Are cloth diapers bulky under clothes? What materials are bulky & how to fix it.

When compared to a dry disposable diaper, yes, cloth diapers are bulkier under clothes, but when compared to a wet disposable, there really isn’t a huge difference anymore.

However, cloth diapers for overnight are usually very bulky, if you want to learn more about overnight cloth diapering check out my article ” good overnight cloth diaper: How to stop leaks for dry jammies”

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Which cloth diapers are the bulkiest?

The bulkiest cloth diapers would be overnight cloth diapers, since when you add extra absorbency to keep baby from leaking through the night you are also adding extra material and therefore extra bulk.

As far as daytime cloth diapers, the bulkiest daytime cloth diapers would probably be microfiber cloth diapers.

This is because microfiber is the least absorbent cloth diapering material, therefore you need to have more of it in each cloth diaper to absorb the same amount of pee.

Many cloth diapers come with microfiber inserts because it is very cheap to make.

But with pocket diapers and other 2-part cloth diapering systems (2-part = absorbency can be completely separated from water-resistant cover) you can take the microfiber out and replace it with something more absorbent.

I feel things get very frustrating with microfiber all-in-ones where the microfiber is sewn into the cloth diaper with no option to remove it without cutting.

I don’t recommend cutting your cloth diapers since it will most likely void any warranty from the shop or manufacturer and will decrease resale value.

This means your only option for making microfiber all-in-ones more absorbent is to just add either more microfiber inserts, or inserts made from a more absorbent material to your cloth diapers.

So, you would have the sewn-in microfiber inserts and whichever extra inserts you chose, this can become pretty bulky, pretty quick.

Whereas with a pocket cloth diaper, if it comes with 2 microfiber inserts and those are not enough absorbency you could switch them out for 2 cotton or bamboo inserts.

Since the number of inserts remains the same the size of the cloth diaper shouldn’t change, but since you changed the material you will have more absorbency.

If you want to learn more about cloth diaper inserts check out my article ” Cloth diaper inserts: What are they & which are best?’

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Which cloth diapers are the thinnest?

The thinnest cloth diapers that I have seen (that actually work) are the made of either a very high-quality bamboo or hemp.

Bamboo and hemp are the most absorbent cloth diapering materials, but are way more expensive than microfiber so many people are hesitant to purchase them.

When I first started cloth diapering, I was also very put off by the price of hemp and bamboo, my stash was pretty much totally made up of microfiber and cotton, since they were the cheapest materials.

Typically, the more absorbent a material is, the more expensive it is, but most of the time the extra cost is worth it.

And while I still do enjoy using cotton, the microfiber had to go.

Now the vast majority of my stash is either a bamboo/cotton mix or a hemp/cotton mix, along with some cotton prefolds and receiving blankets.

My top 2 favorite cloth diapers that are both very absorbent and very thin are the

Tots Bots easyfit star all-in-one, which is made of bamboo in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Thirsties pocket diapers (both the natural and the stay-dry) which are made of mostly hemp and organic cotton and are made in Colorado, USA.

How to reduce the bulk of your cloth diapers?

If you are using pocket cloth diapers, or an all-in-two system of some kind, you can easily switch out the less absorbent, possibly bulkier inserts for thinner more absorbent ones.

Most pocket cloth diapers on the market come with microfiber inserts, well while microfiber does absorb a lot compared to it’s own weight and absorbs very fast, microfiber is not a super awesome material for cloth diapers.

If you have all-in-ones where the bulky inserts are sewn-in, the only thing I can think of to remove the bulk would be to cut the bulky inserts out and either sew in new less bulky inserts or just lay them in the cloth diaper.

Once again, I don’t recommend cutting your cloth diapers since it voids all warranties they might have and greatly decreases their resale value.

Instead, I would either sell the unwanted bulky cloth diapers and use that money to buy thinner cloth diapers, or the best option is just avoid the bulky microfiber cloth diapers in the first place.

And while you could have a bulky cloth diaper that isn’t microfiber, most of the microfiber all-in-ones I have seen were either thin and only lasted 5 seconds cause they didn’t have enough absorbency.

Or they were pretty bulky and lasted maybe an hour :\.

Microfiber is like a sponge, it absorbs a lot and really fast but if you press on it even a little, all that pee will start to come out.

So, if you are cloth diapering a newborn or a very small baby that doesn’t move around much microfiber might work just fine.

But, when you have an older baby that’s up and down, and here and there, and on the couch, and the bed, and the table, and the ceiling (unlikely but you never know with those sneaky little buggers ;)) you’re gonna get some leaks.

Now, don’t get me wrong, you can get compression leaks with any material, it’s just that microfiber is extremely easy to squeeze liquid out of, so it gets compression leaks more than any other cloth diapering material.

However, I have noticed that if a cloth diaper has just a little bit of microfiber, I actually really like it.

I think it’s because the microfiber absorbs fast and then the other materials keep the pee from getting squeezed out as easily.

P.S charcoal bamboo is microfiber, once in a while someone will have an actual bamboo insert with charcoal in it.

If the label says Polyester, it’s microfiber, if the label says Viscose from bamboo, Rayon from bamboo or just Bamboo then it is, shockingly enough, actual bamboo.

If you want to know more about cloth diapering materials check out my article “Which is most absorbent fabric for cloth diapers?”

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