The Secrets Behind Cloth Diapering

Although my oldest child is almost out of diapers and my little one is already 9 months, I made the decision to switch over to cloth diapers. Not only to save money, but to spare my kids the risk of chemicals seeping into their tiny little bodies. Better late than never, right?

Wanting nothing but the best, I spent about 2 weeks researching cloth diapers. I looked at every option on Diapers.com, Amazon.com and a few organic and green websites. I read all ingredients, user reviews, and of course Googled what I wasn't sure about.

I was quite surprised at how stressful it was picking a chemical free diaper. Products advertised as environmentally friendly but then later stating that their diapers were not biodegradable. I suppose in a weird way it made sense because instead of throwing away 10 diapers a day, you would reuse it until it wore out. But what really caught my eye was the way that they make the diapers.

Lets keep in mind that I'm no mathematician and my percentage use is not so exact but more of an educated guess.

Several companies didn't explain at all what their diapers were made with. Some gave details but somehow made it sound amazing and some gave such details in explaining the bad things that they don't use.

I, personally, am for the companies that are proud of their products not containing toxic chemicals and aren't afraid to give you every detail.
Of course it's easy to sell your product when the main things you say are "environmentally friendly" or "organic". People love to hear that products are healthy for their kids, but are they really healthy or is someone just trying to make money?

I found that like 90% of companies used this PUL method.  This is about the time where parents say "What's PUL?".  Well, fortunately for anyone reading this, I saw PUL and I needed to know exactly what it was.

PUL, by definition is polyurethane laminated fabric and non-biodegradable. Want me to go further?
Polyurethane contains compounds of hydrogen and isocyanate.
Hydrogen (used in the production of ammonia, coolant, and margarine!)  poses several hazards to humans, such as being flammable when mixed with air. Mostly man made.
Also, a common way to test food packaging for leaks. (Hmm.)
"Isocyanates are potentially dangerous irritants to the eyes and respiratory tract." (this is a direct quote from Wikipedia)

Is this what you thought you were putting on your child's hiney?

I found a handful of companies that do not use this method. Their diapers are made strictly with organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and/or wool. Most of these, while super healthy, did not provide the leak free coverage that consumers are looking for. (I found this info by reading the user reviews).

So, through all my determination, I finally found ONE company (OsoCozy) that makes diapers and liners that is made of 100% unbleached cotton. And went with the 100% certified organic cotton flannel washable wipes made by Punkin Butt. I hope I am satisfied with my choice. :)

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