What's your favorite...

[bstandlee]

...diaper fabric that's most absorbent and trimmest? Any bamboo lovers out there?

[ReneeC]

I want to love bamboo...but microfiber auto towels from WalMart are so absorbent and just so much cheaper

[kbstanley3]

I don't like microfiber very much. I even layer it with flannel to get the -squish- and still just don't like it, I haven't found it to be as absorbant as ppl claim it is. Plus it's just -ewww- to me for some reason, lol. That said, lots of ppl love it. I've never tried bamboo. I don't care what anyone says about hemp, I LOVE IT and have never had buildup or stink issues. I really like birdseye too for a cheaper alternative. Flannel's nice too. HTH.

[bstandlee]

I've been leary of microfiber because I have some mf rags from the Walmart auto dept that I use in the kitchen and they take a long time to absorb (water rolls off for a while until I squish it up for a few seconds under running water). Hmmm, maybe I need to strip my dish rags!

[ReneeC]

Originally Posted by kbstanley3

Plus it's just -ewww- to me for some reason, lol.

I've noticed that the sticky-crawly microfiber feeling goes away after some washing.

The thing with microfiber is it's a good *quick* absorber (usually, unless it needs to be stripped ) but not so good at holding on to what it's absorbed. The wetness squishes out like from a sponge, so you have to have something that's a good long-term absorber there to catch the "overflow". Hemp is good for that as is cotton.

Bamboo and hemp combos are supposed to be the ultimate is quick-absorption-plus-long-term-holding. One of these days, I'll try it, and then I'll just have a new expensive habit

[love2bmom]

I really like 100% cotton. I love flannel and birdseye. I also have great affection for organic velour (100% cotton). Super soft! I have bamboo/cotton fleece and I like it too.
I agree on microfiber. For some reason touching makes my skin crawl. We also have really hard water where I live and I find that if there's poly in the diapers they can get smelly.

[Jenlaana]

I really love flannel. I've tried more expensive materials, and I always go back to flannel. There's just something about 100% cotton and the softness of well worn flannel that makes me happy.

[~Stefanie~]

The microfiber towels will become more absorbant after washing in hot water a few times. This would be the trimmest option.

BUT...I agree that natural fibers just feel better, and I personally feel better about using them.

[bstandlee]

Do you flannel and cotton lovers find it's bulkier than hemp or bamboo to get the same absorbency or can't you tell?

[love2bmom]

Birdseye and flannel are the trimmest fabrics I know of. Both have great absorbency. Beyond those, it depends on the pile of the fabric. Organic velour is a thick fabric because of the velour pile. So it's bulkier. Hemp fleece makes a pretty trim diaper. The bamboo fleece I use is like light sweatshirt material - so it's bulkier too.
A diaper made with 9 layers of birdseye (I make my AIOs 3 body and 6 soaker) is still very thin - but very absorbent and dries quickly.

[milehighmonkeys]

I like to use a combo of stuff. A lot of times I'll use microfiber combined with french terry. I also like to use velour for the inner layer. I like all my layers to contribute to absorbing (except the outer for AIOs). Also, velour feels pretty dry even when it's wet. There's an absorbency chart on cloth_diaper_supplies yahoo group in the files section.

[mommy2gunnar]

microfiber towels

I like the microfiber because of its absorbency, but the towels that you get at wal-mart are not long enough IMO, and they are all colored, which runs in the wash and turns all of the other dipes and covers funny colors, especially the aplix and foe. Even after several washes the color never seems to stop running. Every diaper I own now has green aplix.

[mommyrachael]

If you like microfiber, I think they sell them bulk at Sam's club...my husband brought home one from work for me to try that his boss got there, they're orange and don't seem to run any color that I've noticed, although I've been using it for cleaning, not diapering. Microfiber seems to be a nice way to go in a pocket type diaper, like a fuzzibunz, where there's no chance that it will touch baby's skin. But, I have to agree with others, there's nothing like cotton! I love my good old cotton chinese prefolds for softness and absorbency, although they definitely don't make for the trimmest baby bum!
I also like a flannel/terry combo...all of my soaker/doubler pads are homemade from old flannel sheets with a layer of terry from an old bath towel in the middle, 2 layers of flannel on each side. They're trim and absorbent and have worked great for a year now.
If budget is an issue you can make the bulk of your diaper from found items like flannel sheets and old towels and just spend your money on covers or cover fabric and some good absorbent soakers for night etc, like hemp ones.
rachael

[bstandlee]

Originally Posted by mommyrachael

I also like a flannel/terry combo...all of my soaker/doubler pads are homemade from old flannel sheets with a layer of terry from an old bath towel in the middle, 2 layers of flannel on each side. They're trim and absorbent and have worked great for a year now.

Oh, I love that idea! I have a threadbare flannel sheet that I can't bring myself to throw away. Of course, being threadbare means I will need more layers of it I suppose, but on the bright side, being threadbare means it will be super trim!

[swell_mel]

I'm prefer natural fibers now. I was sold on microfiber but with our hard water theuy have been holding smells now and just not getting clean. I have some trifold sherpa/flannel inserts that I love. Bamboo velour is also a favorite of mine. Very nice stuff and worth the extra $$ in my opinion.