Have you ever talked about cloth diapering with a friend, telling her how much she will save and then you hear, “Oh, well…I use Costco (or any other discount large store) diapers, so it’s cheaper for me.” And so many times we think that’s true! At least I did. But, I was pleasantly surprised when Madeline shared with us her findings, including a spreadsheet showing how cloth diapering is more affordable than discount store disposable diapers.
Cloth Diapers vs. Discount Store Disposable Diapers
written for Granola Babies by Madeline Miller
I recently spent most spare moments over a weekend putting together a spreadsheet comparing the price of cloth diapering to the price of disposable diapers at Costco. In addition to satisfying my spreadsheet addiction, this exercise was a necessity to convince my husband, an analytic kinda guy, that the cost savings would be worth the perceived hassle to a cloth diaper newbie. (I’m also motivated by reusability, reduction of chemicals, prevention of diaper rash, support of small businesses, and, okay, they’re darn cute).
There are tons of cost comparisons out there, including the oft cited Diaper Decisions. However, no one compared cloth diapers to the ultra cheap Huggies diapers I can get at Costco. I can pay as low as 14 cents a diaper, while the comparisons are based on a lowest price of 24 cents per diaper. So, I used the Diaper Decisions calculations of the numbers of changes required at each age, plugged in my Costco diaper prices per box for each size, and came up with a total price of $1566 for Costco diapers over 2.5 years.
Here’s where it got tricky. I wondered how much I could save by going the cheaper/more labor intensive routes versus the more expensive/less labor intensive route. To deal with this, I created three different options. One with more prefolds, a second with less prefolds, and a third with all All in Ones. I didn’t do an all prefold option because, realistically, I can’t see myself doing that. I also included the price of cloth diaper accessories and the cost of laundry.
The results? Savings ranged from $501 to $374, and the all All in Ones option was $131 more expensive than disposables. Even coming out close to even would be good enough for me, given the other motivations listed above for switching to cloth. However, there is another factor: if I did cloth diapers, I would also do cloth wipes (and the cost of cloth wipes was included in my list of accessories). At two wipes per change over the course of 2.5 years, I would spend $690 at Costco. Assuming I’d still spend $90 on disposable wipes, the cost savings become higher for each of the cloth diaper options: the range was $1101 to $468 for all three options.
When estimating for cloth diapering, I erred on the side of overestimating costs (I am sure I could get some discounted deals or free diapers, but I calculated as if this would not happen). When estimating for disposables, I erred on the side of underestimating costs. I also had to spend an arm and a leg on expensive diaper creams to treat diaper rash for my first child, so that cost would also be diminished. So, my comparison represents the minimum amount of savings. In reality, each option would likely save even more.
In case you were wondering – the chart worked. I convinced my husband to give cloth diapering a try.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
The link to your Google spreadsheet says not found! I love that you put this together. We switched to Costco diapers when I got pregnant because I couldn't handle the stink issues I was working on. It's nice to see that my desire to get back to cloth now that I'm through that phase is so good for my pocketbook.
Thanks Torena! I fixed the link now.
The link (to the Google chart) still doesn't work for me
I am one of those major couponers who used to get free or almost free diapers.. When I switched to cloth, I went full time right away. I had at least 20-25 packs of sposies stacked in a closet. I sold them ALL and used that money for more cloth. Any serious couponer who uses sposies has a stock pile (to avoid every paying close to full price while … See Morewaiting for the next big deal). What made it financially better for me was the cost of gas and lugging 2 children from store to store. Wasting ALL that time doing transaction after transaction. It was a hassle. I am MUCH happier not having to do that. i don't even look at the sposie deals. We've been using cloth exclusively for over 2 years.
Hey Carla,
I'm actually a couponer, too, but agree that the time and energy associated with getting those drug store or other store diaper deals was just too much for me. Monitoring blogs for deals, printing coupons, lugging my kid from store to store, it was just too much. Plus those deals tend to be so complicated! I still do coupons and especially love CVS. I need to start donating body washes because I have so many free ones!
Giselle will be updating the link to my spreadsheet, but try this one in the meantime.
I'd love any input on the figures I used, since I am totally new to cloth!
I think I fixed it now! I made the link into a PDF, so now you can also save the link and share with others.
Thanks, Giselle!
Don't forget, you can re-sell cloth diapers, but those disposables are done once they are used. And if you have multiple kids, they can all wear the same cloth, saving much, much more
I wonder what kind of change would occur to the cost of cloth diapers if they were handmade by mommy? I sew and have been sewing with a machine for almost the last 16 years of my life -hand sewing about 3 or so years before that, and I'll be 25 this year- so I won't have any problem sewing up my own diapers. I guess it depends on how much I spend on the decorative fabric for the exterior, but I'm sure I could hunt down excellent bargains.
There's a lot more variables that can be factored into this, but of course postulating for every possible scenario isn't ideal for just a brief rundown of costs. You did a great job though!
My only thing is Washing the poop out in the toilet or anywhere else just grosses me out! I know that is dumb and immiture but I can't stand it! Potty training is hard on me but I figure there is hope in sight that I will not have to do any poop washing any time soon! I ahve thought about going cloth because you would save a ton of money and it is much better than the enviroment! But can someone tell me how to avoid the poop rinsing out in the toilet? because I would love an alternative!
Sara, I totally get that! Flushable liners and a diaper sprayers would be perfect for you.
Now add in the savings of each additional child that uses those diapers and the fact that you can get about 50% of your investment back by selling them when your child is done and it really is a HUGE savings.
A tip for the poop adverse folks. Buy a yard of micro fleece and cut it into 3 inch by 7 inch rectangles and it will work as well as the flushable liners but without the expense. The poo just falls right off into the toilet!
Thank you sooo much for the spread sheet!!! I really enjoyed looking at it and it helped me to show my husband what I had been trying to tell him about our cloth diapers!!!
I am glad people are getting some use out of it! My husband definitely wouldn't believe it until he saw it, so I understand. And I also had to make sure he understood this was the minimum amount we'd save. I am a bargain shopper, so I know I can find diapers for better deals than listed in the spreadsheet.
And thanks to those reminding me about using them for another child! I'm not sure if we'll be having another one after the little guy in my belly, but, as noted, I can also sell them.
Your spreadsheet is awesome. As I understand it you based the cost of disposables on Huggies and wipes purchased at Costco. Did you factor in the cost of a Diaper Genie, Diaper Genie inserts or bags, trash bags, and the extra garbage each week? In my area disposing our trash is based on volume. We have to hire private contractors to pick up the garbage. I think adding that in if you haven't already would make a greater case for cloth.
Just stumbled upon this and LMAO. I did the same exact thing except on paper instead of a spreadsheet to convince my husband it was cost effective. We were getting Pamper’s Baby Dry from Amazon at a ridiculous discount with free delivery. I did the calculations to diaper our two kids until each was 3 (1.5 more years for DD, 3 for DS), calculated the full cost of new cloth diapers (gdiapers specifically) with home-made inserts, wet bags, paying for laundry (we use communal washers so its a bit more expensive)… it came out to the same price
I even added in the price of getting a couple used diapers and new inserts for a trial run with DD. He was completely convinced after I told him I’d clean all the poopie diapers 
He’s big into stewardship of the earth though, so it didn’t take much convincing. We haven’t had time to make all the cloth inserts we need to carry us between washes, but I convinced him to get the gDiaper disposable inserts instead of pampers for when we run out of cloth between washes. With discounts and coupons its a couple pennies more per diaper, but totally worth it for the environment.
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