The Great All-In-One Cloth Nappy Review

Though I love our Snazzipants / Thirsties Duo nappy system it is a sized system – both parts will only last to around 10 months by my sister’s estimation (depending on baby size), and because it is a two-part system it takes longer to put on which I know will get harder as Young Sir gets more mobile.

So I decided I wanted a foolproof, awesome system for the next stage. Because I’m lazy I want something that doesn’t involve assembly (rules out pocket nappies and snap-in varieties) and because I want other people to be able to change my baby’s nappy without a lesson it needs to be simple to put on. This basically leaves the category of modern cloth nappies known as All In Ones (hereafter referred to as AIOs). 

There are lots of great AIOs out there but pocket nappies still seem to be more common among cloth nappy aficionados. AIOs traditionally take longer to dry, but the newer ones have largely resolved this with inserts that fold out to dry rather than being fully attached. And though I’ve found plenty of reviews online I haven’t found many comparative reviews that rate the AIO options readily available to me right now. And so I've done my own testing, and these are my findings! 

Selection process:

In order to be considered, nappies had to:

• Be a One Size Fits All/Most (OSFA/OSFM) AIO nappy
• Have a Velcro / Aplix / Hook & Loop fastening option (I prefer this over snaps)
• Be available in New Zealand or easily available from overseas with reasonable shipping rates

Other preferred (but not compulsory) features included:

• PUL outer (I prefer this over minky, which seems to be the other main option for outers)
• Double leg gusset (the Thirsties Duo covers have this and it seems pretty much completely leakproof)
• Cheap! (hahahahaha… This was wishful thinking)
• Cool prints and colours (definitely not a pre-requisite – these are nappies, people! – but I’d be lying if I said I don’t care at all)

The contenders:

Blueberry One-Size Simplex AIO

Pikapu AIO

Imagine OSFM Stay Dry AIO

Totsbots Easyfit v4 

Thirsties One Size All in One

BumGenius Freetime 4.0

Other popular AIOs include Grovia and Bambooty, but both only offer snap fastening which doesn’t suit us. If it works for you though, I have heard good things about both so they may be worth considering.

Review process: 

Not scientific but hopefully somewhat controlled! My methods are as follows: 

Prep - I purchased one of each type of nappy and did pre-washes as recommended to reach full absorbency. 

Usage - I tried each nappy several times on Young Sir - some were instantly more favoured than others but I gave them all a good shot. It's worth noting here that a lot of nappy preference comes down to fit so my findings might give you a good idea of what you like but might not tell you for sure - I definitely recommend trying one nappy out on your uniquely proportioned small person before stocking up. 

Absorbency - I tested absorbency with water and a set of scales - I weighed each nappy dry, then completely saturated them, gently wrung (as sopping wet nappies wouldn't hold the liquid in when worn) and weighed them. All held at least a cup (250ml) of water, which I think is pretty amazing so for most babies any of these would likely be absorbent enough during the day, but for heavy wetters or possibly for night time it's good to know the heavy duty option. 

Drying time - I didn't time drying but rather just checked my washing at intervals and noted which dried quickest - full marks to those that were dry the first time I checked the line. All of the nappies dried more quickly than the Snazzipants fitteds we have been using up until now so I think they're all pretty good. 

Leakproofness - this is fairly subjective since only one of the nappies came close to leaking - but I don't think any of these would be perfect for newborn poosplosions - if I was using them on a newborn I might still use a cover over the top just in case (at least when out). 

Nappy (click links for detailed reviews)	Price*	Easy to put on (/5)	Absorbent (/5)	Drying time (/5)	Leakproofness (/5)	Comments
Totsbots Easyfit v4	$38.90	4	5	4	4	Pop-in insert required for absorbency but sometimes detaches in the wash. Bulkiest fit.
Pikapu AIO	$32.95	3	5	5	4	Fabrics feel cheaper – don’t think it would last as long (can’t verify this). Only option with a double leg gusset. Fit is a bit strange – gappy at the front and often needs adjusting. Velcro is not very strong.
BumGenius Freetime 4.0	$33.50	5	3	5	3	Love the fit but the seam joining the absorbent inside to the PUL at the leg permits some wicking when the nappy is soiled. Having a flap at either end makes it tricky to de-poop without things getting messy.
Thirsties One Size All in One	$33.09 (including shipping from Amazon)	5	3	5	4	Very trim. Great fit. Not super absorbent (needed boosting for us after about 7 months).
Imagine OSFM Stay Dry AIO	$22.50	3	4	4	4	Tricky to get good fit but very cheap. Soaker snaps out so actually All-in-2 though so far has stayed together in the wash.
Blueberry One-Size Simplex AIO	$39.90	5	3	3	4	Excellent, easy fit. Cotton inner takes longer to dry. Insert is too long when rise snaps are done up so needs to be folded over = extra bulk.

*Full retail price excluding shipping but at most this was $5-6 and is often waived.

I had high hopes for the BumGenius Freetime starting out but its slightly poor leg construction had it relegated out of the game reasonably early – about the time I had to make a dash for the changing station after hearing an ominous gurgling sound and noticing a little, uh, seepage at the leg. First and foremost for me in the cloth nappy scoring game is always going to be that they hold everything in.

I had a leak with the Totsbots Easyfit v4 when we optimistically tried it without the insert. With the insert it’s been fine so far but the insert easily makes it the bulkiest of the lot. 

The Imagine and Pikapu nappies both have a cheaper feel – the Pikapu more so, with both fleece and PUL (the outer) feeling quite cheap. I’m a fabric snob… But I could get past the fabric (especially on the Imagine, which costs so much less) if they had a better fit. But both take a bit of adjusting (at least on my boy) to avoid gappiness at the tummy and around the legs, and that doesn’t seem daycare and grandparentproof.

Drying time used to be the nemesis of AIO nappies, but a little design goes a long way to solving this. I found the Thirsties, Pikapu and BumGenius nappies all dried extremely quickly, with the Blueberry nappy the slowest by a long way due to the cotton lining. 

L-R; Pikapu AIO; Imagine AIO; BumGenius Freetime; Totsbots Easyfit v4; Blueberry Simplex AIO; Thirsties One Size AIO

My sister pointed out that although we don’t need it now, the rise on these nappies can become key depending on the size of your toddler when they are ready (or not!) to use the toilet. I compared them all, and though it’s hard to see in the photo due to the elastic, the Thirsties is the largest and the Pikapu is the smallest. The total difference was perhaps 2cm between smallest and largest, so the increments are pretty small – but 1cm might get you an extra month of them fitting your toddler. 

Young Sir also prefers the Thirsties
nappy (note that we only let him
chew on clean nappies!)

Result

All these nappies will do the job they're supposed to reasonably well. My pick of the bunch is the Thirsties One Size AIO, as it is extremely trim, has a great fit, and is not too pricey. However, it is not as absorbent so may need boosting. The Totsbots Easyfit v4 and the Blueberry Simplex were also both great but quite a bit pricier, and both had minor niggles for me. The Imagine nappy I think is an excellent cheaper option - just didn't meet my ease-of-use criteria. 

I will do a more detailed review of each nappy over the next week or so and will link those into the table above when complete - but this is the key stuff! Hopefully it's helpful. Have you tried any of these nappies?