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Soaker time in the city! Runnin’ wild and lookin’ pretty! « »
Well. It’s the point of New Baby Prep in which I knit soakers. We cloth diaper our babies, and that means that we need barrier layers. In the old days, our parents used my mom calls “plastic pants” or “rubber pants.” These are bloomery-looking panites made out of plastic that go on over cloth diapers to keep whatever is coming out of the diaper from leaking out and getting all over everything.
Today’s cloth diaperers use a variety of barrier layers in place of these plastic pants. We’ve sought alternatives because the plastic pants don’t breathe, which isn’t good for baby’s skin. They also can be very tight at the elastic, which typically isn’t adjustable. Some materials that work great as barrier layers are:
PUL (polyurethane laminate fabric) which is normal fabric with a thin, breathable layer of poly adhered to it.
Polar Fleece which for some reason is very waterproof while still being breathable and not absorbing any moisture. I like this material because it’s easy to stitch up a bunch of little covers or pants in very little time.
Hankdnit wool classic, pretty, and really just wonderful. Wool can be up to 60% saturated with water and still not leak! When coated with lanolin (by a quick soak in “Lanisoh” dissolved in water) it is virtually waterproof.
Wool fabric commonly used as suiting material, this fabric has all of the properties of handknit wool while remaining relatively lightweight and easy to sew. Best with it contains a little stretch fiber as well. (I have not made any soakers using this fabric.)
Felted wool either handknit and felted or storebought as fabric or thrifted sweaters and then felted. Great because it can just be cut and sewn and tends to be thicker and more waterproof than straight-up handknit wool fabric and thus more waterproof. But also more stiff. Good for overnight use!
I made a bunch of soakers (above) for Mazie, many of which I donated to an organization that provides clean, used cloth diapering supplies to lower-income families. Now, it’s time to get started on New Baby’s stash.
I’m winding up some really soft Damask Rose Malabrigo worsted and plan to get started today at my Dr. appointment. Photos soon!
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “Soaker time in the city! Runnin’ wild and lookin’ pretty!”
Yay for soakers! I knitted longies while I was pregnant this time, and now that she’s here I’m thinking of whipping up a few more pairs. I forgot how quickly they get pooped on in the first few days!
Ah Excellent! A friend of mine is really obsessed with soakers called fuzzybunz or something along those lines. Weridly, I’ve never thought about making them before.
I love Damask Rose! I’m finishing up a sweater in that color now!
Interesting! I had read alot about these “soakers” but didn’t know they were the replacement for “rubber pants” (a term I remember from when I was a kid as my mother didn’t use disposables either.) What a blast from the past. I had forgotten all about the rubber pants.