GroVia vs. GroBaby

I know every cloth diapering Mama has her favorites, and is rarely swayed to a different type of thinking. Still, after using the new GroVia shells and soaker pads for only a couple of weeks, I felt the need to post a review/comparison on the difference between GroBaby and GroVia. 

I have posted several blogs about how much I love GroBaby diapers, both the biosoakers and the cloth inserts. They are great, and remain great! Of course, it is nearly impossible to buy them anymore, but if you want to try cloth diapers and want a deal, go to Bumrite Diapers, where they still have some GroBaby in stock, having bought out the last of Natural Baby Co.'s supply. 

I have not tried a huge variety of cloth diapers. I tried gDiapers, mostly using the flushie inserts, but also using some microfiber cloth inserts. They were a failed experiment. We gave it almost 2 full years and even I finally ceased to believe they were awesome. I used a Bumgenius 3.0 AIO pocket for awhile... not a fan. It HAS to be washed after each use! I also tried a multitude of other covers. Some were OK, some stank. 

I had pretty much given up being environmentally friendly in the diaper department until I stumbled upon GroBaby. Then they became GroVia. Now, I have gone from a "sometimes I throw a cloth insert in the mix overnight for extra absorbency", to a full-on cloth diapering mama. But, I am the only one in the house who uses the cloth inserts, so it is mostly on the weekends only, but the biosoakers are more environmentally friendly than even the most eco-friendly sposie... so I still feel better about my diapering habits than say, the person who uses pampers. 

I digress. 

I received my new stash of GroVia shells and soaker pads from Bumrite Diapers (I ordered their "True Hybrid Package" which contained 6 shells, 18 soaker pads and 3 packages of biosoakers at an awesome price). I washed and washed and washed, trying to get those soaker pads ready for use as soon as possible. I washed and dried them 2x a day for 4 days. After 8 full cycles, I decided I could start using them...since they would only get better the more I used and washed them!

I thought GroBaby was awesome. Seriously, compared with the new GroVia soakers, GroBaby stinks! The first diaper I changed, I had to stop myself from automatically throwing the shell into the cloth diaper pail. I said, "wait... check it first, it may not be wet." Thanks to the new waterproof back on the GroVia soaker pads, you don't need to wash the shells after each and every use! 8 times out of 10, the shell isn't even remotely moist when I change the diaper. 1 out of the remaining 2, it is so mildly moist, I spray some odor remover and hang it in the sun... then it is ready for another use a couple of hours later! It is so great to cut down on laundry. Especially since I don't have and can't afford a stash of 30 shells! And now with our second's arrival imminent, being able to reuse shells is going to be key!

Have the biosoakers changed? Yes, they have. Again, for the better!!! The sticky tabs aren't impossible to remove from the shells anymore. They actually don't stick too great when you just lay them in, but once you take the diaper off, they are nice and stuck, but it doesn't require all your patience to get them off without leaving behind half the sticky residue! Plus, still awesomely absorbent. I admit to sometimes being a bad mother who totally forgets to change her 2 yr old's diaper. It is not on purpose. I say, "Silas, we need to change your diaper!", he, of course, screams, "No!" and runs away. Before I have a chance to get him, I turn to "do something else real quick", next thing I know, another hour has passed and it has now been almost four hours. eek! Leaks leaks leaks! Nope. Full diaper, no leaks. They really are super absorbent. My only complaint is that they are still pretty much impossible to open in order to flush the inner contents...so I don't bother. Since I can to compost (which we don't do because we don't have a place for a compost bin) or trash the outer portion, we just trash the whole thing. BUT, we put them in biodegradable Diaper Dekor diaper pail bags... so the whole thing is less likely to be chillin' in a landfill when my 10x great-grandchildren are having kids. 

And what about the shells? They are barely different. 1/2 higher rise, which for people like me who have really tall kids, is awesome! I have always had a rise problem with Silas, he is in the 90% percentile for height. The 1/2" goes a long way. And the Tuck-in Laundry tabs... awesome! Now I don't need to constantly detach all the shells from each other in the wash. They were difficult to figure out at first, but thanks to Angela at Bumrite diapers, who posted a little step-by-step "how to use the laundry tabs" on her website and facebook, including pictures, it is really easy. At first the Aplix was really really strong, making it actually difficult to pull apart with one hand when trying to change a diaper, but that has loosened up as well--in a good way. 

All in all, I can't believe they were able to take such an awesome product as GroBaby and make it 20x more awesome, but they did! I still love my GroBaby, and I use the soakers at night, on top of a biosoaker for my little wetter. It is the ONLY way I can avoid a leaky diaper at night. Of course, if I stopped letting Silas guzzle water right before bedtime, that would probably help too. 

Anyway, for anyone who is wondering if GroVia is worth the cost, worth reinvesting $$ into your cloth diaper stash, it totally is. The system is crazy easy to use, on the go, out of the house, or in it. The diapers are also nice and slim compared to most, so pants and stuff pull up easily over them and baby doesn't get that HUGE tushy look that many CD's offer. To offset the cost of buying all these diapers... I sold all my old gDiapers! Sure, I didn't make back all I had spent on the g's originally, but I made enough to cover the costs for my new GroBaby and GroVia stash...