www.incontinentsupport.org

That seems high for a load of wash. But as you said high water costs (cut by newer low water/soap use washers) and cost of sewer charges (which I do not have) can add up. Even at that cost washing 12 diapers every 3 days amounts to .33 per diaper. Sure beats 1.25 or more for the best disposables. It would mean you save about 12.00 per load or around $1,400.00 per year. I can use that savings on a lot of things and the comfort as well as the absorbency of cloth diapers for me can not be beat. We have to be thankful we live in the times we do. The access to cloth diapers and good disposable diapers makes our lives so much easier. I can do whatever I want from golf to a day out fishing if I plan it right. Yes we have bumps but as time goes on we also can deal with about, though not all, of them. Papa

I'll admit I'm in an area with relatively high water cost, and our sewer bill is often as high, or higher than the water bill. I'll also add that I only wet at night, but extremely heavily (I'm on several anti-hypertensive drugs that contribute), so I use very heavy weight terry cloth diapers. They are, at the critical area, 8 layers thick. I could only wash 4 at a time (plus the PUL pants, my wash cloth, and the boxer briefs I wear with them) and expect them to come out clean.

I figured out the it saves me around $300 a year. Still a savings, but less dramatic.

I hear of Terry Diapers here a lot by UK members but have never used them or even seen them. What is the difference between terry cloth and the standard US cloth diapers? And what about comfort, absorbency etc.? Papa

Papa,

In the UK the terry nappies consist merely of squares of terry towelling, edged,or course. The user folds these in different ways to get best absorbancy. There are obvious advantages with washing as there is only one layer to dry and they are adaptable as one can add extra squares to help. I even used some baby nappies as an absorbent layer.

I'll post a link to folding techniques when I find it.

So here's my question on this. Because I wear disposable simply because I live in an apartment and don't have laundry in house but have to take my laundry out to a laundromat, do those of you who wear cloth diapers wear them 24/7 and do you change your diapers while out or at work then? And if you do change at work, how do you deal with the soiled cloth diaper for the rest of your day until you get home? How does that work out in real life?

_________________
"Why is the rum always gone?" - Captain Jack Sparrow

"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise." -
Gore Vidal

Good question. To tell the truth from my personal experience I wear only were cloth when I'm not at work. The use of cloth for me at work would be almost impossible to manage but I work very long hours.
As for when I do wear cloth I try to limit my time away so I don't have to change away from home. I have only changed a cloth diaper out once and I was lucky enough it was a bathroom clean enough where I could change laying down. I have never had to try but I think getting it on the right way while standing would be next to impossible. I have had to tap into my emergency stash of disposables while in cloth and I just rolled up the cloth into the cover for it and wrapped in in a bag.
So for me to answer you question more directly, if I think I may have to change while out, I wear disposables only.

My son wears cloth diapers (two year old). You carry a wet bag to stow cloth diapers until you get home. It's just a zippered bag (like a pillow case) made of PUL. You can order them online.

For me, I only use cloth at home or on short runs from the house. Either way, I only intend to change at/from home. Otherwise, it's disposables.

That being said, are there others who do change from a cloth diaper while away from home? Any experiences to share?

I think wearing cloth diapers is much like wearing any diapers. I know at first any diaper was a challenge and an embarrassment. Did we all not fear that first diaper change away from home? I sure did. I kept myself as close to home as possible. As time went on I faced that point we all reached and had no choice but to change in public. As much as I stressed out about those first times, it was actually not as bad as my mind had made it out to be.
Those first times were with disposable diapers. But the comfort and absorbency of cloth diapers made me push the limits and then one day I had no choice but to change my cloth diapers away from home. I was more confident by then and it actually went a lot smoother than I ever thought. So now I will wear what ever I feel the day requires, prepare for what may come and just go on. Regardless of what kind of diapers you wear it is always going to be somewhat stressful. We can't help but be angry that we are in that situation. Time and the trials of managing this situation lessen and we go on. Even the (now very rare) leaks or other things that can happen are more manageable and less stressful. I prefer cloth diapers for many reasons, others prefer disposables, in the end they are still diapers. We manage or we fall by the wayside. I home we manage. Papa

For me, the decision about whether to wear cloth or disposables when I'm out and about flows naturally from my toilet mapping. I know which toilets are large and clean enough to accommodate changing cloth diapers, and which are so small as to force me to use disposables. I prefer cloth, but try to use whatever is appropriate.