What Are The Easiest Cloth Diapers?

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The idea of using cloth diapers can be intimidating for a lot of people. I know when I was first starting out, what I wanted was the EASIEST cloth diapering system that also happened to have a great price tag.

However, my research wasn’t always straightforward. Finding the easiest cloth diapers to purchase is kind of relative. Easiest…for what?

Easiest to use?

Easiest to wash & clean?

Easiest to find & buy?

In this article, I will address all three of these questions.

The Easiest Cloth Diapers to Use

First things first: which cloth diapers are easiest to use?

Most people will consider an all-in-one system the easiest. For the most part, they operate like disposable diapers except that you wash and reuse instead of throwing away.

That doesn’t mean other styles of cloth diapers are hard to use, it’s just that all-in-ones do not have much of a learning curve.

All-in-ones come in different styles. Some are so similar to a disposable. Others have inner flaps for absorbency, and the diapers with flaps can have different styles of flaps.

For the longest time, I preferred all-in-ones with no flaps. They were SO much easier to remove poop from. However, they can be more difficult to wash with that many layers of fabric concentrated in one area, especially if you are prone to washing issues.

Most of the time, people think the purpose of flaps is to help the diapers dry faster. And they do! But another pro to using flaps is that the diaper doesn’t have as many layers of fabric concentrated in one area. That can be more difficult for some people to wash (depends on your washing machine–my old-school front loader washing machine with agitator had no issues. My front loader struggled more with one-piece diapers).

Overall, here are the pros & cons for all-in-ones:

Pros:

• No stuffing, folding, or wrapping
• One-piece (though some have attached flaps that break the pieces apart some)
• Low to no prep

Cons:

• More expensive than many other diaper styles
• Flaps can make removing poop from the diaper an annoyance
• Often have longer dry times
• Multi-layer, thick diapers are sometimes (not always) more difficult to wash

Outside of all-in-ones, the next easiest diaper style would probably be a tie between all-in-twos or pockets. To learn more about those styles, check out this post: Styles of Cloth Diapers

The Easiest Cloth Diapers to Wash

Some people will have zero trouble washing their diapers, so the type of diapers they use do not make much of a difference. They may have a great, heavy-duty washing machine, ideal water hardness levels, a good detergent, great agitation in their machine, etc.

However, some people have finicky machines. This can make some kinds of diapers harder to wash.

If you are having issues getting certain diapers clean, or if you know your machine might not clean things that well, you will want to consider simpler diapers.

Flats are very easy to wash because it is a piece of single-layer material. You will fold and wrap it around the baby giving layers of absorbency where you need it most, but when you go to wash it, it is one large, thin piece of cloth. That makes it much easier to clean!

That is another reason why flour sack towels gained popularity outside of good absorbency when folded. They wash so easily! This makes them a great insert to use inside a cover or pocket shell.

Pictured here is a flour sack towel pad folded as an insert in a diaper. It is so cheap and so easy! Cloth diapering doesn’t need to be expensive if you don’t care about having “fancy” diapers or brand names.

I like to fold it in half, then tri-fold the flour sack towels in thirds, and then when it’s one long strip, you can tri-fold again. This will concentrate the absorbency with many layers on top of each other.

I also found that using multiple thin inserts doubled up as necessary got so much cleaner in my front loader than using one thicker insert.

So while sometimes we think of diapers with multiple parts or diapers that need folding/wrapping to be more difficult, they are still popular today for a reason– one of those reasons being that they wash and dry well.

Easiest Cloth Diapers to Buy

In the age of the internet, almost all cloth diapers are pretty easy to get nowadays. Depending on which country you live in, you may have added challenges getting certain brands, but in general, you can probably find a website that sells what you want easily.

If you want to purchase cloth diapers in-store, it is really hard to give a general answer because it varies so much. If you are lucky enough to have cloth diaper shops in your area, that’s awesome! They will most likely carry popular, quality brands.

If you don’t, stores like Buy Buy Baby carry bumGenius and Charlie Banana, possibly even Grovia. What they carry in-store vs. online may vary by location, though.

One awesome development in the world of cloth diapering is that Walmart now carries the Elemental Joy! These diapers are extremely affordable, and the kit comes with some awesome accessories. Elemental Joy is part of the same company as bumGenius, only these diapers are a little more affordable, making them a great option for many families.

Some Walmarts even carry them in store! I have not seen them at any near me, unfortunately. But they are easy to get online.

Target also has cloth diaper options online. Occasionally you can find some in-store, but it isn’t very common. Keep your eye out, though! Check out this post for more info about what cloth diapers Target carries.

Lastly, Amazon carries some cloth diapers, like Alva Baby, Mama Koala, Kawaii, and several “re-brands” (they are usually diapers like Alva’s that get a new brand tag on them). Many of these Amazon brands are controversial in the cloth diaper world. However, many people love these cheaper brands, and they are available on Amazon, so that certainly makes them easy to buy!

Amazon also has some of the “high quality” brands like bumGenius, Best Bottoms, Smart Bottoms, Rumparooz, Thirsties, Imagine, and Grovia. However, they are usually priced higher on Amazon than they are on cloth diaper sites. I recommend checking out Nicki’s Diapers for these high-quality brands.

The Easiest Cloth Diapers

As you can see, there isn’t one cloth diaper that would be considered the easiest. It really depends on what it is you want to be easy!

Also, there are very few cloth diapers that are actually hard. There may be some that are more overwhelming when you are first learning about all the different kinds of diapers, but any time you introduce yourself to any sort of new concept, there is the potential for it to be overwhelming.

Be open-minded and willing to try things. Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to all one kind of diaper that you *think* will be the easiest because you may find as you start to use them that you don’t like them the way you thought you would.

What do you think the easiest cloth diaper is? Do you have any questions about this? Let me know in the comments!