hemp vs. bamboo, I did an experiment

[lakemama]

I got a little science-y while my son was taking a bath. Last night I was having a PM convo with another mama about hemp vs. bamboo. So I was curious. About a month ago I switched from hemp to using bamboo prefolds and I was having some leaking. But I was having leaking in whatever he wore, disposables included.


I put a bamboo prefold, a zorb insert, a Babykicks premium, and one I made that is hemp/bamboo/zorb (left to right). For kicks I also put a micro over a Hemp Babies on the ledge of the sink, and a cotton washcloth (since I don't use cotton) to see what would happen to all the variables. I poured about 3/4 of a cup of warm water on each. Here's what happened initially-

my combo- absorbed right away, puddling on counter but I could see the wicking back into the insert
BK Premium- same thing
zorb- absorbed right away, less wicking as the other two, but some
bamboo prefold- absorbed it all, no puddling
micro/hemp babies- pooled on the top and didn't absorb, then it did, but water running into the sink right away
cotton- absorbed right away, but water running into the sink

When I lifted them up, I still had a small puddle under- everything but the bamboo prefold. The counter was largely dry there.

I noticed that the bamboo was wet all over, while everything else centralized where I poured it. The cotton also wicked all over, but not to the extent as the bamboo.

Continued giving DS a bath, 30 minutes later here's what I had.
The cotton and the micro/hemp were wet under, remember they were the ones that the water ran off immediately.
The hemp, the zorb, and my combo had significantly less moisture under them. But still a tiny bit.
The bamboo had virtually nothing.

So in my non-controlled barely scientific experiment bamboo outperformed what I thought was my beset option. Go figure!

To the touch 30 minutes later they all felt dampness in this order. Least to most.
1- bamboo
2- Babykicks, my combo (the same)
3- zorb
4- the cotton washcloth and the hemp/micro
It's interesting how drastically different the bamboo prefold distributes the wetness. The zorb was soaked all over. The Babykicks is still located to the center, the ends are dry. My bamboo/hemp one is dryish on the ends, but less so than the BK.

I was pretty surprised!

[meljc]

Very cool! I have virtually identical hemp and bamboo inserts and I always debate which one to use for night. For some reason I always lean toward hemp, but maybe I need to re-think that.

[tomandkara]

Super interesting! Thanks for posting!

[Palooka]

Neato!!

[Celestials]

Very cool! What brand is your bamboo prefold?

[lalaith]

Thanks for this, it was really interesting! Why dont more people use bamboo, then!

[togetherinthelandofoz]

Thanks for all that info!

Originally Posted by Celestials Very cool! What brand is your bamboo prefold?

I would say it's a medium Imagine Bamboo/Cotton prefolds....they are so soft!

[lakemama]

Originally Posted by Celestials Very cool! What brand is your bamboo prefold?

Imagine from Nickis

[lakemama]

Yes it is. I just unloaded 3 dozen because I'm going to AIOs but kept a dozen to use with Flips. I wanted smalls, but they didn't have them so I serged it to be shorter (for pad fold stuffing). They are SUPER soft!

[Poodlemum]

Originally Posted by lalaith Thanks for this, it was really interesting! Why dont more people use bamboo, then!

It's a lot more expensive would be my guess. I absolutely LOVE bamboo, it's all I use in my fitteds. But the cheapest you can find it is about $8/yd during a coop and that's not including shipping since it's pretty heavy.