Favorite Things Friday: Diaper Palz Wetbags

I am really, truly, 100% in love with my Diaper Palz wetbag.  I've been using mine since early December, and I'm thinking that I need to get at least one more.  My other wetbag is a Planetwise one, and while it has served me well over the past 15 months, the Diaper Palz one has many advantages.

- Planetwise wetbags are cotton on the outside, with a layer of PUL sewn inside.  This allows for a lot of really cool prints, but with repeated washing these prints tend to fade and wear out.  My bag also has developed holes in the cotton and has some bleach stains.  The bag is still totally functional, but it's very sad looking.  Diaper Palz bags are just a single layer of PUL, so the patterns won't fade or be affected by bleach.  Solid PUL also dries significantly faster than cotton.

- Size.  The Planetwise "Large" size is 18"x21", and the Diaper Palz "Large" is 30" tall and holds significantly more diapers.  The Planetwise will hold 2 days worth of diapers for me, but those last few have to really be crammed in there.  This picture shows my Diaper Palz bag with 3 days worth of diapers, and it isn't even completely full.  I think that it could probably hold 4 days, but I don't go that long between washing.  This would be great if you had 2 babies in cloth though!

- Price.  Diaper Palz bags are significantly cheaper.  A full priced large Diaper Palz bag costs $15+ $1 shipping, while a large Planetwise bag costs $19.  The Diaper Palz bags are very high quality, especially the hanging loop.  As you can see, my gigantic bag of heavy dirty diapers is hanging from a hook by my washing machine.  So far, the PUL is not showing any signs of stress or damage but my Planetwise one started looking worn along the handle seam within a few months.  I'm confident that this bag will last me through our diapering years and beyond.

The best part is Diaper Palz is actually hosting a January clearance right now, with large wetbags for as low as $13!  Try using coupon code "dsmama" for an additional discount.  Check them out, you won't be disappointed!

Where to Buy

I think that one of the biggest obstacles to using cloth diapers is actually finding and buying them.  You're not going to find cloth diapers in any grocery or big box store, and brick and mortar cloth diaper stores can be hard to find.

If you're new to cloth, I really think that it's worth it to try to find a physical diaper store in your area.  I wish that I had been able to go into an actual store, and see actual diapers, and have a real life person show me how to use them.  It would have made the whole process so much less intimidating.  The best way to find a nearby cloth diaper store is to do a google search for "your city+cloth diaper store", or ask around on a message board- mothering.com and Diaper Swappers both have regional boards that you can check out.  Craigslist is also worth checking out.

I'm going to do a quick plug- the store closest to me is Central Street Farmhouse in Bangor, Maine.  This is a great store!  The ladies that work there are so knowledgeable and kind.  They have a pretty big range of brands- Thirsties, Fuzzibunz, Charlie Banana, and Rumparooz, to name a few.  They also sell baby carriers and if you bring your baby with you, they'll show you how to use them.  They have cloth diapering and baby wearing classes and breastfeeding support groups.

But, Bangor is quite a trek from where we live, so I do most of my diaper shopping online.  My favorite way to buy diapers is used!  You can get amazing deals that way, and you can try out a certain diaper that you're interested in without having to worry about being out a lot of money if you don't like it.  A good strategy is to buy a few used diapers to figure out what you like, then buy brand new.  I buy used diapers at Diaper Swappers and Spot's Corner.  Make sure that you check out a seller's feedback before you buy from her, and it's a good idea to have a Paypal account because that is the only kind of payment that most people accept.

For buying new diapers, my favorite store is Abby's Lane.  Every order gets free shipping, they carry a huge range of brands, and they have the best customer service.  If you follow them on Facebook, they have giveaways and freebies and if you subscribe to their newsletter they will send you a 5% off code that is good for almost everything in the store.  Another site that I like to order from is Jack Be Natural.  They also have free shipping on all orders, and they carry a lot of brands including cheap pocket diapers such as Kawaii and Go Green which Abby's Lane doesn't carry.  Between these two sites, I can almost always find anything diaper related that I need.

I know that it's still really overwhelming, but hopefully a few of these resources will make it a little bit easier.