How to use pocket cloth diapers with inserts: Flats, prefolds, flour sack towels

Take any absorbent fabric that is between the size of a face towel and a bath towel and fold it into a rectangle, then you simply put that rectangle into the pocket of the pocket diaper.

There are many cloth diaper inserts that are already sewn into the shape of a rectangle, if you are using one of these you don’t have to fold it at all.

If you want to learn more about cloth diaper inserts check out my article “Cloth diaper inserts: What are they & which are best?”

How to make almost anything a cloth diaper insert

Flats, flour sack towels or any large square fabric

The awesome thing about flats and other large squares of absorbent fabric is that you can do a lot of customizing when you fold them.

You can put more absorbency in the front, in the back, or in the middle.

This is just a very basic pad-fold which is super easy and my personal favorite way to use flats.

If you want to learn different ways to fold flats check out this YouTube video from Jess is Blessed that goes over pretty much all the different folds you can do.

Most of these folds would be used if you were wanting to wrap the flat around baby but she does demonstrate the pad-fold.

If you want to read more about flat cloth diapers check out my article ” Flat cloth diapers: How to use & best materials”

Prefolds, washcloths or any smaller square fabric

In my experience prefolds and other small squares of absorbent fabric are easier to fold since you have to put in a lot less work to get them into the rectangle shape that will fit in a pocket diaper.

While prefolds are other smaller squares of absorbent fabric are great for cloth diapering, you do have a little less versatility.

Here is a video from Jay’s nest that shows the different folds for prefolds

If you want to read more about prefold cloth diapers check out my article “Prefold cloth diapers: Pros, Cons & top 4 brands”

What can you use for a pocket diaper insert?

You can use any absorbent material as a pocket diaper insert.

Aside from regular cloth diaper inserts, flats and prefolds, many people use flour sack towels, washcloths, receiving blankets and microfiber cloths, I have also heard of people using cotton t-shirts.

This is one of the reasons that I love pocket cloth diapers so much, they not only allow you to use many different household materials as a diaper, but they also make these materials into easy-to-use babysitter friendly cloth diapers.

While folding a flour sack towel or a t-shirt and wrapping them around baby then fastening them with either pins or a Snappi can be cumbersome to some people pocket diapers fix that problem.

With pocket cloth diapers once you fold your chosen absorbency into a rectangle and stuff it into the pocket of the pocket diaper, the diaper handles the rest.

Because once you stuff the pocket diaper, your absorbency is held securely in the pocket, so you don’t have to worry about dropping the folded insert and it coming undone.

And you don’t have to worry about fastening the absorbency to your baby because the pocket diaper has snaps that handle all that for you!

You can also use a ton of different materials with cloth diaper covers.

However, you do have to watch and make sure that you always have a layer of something in between microfiber and baby, because microfiber is a synthetic fiber and is very drying to baby’s skin which will cause rashes.

The whole microfiber thing is why I prefer pocket cloth diapers to cloth diaper covers since pocket diapers already have a layer built-in that stays between baby and the inserts.

This layer is also usually stay-dry, which is awesome for baby’s that are sensitive to wetness.

Can you wash cloth diaper inserts?

Yes, you can wash pocket cloth diaper inserts.

All parts of most cloth diapers are washable, this is how they can be reused, most cloth diaper inserts are made of microfiber, cotton, bamboo or hemp, all of these materials are both machine washable and dryable.

There are some cloth diaper brands that offer disposable inserts, but these are made for use in other all-in-2 systems like cloth diaper covers with inserts and not pocket cloth diapers.

If you want to know more about how to get your cloth diaper inserts clean check out my article ” Best detergent for cloth diapers”

What is the cheapest pocket diaper insert?

The cheapest pocket diaper inserts are probably going to be receiving blankets, flour sack towels and microfiber inserts.

#1 Receiving blankets

Now, I’m not talking about going out and buying brand new receiving blankets since brand new they are about $4.00 each, but typically expectant parents get a ton of receiving blankets at their baby shower, which would make them free!

Also, Facebook marketplace has tons of people wanting to get rid of receiving blankets, so are either selling them for less than $1.00 each or sometimes even giving them away for free.

Garage sales are another good place to look for extra cheap or free receiving blankets.

There is also the possibility that you have family members and/or friends who’ve had babies and would love to give you their old receiving blankets, which would once again make them free.

This is why I put receiving blankets at #1, because they are very easy to find, there are a ton of ways you could get them for super cheap or free and they are actually really good cloth diaper inserts.

#2 Flour sack towels

Flour sack towels are also pretty easy find, however they are not as easy to find used or free.

Even though brand new they are around $1.60 at Walmart which is still pretty affordable they are still probably going to cost you more than the receiving blankets.

Also, in my experience as far as absorbency goes, receiving blankets are far superior to flour sack towels.

Walmart also usually carries Gerber flats and prefolds in store, however in my experience the Gerber diapers are not awesome.

If you want to learn more about the Gerber flats and prefolds check out my article ” Gerber cloth diapers: readily available but are they any good?”

#3 Microfiber inserts

First of all, I do not like microfiber at all and would highly recommend that you choose one of the other options, however microfiber is very cheap and relatively easy to find.

You can find microfiber at many different stores typically as dusting rags or dish cloths, a lot of auto parts stores even have them for cleaning your car.

The catch with microfiber is that you CANNOT put microfiber directly against baby’s skin.

So, you would either need a layer of cotton, fleece or some other material to go between the microfiber and baby, or you could stuff the microfiber into a pocket diaper which conveniently has a separating layer built right in.

The other issues with microfiber are that microfiber holds onto smells, microfiber is prone to leaking, microfiber is the least absorbent cloth diapering material.

Resources

Links to my favorite pocket cloth diapers:

Link to the Thirsties pocket diaper on thirstiesbaby.com

Link to the Lighthouse kids pocket diaper on lighthousekids.com

Link to flour sack towels on walmart.com

Link to flour sack towels on target.com

Link to Barnyard bums pocket diapers at barnyardbums.com

Link to Bebeboo pocket diapers on bebeboo.com

Link to Cloth-eez prefolds on greenmountaindiapers.com