 General
Questions about Cloth Diapers
How
does the cost of cloth diapers compare to disposables?Cloth diapering costs vary widely depending on what system you choose (see "the cost of cloth"). But even my most thrifty, coupon-cutting, savvy friends report spending between $30-40/month on disposable diapers. More typically, disposables cost upwards of $50 per month. And remember, at the end of all this, disposable users are left with nothing but a huge contribution to a landfill, while cloth diaper users have a stash readymade for another child, or they have the option of reselling them on what is a thriving secondary cloth diaper market. How many diapers do I need? You will need approximately 12 diapers per day between washings, a few less for older babies, and a few more for newborns. If you want to wash every other day, approximately two dozen diapers is recommended. Is cloth diapering difficult? How often do you need to wash the diapers? What about the poop? I honestly have not found cloth diapering difficult. Putting the diapers on is certainly no harder than putting a disposable on, and the minimal amount of extra laundry really is not significant in my schedule...and remember I am a pretty busy person! I personally wash diapers about twice a week. I wouldn't let diapers sit much longer than that, since you don't want the smell to get out of hand. And as for the poop, basically I have discovered that poop is icky no matter what. While rinsing out the diapers certainly isn't my favorite task, the diaper sprayer certainly makes that easier, and I figure if I, with a sensitive nose and tummy, can handle it, then anyone can. Are cloth diapers really better for the environment? In recent years, some people (mostly disposable diaper companies) have tried to argue that, when you consider the water used for laundering and the effects of growing cotton, there really is not much of a difference between disposables and cloth diapers in terms of environmental impact. This is worthy of consideration, but in reviewing the studies I found that most focus only on the amount of landfill space that disposables take up and ignore all of the implications of the manufacture and delivery of the disposables to the consumer. It seems only fair that if you are going to count cotton growth and washing against cloth, that you likewise need to consider all factors involved in disposable diaper use, not the least of which is the variety of resources and chemicals used in their production and the tremendous amount of volume they take up in our landfills. Remember, every single disposable diaper ever used is currently still sitting in a landfill somewhere, and likely will remain there for the next 300-500 years. I want to do cloth, but I'm considering using a service instead. What are the pros and cons of a service over laundering my own? Diaper services do provide a measure of convenience, since you are not responsible for laundering your own diapers. In addition, some people find the monthly expense easier to budget for than the larger initial expense of purchasing and laundering your own diapers. However, diaper services significantly reduce your options (most only offer the option of prefold diapers), and the monthly cost certainly adds up (most cost between $60 and $80 per month). And then when your baby is potty-trained, you are left with nothing! If you choose to buy and launder your own diapers, you can choose any diaper combination you wish, you are not bound to any repeating monthly expense, and at the end of your baby's diapering, you have a stash of diapers to reuse for another child, or you can pass them along to another baby or recoup some of your investment by reselling them. Caring
for
Cloth Diapers
What
sort of laundering
recommendations do you have?Please see our complete washing suggestions here. What brands of detergent do you recommend?
What kinds of diaper rash creams are okay to use? Your choice for cloth should really reduce the amount of diaper rashes your baby develops; however, in the rare instance that a baby develops a rash, there are some preferred diaper rash creams. Some of the other commercially available creams will leave residues on your diapers. Here are the ones specifically designed with cloth diapers in mind:
Mothering
Grace's Policies
What are your
shipping charges?Shipping is flat-rate, $7, for Parcel Post for all orders in the United States. Orders over $100 ship for free. Alternatively, you can opt to pay an extra $6 for Priority Mail service instead. All orders are shipped via the USPS or FedEx Ground (which we generally only use on very heavy shipments on which Mothering Grace is covering the shipping). Priority Mail generally takes about 2-5 days to arrive and Parcel Post about 6-10, but these delivery times are just estimates and are not guaranteed by the postal service. To keep our rates low, we may use recycled shipping products from time to time. Do you offer overnight shipping? If you find yourself in a diapering emergency and need your order sent overnight, please email us and we will give you an estimate on the cost and make arrangements with you. Please include your phone number in the email, so that we can reach you as quickly as possible. Do you ship to international sites? Please call or email us directly regarding international orders. We can quote you a specific shipping cost in this way. Please do not include payment details in your email. We may or may not be able to ship to your country; please understand. How quickly do you process orders? We ship orders within 2 business days. What is your return policy? We accept returns within 30 days of purchase, provided the items are in new, unwashed, unused condition with the original packaging and tags. The returned items must also be free of smoke, stains, pet hairs, or other such defects. We cannot accept returns of used merchandise. If you're trying a new item and ordered several, we recommend washing and using only one until you are sure that it is a "fit" for you and your baby. Shipping costs back to Mothering Grace are the buyer's responsibility. In addition, refusing a package or "returning to sender" is not a viable return method, and often proves problematic for the buyer as these items are not trackable and often take a very long time to reach their destination. Please do not attempt to return items in this way. Returns will be issued via a credit back to you in the form of your original payment. If you return part of a package deal, we add up the items you keep at their individual retail price and you will be credited back the remainder. If you received free items as part of a promotion, then the free items must be included in your return, or we will subtract their retail value from the value of your credit. In addition, if you received free shipping as part of your order, we will subtract the actual cost of shipping from your order. On particularly large orders, this may end up being greater than our standard $7 shipping fee. All returns must include:
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