Cotton, Bamboo, Microfibre... What is the difference?

In a nutshell choose organic cotton if you want a nappy that will last half a dozen babies, bamboo if you want super absorbency and a luxurious feel or microfibre if you have limited drying space and time.

Cotton is the mainstay of the washable world and has been for centuries, it's a very, very robust fibre and can be washed thousands of times. We have many customers who tell us they’ve put two, three or four babies through Littlelamb cotton nappies and then still sold them on.

Since 2011 all Littlelamb cotton fabrics are certified organic by the Soil Association’s GOTS scheme.

Bamboo is a super absorbent fibre with a luxuriously soft feel. It’s often quoted as 40% more absorbent than cotton, which enables us to make a nappy that’s not only thirstier than cotton but less bulky too. As the individual filaments are shorter than cotton they don’t have the longevity but will still last two or more babies with careful laundering.

No bamboo fabric can be organic. We can say it is ‘grown’ organically which is true but misleading as the organic standard fails during the manufacturing process. There are two processes available to turn it into a usable viscose fibre; our way or the bad way!

All our bamboo fibre comes with the Oeko-tex100 certification, which is as close to organic as bamboo can get.

Microfibre nappies are the quick-dry option specifically made for customers who live with restricted drying space or time. As they are made from the same fabric as your fleece jumper they come out of the spin cycle almost dry. A quick air dry or five minutes in the tumbler on a low heat and they should be ready.

Osfa is short for one-size-fits-all (well, 90% of babies) and is another name for a pocket nappy. Osfas have really caught the parents imagination over the past few years. The main advantage with an osfa is speed of use. They are quicker to put on - once you have prepared them - and they dry really, really fast once laundered. They do not hold as much wee as a bamboo or cotton nappy so they need to be changed more often. 

What would I recommend? I've been using washables since the last century and manufacturing them for the best part of ten years. Without a shadow of a doubt the Littlelamb two-part bamboo nappy and wrap is the nappy of choice. They may look a little old fashioned but they do exactly what a nappy should do - hold lots of wee and stops poo explosions.

 

Top tip: A growing number of customers choose to have the bulk of their nappies made from either organic cotton or bamboo with a number of microfibre nappies.

 

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