A waterproof diaper cover will not stay waterproof forever when you consider how often it’s laundered in its lifetime. Once a diaper cover has reached its life expectancy, you will begin to experience leaks without obvious visual issues (damage to the cover, gaps at the waist and/or legs, clothing sticking inside the cover, etc.).
When this happens, you’re most often told by your diaper manufacturer that your baby is now a heavy wetter and you need to add more absorbency to your diaper and/or you need to change your baby more frequently. These options will give you a little more longevity in your covers because what you’re doing here is simply no longer allowing the cover to get wet enough to begin to leak. This, however, is not the actual solution to your problem. Really, it’s time to replace your diaper covers as they have simply expired.
There are three components to an effective waterproof diaper cover:
- A printed cover fabric
- A PUL or TPU inner laminate
- Waterproofing Treatment
The 3rd (and seldom, if ever, talked about) portion of a leak-free diaper cover is the factory waterproofing treatment that is added to the fabric during production. This waterproofing treatment is applied to the outside of the cover fabric, atop the printed fabric. Not all cloth diaper companies use fabric coated with a waterproofing treatment, but the bigger brands generally do.
This waterproofing treatment is what stops the wetness from coming through all the little holes that are created in the PUL and cover fabric by the sewing machine during manufacturing. The thread that is woven through all these little holes, wick the moisture from the inside of the diaper/cover to the outside of the cover and create a “leak” onto baby’s clothing.
This is the same technology that is used on your raincoat, camping tent, umbrella, etc. Anything that is intended to repel water generally has a waterproofing treatment applied to it.
The issue with a diaper cover is that it gets washed A LOT more than your raincoat or camp tent. Through all the rigorous washing that your diaper covers endure, the factory waterproofing treatment that was applied wears off. This is what gives your waterproof diaper cover its life expectancy.
Once the waterproofing treatment has worn off your diaper cover, you will begin to experience leaks without noticing any obvious issues to your cover. Your solution at this point was to purchase new diaper covers to replace your expired ones.
Enter Mother-ease Cover Revitalizer!
I’m here to tell you that we have just launched an absolute game changer to the cloth diaper industry. Mother-ease’s all new Cover Revitalizer (SOLD OUT) is a two-part eco-friendly waterproofing treatment that you can do at home in your washing machine to restore your diaper cover performance to new condition! This eco-friendly laundry treatment re-applies the waterproofing to your diaper covers at a fraction of the cost of purchasing brand new covers.
Mother-ease Cover Revitalizer can be used on ANY diaper cover that is completely separate from an absorbent cloth diaper. You heard right – ANY cover! It can also be used on your cloth diaper wet bags as well!
Like I said before, this is a game changer for the cloth diaper industry. Creating even less waste in our landfills, as you can essentially re-use the same covers over and over without ever having to replace them for the span of your cloth diapering journey.
I’ve read your 8 step Directions for Use, but I still have questions about how to maximise its effectiveness.
Do you have any more detailed advice?
Most questions are about the numerous settings available on a modern washing machine:
1- should I use an eco/low water washing cycle so the B treatment is at a higher concentration?
2- what about disabling the rinse part of the cycle so more treatment is left on the nappies?
3- does it matter how long the nappies are in the solution for – should I try to use a long wash?
4- could hand-washing or applying the treatment neat be more effective?
Jack on
The Cover Revitalizer wouldn’t have a negative effect on the inside of a nappy wrap.
It will apply waterproofing to whatever it is washed with, so it shouldn’t be used with any fabric that provides absorbency!
Mother ease Cloth Diapers on
This sounds fantastic! Does this have any negative effect on the interior of the nappy wrap, or is that applied with waterproofing treatment in production too? Will definitely be happy to try this with some old nappy wraps that I’ve been avoiding throwing away in the hope something like this would come along! :)
John Oakley on