Cloth Diaper Absorbency Numbers
There are so many different ways to categorize and organize these products, and not everyone will be happy. Before you go too far into this post, the bigger a product the more likely it will be very absorbent. This post is also beginning to get out dated, and my 2022 goal will be to update it with new numbers, new products and all around awesomeness.
Absorbency is about the products weave, blend, and quality
It’s easy for cloth diaper bloggers and brands to say “hemp is the most absorbent” but that’s a broad statement that doesn’t adequately support you in finding the right cloth diaper. Every textile performs differently, and the conversation should be about finding the right product designed by brands to meet your needs as a cloth diaper family. This might mean that a cotton cloth diaper is the best choice for an overnight diaper for your family.
What is Absorbency Testing?
Absorbency testing is a some-what controlled method of understanding how a cloth diaper absorbs liquid. It’s an unofficial measure of how a product performs using kitchen science and helps us create a scale of reference to better understand how products work together.
My Approach
I weight the product, then pour warm water over the product until the cloth diaper is soaked. I let any drips drip, and weigh the saturated product.
I repeat three times and take an average in fluid ounces.
Just an Estimate
This is just an estimate of the products maximum absorbency function.
Real life results will vary and maximum absorption IRL would cause leaky diapers.
Performance
The amount of liquid is not the only indicator for successful cloth diapering – the way a material absorbs and holds onto liquid is another key performance indicator. This is not indicated here but I did chat about a bit on my youtube channel.
More Resources for Absorbent Cloth Diapers
- Do I have a heavy wetter? What does this term mean and how do we support you to find the right product.
- My recommendations for heavy wetter overnight diapers.
- My recommendations for overnight diapers (general products)
- The best choices for bedwetting preschoolers and more.
Prefold Absorbency
- Osocozy Toddler Cotton Prefold (Beige) 22 ounces
- Osocozy Premium Cotton Prefold (Green) – 18 ounces
- HempBabies Bigger Weed Hemp Prefold – 15.7 ounces
- Osocozy Better Fit Cotton Prefold (Beige) – 15.6 ounces
- SmartBottoms Smart Fold Hemp/Cotton Prefold (Large) – 15.3 ounces
- Nuggles BambooLuxe Overnight Insert 3 Layer (Size 2)- 14.8 ounces
- Buttons Cotton Prefold (Size 3) -13.6 ounce
- Buttons Bamboo/Cotton Prefold (Size 3) – 13.6 ounces
- Geffen Baby Jersey Prefold (Medium) – 13.6 ounces
- Lighthouse Kids Supreme Bamboo Insert – 12.9 ounces
- Osocozy Better Fit Cotton Prefold (Red) – 12.6 ounces
- AppleCheeks 3 Layer Bamboo Insert – 12.6 ounces
- AMP 3 Layer Hemp/Cotton Insert – 12.3 ounces
- Thirsties Duo Hemp/Cotton Prefold – 11.6 ounces
- Osocozy Infant Size Cotton Prefold – 11.2 ounces
- Geffen Baby Jersey Prefold (Small) – 10.5 ounces
- Nuggles BambooLuxe Overnight Insert 3 Layer (Size 1) – 10.1 ounces
- Smart Bottoms Smart Fold Hemp/Cotton (Medium) – 10.1 ounces
- Les Confections Lili Hemp Daytime Insert – 9.8 ounces
- Nuggles 2 ply Bamboo/Cotton Insert (older version) size 2 – 9.8 ounces
- Osocozy Better Fit Cotton Prefold (Purple Trim) – 9.5 ounces
- Bummis Infant Size Cotton Prefold – 9.5 ounces
- Thirsties Duo Hemp/Cotton Prefold (Size 1) – 9 ounces
- AMP 2 Layer Hemp/cotton Insert – 8.8 ounces
- Smart Bottoms Smart Fold Hemp/Cotton Prefold (Small) – 8.8 ounces
- AMP 2 Layer Bamboo Insert – 8.75 ounces
- HempBabies Little Weeds Hemp Prefold – 8.3 ounces
- GroVia Prefold (Size 1) – 6.4 ounces
- Nuggles 2 Ply Bamboo Insert (older version) size 1 – 6 ounces
- Osocozy Premie Size Cotton Prefold – 4.7 ounces
Flat Absorbency
- Imagine Baby Stretchy Bamboo Flats – 15.8 ounces
- Osocozy Bamboo/Cotton Bridseye Flats – 13.5 ounces
- Two Sparrows Hemp Flats – 12.7 ounces
- HumBird Hemp/Cotton Stretchy Flats – 12.6 ounces
- HempBabies OS Hemp/Cotton Flat – 12.5 ounces
- Ikea Cotton Burp Cloths – approximately 12 ounces
- Imagine Baby Printed Cotton Flats – 9.4 ounces
- Flip Daytime Organic Cotton Insert – 9.2 ounces
- BabyKicks Hemparoo Duz-it-all – hemp/cotton – 8.0 ounces
- Disana Brushed Cotton Liners – 100% Cotton – 5.9 ounces
Inserts, Boosters & More
- Lil Helper Overnight Insert, Big, 13.5 oz (booster ads 3.7 oz)
- Thirsties Duo Insert, Microfiber, Large, 12 oz
- Bebeboo Insert, Original Bamboo, 11.9 ounces
- Buttons Microfibre Daytime Insert, Large, 11.5 ounces
- Blueberry Microfibre Insert, double long – 11.4 ounces
- Rumparooz, Microfibre Large Insert, 10.8 oz
- Blueberry Capri Insert – 10.7 ounces
- Generic Microfibre, long, 4 layers 9-10 oz
- Sweet Pea, Microfibre, Large, 9.9 ounces
- Thirsties Pocket Insert, Microfibre, 9.4 oz
- Funky Fluff, Bamboo Inserts, Large, 8.7 oz
- Thirsties Duo Insert, Microfiber, Small, 8.6 oz
- Smart bottoms, Too Smart Inserts, 8.2 ounces
- Thirsties Duo Insert, Natural fibre, Large, 8.1 oz
- Wink Diapers, Bamboo Insert, 8 ounces
- Lil Helper Bamboo Insert, Large – 7.6 oz
- Best Bottom, Microfibre, Small, 7.5 ounces
- Nerdy Mommas, Bamboo, 7.2 ounces
- Thirsties Duo Inserts, Natural Fibre, Small, 7 oz
- Lil Helper Charcoal Insert, Large, 7 oz
- Funky Fluff, Bamboo Inserts, Small – 6.3 ounces
- AnanBaby Hemp Insert – 6.3 ounces
- Elf Baby Bamboo Insert – 6.3 ounces
- Super Bottoms, Insert, Cotton – 6 ounces
- Wink Diapers, Hemp Insert, 5.8 ounces
- Thirsties Hemp Insert, Large, 5.8 ounces
- Lil Helper Charcoal Insert, Small, 5.8 oz
- Lalabye Baby Inserts, Large, 5.5 oz
- Peachy Baby Bamboo Insert, 5.6 oz
- Lil Helper Bamboo Insert, Small – 5.6 oz
- Hemp Babies, Large Insert, 5.1 ounce
- Sweet Pea, Microfibre, Small, 4.9 oz
- Nuggles Simplee Insert, Large, 4.8 oz
- Geffen Baby, Quick Absorbers, 4.7 oz
- Geffen Baby Super Absorbers, 4.4 oz
- Generic Microfibre, 2 layer, short – 4.4 oz
- Elf Baby Bamboo Booster – 4.2 ounces
- Lalabye Baby Insert, Small – 4 ounces
- Nuggles Simplee Insert, Small, 4 ounces
- Thirsties Hemp Insert, Small, 4 ounces
- Thirsties Cotton Insert, Large, 3.9 oz
- GeffenBaby High Absorbers, 3.5 ounces
- Thirsties Cotton Insert, Medium, 3.4 oz
- Hemp Babies, Insert Small, 3.3 ounces
- Super Bottoms, Cotton Booster, 2.8 ounces
- Thirsties Cotton Insert, Small, 1.7 oz
Fitted Diaper Absorbency
These numbers are a average of all three, some might not add up because I averaged the diaper amongst three trials the insert, and the total. But the difference of .1 of an ounce isn’t going to make or break a product experience.
- Sloomb BFF (Large) – 24.5 ounces
- Diaper = 15.2 oz
- Insert – 10.3 oz
- Nuggles BambooLUXE – 24.2 oz
- Diaper – 11.5 oz
- Booster – 4.7 oz
- Insert – 8 oz
- Sloomb Snapless – 22 oz
- diaper – 12.8 oz
- small insert 3.7 oz
- big insert 4.8 oz
- Happy Flute Velour Fitted Diaper – 21.8 oz
- Diaper – 12 oz
- Insert – 4.6 oz
- Booster – 5 oz
- Sloomb OBF (Medium) – 20.0 ounces
- diaper – 9.8 oz
- insert 7.2 oz
- booster 3.9 oz
- Happy Flute Bamboo Fleece Fitted – 20 oz
- diaper 11.5 oz
- insert 4.7 oz
- booster – 4 oz
- Tots Bots (Size 2) 17.6 oz
- Diaper – 12.9 oz
- Insert – 4.7 oz
- Sweet Pea Bamboo Fitted Diaper – 16 oz
- Diaper – 12.2
- Booster – 4.1 oz
- Happy Flute Hemp Diaper – 15.9 ounces
- Diaper – 10. 6 oz
- Insert – 5.3 ounce
- Tots Bot (Size 1) – 12.4 oz
- Diaper – 8.4 oz
- Insert – 4 oz
oooooh I love this! This is the information needed when looking at these products, it tell you what to expect and I can see why my daughter is soaking her AMP bamboo insert to quickly now. I can also see some other products that I can try!
Sad to see the Disana insert so low. The more research I do I the more obsessed with their system I am becoming. Do you think pairing with a hemp booster would make it a good day option?
These results would be better displayed if they were normalized. Of course the prefold toddler is going to absorb more simply based on the fact that it is larger. If you wanted to have results which compared performance, publish a the result in terms of oz/ft^3, i.e., divide the absorption by the volume of the diaper.