All About Cloth Diapers

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How Much Liquid Do Cloth Diapers Really Hold?

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I am CONSTANTLY adding to this list. Please come back often and tell your friends!

All cloth diapers are not created equal. Neither are their inserts. I have my favorites. The ones I kept in my stash even after trying so many alternatives. The ones I know will be safe to use when stuffing a nap or overnight cloth diaper. I can’t say I’m really surprised by the results from this absorbency experiment. I hope you find this info useful in your search for the best cloth diapers and inserts.

Cloth Diaper Absorbancy TestMy Results

Please note that these results were obtained by following the procedure listed at the bottom of this page. The ounces of liquid are what was held by one of each listed insert (unless otherwise noted). This is not a guarantee of what yours will hold. I continually update this as I have more brands to add. If you have and insert or cloth diaper you’d like to add, please contact me.

Actual Ounces of Warm Water Held:

Inserts/Doublers/Prefolds/Flats

Fitted Results 

Please note that there are varying numbers of inserts included with each of the fitteds listed below. That obviously can affect absorbency as well as the cost to you.

Overnight Fitteds: (These are specifically created and labeled for nights.)

Fitteds and Hybrid Fitteds:

All In One Results

There are a few things to take into consideration besides just the amount of liquid held. Here are my thoughts:

Trimness…Geffen Baby And HumBird win on this one. You can already see their prefold held the most amount of liquid. Don’t misjudge the Geffen’s Super Absorbers though. They seem like they are paper thin. You can easily stuff 3 Super Absorbers and be at about the same thickness as one of the Geffen Prefolds. The HumBird Exceptional Inserts are the perfect boosters without adding any bulk. The Thirsties Hemp Inserts and Joeybunz are also trim.  If you are wanting to add absorbency to it for nights, you want something super trim to yet absorbent. This allows you to have enough to soak up a ton yet not be really bulky.

The GroVia Soaker and Booster combination is fairly trim and was one of my favorites until Sophia was about a year old. They only had enough absorbency for day use here. The soaker could make it though a nap if I added a Thirsties Hemp insert in addition to the booster (I usually tucked the Thirsties Hemp Insert under the top layer of the GroVia Soaker). But this was never a night option here as it just didn’t pack enough punch.

This experiment included the more absorbent inserts that I knew I had, many of which are already on My Recommedations page.

My favorite day combo is a Geffen Baby Jersey Hemp Prefold pad folded in any of my covers.

For naps, it’s 2 Geffen Baby Super Absorbers Plus or a RagaBabe Bulletproof Insert with a Sweet Pea Cover or Thirsties Duo Wrap (They have double leg gussets and a high rise so perfect for an older baby and can be stuffed to the max).

At night we are using 3 Thirsties Hemp Inserts with a Ragababe Insert on top (the cotton sherpa on the Ragababe insert acts as a stay dry layer and pulls moisture away from baby). I’m starting to use the Geffen Baby Super Absorber Plus at night and really love them. They the thinnest of the super absorbent inserts. I cover with any cover I have with leg gussets as this is the only kind that I find that can take all these layers and not gap on Sophia’s legs. Right now my favorites are Blueberry Coveralls or the one Sweet Pea cover I have. I used to love the Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetters, but as Sophia got bigger, I just couldn’t stop the legs from getting gaps…and because of that, leaks.

Another favorite night option of mine are my Twinkie Tush Night Nights, Kissing Blake night fitted ,HumBird SuperNova, or Truly Charis fitted and a HumBird wool cover. The Truly Charis is mind blowingly trim and soft and you can see that is another knock your socks off option. These are all well worth the money.  A Pooters fitted is an amazing value for the money at only $14! I did need to add one more insert to get it too go night for me, but it’s such an awesome price. If you are on a budget they are worth looking into. If you need more help with night cloth diapering, please check this out.

Experiment Procedure:

  1. Measure and pour 4 cups (32 oz.) of water into a large bowl. (I used 44 oz for fitteds.)
  2. Place the diaper or insert in the bowl until saturated.
  3. Lightly squeeze just enough liquid out of the diaper to stop it from dripping.
  4. Measure how much liquid is left in the bowl and subtract this number from the original 32 oz. to find out how much water your diaper or insert absorbed.
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Comments

  2. If you get your hands on an Imagine 2.0 Fitted, I’d love to see it added to this post!! Thanks for such an awesome resource!

    Reply

  3. That’s good to know about the nickis overnight diaper I just ordered 2 from there because I needed a good overnight diaper for my 2 kiddos and I’m definitely going to do the bowl with 4 cups of water to see how much it holds awesome knowledge on here ?

    Reply

  4. I came across this while trying to find the best overnight solution for my gigantic toddler. It’s so helpful! Also, with the way people talk of Gerber prefolds I was in udder disbelief to see that it holds 12oz!! Sure, its not the trimmest diaper. But they are about the same amount of bulk as a pad folded fst.

    Reply

  5. Wow! Great list!

    I was just wondering when was the last time you updated this post?

    Tidy Tots has a new insert and new doubler that are more absorbent than the original version. I am curious about whether the 9 oz reported here is from the original or the new inserts?

    Also, I don’t see the Organic Cotton Flip inserts anywhere on the post. Wondering if those will be added on at a later update?

    Thank you ? You’ve done a marvelous job here!

    Reply

    • It was updated about a month ago. I tested the newer Tidy tots inserts. I do have about a dozen other inserts and diapers I tested that I have to get added, but Flip isn’t one that i own. I am always working on getting my hands on more to test.

      Reply

      • I’m kind of disspointed that their new version only holds 9oz. But I do have the cotton/hemp doublers that go inside them so maybe that will be enough. Baby is due in a couple months. Thank you for this post!!

        Reply

        • 9 oz is a pretty respectable amount and is plenty for most babies. If you do have one that requires more, you can add a booster to this to bump the absorbency up.

          Reply

  6. I want so badly to run this procedure to my Happy flute hemp fitteds, looks good! thanks! and, have you considered to translate this to spanish? i am willing to cooperate on that. many spanish speaking mammas would die for this type of info. Thanks for taking the time

    Reply

  7. We need some updates with a few brands like Smartbottoms (3.1, dream diaper 2.0, dream diaper OG, hemp inserts, cotton inserts) and Lalabye baby as well as the new Thirsties NAIO.

    Reply

    • Hi Amanda! We sure do! I am always adding new diapers. But I can only test diapers that I have on hand. And so far there’s over 75 so it’s not too shabby. I do reach out to retailers and manufacturers to see if they’d like to include their diapers on the post. Perhaps dropping them a line and letting them know you’d like to see it added will help! Thanks for the suggestions!

      Reply

  8. Hi, in term of trimness, how would you rank them?
    – Geffen Baby Hemp Jersey Prefold
    – Ragababe Bulletproof Insert
    – Thirsties Dua Hemp Prefold
    – 2 pieces of Geffen Baby Super Absorber Plus

    Reply

  9. Ohhh thank you so much for such an owsom review we need it .. I had no idea that it holds so much ( Geffen prefold ).. its way more than any other brand waw

    Reply

  10. Has anyone tried Thirsties Natural One Size Fitted? I am wondering what the absorbency is like compared to GMD Workhorse Size Medium and to Sloomb OBF Medium

    Reply

    • Hi Andreana, It is on my pile of diapers to add to this post. I would say it is more absorbent than the GMD med but a tiny bit less than the Sloomb OBF. I haven’t tested it so this is my estimate from me using them all.

      Reply

  11. Omg take it back. I started reading this at 3am when nursing! I totally missed that you spelled out your procedures.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  12. Can you tell me how you tested these? I.e. Dripping wet, starting to leak or just moist on the outside (fitted). Im looking specifically at the night time diapers and am trying to decide if I want to try the Twinkie Tustin, and wait for the order of their night-night.

    Thanks!
    Kelly

    Reply

  14. A very comprehensive list. I was going to ask about how cotton and cotton/bamboo prefolds match up, since I don’t see them in your list and they are such a basic insert for CD’ing. Have you updated this list since last testing in 2014? Is there a link? Ty!

    Reply

    • Yes, I stated in the post that I am continually updating it. I test what I personally have in my possession. I do have a number of prefolds that I need to add and plan to do so in the next month or so. Please check back.

      Reply

  15. Whoa this is AWESOME info!! I am totally pinning this for my next baby and cd buying frenzy!! So fabulous!!

    Reply

  17. I keep seeing people recommend the Thirsties Duo hemp prefold, and now I know why! I think I’ll have to get a few of those before I try cloth diapering at night!

    Reply

  18. Wow. Awesome experiment. Must have taken some time to complete all of this. I never thought to do this to test the products that I have. I was always curious as to the hold factor of the liquid. My LO drinks a lot and always seems to soak his diapers every time. Thank you for doing this and posting! very helpful information.

    Reply

  19. Anyone test a bbumgenius freetime?? Or what about a thx bamboo fitted? Very curious as I THINK I have a heavy wetter but how do you actually decide that? What amount of pee means you have a heavy wetter?? I use thx bamboo fitteds but WOA I may have to try the twinkie tush one that held an incredible amount!

    Reply

    • Hi Nancy, I am getting ready to add another 10 or so brands to this. Unfortunately, Amp isn’t one I currently have to test. I CAN tell you that AMP diapers in general are very well made.

      Reply

  21. Awesome post. Curious about how you tested the AIOs – did you completely submerge the diaper in the water? Ie the outside also wet? My thoughts are that the amount of liquid it is able to hold should be without the outside getting wet (ie leaking). I do understand the method for fitteds as the entire thing is supposed to get wet. I’ve done some absorbency tests on my blog as well and want to branch out into AIOs now, but going back & forth with myself about method of testing. Perhaps I’m overthinking?

    Reply

    • For the AIO’s the entire diaper is submerged. The PUL isn’t absorbent anyway. So only the usual stuff that absorbs anyway will hold water. Just as it does on a child. I want to say that this is as scientific as I could make it in my kitchen. But far from perfect. I like to think these numbers give a great idea of how cloth diapers absorbency stack up against each other.

      Reply

  22. Have you tested the fsts from Wal-Mart? I’m going to make some inserts from them but I want to match the absorbancy of cbis so I’m not sure if one alone will be enough.

    Reply

    • I have but I haven’t updated the post yet. I’ll have to double check but I think they were about the same as what one MF insert holds. Maybe 8 oz. They are trim, so it’s also a good option for doubling something up.

      Reply

  23. Hi! I simply want to offer you a big thmubs up forthe excellent information you have got here on this post.I am coming back to your blog for more soon.

    Reply

    • I have tried them. I unfortunately have not tested them though but will make sure to get them in on the next update. They are very trim and I’d say are probably in the 6-8 oz range if I compare them via real life usage (so not actual testing the way I did here). Thanks for asking and keep following <3

      Reply

  27. Hi! I have the Geffen prefolds with fleece. Would these hold about the same amount of liquid as the jersey that you tested? Do you not like the fleece for a particular reason? Just wondering :) thanks!

    Reply

    • I actually have to test them. I thought I had, but I don’t see it. I’ll make sure I get that added Felicia! Thank you. I personally prefer the Jersey hemp because it has a smooshy soft feel that the fleece doesn’t have. I think that they are probably around the same absorbency though but I’ll confirm once I test.

      Reply

  28. With the Truly Charis fitted, did you test with all the included inserts? I have one and only use the snake style insert otherwise I can’t get a good fit on my skinny boy. I’ve really wanted to try the sweet pea fitted because they are so squishy but that is a big difference in absorbency. Have you tried any Truly Charis hemp flats? Or sweet pea prefolds?

    Reply

  29. have you tested to see how much liquid a GMD workhorse fitted holds? Specifically,size large. I’m interested to know how they compare to the sustainablebabyish overnight fitted that we have now.

    Reply

  31. Wow!! This is, by far, one of THE most interesting entries I’ve read regarding cloth diapers!! Thanks for taking the time to experiment and share info with us! I’m making this experiment my “homework” for tonight, thanks for the inspiration, Jennifer and Kimberly!

    Reply

    • There are many posts available from cloth diaper blogs. PTS has info on this as does change-diapers.com. :)

      Reply

  33. [ ] Sbish doubler – 2oz
    [ ] Softbums bamboo doubler – 2oz
    [ ] Thirsties hemp insert – 4oz
    [ ] Small cotton prefold – 4oz
    [ ] Babykicks hemp insert lg – 4oz
    [ ] Fst – 4oz
    [ ] Babykicks red hemp prefold non-prep – 5oz
    [ ] 12×18″ cotton prefold – 8oz
    [ ] The Happy Hippo (wham) Hemp flat – 8oz
    [ ] Softbums os bamboo – 8oz
    [ ] Mother ease bamboo – 9oz
    [ ] Prefix med – 10oz
    [ ] Thirsties hemp prefold – 10oz
    [ ] Grovia kiwipie – 10 oz
    [ ] Fancy cloth hemp fitted – 10oz
    [ ] The Happy Hippo (wham) hemp fitted lg – 11oz
    [ ] Sbish obf med – 11oz
    [ ] Sbish snapless – 13oz
    [ ] The Happy Hippo (wham) Heavy hemp flat – 13oz

    Reply

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