Delaminated Diapers

What exactly is a delaminated diaper?  You may have had a diaper delaminate, and not realized what was going on.  Most modern cloth diapers are made of a cotton or polyester fabric which has a plastic coating applied to one side, making the fabric waterproof. 

The outer portion of your diaper is the woven fabric, and the plastic coating layer is on the inside of your diaper.  This plastic coating forms a waterproof barrier which keeps your baby’s urine inside the diaper.  Delamination is when the plastic backing on the PUL or TPU pulls away from the fabric.  This means that your diaper is no longer waterproof.

This diaper is delaminated, but not ripped.  You can see that the plastic “film” has pulled away from the outer fabric.  The lining is no longer smooth and intact, but the layers have separated. It can still be used, but it will not be the most reliable diaper as the lining can rip easily at any time.

As long as there are no holes or tears in the plastic lining, you can continue to use your diaper even though it is delaminated.  However, once the plastic coating (which is very thin) rips, your baby’s urine will be able to escape between the plastic and the outer fabric.  The urine can then seep through the weave in the fabric, and you will have leaks.

This diaper has delaminated and torn around the leg casings.  Urine can easily flow between the layers and seep out of the outer fabric, causing leaks.

If your diaper is delaminated, you should contact the manufacturer.  Depending on the age of your diaper, and the manufacturer’s warranty, they may replace the diaper for you.

Sometimes there is a bad batch of fabric which did not bond properly, and the manufacturer may be aware of it.  Sometimes diapers are just old and worn out, causing delamination.  If you have not been following the recommended care/wash instructions for your diapers, then you may have caused pre-mature wear and delamination.  This is one reason why it is so important to follow the manufacturer’s care guidelines!

I don’t throw away my delaminated diapers.  I save them to use as swim diapers.  While you could spend money to purchase a specially made swim diaper, these old pockets/covers will work fine. 

A swim diaper should have no absorbency that will hold the pool water and weigh down your baby. But you need the diaper to catch solid waste.  Using a delaminated pocket diaper works perfectly, because you don’t need it to keep the liquid in the diaper.  You will probably need to size it down one size to fit your baby properly, since there will be no insert in the pocket.