Cloth Diapers vs Disposable Diapers
I'll start with my findings using Diaperpin.com's calculator. It compares the cost of cloth diapers vs disposable diapers.
So, if we purchase 12 cloth diapers at $17.95/diaper that equals $215.40, plus the cost of energy usage (water/gas/electricity) per diaper is $0.013 and the cost of cleaning (detergents) per diaper is $0.013.
Now, the cost of disposable diapers are $44.83 for a package of 192 and a package of 200 diaper sacks is $8.96.
The calculation is for 10 diapers/day.
Savings calculated:
You will break even in 12.2 weeks or 2.81 months.
You will save $245.03 in 6 months.
You will save $551.98 in 10 months.
You will save $705.46 in 1 year.
You will save $1165.89 in 1 1/2 years.
That's interesting. I like all the "You will save..." statements. We are all about saving money where we can so this is exciting to see.
Most of what I found is that people use a hybrid system. Meaning, they use cloth diapers on a daily basis except for when they travel and can't clean them. So they don't exclusively use cloth diapers, they keep disposables around for convenience.
I've read that the bumGenius one-size cloth diapers are the way to go. (HERE'S a great blog post about them)
Yes, they are expensive up front, but just think, you are only spending money once, if you do the disposables, you are spending money until your child is potty trained which is like $3,000 I think I read some where. So $3,000 vs $215 - which would you rather? Oh, and another pro to cloth diapers is you can use the same ones for all of your kids, so if we end up having another baby, we can use the ones we use for Mason for him/her too. Like in the photo above, gender neutral colors is the best to buy if you think you might use them for another baby in the future.
Our plan: Buy a few cloth diapers and give cloth diapering a good Buckley try. If it fails, we do disposables, if it works, we buy more cloth diapers.
UPDATE 3/18/2012: We did not end up trying cloth diapers. We figured we are "lazy" people and wouldn't want to do laundry every single day or wash out the diapers into the toilet. Mason is now 4 weeks old and I can say we made the right decision because disposables are WAY easier. Take off, throw away, done. :) I'm not saying cloth diapers aren't a cool idea, but for us "lazy" folks, it just won't work out.
So, if we purchase 12 cloth diapers at $17.95/diaper that equals $215.40, plus the cost of energy usage (water/gas/electricity) per diaper is $0.013 and the cost of cleaning (detergents) per diaper is $0.013.
Now, the cost of disposable diapers are $44.83 for a package of 192 and a package of 200 diaper sacks is $8.96.
The calculation is for 10 diapers/day.
Savings calculated:
You will break even in 12.2 weeks or 2.81 months.
You will save $245.03 in 6 months.
You will save $551.98 in 10 months.
You will save $705.46 in 1 year.
You will save $1165.89 in 1 1/2 years.
That's interesting. I like all the "You will save..." statements. We are all about saving money where we can so this is exciting to see.
Most of what I found is that people use a hybrid system. Meaning, they use cloth diapers on a daily basis except for when they travel and can't clean them. So they don't exclusively use cloth diapers, they keep disposables around for convenience.
I've read that the bumGenius one-size cloth diapers are the way to go. (HERE'S a great blog post about them)
And here's video on them:
Yes, they are expensive up front, but just think, you are only spending money once, if you do the disposables, you are spending money until your child is potty trained which is like $3,000 I think I read some where. So $3,000 vs $215 - which would you rather? Oh, and another pro to cloth diapers is you can use the same ones for all of your kids, so if we end up having another baby, we can use the ones we use for Mason for him/her too. Like in the photo above, gender neutral colors is the best to buy if you think you might use them for another baby in the future.
Our plan: Buy a few cloth diapers and give cloth diapering a good Buckley try. If it fails, we do disposables, if it works, we buy more cloth diapers.
UPDATE 3/18/2012: We did not end up trying cloth diapers. We figured we are "lazy" people and wouldn't want to do laundry every single day or wash out the diapers into the toilet. Mason is now 4 weeks old and I can say we made the right decision because disposables are WAY easier. Take off, throw away, done. :) I'm not saying cloth diapers aren't a cool idea, but for us "lazy" folks, it just won't work out.
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