Reviews – Cloth Diapers for Beginners

Wet bags are amazing. They have so many uses. When you're cloth diapering, wet bags are great for storing dirty diapers in the home, or when out and about. When you're potty training, they're great for keeping clean outfits clean, and dirty training pants contained. They're perfect for mama-cloth (cloth menstrual pads) too. Aside from all their usual cloth diaper and pad uses, they are also great for packing clothes in, toting dirty laundry around, and of course for the beach to cart around wet bathing suits. It is always a good idea to have something to put wet items in to keep them separate from your dry items. Best of all is that they are super affordable, especially when you consider that you'll be using them for so many things, and for so long after baby is potty trained. Wet bags come in all shapes and sizes, you can even get small ones for sandwiches and snacks. In this post, however, I'm going to be talking exclusively about the wet bags that you'll want for cloth diapering: hanging wet bags and travel wet bags. So let's take a closer look at when you would want to use each of those: How to Use Hanging Wet Bags Hanging wet bags are a cost-effective alternative to having a diaper pail and pail liner to store your dirty diapers in at home. They are essentially very large wet bags that have zipper closures and loops, ties, or some other means to attach them to things. You can tie them to change tables, door handles, or any other such piece of furniture you have in the small space you need to store dirty diapers in. This keeps them off the floor and away from little hands. Using a hanging wet bag is pretty simple, you just put the dirty diapers in, and then come laundry day, you empty it into the washing machiene, and throw the bag in to be washed as well. How to use Travel Wet Bags Travel wet bags are smaller than hanging wet bags. They sometimes have two pockets, one for wet things and one for dry, and often have one small loop, so that you can attach them to strollers, diaper bags, etc. Travel wet bags are made for just that, when you're out in public, traveling around with your diapers. Just like hanging wet bags, you use travel wet bags by just popping your dirty diapers inside (making sure if it's a two-pocket bag the pocket you put them in is the waterproof one), and empty the diapers into the washer on laundry day, throwing the bag in too. Products Mentioned in this Post: Second Choice for Best Hanging Wet Bag for Cloth Diapers GroVia Perfect Diaper Pail $34.99 Check it Out at GroVia.com Compare Price at Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Best Hanging Wet Bag for Cloth Diapers Smart Bottoms Hanging Wet Bag Check it Out on Amazon Check CDN price at ClothDiaperKids.com We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Best Quality Travel Wet/Dry Bag Thirsties Wet Dry Bag Get it at Target Get it in Can. at ClothDiaperKids.com We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Best Affordable Travel Wet Bag ALVABABY 2pcs Cloth Diaper Wet Dry Bags $9.89 Get them on Amazon Learn More We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. 05/14/2021 04:42 pm GMT What to Look For in a Wet Bag It is probably obvious, but the PUL of any wet bag is the most important thing as it's what keeps the moisture and odor contained in the bag. It's important to remember that any PUL fabric is only going to be water-resistant and not waterproof. This is something I didn't know when I first started cloth diapering until I bought a cheap wet bag and let it sit with really wet diapers in it for a few days. While the fact that PUL is only water-resistant is a good thing in that it allows air to flow in and out of the bag, limiting bacteria and mold growth, it does mean that the cheaper the PUL is, the quicker that you'll find moisture seeping to the outside of the bag. Hanging wet bags will be hanging up for a few days, and travel wet bags will be scrunched into diaper bags full of other things; both of these situations invite the PUL to wick, so investing in a bag made with high-quality PUL is key. What Do I Look for in a Hanging Wet Bag? Aside from quality PUL, when shopping for a hanging wet bag also on my must-have list is a zippered bottom. Aside: I also love zippers on my diaper pail liners, like this one, but that's a topic of another post. Zippered bottoms make washing your diapers SO much easier because you don't have to try and flip all the diapers out of the wet bag, and the wet bag is not full of water when you take it out of the wash. You just unzip the bag over the top of the washer and throw it all in there in one shot, and whatever is still in the bag when it goes in will agitate out. Zipper-bottom hanging wet bags are rare and hard to come by however. Some makers, like Smartbottoms, who make my first choice for hanging wet bags as you'll see below, have done things like make the zipper split the majority of the bag to do the same thing as a zippered bottom. What's nice about that type of zipper is that not only do you not have to flip everything out, and water doesn't collect in it in the wash, but while it's hanging up, there's no zipper a the very bottom to create a potential leak spot over time. What Do I Look for in a Travel Wet Bag? For travelling, I without a doubt recommend a wet/dry bag or a double-pocket wet bag. Both of these are essentially the same thing: a wet bag that has two pockets, one for wet, dirty diapers, and another for dry, clean diapers. A wet bag with two pockets that is called a wet/dry bag usually has the outer, smaller pocket designated for dry items. For these bags, instead of both pockets being made out of PUL, the smaller, dry pocket in the front is often mesh. Here's some pictures of the Thirsties Wet/Dry bag (which you'll see below is my top choice for travel wet bags) with a mesh outter pocket to show what that looks like: How Many Wet Bags Do You Need? I admit that I am not a reliable person to ask how many wet bags is the right number, because I firmly believe that you can never have too many, ever. So to help me out with this question, I turned to the Cloth Diapers for Beginners Facebook group and asked how many people had. Out of 65 replies here's what the poll concluded: Most agreed that having at least two of each is nice, so that you have one available while the other is being washed. Best Hanging Wet Bag for Cloth Diapers (updated for 2021) As I mentioned above, the things that really make a hanging wet bag perfect are a good quality PUL and a zippered bottom, or at lease a zipper so large that turning it inside-out isn't necessary. Though most quality wet bags cost about the same (and you really want quality here, especially if you're waiting several days between washes), there are a few that come out ahead because of their zipper placement. Top Choice: Smart Bottoms Hanging Wet Bag Best Hanging Wet Bag for Cloth Diapers Smart Bottoms Hanging Wet Bag Check it Out on Amazon Check CDN price at ClothDiaperKids.com We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Why I Love It the MostWhat Could be Better- Good quality PUL- Nice big zipper lets you open it wide and drop it in the washer with no fuss/no pools of water after spinning- Removable straps snap on in all different ways and allow you to attach the bag to anything- Tons of cute prints to match any space- Widely available - Size; only holds about 20 pocket or AIO diapers, or about two days worth Second Choice : GroVia Perfect Diaper Pail Second Choice for Best Hanging Wet Bag for Cloth Diapers GroVia Perfect Diaper Pail $34.99 Check it Out at GroVia.com Compare Price at Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Why I Like ItWhat Could be Better- Good quality TPU material- Zipper on bottom for easy washing- The opening is a slit instead of a zipper, which is perfect for one-handed changes!- Nice and big to hold several days of diapers - Only available in beige or gray- Strap to hang it could be a little more customizable, works with a hanger- Lots of straps and seams that could lead to damage with heavy use. Would be better if it was one solid piece like the Smart Bottoms Best Travel Wet Bags for Cloth Diapers As I spoke about earlier, double pocket wet bags are the way to go for travelling as they let you keep your dry diapers, or wipes in one pocket, and dirty diapers in the other. Double-pocket wet bags are widely available, but ones made from high-quality PUL are a little harder to come by. Because of this, I've listed my favorite quality wet bag, as well as my favorite lower-quality, inexpensive travel wet bags below. With the cost of the high-quality, Thirsties wet bag being more than double of two of the lower quality wet bags at the time of publication, for many, the decision between budget, and the need for quality protection in your diaper bag will have to be weighed carefully. Best Quality Travel Wet/Dry Bag Best Quality Travel Wet/Dry Bag Thirsties Wet Dry Bag Get it at Target Get it in Can. at ClothDiaperKids.com We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Why I Love It the MostWhat Could be Better- Good quality PUL material- Two pockets: one wet, one dry mesh- Amazing North American brand with good customer service- Tons of cute prints - Pricey Best Affordable Travel Wet Bag (double-pocket) Best Affordable Travel Wet Bag ALVABABY 2pcs Cloth Diaper Wet Dry Bags $9.89 Get them on Amazon Learn More We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. 05/14/2021 04:42 pm GMT Why I Like ThemWhat Could be Better- Cheap and plentiful; comes in packages of two- Two pockets: one wet, one dry - Tons of cute prints - Quality; PUL is ok for short stretches, but with compression in your diaper bag may begin to seep liquid out More About Storing Dirty Diapers Now that you know how to choose a great wet bag, you might want to learn more about how to store those dirty diapers until wash day. Click here for my full article on dirty diaper storage.