Can I use PUL for all my diaper covers?

[dex_millie]

Hi all,

I am thinking of making some diaper covers. I will be mostly using flats, prefolds and maybe fitted diapers(going to try and make these). I am now looking into making some diaper covers and I am seeing I could use wool, fleece, ect.. but those don't seem to be waterproof and I don't know if I will have the time to make the wool waterproof, I have a month to try out making covers.

I am also wondering what would be the best type of covers I should make and would PUL be good for all my covers? Should I just by the cheap vinyl plastic pants, would PUL covers be worth it?

TIA

[Michigan Mama]

I really like my PUL covers because the are so convenient. I have some nylon diaper pants, but almost nver use them because if you get a leaky poo, you have to worry about it sliming down the kid's leg...not my favorite. Wrap style covers are so nice.

Wool actually works better than you might think. If you have any old 100% wool sweaters, that are fairly tight knit, you can make a "butt sweater" or even a wrap style first. I would just wash/dry it on hot so that it is felted and won't shrink much when you launder later. It's not totally waterproof like PUL, the wool absorbs the moisture, but much better than any other fabric i know of...it's sort of amazing. If I put ds in it at night, he usually feels just slightly damp to the touch in the morning. I like that it lets him breathe more...

That said,I do tend to use my PUL covers more than my others. I also have some fleece ones, which are waterproof, as long as you buy windpro fleece.

Good luck!

[Ruthla]

The cheap vinyl plastic pants (if these still exist!) might be good to have on hand for backup, but they're hot, not breathable, and really uncomfortable for babies. I think disposable diapers are more breathable than vinyl covers! PUL and wool are so much nicer to use and much more comfortable for babies, better for preventing rashes, etc.

I HATED sewing with PUL, it's slippery and hard to work with. I preferred sewing with wool, and it's what I used to make most of DS diaper covers. And it's easy to waterproof the wool- just wash with some lanolin and hang it to dry. It doesn't take a month; it only takes about half an hour to wash and a day or so to dry.

[dex_millie]

If I try wool, do I just pick up any wool sweater in a thrift store? I am going to a thrift store tomorrow and look for some wool sweaters.

I also had some pull up "plastic pants" that they said was breathable, nice and soft it wasn't the old fashion ones, I don't like those they are too thick and plasticky, baby it was a different material then vinyl, can't remember.

Oh, I plan on using a fabric glue on the PUL before I sew it, I hope that would be ok.

[Michigan Mama]

I'm not sure about the fabric glue...

Look for wool sweaters that are soft, not scratchy and nearly 100% wool (might be able to squeak by with a tiny bit of something else). I wouldn't get anything with angora or anything. My recycled wool sweater turned out by far the best when I found a rather thin wool men's sweater that had a fine knit and was pretty soft. Didn't really feel like wool. But I made a double layer soaker, using a pattern, rather than a bum sweater, and it absorbs really well. Depending on the size of the sweater after shrinking it down a little, you might be able to make some longies from the sleeves, too. There are patterns floating around. Check the sticky here, or google it!