Bleached vs Unbleached

Cotton is naturally cream or ivory in color.  Bleached cotton prefold diapers are white because the thread was bleached prior to being woven.  Although white is more attractive, there are a number of advantages to using unbleached cotton diapers:

• Unbleached cotton is softer as bleaching removes natural cotton oils in the fibers.
• The strength of the fibers is reduced and the fabric is slightly less durable.
• There are additional pollutants as a result of the bleaching process.

The disadvantage to choosing unbleached cotton diapers is that they need to be washed in hot soapy water and dried between 4 to 6 times before you can think of using them as they will not be very absorbent at all.

Saying that, however, there are white cotton prefold diapers on the market which have been whitened in an environmentally friendly way, using peroxide instead of chlorine.

Here are some great deals on unbleached prefold diapers that we have hand picked from amazon.

Here are some great deals on bleached prefold diapers that we have hand picked from amazon.