Comparison of Natural Disposable Diapers

When I began my hunt for a good cloth diaper, I spent months researching which brand I was going to buy. I read reviews, I watch videos, I spoke to other moms about their experience and I embraced diversifying my cloth stash with other great brands.

Why should disposables be any different?

One reason may be because the amount of money you place in cloth is usually a large sum up-front when compared to disposables which you pay for over a period of time.

Recently, we’ve switched from cloth to disposables. This is due for a few reasons, one being the care center my daughter (2 yrs old) attends does not support cloth diaper use past the age of 18 months.

I started buying Huggies Pure and Natural because I thought, based on the packaging, they were a good, natural choice.

It wasn’t until I did a bit of research and reading that I found out I was very much amiss in my original assessment.

The rankings below are sourced from online reviews and the enormous amount of information the good people at Baby Gear Lab gathered  - who do a great job at testing all types of baby products (I was not paid for any of these reviews). 

There are pros and cons to every diaper choice (cloth or disposable) and I encourage every parent to make the best diapering decision for their family.

(SAP is mentioned below in the absorbency category. SAP is sodium polyacrylate and is one reason that disposable diapers are able to be so thin, effective and so absorbent. SAP is understood to be non-toxic (click here for the MSDS) however, if exposed to baby’s skin it can dry the skin out and cause sensitivity which leads some parents to look for diapers with a lower SAP content.)

The Bad, the Good and the Best of your natural diaper choices:

The Bad

Broody Chick Eco-Natural Diapers

Price: $0.55

Overall Score           48 out of 100

Absorbency              2 (contains SAP w wood pulp fiber)

Fit/Leakage              5

Comfort                     7

Eco/Health                8

Origin                         Canada

Biodegradable         100% (compostable too!) 

Broody Chick diapers are very eco friendly and boost compostablily too, however these lack performance (and that’s putting it very nicely) in absorption and construction (ex. leg elastic tears easily).

Bottom Line: I’m not going to waste any more of your time with this option – Broody Chick diapers are expensive and horrendously terrible.

Seventh Generation Free & Clear

Price: $0.32

Overall Score           55 out of 100

Absorbency              2 (contains SAP)

Fit/Leakage              8

Comfort                     8

Eco/Health                5

Origin                         USA

Biodegradable         No 

If you ask a for a natural disposable diaper option, you’ll most likely have someone mention Seventh Generation.

These diapers are no doubt eco/health friendly, boosting chorine free/hypoallergenic/Perfume free/ latex free. The Seventh Generation diaper is slightly brown in color which may give the buyer the impression that it is more natural – unfortunately, the diapers are dyed that tan color during the manufacturing process.

Bottom Line: This brand may be the best known eco-friendly diapers on the market. However, absorbency is ranked middle-of-the-road compared to its other natural competitors. On top of that, it ranked the worst on Baby Gear’s overall performance rankings of natural diaper options.

I guess this goes to prove the power of brand marketing (and couponing) on consumer popularity. Lesson learned. Better to choose something else.

Huggies Pure & Natural

Price: $0.34

Overall Score           62 out of 100

Absorbency              6 (contains SAP)

Fit/Leakage              7

Comfort                     7

Eco/Health                4

Origin                         USA

Biodegradable         No

These are the only diaper on the list that is not Chlorine-Free and, in all honesty, should not even be on this list.

If you rely on judging a book by its cover, the name of these diapers is quite deceiving. Huggies Pure & Natural diapers are not eco/health friendly in the slightest.

I take this personally because I used to buy these diapers before I started this research.

Sure, the product is marketed as seemingly natural with “organic cotton” featured on the packaging materials, but the actual material is not.

Bottom Line: This diaper is relatively expensive to similarly performing diapers and it is NOT very natural. If you looking for an eco and hypoallergenic diaper there are much better options that offer better performance at a lower cost!

The Good

The Honest Company Diapers

Price: $0.55

Overall Score           68 out of 100

Absorbency              6 (wheat/corn blend w SAP)

Fit/Leakage              7

Comfort                     7

Eco/Health                8

Origin                         USA (Made in Mexico)

Biodegradable         inner & outer sheet; plant based PLA

Honest Co Diapers offers unique and super cute prints, I mean SERIOUSLY cute, however absorbency was ranked a bit lower compared to other natural diapers that aren’t as hard on the pockets. 

It’s not an accident you haven’t seen these in your local supermarket travels, these diapers are not available in retail outlets and have to be purchased online which could be considered a drawback – and just to mention again, they are expensive.

Bottom Line: The Honest Company’s mission is one I share and the diaper does rank pretty high on fit/leakage – not mention the marvelously cute designs available - however, absorbency ranks are dismal and that is one of the main pillars of a good diaper. If you have money to blow and you value cuteness over utility, I would suggest these.

Nurtured by Nature

Price: $0.27

Overall Score           77 out of 100

Absorbency              8 (contains SAP)

Fit/Leakage              8

Comfort                     8

Eco/Health                6

Origin                         USA

Biodegradable         Not specified

Nurtured by Nature is an okay naturally manufactured diaper. It’s environmentally friendly, chlorine-free and is hypoallergenic. With an average absorbency rating you can get a better diaper for less cost if you choose Earth’s Best (or if you have the money, opt for BAMBO).

Bottom line: Nurtured by Nature is not a good choice; it’s an average option for a natural disposable diaper. There are better and cheaper options though.

Nature Babycare

Price: $0.35

Overall Score           77 out of 100

Absorbency              8 (SAP w natural material PLA)

Fit/Leakage              8

Comfort                     7

Eco/Health                7

Origin                         Sweden (Made in Turkey)

Biodegradable         Partially

Fragrance free, chlorine free, breathable, biodegradable, natural & renewable material, Nature BabyCare is closely comparable to Earth’s Best- yet just slightly more expensive.

This diaper was reviewed as being soft on the inside with a good fit, but the outer layer is more stiff than comparable diapers. 

Bottom Line: With the absorbency layer incorporating more natural material in combination with SAP, this diaper still has high scores in absorbency. Nature Babycare is constructed well and performs pretty good – if you choose this diaper then you’ve made a good choice. 

The Best

Earth’s Best TendeCare Chlorine Free Diapers

Price: $0.30

Overall Score           86 out of 100

Absorbency              9 (SAP w corn/wheat mixture)

Fit/Leakage              9

Comfort                     9

Eco/Health                6

Origin                         USA

Biodegradable         No 

Earth’s Best diaper was the winner of the BabyGearLab Editors’ Choice award.

True, this diaper is priced slighter higher then conventional name-brands (like Pampers) but it offers the benefits of being a more natural disposable choice – however, it is the cheapest among the top 3 natural diaper choices.

Bottom Line: The absorbance (which is partially made of more natural materials of corn and wheat), fit and price are all there in this choice which explains why so many moms recommended this brand to me when I asked for personal feedback.

Attitude

Price: $0.45

Overall Score           88 out of 100

Absorbency              10

Fit/Leakage              8

Comfort                     9

Eco/Health                7

Origin                         Canada

Biodegradable         Partially - Inner shell & padding 

Attitude diapers have the same high rank in absorbency as the 1# contender, Bambo Diapers. These diapers are made with high quality construction (with environment and health as top priorities by the company based in Montreal).

The fit on this diaper may run a bit big – so if you have a bigger baby, then this might be the ideal choice for you (as long as you have deep pockets too!).

Bottom Line: This diaper is an awesome natural choice, if it weren’t for the just slighter higher price tag, it probably would have been ranked number one.

BAMBO Nature

Price: $0.44 ($0.36 each in 168-pack)

Overall Score           91 out of 100

Absorbency              10 (less SAP w added wheat starch)

Fit/Leakage              9

Comfort                     9

Eco/Health                7

Origin                         Denmark

Biodegradable         80% Biodegardable

This diaper won the Top Pick Award for Best Green Diaper at Baby Gear Lab and was also the highest scoring diaper overall (out performing popular name-brand diapers like Pampers and Huggies).

Also worth noting, BAMBO Nature scored highest in absorbency testing and claims to use less SAP by adding wheat starch absorber.

Another plus - The wood pulp in the absorptive layer is from sustainable forestry.

This diaper does run a bit larger than other brands, but it made of flexible cloth-like materials so it fits well with minimal effort.

Bottom line: Although more expensive than most diapers on the market, it is worth the price (whether you want natural or not!) and highly recommended. Also speaking loudly for the brand, Bambo is a partner of Healthy Child, Healthy World which is one of the world’s leading advocates of educating and helping families learn about living a non-toxic lifestyle!