Well, I have been saying it since 2004… cloth diapers are making a HUGE comeback. That was the year I started a cloth diaper business and it took off like a rocket from day one. In 2006 when I was sick of being holed up in a sewing room and was stuck with the decision of expansion or quit… I chose to quit the business and sell it. I had no desire to be in a service business for the long term and I have never regretted selling. I am very happy to see a passion of mine get the attention and accolades it deserves though.
A recent article from The Big Money has the cloth diapering world buzzing. Apparently the recession has spurred parents to try cloth diapers in record numbers. The cloth diaper industry which always had a steady growth is now exploding as parents who have limited cash can’t stomach spending any of their hard earned dollars on what is essentially… garbage. That is what a conventional, disposable diaper is…. a portable potty destined for the trash heap. Cloth diapers on the other hand are an investment and a cheaper one at that.
At a time when most of the economy is in the toilet, the cloth-diaper business is booming. Cloth diapering has long been a countercultural lifestyle choice, reserved largely for deeply committed environmentalists. It became more popular in the past couple of years as green went from crunchy to hip.
If you haven’t given cloth diapers a try I urge to to take that leap. And don’t fall prey to the cloth diaper myths that abound. Just a couple weeks ago I was talking to a friend on the phone and I brought up cloth diapers and I could almost hear a gag over the phone. She proceeded to tell me that she could never dunk diapers in the toilet and swish them around and then put them in a bucket that would then smell up the whole house.
I am baffled by the people who think you need to dunk diapers in the toilet. WTH? I never, ever dunked a diaper. I also never, ever had a problem with smell and I used a wicker basket with no top to store dirty diapers until wash day. When I lived in Arizona I could also easily go a week without washing diapers. In Ohio, with its more humid climate, I had to wash every 2 days but that was because of mildew, not smell. 8 out of 10 objections to cloth are usually just a matter of false perceptions.
I won’t re-invent the wheel and tell you all the reasons I love cloth. Just check out some of the stuff I have written already.
