Are Cloth Diapers Really Cheaper?

A cost comparison of three major brands and styles of cloth diaper- Fuzzi Bunz, Bummis and chinese prefolds, versus disposable diapers. These three brands represent a variety of prices.

Well, why don't we put pen to paper and do a little cost comparison? We'll start by comparing the Cadillac of cloth diapers, Fuzzi Bunz, with disposables:

Your cost for exclusive use of Fuzzi Bunz:

Whoa, hold on! The Consumer Reports estimates disposable diaper use to cost between $1500 and $2100. Using Fuzzi Bunz costs about the same as an economy disposable! Don't panic, there is one important factor to remember- resale value! If you take good care of them, you can use them for future children or you can sell your used Fuzzi Bunz for at least 50% of their new retail value (that's probably a low estimate). Your final cost for using Fuzzi Bunz is:

$769.14!!!! That's $730 to $1330 CHEAPER than disposables!

What if you're really on a tight budget? Well, you can use a very functional economical system of Chinese Prefolds and Bummis Super Whisper Wraps:

You don't need to purchase doublers because you can always use the newborn size for doublers. You can reuse or resell the Super Whisper Wraps for at least 50% of their new retail value. So your final cost for an economical system of Chinese Prefolds and Bummis SIWW is:

$446.36!!!! That's $1054 to $1654 CHEAPER than disposables. Wow!!!!

To be fair, there are some extra costs for use of cloth like water and energy use. But there are also extra costs associated with disposable use- like treating more diaper rash and longer diaper use. For the purposes of making this cost comparison, I'm considering the "extras" with cloth and disposable to be a wash (no pun intended!) I just wanted to make an easy one to one comparison between cloth and disposables. Maybe one day I'll come up with a more complex diaper matrix!