Recently, a new friend of mine gave me a super nice gift - a huge bag of cloth diapers! Used, of course, but
still. So nice of her! I know this woman because her dad married my aunt earlier this year (I was the photographer for the wedding, too), and she doesn't live around here, so we're not close by any means. I just say that to emphasize how nice it was of her to give me these diapers. I got to meet her baby girl on Easter at a family gathering, and I noticed a cloth diaper peeking out under her dress. Naturally, I had to know what type of diapers she uses and of course we got to talking! Cloth diapers can bring anyone together. ( :
Anyway, one of her friends had given her all these diapers, but she didn't need them. At her baby showers, she received a ton of new cloth diapers, so she didn't feel the need for a bigger stash. (Obviously, she's not addicted like some of us! Lol) She said most of these diapers needed repairs like replacement elastic, but I told her I'm not afraid of a challenge!
I got the stash last week, and WOW. I was floored when I saw what it consisted of.
Okay, so it doesn't look all that impressive from this picture, but trust me, it is. There are 12 (TWELVE) BumGenius pockets (I think most of them are 3.0s, but some are 4.0s for sure), 9 assorted fitteds, and a variety of wool products. Wool! The very thing I have been wanting to try for the past 3 years (but have been too scared to spend the money).
I had to get some help on some of this wool stuff. There are 3 items that I just wasn't sure about, but I have been told that they are newborn sleep sacks.
They are open on both ends, so its strange to me, but I'm gonna try them and see how it goes. Wool is supposed to be great about containing smells and leaks. And apparently, you only have to wash wool stuff every 2 weeks or so. That's pretty cool.
Next are 4 pairs of wool covers. I knew what these were! The cream colored one has a tag so I know what size and brand it is (though I can't remember now, haha), but the others I have no clue. Once I learn how to wash them (I know it has to be done by hand, but I'm not sure what type of detergent to use), I'm gonna see if they fit C and we'll try that overnight. If they don't fit her I'll just save them for the Bean. And I'll end up buying a wool cover for C, I'm sure.
There were 3 prefolds from BabyKicks in the stash. I'm not familiar with this brand, and they don't look anything like my prefolds, but that's gotta be what they are. They're very soft, and I'm sure they'll work great as stuffers for pocket diapers.
Now for the fitteds!Ain't they cute?! I have no experience with fitteds, and didn't realize they came in cute colors and designs. Not that it matters, since fitteds require a cover (they're not waterproof at all). Which is exactly why I've never been interested in trying them. Why have to deal with putting a diaper on the baby, just to have to put another diaper on top of that (basically)? But everyone says fitteds on newborns are the way to go. So we'll see! I'm not positive these are newborn size, but they seem to be.
That's the inside of one of the fitteds. They all (well, almost all of them) have 2 snap-in inserts with them. I imagine they're pretty absorbent! The cute green and white clover one doesn't have snaps on the outside. So I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use a Snappi with it or just let it be under the cover...but I'll find out!
And now for the BG pockets. I have one BumGenius that I got for free with an order. Its been in the nightly rotation (since C has always only worn pockets at night, not during the day), but its never been my favorite. I don't have any real complaints about it, I just found I liked the Kawaii pockets better (which is funny, since the Kawaiis run $11-13 and the BGs are more like $17-18. On my BG, I had to have the velcro closures removed and replaced with snaps, since the velcro quit working after about a year of use, which was disappointing. I had a girl I know do the repair, and some of the snaps she used messed up after a few uses. Now, there's only a few settings I can use on that diaper. I need to replace the snaps! Anyway, these BGs are in pretty good condition, considering they are obviously used. Well-loved, I guess! The ones that have velcro are all in good condition, and all the snaps work (I tested them all, lol). All of them will eventually need the elastic replaced, but only 4 were in dire need.
You can see here that the elastic is not quite as tight as it could be. The diaper should be more puckered in the middle. Some of them laid completely flat. (Though, after inspecting all these, I realized that all of my current pocket diapers look the same. We don't have leak issues, but I'm wondering if I need to replace the elastic on them, too?)
I did some research and decided that replacing the elastic was super easy and I could totally do it myself. I'll do a separate post on that. So far, I've only worked on 2 of the diapers. It was easy! Since I'm a very beginner sewer, and don't have a sewing machine, it took me a while to do those. Oddly, I really enjoyed making the repair and am looking forward to tackling the rest of the diapers.
Cloth diapers hold their value pretty well if they're in good condition. These could probably sell for a decent amount of money. So I feel very blessed that they were just given to me! I didn't take the time to research what these diapers would sell for used, but I did quickly figure what this stash would cost if I purchased it new. WELL over $500! Wow.
On Friday evening, Sweet Bottoms in Raleigh is having a "wine and dine" event. A friend of mine and I are going, and I can't wait! Obviously, I won't be partaking in the "wine" portion of the evening, but I'm excited to be able to go to the store again. I have a ton of questions and there are a few things I'd like to pick up. And my friend graciously gave me a gift card for the new baby! ( :
