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Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 3: An Absorbent Fabrics Guide

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 3: An Absorbent Fabrics Guide

by | Apr 21, 2015 | Bamboo towelling, Cloth Nappy Making, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Sustainable Sewing

Hello! And welcome to part 3 of my nappy making fabrics guide, today it’s all about absorbent fabrics. It’s these types of fabrics which predominantly determine the performance of your nappy and there are a number of different combinations to try. Today you can enjoy up to 20% off absorbent fabrics. If you’d like to get involved in more than one offer but are worrying about the accrued postage costs – don’t! Just leave us a note at check out and ask us to hold your order until the end of the week then we’ll dispatch it all together and refund you any postage charges. We also have 20% off nappy making kits all week long. 

Bamboo Fabric

In China bamboo is referred to as the plant of a thousand uses and it has been used for centuries as a building material and in garden design and more recently it’s being used as a textile thanks to Beijing University developing bamboo as a fibre. The bamboo plant is particularly sustainable as it grows so quickly, some species grow as much as 140cms per day! As well as the obvious quantity and speed benefits this brings it also dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to grow the plant. As bamboo is a grass it can have a “hair cut” (just like mowing your lawn) and it’ll carry on growing without being replanted, and unlike cotton it doesn’t need pesticides and can be cultivated naturally.

Bamboo is sometimes called “cashmere from plants” because it is so very soft to wear next to the skin and has a wonderful sheen. The fibres in bamboo’s structure have a criss-cross texture, which is covered in tiny holes and make it a great moisture absorber that is also good for ventilation and breathability. Bamboo outperforms cotton’s absorption rates by three times and if bamboo is worn as clothing it wicks moisture away and evaporates perspiration instantly keeping you cool and dry.

There is a natural substance within bamboo called bamboo kun which protects the plant from pests and pathogens and means bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Japanese laboratory tests have shown that even after 50 washes bamboo fibres continue to have the same level of anti-bacterial properties, how amazing is that?! Bamboo fabric comes in a number of fabric types including  bamboo fleece, stretch terry, velour and towelling.

How is bamboo used in a a nappy?

Bamboo is most often used layered up as an insert (pictured on the right of Victoria’s photo below) as the absorbent layer of the nappy. There are lots of different ways to create an absorbent layer, here’s a good starter guide. I’m going to focus on the fabrics rather than the construction to help you choose which is best for you.

Photo Courtesy of Bumble Bees Modern cloth Nappies

Bamboo Towelling

Bamboo towelling one of our best selling bamboo products and the premium version is to die for. It has a super sheen and the hand is amazingly soft. There isn’t any stretch to contend with here but it has a terry loop on both sides so it’s quite lofty. It makes very absorbent as a nappy booster, but it also makes brilliant cloth wipes (along with other things like bibs, “un-paper” towels, bathrobes and beach towels!)

Bamboo Velour

We have bamboo in a velour finish which is a knit fabric. It’s smooth on the wrong side and the right side has a short, soft pile. It’s very soft and silky, has a fantastic drape and is lovely and tactile which lends itself well to gorgeous clothing, loungewear and it makes snuggly, breathable blankets. In nappy making it’s a popular choice as an inner layer of a nappy as it’s very soft to the touch and for pre-folds as it’s thinner than bamboo towelling. It has quite a stretch to it so careful handing is required, lots of pins, a ball point needle and a walking foot will help keep this fabric firmly under control. Bamboo velour takes dye very well is a very popular fabric for providing a beautiful blank canvas for a colour palette of your own design.

Bamboo French Terry

Bamboo French Terry has a smooth knit on one side and on the reverse there’s a dimpled weave effect as seen in the photo. I’ve heard French Terry referred to as “magic” before now. I think the textured surface really assist the absorbency of this fabric. Made in the USA this is a premium fabric.

Bamboo Fleece

Bamboo fleece is just like a cuddly sweatshirt material – one side has a smooth knit and the other is a fluffy fleece. Our bamboo fleece is ridiculously soft and really is a premium product far superior to others I’ve seen. It’s manufactured in the USA and not China which I think makes a big difference. A popular choice to make boosters as it’s soft and very absorbent.

A note about fabric weights

Most natural fibre absorbent fabrics will have a fabric weight (gsm – grams per square metre) listed. Quite simply, the higher the gsm the heavier the fabric will be and more it will absorb. The pay off for more absorbency is a bulkier nappy as the fabrics are thicker.

Manmade Absorbent Fabrics

Zorb Fabric

There are a number of manmade absorbent fabrics available, the most popular being Zorb. Zorb is manufactured in the USA specifically for use in cloth nappies. It’s a pretty high performance fabric and can absorb up to 10 times it’s own weight in liquid in under half a second and not only does it absorb quickly, it holds on to that moisture. Wazoodle, who manufacture and distribute this very specialist fabric, say that two layers of Zorb has the absorbency power of

  • 8 layers of flannel
  • 6 layers of French terry
  • 5 layers of fleece

The number of layers is key as a slim cloth nappy really is the holy grail of cloth nappy making. Zorb has a fluffy texture that’s a bit like curtain interlining.

A key point about Zorb is that it MUST be sandwiched between other layers of fabric, without this step the fabric is liable to shred when washed. To assist with this we also stock Zorb II – a sandwiched product 🙂

Zorb II

The clever folk at Wazoodle are always coming up with solutions to tricky problems. Zorb II has all the same absorbent properties of the original Zorb but it comes pre-sandwiched between two layers of bamboo/cotton face fabric.

Microfibre

We’ve stopped stocking this for the moment but I wanted to mention it as it’s very readily available from your local supermarket in the form of dishcloths should you want to give it a whirl. Microfibre absorbs *mega* quickly. This is great because as soon as your baby wees you want the liquid to be drawn away from the body as soon as possible, microfibre does a fantastic job of this BUT it falls down as it can’t hold on to liquid for very long, when it’s compressed then the liquid just leaks out, just like a sponge of water does when you squeeze it. You can harness the super quick powers of microfibre and get around the compression issue by backing it with a layer of absorbent fabric that is better at holding on to liquid – like bamboo.

Hemp

Hemp is the genetic name for the cannabis family, but fret not, the plants used in textile creation are not those used to smoke! Producing fabric from hemp has an old tradition originating in China where it was used for rope, clothes, shoes and also paper for as many as 10,000 years. Between the 16th and 19th century 80% of the world’s fabric was made from hemp but the fibre fell out of favour because of it’s association with marijuana, despite being a different plants species. Recently hemp is seeing resurgence in popularity, as it’s a sustainable crop. It’s also incredibly strong and durable, it resists mould and it has amazing absorbent properties which are even better than bamboo.

Hemp has great holding properties for liquid BUT it takes it a while for it to take up the liquid so it’s often layers with faster absorbing fabrics like microfibre, Zorb or bamboo.

I think we get more questions about absorbent fabrics than any other nappy making fabric so I hope that’s helpful. More to follow tomorrow when I’ll be talking about fastenings and notions.

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 2: PUL Fabric

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 2: PUL Fabric

by | Apr 20, 2015 | Cloth Nappy Making, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Sustainable Sewing

Hello! And welcome to day one of Real Nappy Week 2015. In this series I hope to share information about nappy making fabrics as well as letting you know about the offers we have running this week, so let’s talk about the offer first. Today you can enjoy up to 20% off PUL which is the waterproof layer used in a cloth nappy (as well as a whole host of other applications). We will be having different fabrics on offer each day. If you’d like to get involved in more than one offer but are worrying about the accrued postage costs – don’t! Just leave us a note at check out and ask us to hold your order until the end of the week then we’ll dispatch it all together and refund you any postage charges due. We also have 20% off nappy making kits all week long. 

You can read the intro to this series here and the full series will be unravelling here

PUL in cloth nappies

I’ve already written about the composition and properties of PUL in this waterproof fabrics post and had an article published in Sewing World  but today I’m going to talk specifically about PUL or polyurethane laminate  in relation to cloth nappies. So why this fabric in particular? Well, it’s because not only is it completely waterproof (not water-resistant) it’s also breathable. I’m sure you’ve worn waterproof clothing that hasn’t been breathable at some point in your life and are familiar with that rather hot and clammy feeling. To ensure your baby’s bum doesn’t feel like that it’s important to use something breathable whist being waterproof. You need stop the wet from transferring on to your baby’s clothes and there are two ways you can layer PUL in a nappy.

1) as an outer fabric like the Bum Genius nappy pictured below. The fabric used here is, you guessed it… PUL.

2) As a hidden layer in between the outer layer (usually Plush/ minky) and an absorbent or stay dry layer. See the photo below to give you an idea where the PUL usually sits.

Well that wasn’t hard, was it? Please do have a read of my earlier post for more information and enjoy the PUL discount today, I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about absorbent fabrics.

Psssst! There’s still time to sign up with Billy in the Great British Nappy Hunt. You could win a £50 Plush Addict voucher, among other fab prizes

Boring Legal Bit: If you follow any tutorial or guidance found in this post, or on this blog, you agree to be bound by our disclaimer which can be viewed here

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 1: An Intro

Cloth Nappy Fabrics 101 Part 1: An Intro

by | Apr 19, 2015 | Cloth Nappy Making, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Sustainable Sewing

Boring Legal Bit: If you follow any tutorial or guidance found in this post, or on this blog, you agree to be bound by our disclaimer which can be viewed here

Welcome to Real Nappy Week 2015! Well…. the fun starts tomorrow but I thought I’d whet your whistle and have you all geared up to learn all about cloth this week and enjoy the discounts we have coming up.  If you’re not familiar with real nappies then this annual event is a great time to swot up about all things cloth, bag yourself some bargains and realise cloth nappies really aren’t in any way reminiscent of the the square of terry towelling held together with a big pin of yester-year. Modern fabrics and notions have meant that cloth nappies are a world away from the commonly held vision of the nappies used by our mums and grans. 

Image courtesy of Bumble Bees Modern Cloth Nappies

I mean, really…. for the love of cute! Did you ever see such a lovely baby’s bottom? No? Well I urge you to check out Bumble Bees Modern Cloth Nappies page for even more amazing creations. Victoria makes exactly the kind of nappies that got me hooked as a cloth head and thinking “I want to make that” and it’s these kinds of nappies that have me cursing the potty.  Cute fluff aside, I do recall those early times of complete and utter confusion – there are just so many terms and types of fabrics you can use to make your own nappy.  So what better time to celebrate and educate around cloth than Real Nappy Week? This week I’ll be posting a series of posts based around cloth nappy making fabrics to help clear the confusion and build confidence that both making, and using cloth isn’t that scary at all.

So why use cloth nappies?

Well for me there were many reasons that resonated but there were some stand out drivers.

  • Chemicals – This was the number one reason I used cloth. I was horrified to learn that disposable nappies contain the chemical Sodium Polyacrylate which is a super absorber. This chemical was banned from tampons in 1985 as it was considered to contribute to Toxic Shock Syndrome. Unlike most other baby products there is currently no legislation to determine what can and cannot be in a disposable nappy.
  • Pretties! – Yes it’s very shallow but I can’t deny I was totally and utterly wooed by how pretty cloth nappies are.
  • Money – Go Real estimates you can save up to £1000 by using cloth, even more if you use them for more than one child. Cloth nappies also have a resale value when you don’t need them anymore, the pre-loved cloth market on places like Facebook is very active.
  • The environment – using cloth helps reduce landfill deposits and carbon dioxide omissions.

So how do you make a cloth nappy?

Just like there are oodles of ways to make a dress, there are oodles of ways to make a nappy. I’m not going to go in to the different types and styles of nappy, you can find a good starter guide here and this is the pattern we include in our cloth nappy kits which will help out with some of the terminology and give you more of an idea of the styles options available. Neither is this series going to outline the laundry regime you should use, except to say I whole heartedly recommend using a wet bag which you simply unzip and place in it’s entirety in to the washing machine. Wet bags keep any whiffs zipped in, that you never have to put your hands in anything yucky and your machine does all the hard work. It’s easy, I promise. You can read a laundry guide here.

We sell a kit here (which you can get at a 20% discount all week, starting tomorrow) which contains everything you need to make your first nappy and includes a pattern which is a great way to dip your toe in to the water. Once you have that under your belt it’s a good idea to get some fabrics from the roll and you never know…. before long you might be whipping up incredible creations like this Winnie The Pooh wonder made by Jacqui at Dinky Dot Bots

Image Courtesy of Dinky Dot Bots

In essence there are five areas to consider and make a choice from with regards to nappy fabrics. If I strip things back to the very basic level and just think about fabrics and notions you need to have various “layers” that make a nappy work.

  1. The inner or lining layer – this is often  a thin manmade fabric referred to as a “Stay Dry” layer whose main purpose is to wick away moisture from your baby’s skin so it feels dry
  2. The absorbent layer – let’s get real, your baby is gonna wee and it needs somewhere to go. Absorbent fabrics collect moisture from the inner wicking layer and hold on to it so it doesn’t leak out.
  3. The waterproof layer – this is the layer that stops the wet from leaking through to your baby’s clothes. This is almost always PUL fabric. 
  4. The outer layer – the outer layer is sometimes the waterproof layer but it’s often this layer that adds the über pretty factor and is generally made from plush/ minky.
  5. The notions – this is the fastenings and elastics

So throughout this week we’ll take a look at each of the different layers and hopefully decipher some of the confusion!

We are also participating in the Great British Nappy Hunt. There are lots of prizes from lots of cloth related retailers to be won, including a £50 Plush Addict gift voucher, so why not sign up, play along, learn something and have some fun?!

A Plush Addict Guide To: Border Prints

A Plush Addict Guide To: Border Prints

by | Apr 15, 2015 | Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, My Makes

I have been asked a few times recently to explain what a “border  print” fabric is. If you’re not up to speed on this particular fabric lingo read on, especially as we’ve had a couple of crackers arrive this week. If I’m teaching you to suck eggs then scroll down to the inspiration part to check out the pretty prints!

So what is a border print?

Most prints are printed so the pattern runs “up the bolt/ roll” where the direction of the print runs at 90 degrees to the selvedge, like the illustration to the right.

Some fabrics are designed so that the print runs in parallel to the
edge, like the illustrations below. These are the prints we refer to as “border prints” or they can also be known as “railroaded prints”

 

In a border print the design runs along one side of the selvedge.
A double border print has the design running along both selvedge edges.

Border and railroaded prints offer some exciting design opportunities. They work particularly well for items like dresses and skirts. These prints can also add extra interest to items like aprons, cot bumpers and bags, to name just a few ideas. You can find our border prints here.

Border Prints

 

We’ve got some gorgeous new Dashwood Studio prints!

 

 

SILK ROADS

 

With twirling dragons, roaming elephants & dancing camels, this collection will delight the kids, as well as the grown ups… 

 

A bright & summery colour palette makes this collection perfect for all your exotic sewing projects!

 

Check out the border print below.

Need Some Inspiration?

 

Need some inspiration to fuel your ideas about how best to use a Border Print?

 

Here’s one we made earlier:

This skirt was made using the Pamper border print (it’s a double border print too!). You can find the full tutorial here – it only takes 30 minutes!

 

You can find the full collection here, and the border print here.

 

We hope you found this guide helpful – let us know in the comments below if you have any suggestions for other guides you’d like to see!

Follow Plush Addict on social media and keep an eye out for more tutorials!

A Guide To Fleece Fabrics

A Guide To Fleece Fabrics

by | Jan 13, 2015 | Bamboo towelling, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide, Fleece

I wrote this article a few months ago and was originally published in the November issue of Sewing World Magazine but I’m sharing it here for those that missed the publication at the time. This was the second in a series of four fabric guides I wrote for the magazine, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A big thank you to Emma at Mummy & Millie’s Boutique for helping me out with the fleecey makes! (more…)

What Is Cotton Drill? A Fabric Guide

What Is Cotton Drill? A Fabric Guide

by | Jan 8, 2015 | Cotton Drill, Fabric Guides, Fabric Information Guide

I love cotton drill. It’s very versatile and is a great utility fabric that we stock in some very vibrant colours and best of all it’s really great value too. Drill has a twill weave which makes it a very strong, dense medium to heavy weight fabric. It’s a really popular choice for uniforms and work clothes but the vibrant colours lends itself to all sorts of other exciting garments including both tailored and casual designs, as well as children’s wear and home furnishings. It’s even used to line shoes! (more…)