Wipes & prefolds

[Devaskyla]

I have a couple of sheets I was thinking of making into prefolds &/or wipes. One is a flannel sheet (& man am I annoyed with myself for tossing the ripped other one, I'm sure I could have at least made wipes out of it if I'd thought of it a few months ago) & the others are just regular bedsheets. Pretty old/thin & I have no idea what fabric, I'm guessing either cotton or a cotton/poly blend.

I know people have suggested 2 layers for flannel wipes, but what about if I'm using thin sheet?

For the prefolds, I would imagine the sheets would be similar to using old t-shirts. Does the flannel need to be made into 4-8-4 prefolds or would that be too bulky?

[Michigan Mama]

Hmmm. Good questions.

I still think 2 layer wipes would be good, (unless it's super super thin)

I'm not sure how well a cotton/poly blend would work for dipes, since poly isn't absorbant. If it's mostly cotton, it would probably be ok. I wonder if you could tell somehow by pouring a little water on them to see if it absorbs. I don't know. Not sure what to tell you there. It would be good to strip them if you've used fabric softner or dryer sheets on them.

The flannel would work well, though! I kind of think 4x8x4 might be too think with flannel. I might tend to do 3x6x3. Maybe another mama will respond from experience. I made a fitted from an old pair of flannel jammies and it turned out great!

Enjoy the diaper sewing!

[wobblykate]

Hmm...I think I would skip on the non-flannel sheets, unless as PP suggested, they absorb water when it's poured on. Do you have any other materials lying around? Towels, t-shirts, etc.? Or, you could just do multiple layers of the flannel sheet.

I agree w/pp that you should strip the "greases" with Dawn before using.

GL!!

[Devaskyla]

I found a couple of 100% cotton sheets, so I'm going to try those for the dipes. The other ones were 50/50, so I'll just use those for my spare sheets for the birth. I cut up one of the flannel sheets for the wipes. Haven't managed to sew them all yet. I think I'll make the other one into prefolds.

Don't need to worry about fabric softener having been used for the flannel sheets, my mom never used the stuff because I'm allergic. The cotton sheets are from the thrift store, though, so I'd probably better do something with them. Would boiling get rid of the stuff too, or just using Dawn?

[wobblykate]

Boiling would probably work. The purpose of degreasing isn't necessarily just for fabric softener, but for any kind of build-up. Like the kind you can't see but that comes from the sheets (or whatever) being slept on, or used. They'll just be more absorbent. I don't think it NEEDS to be dawn. Any dish soap that has a degreaser...