Are cloth diapers biodegradable?

My cloth diapers out on the line when my oldest was still a baby

Let’s just get this out there, everything is biodegradable, you are biodegradable, your house is biodegradable, even your car is biodegradable.

So, yes, cloth diapers are biodegradable, but some will breakdown sooner than others, and just to be fair, disposable diapers are also biodegradable, they just take way, way longer to breakdown.

In recent years the term “biodegradable” has been twisted into meaning “breaks down naturally and quickly” when the actual definition is : substance or object capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.

So, when you look at the true definition, the term biodegradable doesn’t actually mean something is super awesome and better for the environment.

If you want to learn more about cloth diapers check out my article ” Should you choose cloth diapers? Cost & environmental impact”

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Which cloth diapers biodegrade the fastest?

Natural fiber cloth diapers such as cotton, hemp and bamboo will biodegrade much faster than microfiber since microfiber is made of polyester which is plastic.

Now, as far as cloth diaper covers, the only kind of covers that I know of that would have little to no plastic would be wool covers.

Since the wool covers would have very little to no plastic, they would biodegrade a lot faster than regular PUL/TPU covers.

What are the cheapest “biodegradable” cloth diapers?

Cotton flats or prefolds and either secondhand wool covers, or DIY wool covers which can be knitted, crocheted or cut from old wool clothes and sewn together.

2 hand knitted newborn size wool covers my mom and I made. Left was knitted by my mom from yarn she handspun, and Right was knitted by me with store bought wool yarn

I have also seen people use Polar fleece and Windpro fleece as a water-resistant cover for cloth diapers.

And while Polar fleece and any other fleece you can find at a craft store would probably be very cheap, they are polyester, which is plastic, so it’s not going to breakdown as fast as the wool.

Keep in mind, not all fleece is polyester, and to my knowledge the natural fiber fleeces are not water-resistant.

If you want to know more about the cost of cloth diapers check out my article ” How much are cloth diapers? Some numbers you should know”

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Are non-biodegrading cloth diapers still eco-friendly?

When you compare regular old PUL/TPU (laminated with plastic) cloth diaper covers to using any disposable diaper brand the answer is YES.

Folded cloth diaper laundry from back in 2019

If you compare any cloth diaper to elimination communication (assuming you’re not buying a ton of little plastic baby toilets or potty seats) then the answer is probably NO.

An average baby will go through about 8,000 diapers in 2 1/2 – 3 years, think about that for a minute….

Even though when you compare 1 disposable diaper to 1 cloth diaper, the disposable is smaller and might contain less plastic.

This is where the number 8,000 becomes very important, because even a small amount of plastic multiplied by 8,000 will become a lot of freakin’ plastic.

Now, the cloth diaper individually might have more plastic (not sure since it is pretty much impossible to find out what is in disposable diapers) but most people only need 12-24 cloth diapers.

And while some people (like me ;)) have more like 24-30 cloth diapers per child, when you compare the 8,000 disposables to the 24 cloth diapers it’s pretty obvious that as a whole the cloth diapers produce far less plastic waste.

And as a whole, there will only be about 20 pounds of waste from your 24-30 cloth diapers, whereas the waste from disposable diapers would weigh around 2,000 pounds.

On top of that, if you use disposables, you contribute an additional 2,000 pounds of waste to the landfills with each baby.

But with cloth diapers most of your absorbent materials and at least some of your PUL/TPU covers (depending on the quality) can be used on a second and sometimes even a 3rd baby.

I have been cloth diapering for almost 3 1/2 years and I currently have 3 kids in diapers, so a lot of my cloth diapers have been used for a very long time and in a pretty small rotation, especially after I had my 3rd baby.

Since I didn’t just buy a whole new stash for each new baby, I just split up my stash a little more, now a lot of my older cloth diapers are starting to get delaminated, or the elastics are wearing out.

Because they are getting washed so often, which is hard on the diapers, especially the older ones.

So, lots of cloth diapers (especially high-quality ones) will last you a very long time, therefore cutting out a ton of waste.

If you want to learn more about cloth diapers and the environment check out my article ” Are cloth diapers actually better for the environment?”

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