How much are cloth diapers? some numbers you should know
Cloth diapers do have a larger upfront cost than disposables, which does make a lot of people question whether or not cloth diapers really are the cheaper option.
How much cloth diapers cost greatly varies between styles, systems, materials and brands, but the average price for a cloth diaper is about $17.00usd.
If you’re trying to figure out if cloth diapers are really worth your time, here are some numbers to help you decide.
If you are interested in learning more about cloth diapering check out my article ” Should you choose cloth diapers? cost & environmental impact
How much does the average cloth diaper cost?
Cloth diapers have a wide price range, from $4.00 Alva baby diaper covers to $30.00 Smart bottoms all-in-ones.
So if the average is mid-way between the two then the average cloth diaper costs around $17.00.
If you buy 24 of these average price cloth diapers that would cost you $408.00.
| Cloth diaper brand | $ per diaper | $ for 24 |
| Alva baby | $5.69 | $136.56 |
| Nicki’s Diapers | $15.99 | $383.76 |
| Smart bottoms | $29.00 | $696.00 |
But higher price doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality.
A $5.00-$6.00 Alva baby pocket diaper in my experience will last a good 2 1/2-3 years without seeing a ton of wear on it.
While a $30.00 Smart bottoms could start to see some pretty significant edge wear at around one year.
How much does cloth diapering cost per month?
| Item | Number | Monthly cost |
| Cloth diapers | 24 | $13.60 |
| Detergent | 15 | $2.85 |
| Energy | 15 | $1.08 |
Well if you divide the $408.00 for the 24 average price cloth diapers by 30 months ( 2 1/2 years) you get $13.60 per month.
Add the $2.85 per month for washing in Gain powder detergent ( because that’s what I use) every other day and you get $16.45 per month.
Then there is water and electricity, I have a Roper top loading washing machine.
I found a energy guide where Whirlpool ( who makes Roper) actually added up how much energy their washing machines use on average.
According to their numbers it would cost about $1.08 per month to wash cloth diapers.
Assuming you are washing 3 times per week and your wash routine has 2 full cycles.
This brings the total cost of cloth diapering per month up to $17.53.
Now this price can vary if you have higher or lower gas, electric or water, as well as what detergent you use and what style of cloth diapers you decide to buy,
Or if you buy more than 24 cloth diapers, I personally like to have at least 30 cloth diapers per kid, but a lot of people get by just fine with 24.
So do cloth diapers really save you money?
| Diaper | Diapers per month | $ per month |
| Pampers swaddlers | 672 | $157.44 |
| Mix of cloth diapers | 63 | $35.70 |
If you are buying regular pampers swaddlers they are gonna cost you about $49.28 per month depending on the tax rate in your area.
In my area the tax rate is 6.5% so it would be $49.28 + $3.20 tax =$52.48.
Now I actually have 3 kids in diapers so for me that would be $52.48 x 3= $157.44 per month.
I do wash my cloth diapers every day so that the load isn’t too big, so take the $2.85 for detergent and double it $2.85 x 2 = $5.70 per month.
Also because I’m washing every day my price per month for energy goes up, so $1.08 x 2 = $2.16.
Since I haven’t purchased any additional cloth diapers since my 3rd was born my current cloth diaper stash is split 3 ways and the numbers are a little lower than I would like.
Currently each kid has about 21 cloth diapers in their stash, I do have a pretty good mix of different styles, brands and prices so I’m gonna go with the average price per cloth diaper of $17.00.
So $17.00 x 21 cloth diapers = $357.00 per kid.
Now times that by 3 and you get $1,071.00.
Then you take that $1071.00 and divide that by 30 months ( 2 1/2 years and you get $35.70 per month.
- $5.70 per month for detergent
- $2.16 per month for energy
- $35.70 per month for cloth diapers
Add all that up for a grand total of $43.56 per month to cloth diaper 3 kids.
So that means that every month I save $113.88.
Over 1 year I save $1,366.56
And over 2 1/2 years I would save $3,416.40
So is cloth diapering worth my time?
For me cloth diapering is 100% worth my time I don’t have to worry about running out of diapers.
Either because of shortages, being unable to get to the store because of bad roads or someone just having a really poopy day.
Prices going up doesn’t effect me because I can buy cloth diapers once, maybe even during a sale and I don’t have to worry about it again.
If there is a sale I can choose to buy more cloth diapers or to not buy more cloth diapers, because cloth diapers aren’t something that you’re going to run out of anytime soon.
Every month I can choose to budget for a few more cloth diapers or I can choose not to, it is completely up to me.
And even though when you add it all up I’m saving $113.88 per month, when I’m putting together our monthly budget I actually have that full $157.44 to use however I want.
Cloth diapering allows me to spend money on diapers when I feel like, while still providing my kids with clean diapers to wear.
Resources
Link to Alva baby pocket diapers on Alvababy.com
Link to Nicki’s Diapers bamboo all-in-one at Nickisdiapers.com
Link to Smartbottoms 3.1 all-in-one at Smartbottoms.com
Link to Whirlpool/ Roper energy guide pdf Lowes.com
