gdiapers Update: Having Issues!

I want to love gDiapers... I really do. They are almost wonderful, except for one key piece, and when that piece fails the whole system fails.

First, here's a look at the gDiaper with the cloth insert:

It's a three piece system: the outer (orange) cover is cloth with velcro. The liner snaps to that and is the waterproof layer. And the gcloth insert is the part that absorbs the pee/poop. The covers are fine, and the gcloths are very nice quality, fluffy, soft, absorbent. The problem I have is with the liner - the waterproof layer.

This is really the key to the whole diaper. Without it they are basically underwear; ie, not waterproof at all. They snap out so that in the event of a messy poop you can put in a fresh liner and keep using the (orange) cover. They fit like underwear rather than a diaper - that is, they should line up with the creases along your baby's legs and crotch. To do so, and to contain the waste, the liner MUST be elastic. Herein lies the problem.

They are not truly elastic - not in the sense of the kind of elastic band in your baby's pants. As you can see in the above photo, the liner is some sort of vinyl piece, and along the edges is a flexible plastic coating of some sort. This is what makes it conform to the baby's legs like an elastic band. However, as you can also see in the above (and below) photo, it breaks down very quickly. Here's another look at the liner's breakdown of integrity:

I checked my bank account and confirmed that I bought these liners online on June 16th. Plus a few days' shipping, that means they have been in use for 4 weeks. Unacceptable. And the reason I bought liners 4 weeks ago? Is because the 6 liners that came with my diapers were already kaput. You see, once the elasticity of the liner goes, the diaper is no longer waterproof. Now I am getting pee leaks with practically every diaper change, which means not only am I having to change the entire diaper, not reusing the liners or covers, but also Miles's entire outfit. Unacceptable.

To add insult to injury, this is now happening to one of my 4 week old liners:

Unacceptable.

Now, for the most part I followed the care instructions, which are to machine wash warm and line dry. Except that Mr. I once threw them in the dryer by mistake. ONCE. You can imagine that in the midst of the many things parents have to do every day, this is an easy mistake to make. And they're ruined forever??? That's just shabby construction. These are diapers. They need to be able to stand up to some wear and tear, otherwise they have no business being in the baby product industry. I have seen some parents on the F.acebook group talking about putting them in lingerie bags and washing them in cold on the delicate cycle separate from all your other laundry... I'm sorry, I don't want to have to handle diapers like precious French lace. Ridiculous.

What frustrates me even more is that customer service was very unhelpful. It just so happened that I was invited to give them some feedback, so I wrote this email:

Hi Gillian, Heather, and Kelli,

We are happy with our gdiapers overall but I do happen to have a question.
Are there any plans to improve the elastic on the liners? I find they break
down quickly... and if a person's husband (ahem) happens to throw them all
in the dryer, or we miss one as we're separating the wash, they are badly
damaged even after one run. I noticed that they are not really elastic, just
a plastic coating that breaks apart. We've only had our g's for a couple of
months and I have already thrown out 2 liners, and the other 10 are
beginning to deteriorate as well. This is pretty much my only complaint
about g's and would make me hesitate a little to recommend them.

Thanks,
[Ibis]

The reply I got:

Hi [Ibis],

Thank you for your email and your feedback. We are constantly looking to upgrade our materials and make our diapers and components better and better. Being a (green) diaper company, we have to make sure that the product is sustainable, affordable, waterproof, and that it would be gentle against babies skin as well. As soon as new technology is available, we test it. In fact, we have been testing new products for the liners and hope to make some improvements soon.

In the meantime our snap-in liners should last about 6 months or roughly 100 washes with gentle care (cold or warm delicate machine wash, no harsh detergents or bleach, air dry). Our care instructions state machine wash and not hand wash which can add to their degrading faster: http://www.gdiapers.com/gdiapers101/tips-and-hints/changing-a-gdiaper.

The reason we recommend machine washing is because we've learned that hand washing tends to get too rigorous, stretching the elastic farther than it would during typical wear; stretched and cracking elastic is the result. With gentle care and machine washing many people get much more time out of their liners.

Thanks again for your feedback and your support. Have a great day!

Kind Regards,

Heather McPhee
Diaper Therapist to the Eco Savvy

Really, a form letter? I mean, it's obvious that they didn't even read my complaint since I am not hand washing my liners. Unacceptable. I don't know if gDiapers is one of those companies that trolls blogs looking for reviews, but I hope they do and I hope they find this one. I am close to giving up and just going back to H.uggies. I don't want to spend $25 on a new set of liners every 4 weeks - between that and the cost of washing these there would be no point to using cloth at all, except to make more work for myself. At the moment we can't afford to invest in better cloth diapers, but for now I can NOT recommend these until they improve the liners. That will be my final word on gDipes until I see a new & improved product.