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 little experiment. It is pretty cool to see real numbers of what these can actually hold.
Real Diaper Association is holding their School of Cloth. This week is Cloth Diaper Absorbency. They are encouraging all cloth diaper users to do their own experiment and share the results! From RDA’s blog, here is their call to action: (My results are right after this!)
The Real Diaper Association focuses on fact based evidence. Some of that evidence comes from collecting data from our own experiments (like our yeast in cloth diapers experiment), interviews with experts, good old fashioned research, and cloth diaper users like you! This week, we designed a quick experiment for cloth diaper users to measure the absorbency of one or more of their diapers. The more diapers you test and results you submit, the better data we will have to publish!
Experiment:
- Measure and pour 4 cups (32 oz.) of water into a large bowl. (I used 42 oz for fitteds.)
- Place the diaper or insert in the bowl until saturated.
- Lightly squeeze just enough liquid out of the diaper to stop it from dripping.
- 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.
*For added information about how well fabric holds on to liquid*
- Place your saturated diaper in a casserole dish on a counter or table with a folded towel under one side so that it is leaning just a bit.
- Press down on the diaper with your hand to simulate a baby sitting in the diaper.
- Lift your diaper out of the casserole dish and measure the amount of water that the diaper released with this moderate pressure.
Repeat the experiment with other fabrics and/or styles of diapers. Comment below with your results and make sure to include:
- Type of fabric (cotton, hemp, bamboo, microfiber, minkey, zorb, etc.)
- The style and brand (if known) of diaper or insert (Infant Prefold, OsoCozy All-In-One/AIO, birdseye flat, Happy Heine microfiber etc.)
- Ounces of water the diaper absorbed
- Ounces of water the diaper released with moderate pressure
My Results
Please note that these results were obtained by following the above procedure. The ounces of liquid are what was held by one of each listed insert. (This is not a guarantee of what yours will hold.) I continually update this as I have more brands to add.
For the second part of the experiment I found when I put pressure on most that no water was released. My tray was only damp from touching the wet insert. This was the same for each insert except for the Microfiber and Charcoal Bamboo Insert (CBI). They did release some liquid under pressure. This is also known as compression leaks. (BTW, OS stands for one size.)
Actual Ounces of Warm Water Held:
Inserts/Doublers/Prefolds/Flats
- 12.25 oz Geffen Baby Jersey Hemp Prefold, M/L 60% hemp/40% cotton
- 12 oz GroVia Prefold, size 4 toddler Bamboo/Cotton
- 12 oz Gerber Organic Cotton Prefold OS 100% cotton
- 11 oz RagaBabe Bulletproof Insert, L cotton sherpa & hemp
- 11 oz Thirsties Duo Hemp Prefold, size 2 55% hemp/45% cotton
- 11 oz SoftBums Super Bamboo Double OS Pod
- 10 oz Bambino Mio Prefold cotton
- 9.5 oz HumBird XL Ultimate Insert, 55% hemp/45% bamboo
- 9 oz Geffen Baby Super Absorber Plus, OS 60% hemp/40% cotton
- 9 0z Nicki’s Ultimate Bamboo Insert OS
- 9 oz Truly Charis Hemp Flat, Hemp/ Cotton
- 9 oz Boingo EcoMax Prefold, OS hemp
- 9 oz Geffen Baby Jersey Hemp Flat
- 8 oz Geffen Baby Ultra Absorber Plus
- 8 oz SoftBums Large Drytouch Pod, microfiber
- 8 oz Osocozy Flat, OS 100% cotton
- 8 oz Landry Parker Ave OS AI2 Inserts
- 8 oz Ragababe Large Hemp Insert, cotton/hemp
- 8 oz Charcoal Bamboo Insert, OS charcoal/bamboo/microfiber
- 7 oz HumBird M/L Ultimate Insert, 55% hemp/45% bamboo
- 7 oz AMP 2 Layer Hemp Insert
- 7 oz Premium Joey bunz Insert, hemp/cotton
- 7 oz Kawaii Microfiber Insert, OS microfiber
- 7 oz Flour Sack Towel 100% cotton
- 6.5 oz Thirsties Hemp Large Insert, 55% hemp/45% cotton
- 6.5 oz Peachy Baby Large Insert, bamboo rayon/cotton
- 6.5 oz Ragababe Large Insert, cotton sherpa & bamboo rayon
- 6 oz Geffen Baby X-Small Fleece Prefold
- 6 oz AMP Bamboo Insert
- 6 oz Milovia Med Insert, microfiber
- 6 oz RagaBabe Med Bulletproof Insert
- 6 oz Ragababe Med Hemp Inserts, hemp/cotton
- 6 oz Blueberry Prefold, Newborn 100% cotton
- 6 oz GroVia Stay Dry Soaker, OS 55% hemp, 45% cotton
- 6 oz GroVia Organic Cotton Soaker
- 6 oz Babykicks Duz it all Flat hemp/cotton
- 5.5 oz Geffen Baby Super Absorber, OS 60% hemp/40% cotton
- 5.5 oz Ragababe Med. Insert, cotton sherpa & bamboo rayon
- 5 oz Thirsties Fab Doubler Large, 15% polyester, 85% cotton
- 5 oz Milovia Small Insert, microfiber
- 4 oz HumBird Newborn/S Ultimate Insert, 55% hemp 45% bamboo
- 4 oz HumBird M/L Exceptional Insert, Hemp/Bamboo
- 4 oz Thirsties Hemp Small Insert, 55% hemp/45% cotton
- 4 oz Ragababe Small Insert, cotton sherpa & bamboo rayon
- 4 oz Gerber Large Insert, Polyester/Rayon
- 3.5 oz Geffen Baby Quick Absorber, 60% hemp, 40% cotton
- 3 oz HumBird Newborn/S Exceptional Insert, hemp/bamboo
- 3 oz Thirsties Fab Doubler Small, 15% polyester, 85% cotton
- 3 oz Peachy Baby Small Insert, bamboo rayon/cotton
- 3 oz GroVia Stay dry Booster, OS cotton/ poly fleece blend
- 2.5 oz GroVia Organic Cotton Booster
- 2 oz Thisties Small Cotton Doubler
- 2 oz Hemp Baby Insert
- 2 oz Gerber Small Insert, polyester/rayon
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.)
- 40 oz HumBird SuperNova OS bamboo/cottn
- 37 oz Twinkie Tush Night-Nights OS cotton velour
- 36 oz Truly Charis Heavy Wetter Fitted OS hemp/cotton
- 32 oz Kissing Blake Bullet Night Fitted
- 31 oz Pooters Hemp Overnight Plus Hemp/cotton
- 30 oz Kissing Blake Night time Hybrid Fitted OS bamboo fleece
- 24 oz Boogie Bear Creations Sleepy ProX
- 18 oz Nicki’s Overnight OS Bamboo Fitted
Fitteds and Hybrid Fitteds:
- 30 oz Humbird Day fitted OS Bamboo/cotton
- 28 oz Sustainablebabyish size large organic bamboo fleece
- 27 oz Twinkie Tush Fusion OS bamboo/cotton/fleece
- 26 oz Twinkie Tush OS bamboo/cotton
- 20 oz Pooters OS Hemp/cotton
- 18 oz Pooters OS Bamboo Fitted
- 16 oz Sweet Pea OS bamboo/cotton
AIO Results
- 18 oz GroVia O.N.E OS cotton/microfiber
- 16 oz Diaper Rite AIO OS bamboo terry
- 13 oz Chelory AIO OS Stay dry bamboo/zorb
- 12 oz ImseVimse AIO size large cotton
- 12 oz Ragababe AIO Large bamboo/cotton
- 11.5 oz Opulent Monsters OMMO OS bamboo/ cotton fleece
- 11 oz Nicki’s Bamboo OS AIO Bamboo/cotton
- 11 oz Gerber It’s a Snap AIO OS with both included inserts Cotton/Poly/Rayon
- 10 oz Bambino Mio miosolo OS, microfiber
- 10 oz Sweet Pea AIO OS bamboo velour/ bamboo fleece/microfiber
- 9.5 oz Gerber AIO Large w/ doubler, 65% polyester/35% rayon (discontinued)
- 9.5 oz Blueberry Simplex AIO Large, 1005 cotton
- 8.5 oz Blueberry Simplex AIO Med, 100% cotton
- 8.5 oz Bum-Ware AIO BWX2 OS microfiber
There you have it!
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 (its got 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.
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.
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!
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
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
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
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.
Omg take it back. I started reading this at 3am when nursing! I totally missed that you spelled out your procedures.
Thanks!
I was just getting ready to reply! lol Believe me, I totally get it. I have a 9 week old. Soooo tired!
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
I’ve read great reviews on Geffen and now I know why, that brand is awesome!
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!
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.
Whoa this is AWESOME info!! I am totally pinning this for my next baby and cd buying frenzy!! So fabulous!!
I would not want to let a diaper get that full.
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!
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.
It did take some time. But I’ve been adding to it since it was first published :)
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!
I don’t own one. I do keep adding diapers, so please keep checking back. :)
I’d be curious to see how AMP 3 ply hemp inserts stack up against the others.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Have you tried the hemp babies inserts? How do they compare?
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
Has anyone done Flip inserts? Night time and day time? Thanks!
Just tested this – 14oz on the newer larger ones!
I’m interested in the absorbency of Grovia prefolds. May have to try this experiment on my own!
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!
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.
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?
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.
Hi Brooke!
I have a few prefolds and flats I need to test and get added to the list. Unfortunetly I don’t own a GMD fitted to test. But the GMD workhorse is 100% cotton and the Sustainablebabyish is bamboo/cotton. The Sbish will be quite a bit more absorbent. If you are looking for something in the same price range as the GMD with more absorbency, the Pooters hemp fitted is a good choice. http://www.pootersdiapers.com/diaper-types/fitted/pooterstm-one-size-fitted.html
This is a great test to perform. I appreciate you sharing all your review information. Have a great day
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!
YEAH! Thank you for saying so Tara :)
I’m not 100% positive, but I think Padded Tush Stats may have shared some information on this topic as well.
There are many posts available from cloth diaper blogs. PTS has info on this as does change-diapers.com. :)
[ ] 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
Thank you for sharing Kimberly! Such great info for everyone!