[rolenta]

do you use in your soakers with each type of fabric:

flannel
interlock
velour
sherpa
towel terry
burley knit terry

I'd really like to know... I can't decide what to make my soakers and inners out of! Also, just what is your favourite soaker material and why?

 

[pageta]

For me, the issue is how many layers my machine is capable of sewing through. So it totally depends on the fabric. Some sherpa, my machine can do four layers without a hitch...other sherpa it can only handle two. While you have to consider what is going to work well in the finished diaper, you also have to consider what you can actually do with your equipment.

 

[deditus]

I used an inner, 3 soaker layers of hemp french terry, and an outer. For inners I used organic cotton velour, organic cotton fleece, or a lighter weight organic cotton sherpa. For outers, I used the lighter weight organic cotton sherpa, or a heavy 19 oz sherpa.

I also made some contour shaped doublers out of scraps of the above fabrics. My fav combo is bottom layer of hemp french terry, two internal layers of sherpa, and a top layer of velour, although I may try micro fleece for the top layer of a night time doubler.

I would advise against putting three layers of hemp french terry as an internal soaker. This was fine in the winter when I made them up, but now that babe is here and it's a humid summer, I can't get them to dry. It is taking three cycles in the dryer! I could hang them on the line for days and they would never dry. Talk about a killer electric bill! I think my next batch will be pocket style.

I don't use flannel or interlock, as that just seems like more work to use all the layers they would need. And I haven't gotten around to trying BKT or terry toweling.

My favorite for any layer is the heavy 19 oz sherpa I got from a co-op. It is soft and thirsty and seems to dry faster because of it's loft. It is really pilly, but I don't care. It is thick, but my machine didn't have any problems sewing it, again, because it's not a really dense fabric.

 

[peekyboo]

Here's a fabric absorbancy cheat sheet I made -

Layers for soaker pads

Birdseye - 6-8 layers

Diaper flannel - 6-8 layers

Burley knit terry - 3 layers

Nantucket fleece - 3 layers

Stretch knit terry - 4 layers

Sherpa knit terry - 3-4 layers

Hemp Terry/French Terry/Fleece - 3-4 layers

Hemp Jersey/Stretch Terry - 5-6 layers

Towel Terry/Terry Toweling - 3-4 layers depending on thickness

Microterry/fiber - I'm guessing 3 layers (that's what Cotton Babies use and they have yet to fail me!)

So if I'm making a Very Baby diaper with a quick dry soaker, I can make the soaker with 8 layers of birdseye per instructions. or make the soaker out of 4 layers of sherpa instead. Or an soaker with 3 layers of microfiber.