Question about nylons used for diaper covers

[saimeiyu]

Ok, I found this website, seattlefabrics.com that sells all kinds of outdoor-sy kind of fabrics for, looks like everything under the sun. Goretex, ultrx, storm tech, and a bunch of other stuff.

I'm trying to figure out if this Supplex fabric might be suitable for a diaper cover material-- it's only like $3 a yard. here's the description:

100% nylon tightly woven fabric made from a very fine filament. Supplex is a nylon that is meant to look and feel like a cotton. This fabric travels well and is excellent for all outerwear projects. The stout weave of this versatile fabric makes it useful for anything from skiwear and windshirts to hiking and surfing shorts.

Uses: Outerwear, skiwear, rainwear, hunting & cycling apparel

Do you think that would work?
Or should I stick only with fabrics that say they are "DWR- Durable Water Resistant" ? (actually the prices for that aren't bad, either. )

Has anyone ever used stuff from this place? What do you think?

[mommy2cassy]

For my first diaper covers, I used a water resistant outdoor fabric, not sure what type, from my local fabric store. It did NOT work. I'm pretty sure you can only use waterproof fabrics - water resistant won't be good enough for diapers. But I could be wrong...

[Roxy2007]

i would imagine if its for that purposes, it would be waterproof? i use nylon, sounds similar to the ones that you describe.

my experience with my cloth diapers (inners, microfleece, hidden, nylon and outer, recycled materials mostly denim/sweatshirt), when they are wet, the outer layer stays dry but if my DC are soaked, then i can feel the outer part becoming a little damp, i love this feature since it still wont wick on their clothing but its enough to tell me they need to be changed instead of poking my fingers in the diapers unless of course if they poop.

I've read that DWR material though need to be treated with a special spray from time to time so the coating continues to stay DWR, so in my opinion, that's not practical for cloth diapers since they get washed A LOT.

[Marisol]

Yeah, water resistant isn't enough. DWR is just a chemical that wears off in a few washings and then you have to buy the spray-on stuff to fix it again. It's cheaper to just use actual waterproof fabric to start with. You'll know if it's waterproof because it's been coated or laminated with something (with the exception of wool).

The reason DWR works well for outdoorsy fabric is because people are making stuff like jackets and backpacks and tents that they are not going to be putting in a washing machine everytime they use it.