I’ve switched to using cloth diapers just recently, The Rearz night prefold. Yes after the first five washes to break them in they got softer and more quilted. And just slightly more in subsequent washes. What I’d like to know is will they ever get super soft? They still have this “heavy/rough” feel to them where they’re not as soft as I expected. Is this a process that will take months to achieve over dozens of washes? Or are they as soft as they’re going to get after those initial washes to prep them.
Are they birdseye or gauze or flanel If They are eiher gauze or flanel they will get very soft and comfortable and they all say don’t use fabric softener because it cuts down on the absorbency but I always use it and it doeasen’t
make them any less absorbent but it makes them really comfortable. The birdseye weave doesn’t get to soft regardles what you do to them and how many tiims you wash them. I have been wearing cloth diapers since 1968 so I concider my self some what of an expert with them. Good luck and don’t give up because when you get them really soft you’ll be in heaven
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You could wear a folded dish towel next to your tush. The system that I use is a gauze contour diaper with its accompanying gauze soaker the a folded terry bath towel and finally a folded terry hand towel for a liner which makes fecal cleanup much easier. If you were to use a dish towel for a liner in your diaper it would become very soft after a few washing and give you the feeling that you’re looking for. I lay the towel out lengthwise on the diaper and fold it into a third the width so that it’s narrow enough to fit between my legs. Then laying on my back with the diaper and the towel(s) pulled between my legs I unfold and “V” out the front and rear of the towel, leaving the part between my legs still folded, which traps liquid in the front and solids in the rear. This is especially effective if you sleep on your side. Even the terry towel I use become quite soft and are very comfortable. An additional advantage of the terry is its ability to absorb rapidly which helps reduce leakage from flood urination. Hope you find the softness you’re looking for. Stay padded.
The Rearz night prefold is a cotton twill. Which is softer (and quilts up nicely) than the Birdseye prefold from baby-pants. (Which did not quilt up at all.)
So can you tell me if the gauze ones would quilt up at all? By quilt up I mean where the surface becomes puffy and wrinkly. Baby-pants does have a gauze as well that I might try to add next order as I only have 7 total but would like to have additional for when I want to wear all day and not have to worry about doing another load of washing every day.
I have experience with lot’s of gauze diapers and there are different cotton types (manufacturers), which makes a difference in the softness. DPF used to sell a super light and soft gauze diaper about 25 years ago, but the company that made them no longer does. Changing Times Diaper Company sells a gauze cotton twill that gets pretty soft and gets waves in it after a half dozen washes. On the other hand, Adult Cloth Diaper has a gauze pre-fold that’s almost as rough as a birdseye weave. I’ve never tried a Rearz gauze so I can’t tell you where it lies, but the point is not all gauze diapers are the same. Kins diapers are flannel and they get pretty soft after a handful of washes too. Check out this site to give you a primer on the types of cloth diapers.
The Rearz is the same as the CTDC. Same fabric, layering, and dimensions, and made by the same company in Pakistan, which in turn makes a huge portion of the cloth baby diapers out there. So, IMO, the Rearz and CTDC prefolds are the most “authentic” ABDL prefolds you can get, and I really like them…
But…
No, they don’t ever get really soft. Not according to my own definition, anyway, and not by comparison to the old Curity gauze diapers of my youth. It’s one of the reasons I’ve asked Robert of CTDC if he’d consider doing a run in bamboo fabric, which IS gloriously soft, and also used in baby prefolds. (If you’re looking for some ultra-soft stuffers, pick up some toddler-size bamboo prefolds. Some good brands are Imagine, Nicki’s Diapers, and OsoCozy (they all sell regular cotton diapers too).
The somewhat unsoftness of cotton twill diapers is one of the reasons I wrote this post-turned-article years ago. Perhaps it would help you. I think there’s often a mistaken assumption that those of us who were diapers by choice always mean to extract absolute maximum absorbency from them. That definitely doesn’t apply to me; I’d rather balance comfort and function. I find that periodic application of Ecover softener accomplishes that. And one key takeaway from my write-up is that softener won’t wreck your prefolds. If you take it too far, just stop applying it and your diapers will be back to normal absorbency after a few washes.
FWIW! 
Hey Cottontail, If Robert dose agree to make a run of bamboo prefolds can you post it on here I would definitely get one or two.
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It’s been years. I should ask him again. You should drop him a note also. And, really, we should ask Rearz too. My fear is that both of these companies are focused on their disposable offerings now, but perhaps with the right spin, a bamboo offering could be justified. I think some people with existing stashes might be motivated to order more diapers just because of how great these bamboo diapers feel.