baby-Mild Castile Soap (any castile soap is fine)
-4 drops of tea-tree oil (good for yeast-based rashes)
-fill with tap water






For the little 2 oz. spray bottle in the diaper bag:
-2 drops of castile soap
-1 drops of tea-tree oil
-fill with tap water




You can also add Olive Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Calendula Oil or Almond Oil to your diaper wipe solution for healing and moisturizing the skin.  Five drops or a squirt or so for large bottle and a drop or two for the small bottle.  The baby formula of Dr. Bronner's soap already has olive and coconut oil in it, so you don't need as much or any oils.


This page has more great recipes!

Cloth Diapers Reviews size medium (~6 months)

Temujin is just over 6 months now weighing 17 lbs, a 15in. waist and some chunky 10in.-around thighs.  Bought the first round of size medium diapers for her and here are our thoughts on them...plus 6/3/10 updates on line drying from trying out line-drying while visiting my parents in Arizona (who do not own a dryer).

bumGenius Organic One-Size AIO (snaps)

Diaper comes in snaps or aplix, all organic cotton interior and is an AIO (all-in-one diaper) with two sewn in soaker pads.
Pros: Easy to use diaper, no guesswork on snap placement, the stretchy tabs are quite helpful in getting a tight (but not too tight) fit and the inside is very nice and soft.  Also a nice trim fit even despite being a one size diaper.  Nice closure around the leg, no bumpiness for red marks but tight enough for no leaks thus far.  The soaker pads are sewn into the front and the back so no stuffing ends of soaker pads into the diaper once it's been snapped closed.  And nine bright and fun colors to choose from.
Cons: Because the front of the soaker pads are also sewn in, this diaper takes forever to dry.  I thought at first it was just because the diaper was new, but every time the diaper has gone through the dryer it has taken well over 160 minutes to dry!!  bumGenius claims they are quick line drying diapers so I tried that as well and after all day, they were still damp...I did find that you need to hang them by the soaker pad for air flow but they still should have dried in the CA sun after all day even hung up wrong!  That unfortunately is a deal breaker for me even though I like everything else about the diaper.
Drying Time: Too long!!  Well over 160 minutes in our dryer.
Cost:  Got ours new in a 3 pack for $23.32 each (as versus $24.95) which is expensive but cheaper in the long run because it has such a large size range (7-35 lbs) as a one-size diaper.  bumGenius is a popular brand, so would probably be fairly easy to buy gently used.


Dream-eze Organic Cotton AIO (snaps), size medium

Only comes in snaps, organic cotton and is an AIO (all-in-one) diaper with two sewn in soaker pads.  A super soaker, very adjustable and workhorse diaper that is an economical AIO choice for 2 or more kids.
Pros: Still a super soaker diaper.  The vertical snap placement does not make it a completely mindless diaper change process but I discovered from research that it allows for a separate snap setting for the thigh and the waist--that is very handy now that I understand the configuration!  And as I've said before, this a work horse of a diaper; it keeps looking new inside and out and has the same soaking power however many times you wash it. 
Cons: The soaker pads are very long and you have to tuck in a bit when the baby is on the smaller size range of the diaper, which I don't mind but has led to some wet fronts when others didn't account for the wicking that would occur with leaving the tips of the soaker pads hanging out.  Also as I said before, a bit bulky between the legs.  Can leave red marks from the bunching of the elastic on the legs since it's not a smooth surface.  And they only come in 3 colors, all of which I like, but more color selection would be a plus.
Drying Time: It dries in less than 80 minutes in our dryer, maybe 60 minutes?  Not sure how much less since it's dried with SposoEasy diapers.  But that's fast for an AIO that is a super soaker.  6/3: These line-dry great.  It is by far the diaper with the most soaking power we have and it dried in about an hour and a half in direct AZ sunlight (with a flip to the other side in that time).  If you're new to line drying, make sure you separate all of the soaker pads and the cover for best air flow.
Cost: Not a cheap AIO but got mine for less by buying a 6-pack for $19.90 each (generally $20.95 each).

Grasshopper Quick-Dry AIO (snaps), size medium and large
Diaper only comes in snaps, a snap in tri-fold soaker pad, interior is all Oeko-Tex bamboo & organic cotton, all-in-one (AIO) diaper.  Has a bonus snap for completely rolling up the diaper, only available from www.grasshopperdiapers.com.

Pros: This is the first WAHM (made by a Work-At-Home-Mom) diaper I've tried, which I'm excited to finally support businesses that allow parents to be at home.  This particular diaper has a small collective of work-at-home-moms sewing them.  Even better, I really love this WAHM diaper, my favorite diaper from this round.  When it first arrived it looked way too small, but it is a super trim (looks like she has a trim disposable on!!) and stretchy diaper.  Also has the same snap placement/system as Dream-eze, which is not immediately intuitive but I believe makes for the best fit once you understand it allows for separate thigh and waist closure. For the incredible trim-ness and good snap system alone, it makes up for the cons I list below, making it my favorite.  Inside is also super soft like the bumGenius Organic AIO and easy to put extra soaker pads in the tri-fold snap-in soaker pad.  Leaves no red marks around waist or thighs, nice smooth finishing to the diaper in both of these areas.  This is an easy AIO diaper to put in your diaper bag because it's so tiny.  And these diapers dry so fast!
Cons: Just like the Dream-eze, not immediately intuitive to put on, takes a couple of times before you're a pro at putting it on.  Tri-fold soaker pad is a little bit of a pain because it comes unfolded so easily while putting on the diaper.  Also a little bit of a pain to hold soaker in place while stretching the cover part of the AIO over to button up, especially if you have a wiggly baby.  Not a nighttime diaper, it does not come even near to lasting the whole night even with doublers.
Drying Time: Tri-fold soaker probably dries in 20 minutes flat.  I discovered snapping one snap on each side so the cover is inside out allows it to dry just as fast as the tri-fold soaker, otherwise it takes about 40 minutes to dry.  This is the AIO for line drying folks, the mom designing this diaper designed it because she likes line-drying her diapers.  Awesome!  6/3: Yep, fast line-drying, about 40 minutes in direct sunlight.  For fastest drying time you unbutton the tri-fold soaker from the diaper and button the cover inside-out and stretched out to achieve super fast drying time.
Cost: Ouch, it's $22.95 each plus shipping from Canada, no bulk buy deals.

SposoEasy AIO (snaps), size medium long

This diaper comes in snaps or aplix (velcro) and is an AIO (all-in-one) diaper with one sewn in soaker pad.  Still highly recommend this AIO diaper as an easy and economical diaper.
Pros: A great and trim fitting diaper.  It fits great around her thighs without leaving any marks and more importantly without letting anything out.  It also has the crossover snap setting (which we've still never had to use but I know that is a favorite function on diapers for many people).  It's also nice that they offer size medium or medium long for higher rise.  We got the medium long because she was showing some crack at the end of her wearing size small in all of her diapers.  The outside always looks like new and never gets fuzzy or worn looking.  And the color selection is decent, 8 colors including white of which I really like the aqua, sage and chocolate.

Cons: This was my favorite diaper from the size small diapers but now in the next size, it has a different snap configuration and the new snap configuration has all of us (Paul, grandparents and me) slower on snapping the diaper.  I noticed on the size smalls that they did get worn looking on the inside and did seem to have a little less soaking power at the end of her time in that size.
Drying Time: Takes 80 minutes in our dryer.  6/3: I was really surprised, this was a super slow line-dryer (maybe just in comparison to the others) but I had to keep turning it to dry damp spots here and there.  Took about four hours I think!  I think it takes that long because so much of the padding is sewn to the diaper cover so harder to get air flow through the diaper.
Cost: Got ours for $16.25 each by buying in a six-pack (generally $16.75 each).


General note: I mentioned in the last diaper review entry that we had gone with a dual system--diaper covers plus microterry inserts for traveling and AIOs for at home--but we ended up taking the AIOs in the diaper bag anyhow because they're easier and they are great cloth diaper ambassadors for those that have not considered using cloth diapers before.  So the microterry inserts (or prefolds) with a cover work great (and you have the advantage of the diaper cover acting as a changing pad and are way cheaper!!), but we are lazy and are suckers for chic-looking diapers, so AIOs for us from here on!