In Depth Baby Product Reviews Led by a Pediatrician
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If affordability is your main concern, a prefold diaper system may be a reasonable answer to the diapering days. However, in our opinion, there is much better and just as affordable cloth diapering technology around today to keep baby's bottom dry.
REASONS TO BUY
Affordable
Insert available in organic cotton
REASONS TO AVOID
Thick
Bulky
Cover in 5 sizes so need to buy more to size up as baby grows
Only Aplix closures (Velcro-like)
We tested the Bummis Super Brite Cover with their Organic Cotton Prefold. A prefold diaper is a flat rectangular piece of fabric, several layers thick. They require some additional research and work, as they need to be folded the right way to absorb the most where your baby needs it or to fit into the cover correctly. This can be tricky if you are new to cloth diapering.
That being said, prefold diapers are a very affordable way to get into cloth diapering. However, they didn't score very highly due to diminished ease-of-use, bulkiness decreasing baby's comfort, and most importantly, poor performance in our lab testing for absorption. While the Bummis Organic Cotton Prefolds (as well as most prefolds) can absorb a lot of liquid, they fail to pull moisture away from baby, leaving them to feel wetness.
The Bummis Super Brite Wrap and Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold was discontinued in 2019
Our Analysis and Test Results
One of the key benefits of cloth diapering is that it can save you a lot of money when compared to using disposables. Traditionally, the most cost-effective cloth diapering approach has been to use prefolds, which are a fraction of the cost of other insert types.
Prefolds are a "no-frills" way to use cloth diapers and keep expenses down. Prefolds are the kind of diaper your parents or grandparents might have used. The Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold is not much different from the OsoCozy Unbleached Prefolds, another basic "traditional" prefold we tested, except that it is more expensive as its material is organic cotton.
The cotton is soft and fluffy with minimal pilling. Overall, the stitching and workmanship is good, but the corners do have some loose threads.
Absorbency
The Bummis Washable Cotton Prefolds received a 4 of 10 score in our Absorbency testing. Because they are 100% cotton, wicking ability is absent, leaving baby's skin in direct contact with moisture until changing. Alone, this is a great option for potty training. However, during infancy, we recommend using a synthetic liner over the Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold for wicking purposes, particularly if your baby is prone to diaper rash.
Interestingly, Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold (left) which is unbleached like OsoCozy Unbleached Cotton Pre-fold (right, not organic) scored 2 points higher in our absorbency testing.
Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold scored a 4 of 10 in our absorbency lab testing.
OsoCozy Unbleached Prefold scored a 2 of 10 in our absorbency lab testing.
Fit/Leakage
The Super Brite Wrap is recommended by Bummis for long skinny babies. During hands-on testing, the cover leaked once out of the leg gusset in use with a toddler of this body type. Bummis recommends the Super Whisper Wrap for chunky babies as it is roomier and also well-suited to cover bulky fitted diapers.
Comfort
The inside of the Bummis Super Brite Wrap has a sticky feel to it, and the prefold is quite bulky. Other covers that we tested, such as the Thirsties Duo Wrap, are also constructed with a waterproof PUL (PolyUrethane Laminate) coating, but have a much smoother feel.
Ease-of-Use
It is important that we point out that the Bummis Wraps might not be as cost-effective as other prefold systems because of the way their sizing works. Their wrap cover is offered in 5 sizes. Rather than having adjutable snaps or elastics to increase the amount of time a cover can be used, parents have to continue to purchase the next size up as their baby grows.
Additionally, the Bummis Super Brite Wrap is only offered with hook & loop closures. Fortunately, there are laundry tabs which need to be used so that velcro-like material doesn't stick to the rest of your cloth diapers.
Nonetheless, the Bummis Organic Cotton Prefolds will last a long time and don't seem to require the same need for special laundering steps, like "stripping", that synthetic diapers do.
Conclusion
The Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold with Super Brite Wrap will work, but there are less expensive, better performing, and easier to use options available in today's cloth diaper market. If you are open to synthetic materials, consider taking a look at the Flip Hybrid, our Best Value winner in our cloth diaper round-up, not to mention lowest pricing in lifetime cost. We know you will be pleasantly surprised with the Flip.
Video
The following is a video from Bummis detailing how to use their Organic Cotton Prefold with one of their wraps. Get ready for some psychedelic background music.
