Prefold Diapers, made from 100% heavyweight cotton twill, can be purchased in both bleached and unbleached, or as some vendors identify them, white or natural.
Although not all prefold diapers available will be DSQ (Diaper Service Quality), you can easily narrow down the higher quality prefold diapers by sampling. It seems that most across the internet boast that Chinese Prefolds are the most absorbent prefold diaper available on the cloth diaper market. We personally found that to be true. What we also found to be true was the Gerber prefolds found at our local supercenters were a JOKE. If you are using them right now, please order a prefold diaper online and see the difference; you’ll be absolutely thrilled.
What gauges a prefold diaper’s absorbency? Fibers, that’s what. The Chinese Prefold diapers available at online cloth diaper stores are woven in a way that allows them to undergo industrial washings (not to mention at-home washing machines and dryers) without breaking down and losing absorbency; in fact, they become more quilted and absorbent. Eventually, as with all natural products, the fibers will break down and the cloth diaper will lose absorbency, but that is when their use can change; use them for burp rags, car wash rags, etc… The fibers will complete their use cycle and unlike synthetic fibers, are biodegradable, so they’ll return to the earth.
Unlike fitted diapers or pre-formed/contoured diapers, prefold diapers double as burpcloths, changing pads, cleaning rags, diaper doublers, pocket diaper stuffers, and on and on…which gives them a versatility other styles of cloth diapers can’t boast. We used our prefold diapers on subsequent children before they (the prefolds, not the children) began to look a bit ragged around the edges. They were soft as fleece once they worked their way out of our cloth diaper stash.
Why are they called prefold diapers?
Back when cloth diapers consisted of very large, very thin, flat gauzey squares, mothers would have to fold the diaper “just so” to give it the form and the layers it needed to be of any value as a diaper. In other words, they learned Origami 101.
Prefold diapers are already sewn to meet those specifications. Three vertical layers, called panels, are sewn across the diaper vertically. The outer layers match each other, with 2 to 4 cotton layers. The inner layers (we call it the core, absorbent layers) are anywhere from 6 to 8 layers of soft, absorbent 100% cotton. The layers are also called ply. So when you select your prefold diapers, you’ll choose a 2×4x2 ply or a 4×6x4 ply, which corresponds with the outer layer, inner layer, and opposite outer layer.
When I ran my own cloth diapering business, I found that the most popular prefold diaper size is the 4×6x4; not too bulky, yet thick enough to do the job. They can be doubled up (yes, double diapering at night - thick, but dry), used as pocket diaper stuffers, or diaper doublers on larger babies or toddlers.
Do prefold diapers require a diaper cover?
Absolutely! Prefold diapers do not have a waterproof outer layer to contain moisture, so without a diaper cover, you’ll have one heck of a mess. Prefold diapers fit well under nearly any diaper cover on the market. Choosing the right diaper cover has more to do with whether or not you want to use diaper pins or snappi fasteners to secure the cloth diaper to baby or not. Wrap-style cloth diaper covers will do the trick without diaper pins, but if you don’t mind (or like) pinning, then the sky is the limit on the style of cloth diaper covers. My personal favorite is the very trim, very lightweight, yet breathable Bummis Whisper Pant. It is a pull-on, so I was able to use them also for potty training my little ones. Our primary diaper stash was prefold diapers, Bummis Whisper Pants and Dritz Diaper Pins.