Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My Unsolicited Review of Coolababy and Rainbow BB diapers

~~~~~~~ UPDATE ~~~~~~~

I've had these diapers for several months now. After you read my original review below, please CLICK HERE to read an update! Thanks for stopping by!

~~~~~~Original Post ~~~~~~~

I have been an E-bay addict lately as I tried to scout out some new yet inexpensive cloth all-in-one diapers. I have some very nice SposoEasy dipes I purchased from a friend, but I wanted to add to my stash. I kept seeing tons of these made-in-China sets of diapers sold in lots from 4 to 24. They end up being around $6.50 to $7.50 each, depending on the shipping and if they include extra inserts.

IMG_1040 The Coolababy cloth pocket diaper I purchased came in several cute colors. I looked for one that included a second insert for the pocket. It came in a reasonable amount of time, being that it came from China. When you look at the description on E-bay, you have to weed through the poorly translated English. I actually sort of enjoyed this part. For example:

  • according to the size of your baby's urine choose thick or thin diapers, going out at night or optional Thick, thin normally used.

3. Lining is a strong water permeability, when the baby urinating, urine will soon be absorbed through the lining to all the diapers inserts.

I would hope when my baby is going out for a night on the town he remembers to use the optional Thick diaper. There is also a fairly straight forward set of washing instructions on the listing, which is good because they don’t come with any additional instructions in the packaging and a cryptic half-Chinese character tag sewn in.

The Rainbow BB cloth pocket diapers are so very similar that I believe they may be made at the same manufacturer for two different wholesalers. Actually the listing for the Rainbow BB diapers call them Coolababy in the text! They both come in similar colors (Rainbow BB more pastels, Coolababy more basic colors), they both have a very similar design with a few variables, and they both have identical inserts. They also have some fun translations on their listing:

Afterall, the like these of the with cloth, it'the s not saving money of the only about ….. It'the s not environment of the saving our of the only about ……and it'the s not saving our of the only about health. It'the s also every minute of the and loving of the duper CUTE of the looking super of the about baby of it!

Duper CUTE of the looking super!!! Exactly what I was looking for!!

Here’s the specifics….

IMG_1042IMG_1041

You can see the slight difference in color. The Rainbow BB PUL material on the outer cover seems to be just slightly better quality. Also, Rainbow BB has an extra row of snaps across the top and the elastic legs are slightly more snug. The Coolababy diaper is a good fit on my chunky baby, but I think would not be as snug on a thinner child (read: leaky?). Both snaps are durable, the Rainbow BB snaps seemed a bit better, but it is slightly newer so maybe just less worn. I played with the adjustable rise, but I have a hard time believing a 7 pound baby would fit either of these. Both have a very nice microfleece inner layer and extremely absorbent inserts. We used these overnight with no leaks, and no blowout in the morning (so far!)

IMG_1044 IMG_1046

The Coolababy diaper has microfleece right up the top, while Rainbow BB has PUL turned. Either one seems fine. I think I like the Rainbow BB pocket a bit better with the extra flap inside. The Coolababy pocket is slightly more wide, so easier to stuff, but the pocket is open at the end so if the microfleece shifts too much you may end up with PUL right against baby’s skin. Both wash well and dry fast either on the line or on medium heat in the dryer. After some long term use, I’ll probably post again as to the wear and tear and how they’re holding up.

Overall, for the price, they seem like they will be decent diapers. I think I like the Rainbow BB slightly better than the Coolababy. Some tips for hunting on E-bay: These are usually a buy-it-now item. Look for listings for free shipping, or remember to factor shipping into the cost of the diaper. You really should be able to snag these for less than $8 each with second inserts included! I would not at all recommend the Babyland Diapers as the inner lining looks like terribly cheap polyester. I was totally wrong about Babyland Diapers, you can read my review for them HERE!

There wasn’t much info about these so I wanted to post my experiences. If anyone ever tries SunBaby, SweetDollBaby or any of the other similar products, I’d love to hear what you thought.

13 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Nice review! Love the broken English translations haha that gave me a good laugh!

The Williams' said...

Hi! I am changing my baby over to cloth dipes. It is becoming an obsession, really. :) Anyway, glad you wrote the review about the Rainbow BBs. I have never bought any cloth dipes and I'm a bit nervous about buying dipes on ebay (although I have purchased a car!!). Maybe because the dipes are coming from overseas, or just because I am nervous they won't fit my baby. She is a pretty chunky one, about 16 lbs at three months old. Anyway, how are they working so far?

Cave Baby said...

Man! I wish I would've seen this a few days ago! I bought 18 Coolababy diapers with 18 inserts (I couldn't find any with 36 inserts), but until reading this blog I had never heard of Rainbow BB diapers. And they appear the be the superior diapers? Well, perhaps in a few months I'll order some RBB dipes.

Thank you so much for posting this! There are not enough reviews for these diapers, and like I said, I wasn't even aware of the existance of the Rainbow BB - and I'm on multiple cloth diapering sites. The prices of these diapers are far lower than buying used BG, HH, or FB, and if they're good diapers, then you really can't go wrong! Thanks again!
Sarah

Unknown said...

Thank you for your comparison.

I have spent all day looking for information on Rainbow BB and have not found anything! I now know they are just as good as coolababy (which have good reviews) so will go ahead and buy some.

Ash said...

Bought the Rainbow BB after reading your review and I love them! Thanks for sharing the info that I could not find anywhere else! Now I am trying to spread the word :)

CDM said...

I am wondering how you wash/dry them? Please continue to post on how they are standing the test of time! They look really nice!

Elizabeth said...

Great info! I just got some Rainbow BBs, but have been using the coolababys for about 6 months now. I think the microfleece in the RBBs looks like it's a higher quality. I had a lot of problems with the PUL in the coolababys. Wrinkles began to appear around the lengthwise snaps, then all over. Tears in the PUL were only a wash or two behind. I think this was 1 part my fault for not always unsnapping before washing, 2 parts inferior quality. The RBBs seem to have a more durable PUL, but like you said, it's hard to compare a new RBB to a used Coolababy.

As a side note, I remember reading the coolababys weren't recommended for under 10lbs. I used paper newborn diapers than switched over to these. I prefer a snap, but hear that the Kawaii velcro style diapers are a great quality low cost option for newborns. My friend didn't like them much for her little guy as he got older, not even the snap style. Apparently the velcro got a great newborn fit, but not much else.

MegB said...

Have you used BumGenius diapers? That's all I use now and have not had a problem. Just wondering how the Rainbow BB's compare to BumGenius. Thanks for your posting. Very thorough and helpful.

mackenzie said...

i my gosh i just laughed until i cried. thanks for the review!

pasquale said...

My new grandson is wearing Happy Heinys minis. These are great cloth diapers. Made is USA from USA materials. They have many sizes. Not super expensive considering they may last through several children.

Jeff, Sally & and Carmen Willbanks said...

Best diaper review ever. Thanks!

Jena said...

I've been using Oh Katy's with my daughter, and I just got some Ecobumz, which have a different waterproof layer than any other cloth diaper I've seen. I live in Canada, so getting cloth diapers from Ebay is a little more difficult (read: expensive) than it would be if I still lived stateside. Recently a seller listed a bunch of diapers as "Thirsties Duo Fab Snap Pocket Coolababy Cloth Diaper." I'd like to remind people to read carefully. Clearly this seller would like the undiscerning bidder to think they're bidding on Thirsties brand diapers.

Unknown said...

I have coolababy bamboo charcoal color with double gusset. It's been a few weeks since we are using them and they leaks every time! I'm not talking about overnight either. I even adjusted the rise to different setting and nothing works. May be the fleece ones are better.