Choosing Prefolds and Flats, Part 2:How

I just posted this Prefolds and Flats Comparison on Diaper Swappers. I won't burden you with all of the charts here, but I wanted to give a little commentary on my findings, and some recommendations for those of you who are in the market.

Best Price for Value (best over all): Imagine (nickisdiapers.com) hands down.
Just to prove my point, there was a thread on Diaper Swappers the other day where a mama asked whether she should go for cloth eez from green mountain diapers, or imagine from nickis diapers. She had 12 or more responses saying Imagine are shorter (fit better in trim covers), softer, cheaper, etc. Imagine are $10 less per dozen than the other major brands, (ie: brands of the same quality). It is $7 cheaper per dozen for Imagine organic than for the cloth eez or diaper rite in conventional cotton. A lot of times in diapering you get what you pay for, and these price differences would be nothing if the product was poor quality, but I have had both imagine and clotheez prefolds, and just like the diaperswappers mamas said, Imagine are just as durable and absorbent, but softer and better fitting than other brands for an average of $2 each rather than $3.

tip: I always think you should size down in DSQ prefolds. They are almost all 4x8x4 ply, and I always find the size for my boys weight range too long and bulky.

Diaper Rite Large Flats (diaperjunction.com):
A lot of companies including Nickis/Imagine have only 27x27" flats and consider them one size, but as much as I like to size my boys down in things for trimness, these are getting a little short when we pad fold them, and will not snappi at all. Cloth Eez(greenmountaindiapers.com) and Diaper Rite are the only ones I have found with two sizes. So if you need smalls, I stand by Imagine being the best price, but if you need something bigger, go with Diaper Rite which are $4.50 less per dozen than Cloth Eez.

For special types of diapers: Cloth Eez by Green Mountain Diapers
While their prefolds and flats are more expensive than other brands greenmountaindiapers.com has some other neat types of diapers for way below the competition. I have not tried these three things myself, but they are on my newborn list, because they are highly recommended all over.

1. Workhorse Fitteds- These are "prefitteds" meaning a prefold made into a fitted. They come with snaps or no closure and are an especially poular newborn diaper. We are registering mostly these for Lucy in no closure. It is like using a prefold or flat, but with long wings to wrap around, trimmer between the legs, no folding. These are 4.95 each in newborn no closure, or 7.40 each in the other sizes. compare to other prefold to prefitted conversions at $10-12 each, or $7-10 if you provide your own prefolds.

2. Sherpa Diaper- For a while I was making "trifold inserts" out of hemp and bamboo fleece, because they are trimmer than a regular prefold, with 2 body layers of fleece and then you trifold like a prefold and lay it in a cover (or snappi). Making these got very tedious with no serger, and the materials are very expensive. Numerous other work at home moms make these, but because of the cost of materials you are giving away your time if you sell them for less than $6 each, and some sell for as much as $14. Cotton Sherpa is a bit cheaper, but it is still not very profitible for wahms to sell them for an economic price range. Clotheez has Sherpa diapers for 2.95 each in newborn or small and 3.25 in medium. Their Small is the same size as my "one size" was, and if you are trifolding should be plenty of diaper for an average wetter until potty learning. This is just not that much more than a prefold for a really trim luxurious diaper. Even other "name brand" fleece or jersey prefolds (flip and thirsties) are $7-8 each.