The Great Cloth Diaper Experiment (Part 3)

*If you haven't followed my journey to cloth diapering here are part one and part two of The Great Cloth Diaper Experiment.

After using cloth diapers for a week I love using cloth diapers but the jury is still out on if I love my cloth diapers. I have purposely omitted where I got them from my posts because I am still not totally convinced of their durability long term.  I purchased cloth pocket diapers.  The outer layer is made of PUL which is water proof to hold in the potty, the inner layer is made of soft micro fleece, and the inserts are made of microfiber.  The diaper construction seems good.  The snaps are all reinforced and the quality of the sewing seems excellent to my untrained eye.  The microfiber inserts hold a ton of liquid and the inner micro fleece keeps the babies dry.  I mean dry...much dryer than disposables.  Diaper rashes don't seem to be much of an issue.

This is the diaper (inside out) with the loosest PUL.

The only issue that I have is that most PUL diapers (polyurethane laminated fabric) have the polyurethane laminated or glued to the fabric.  What I did not realize is that the diapers I purchased have the PUL sewn in instead of laminated. They looked completely normal when I got them but once washed some looked like the picture.   PUL is supposed to be extremely durable and was originally designed for medical use so can withstand heat and multiple cleanings.  If you use heat it will shrink back down and be tight against the diaper.  With cloth diapers you are not supposed to use high heat in the regular washing or drying process because you wear out the elastic and can ruin the diapers.  After talking with the lady from whom I purchased my diapers she reassured me that she had made them this way for some time and the loose PUL was not an issue.  She said that they would stretch and shrink back down with washings and use and would not leak.  Within two washings I had a hole in the PUL of the green diaper shown above.  Some of the PUL has held true to the fabric.  Other diapers have let loose some but this is the worst.  Now I do have to say that she is standing behind her diapers and is sending me a new one free as well as a patch kit for the one that tore but needless to say I am concerned that this may continue to happen over time.  She has always returned my phone calls and been very patient and admits that maybe this diaper's PUL was not pulled tight when sewn.  She stands behind her product and has excellent customer service.
We have found that out and about potty diapers are not a problem but messy diapers are more of an issue, especially when we are gone for the whole day.  Our diaper sprayer at home makes clean up of messy diapers very easy and the laundry the diapers create is not much of an issue now that we have the routine figured out.
I will continue to use cloth diapers.  Because I love the way they work and the money that they save.  In hindsight I should have bought a few different brands and tried them all out to see what I liked best.  I have since found some other very economical choices for pocket diapers and will start purchasing a few at a time and try testing durability for a longer period to see what I decide on.  Both Monte and I are happy with our choice in spite of our concerns about the product and wish we had made the switch years ago.