Types of Cloth Diaper Covers

Smartie Pants Diaper Covers from http://littlelondyn.blogspot.com

Prefolds, contours, and fitted diapers all require covers. While the good ol' leaky rubber pants with elastic trim are still around, there are much friendlier options available now. Not only are they easier to use and longer lasting, but they're so much cuter now, even coming with matching dresses or outfits sometime! A brief explanation of the most popular types of diaper covers:

PUL: These are made out of PUL and are fastened either by hook and loop (Velcro) or snaps. Easy to use, cute, and least likely to leak (at least in my experience). These don't necessarily need to be washed after each use.

Wool: There are a few different types of wool covers, so don't be confused by their names. "Shorties" would be the ones that look like a pair of shorts, "Longies" would be the ones that look like pants, and "woolies" would be any of the above. These are the most eco-friendly, healthiest for baby (temperature regulation, anti-microbial, etc.), and the most time consuming to take care of. Anything wool must be lanolized and hand washed, but the good news is that you don't need to wash or lanolize very often (wool needs to be washed the least often of diaper covers). Sometimes, you'll see the word "recycled" or "upcycled" paired with something wool. This just means that the item was made from a wool sweater or something and thus "recylced." Woolies are either pull-on or draw-string.

Fleece: You may see the terms "shorties" and "longies" floating around in the fleece category, too. Like wool covers, these don't need to be washed after every use. Cute, cuddly, fairly easy, but not as flexible as the wool covers. These are either pull-on, snapped, or hook and looped.