5 Tips for Building a Cloth Diaper Stash on the Cheap
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If you were to ask my husband if we save money using cloth diapers, he might have his doubts. I have a large stash; more diapers than one single toddler probably needs. I guess you could say that I have a bit of a problem, but we don’t have to talk about that now.
I have mentioned before that I used disposables for the first 6 months. I joined the Amazon Mom program then when they had really great deals and I saved 30% on “eco-friendlier” diapers. For the first six months alone I paid $252.88 on diapers and wipes.
How much have I spent on cloth diapers in the past 11 months? After trying some and selling what I didn’t like I have spent a little more than $200 and they will last me until my child potty trains. When we’re done with our diapers, we can then sell most of them to another family. Try doing that with used Huggies.
I must admit that the amount I’ve spent on cloth diapers doesn’t actually give a fair picture of the size of my stash. How did I acquire this many diapers with so little money?
Sales and use coupons
Many cloth diaper retailers have coupon codes and sales from time to time. Some more often than others. Like the Facebook pages of some cloth diaper retailers and sign up for emails to find out when they are running sales or have a coupon available. You can also check which stores offer free items with a minimum order.
Buy seconds
Seconds are brand new diapers with a slight flaw so the manufacturer can’t sell them at full price. The flaws can range from getting dirty, uneven stitching, to an upside down print. Most times you can’t tell there is a flaw. I have never been able to find the flaws in my seconds quality diapers.
Sign up for daily deal sites
Sometimes Baby Half Off, BabySteals, and Eco Baby Buys. Sites like Zulily have diapers, but you do have to be careful. A lot of times they sell rebranded Chinese diapers and in this case, you aren’t getting a deal at all. However, I have gotten decent deals on discontinued colors and styles of national brands from daily deal sites.
*Note: your local cloth diaper store may have the same deal so check them too. With a retailer. you may also get free shipping, rewards, and freebies.
Enter giveaways
I cannot stress this one enough. For the first few months of entering giveaways I never won anything, then suddenly I started winning like crazy! I have literally won a stash worth of diapers in giveaways since November. So yes, they DO pay off! Pro tip: follow the #clothdiapers hashtag on Twitter to find some great giveaways.
*Since this post was published, there are now cloth diaper giveaways on Instagram as well as frequent flash giveaways from retailers, WAHM shops, and blogs on Facebook.
Buy used
Many times you can get used diapers in excellent to like new condition. Sometimes a certain diaper doesn’t work well for one family but will work perfectly for you. Newborn diapers are also often in excellent condition. I like to check Cloth Diaper Trader and brand specific Facebook B/S/T groups for the best deals. Please be sure to practice proper B/S/T etiquette when buying used diapers in groups.
Here are even more ideas for saving money on a cloth diapers. So get to building that stash!
Thank you for all the tips! I appreciate the specific websites. I’m preparing to CD with our first (due in time for Christmas) and I’m entering all the giveaways I can find; the rest of these will help a lot.
I started a cloth diaper piggy bank, half of my change goes in to my older sons piggy bank and the other half in to a cloth diaper bank. I have also started entering giveaways to keep me from window shopping and eventually buying everything lol!
Giveaways are a great way to see what you like and what you don’t so you aren’t wasting money. I wish I would have found out about giveaways sooner in the beginning.
My fiance is having doubts right now about cloth being cheaper than disposables, and yes I admit it does cost to start a stash but it definitely saves! I love that you can sell them when no longer needed or trade with other mamas! I’ve been entering a ton of giveaways hoping to win so I can get my stash ready for my new lil one!
The giveaways really are great! I won a few right as soon as I started entering them and have since hit a lull lol. If you keep trying, you will get something!
We started with prefolds and covers but we don’t like it. I bought 12 Sunbaby pockets and both hubby and I much prefer those. Actually, I love those! So I bought 12 more. I have twins and my mom helps me a lot. She prefers disposables. So far, if every diaper change is a pocket diaper, I can go 1.5 days before I have to do laundry. I really want to buy more Sunbabies but I know that as baby grows, the effectiveness of favorite brands can change. I’m trying to leave room in our budget to try other brands. I just bought 4 BG seconds for $53 which is a few dollars less than 12 Sunbaby pockets without inserts. Comparing prices can hurt like that sometimes! I’m hoping to start winning diaper giveaways soon!
i think the hubby needs to see this one lol we are building our stash and he insists we have enough but he doesnt realize our LO will not fit into 1/2 of our stash till shes about 4 mo old.
we have only spent just under $200 and we have 3xs charlie bananas 2 on charlie bananas 4 os blissfull bootys 4 bitty bee little bee company nb and 12 medium perfect fit fuzzibunz i plan on just ordering 2 doezen prefolds and about 4 covers and then we should be set till she gets older. i think ill have to hide them this time though hubby thinks im going over board lol
If I were to have another I would definitely go the prefold and cover route. Two dozen should be okay if you wash every other day along with the XS diapers to supplement. Once your hubby sees how many diapers newborns go through he will probably change his tune 🙂
I can’t find where to buy “seconds”–new dipes with flaws— for the life of me!
Try Cotton Babies clearance section
It’s hard for me to understand how much money my husband is willing to waste on disposables! I far prefer cloth, but he has a tendency to fall back on what’s “easier.” My mother, too (who’s a frequent babysitter). Now I wish I’d thought to keep track of how much we’ve spent on diapers for a cost comparison!
I like the idea of using receiving blankets as flats. I went out and bought high end diapers for my first and now that I’m on the second I’ve been making diapers myself from old t-shirts as well as using blankets that we have oh so many of. I thought it cost a lot up front for all the diapers. I wish I would have know that you can use things you already have in your home. Regardless of how much you spend up front it’s still a lot of savings to cloth diaper.
I am entering giveaways like crazy too and have yet to win anything! I’ll keep trying though!
We did the math recently and were blown away by how much we’ve saved doing cloth! We have a really small stash but luckily we are also using a potty, which helps.
I win a LOT of giveaways, but rarely win diapers. I think I’ve won maybe ONE diaper actually, after entering literally hundreds. They are just so popular and get so many entries than other giveaways. Pretty crazy considering how cheap the diapers are — I’ve won other prizes valued at over $100 with less entries than for one or two diapers. It’s a culture!