Questions about FOE....

[Shaunam]

1) How soft is it? The polybraid elastic I'm using for diapers right now isn't very soft and I wouldn't want something like that against my DS's skin. Is FOE softer? Do you think it's comfy for your baby? DS doesn't have very sensitive skin (I can literally put anything against it) but I guess I wouldfeel guilty if it wasn't soft.

2) Is it difficult to sew? Do I need a special needle?

3) Do you find that outer cotton prints don't wick as easily if you use FOE? Is it a good barrier for wetness (assuming the soaker doesn't completely saturate and spill over)?

4) Is there any kind of guidelines to follow to figure out how much I should order? I'm making large diapers (19" rise).

Sorry, that's a lot of questions!

Thanks!

[boscopup]

1) How soft is it?

It's much softer than polybraid. LOL. FOE *can* leave red marks when tight, so some people don't like it because of that, but honestly, even if my son has red marks, he doesn't seem to care. I mean, I sometimes have red marks from my own clothing and I don't notice either. So red marks don't necessarily equal pain (although if it's really bright red or leaving indentions or breaking the skin - yeah, that might hurt).

I use 1" FOE so far. 5/8" is supposed to be softer, but it's also supposed to be not quite as easy to sew as 1".

2) Is it difficult to sew? Do I need a special needle?

No special needle required. I think it's really easy to sew. But some people have trouble with it. We all have our strength and weakness areas, and for some reason, FOE just likes me.

3) Do you find that outer cotton prints don't wick as easily if you use FOE? Is it a good barrier for wetness (assuming the soaker doesn't completely saturate and spill over)?

My cotton prints work ok, although they can still wick. Really, the only way to avoid wicking of cotton prints is to not use them. My solid PUL covers don't wick unless the diaper is DRIPPING wet. In fact, even then, it barely ever wicks! Today was the first time. DS had been in a prefold for almost 3 hours, which is not THAT long. We were traveling and I'd not had a chance to change him until we were at our destination. Well, I found a big wet spot on his pants and went to change him. You could have wrung the prefold out - it was THAT soaked. I couldn't believe it! He never wets that much that quickly! I can see him doing that in say 5 hours (which I 99% of the time change him before that!), but under 3 hours... wow. So this was just a super saturated diaper that wicked. I've had saturated prefolds under that cover before that did not wick, but they weren't dripping wet like this one was. They were just soaked wet.

4) Is there any kind of guidelines to follow to figure out how much I should order? I'm making large diapers (19" rise).

I think I went by what it recommends for a VB Snugwrap on their website. I'd say guess roughly 2 yards per cover for a large. I think I use a tad less than that for my covers that are a little smaller.

[Shaunam]

Thanks!

I'm mostly making pul pockets. So far, so good. They are holding up overnight with just a hand towel for an insert.

I just want to make half a dozen outer print diapers for the cuteness factor. They are definitely not going to be the bulk of our stash because I know you can never completely trust them not to wick. I have some little lambs diapers that DS has outgrown that worked well for us. They did wick, sometimes before the soaker was completely saturated, but I knew to change him at least every hour to hour and a half. So if I can make diapers that work at least that well, I will be happy. I plan to use much more absorbant material for the soaker than what the LL came with. They just felt like several layers of t-shirt material.

I think I'm ready to place an order!