Making Zorb Diaper Inserts

Hi Sis,

 I have somewhat decent sewing skills, so I decided to make some diaper inserts. When looking up fabric types, I learned about Zorb.

Zorb (thinkingaboutclothdiapers.com)

Have you heard of Zorb yet? Although I had seen it sold on Wazoodle, my first experience with it was in an all-in-one from Mother-Ease, called the Wizard Uno (which, by the way, we love!) Zorb is a blend of bamboo, cotton, viscose and microfiber. It was designed specifically for cloth diapers, with the goal or reducing costs and improving performance.

Each layer of Zorb replaces 2-3 layers of cotton, bamboo, or hemp terry, or microfiber. The manufacturer claims that it absorbs moisture 20x faster than other fabrics, and will hold more moisture. It’s apparently a miracle fabric for diapers too – it’s much less likely to have stink issues that need stripping from hard water or detergent residues!

Zorb looked like the highest quality insert out there, and was super trim. It is also very expensive, at the average seller selling double zorb inserts for $8.00 each! But, by making it myself I was making it affordable (the cost of normal inserts) but getting much better quality. I figured, why not?

I ordered Zorb from Wazoodle Fabrics, which is the only manufacturer of the patented product. I got eleven inserts made from 1 yard of 45″ fabric. The cost was $23.41 which came down to $2.12 per insert.

After, washing and drying the fabric, I measured all my pocket diapers and came up with a size that would work for all of them. I took two pieces of the zorb quilted fabric and sewed 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch away from the border, and then I ran around the whole thing a few times with a zig zag stitch. A serger would have made this easy work, but it came out just fine.

I was rather happy with how they turned out. Look how trim they are compared to my other inserts.

left to right
zorb, microfiber, birdseye cloth diaper with flannel

These do need prepped. Most inserts do, so this was no surprise. They get more absorbent with every wash. I can’t wait to see how they perform. After the second wash they were absorbing rather nicely. I will wash them five times and then put them into the diapers.

Zorb Inserts

Love,

Jamiegoof

EDIT/UPDATE: After some use!

  1. I saw holes forming on the top layer of the zorb inserts after some washing. So, I covered them in cotton flannel. The flannel stopped the problem. 
  2. I found Zorb to be like hemp.  It isn’t soft like cotton or bamboo, and is slower to absorb. I ended up using it as a bottom layer with cotton or bamboo in front.

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44 comments

  1. Silvana says:

    Hi, My name is Silvana Castro, I am from Peru. I read your article about zorb inserts. I want to buy zorb so I can make my own inserts here in Peru. Could you help me with some questions? I found diferent qualities, do you recommend any one in special? any store?
    Thanks in advance!
    Kind regards

    • Jamiegoof says:

      Hello Silvana,
      I have only tried the quilted zorb, I have heard if you don’t buy it sandwiched between two layers of fabric, that zorb is really messy and falls apart. So, when I researched it the dimpled or quilted seemed more favorable.

      Wazzoddle fabrics has patent on zorb. You may have to buy directly from their website or etsy store.

      I did add an update to the blog post about zorb.

      Best wishes,
      Jamie

  2. Kay says:

    How have these been working for you? Do you have to put two in a diaper? Trying to decide if I should buy this or regular bamboo fabric.

    • Jamiegoof says:

      Hello Kay,
      I did a blog update with some info 🙂 They are okay, but I wasn’t as crazy about them as I hoped. They ended up being more like a hemp booster than an insert. I needed to put another insert in front, as they absorbed slower than cotton or bamboo. If I was making inserts again, I would opt for bamboo as I like the fiber better… but, these are very trim which is nice.

      I ended up swapping entirely to flats/prefolds instead of regular pocket diaper inserts, and they work very well!

      • Jennifer Castillo says:

        Hi there! I’ve been looking for some better inserts and came across your blog post about zorb. I also saw your update that you switched to prefolds/flats. Are you using those with covers or in pocket diapers? Do you like them better as “inserts”?

        • Jamiegoof says:

          Hello Jennifer,
          We like double gusset covers. We tried pockets, but they were not our thing. But, we definitely stuffed the pockets with prefolds/flats when we had them.

          I find a pad folded flat or prefold inside a cover is just as simplistic to put on as pocket, and I don’t have to stuff!

        • Jamiegoof says:

          I have tried green mountain diapers flats and prefolds which are made from cotton. Nice quality, but my kids eventually needed more absorbency.

          I ended up preferring stretchy flats made from 300 gsm bamboo stretch french terry. I could get a nicer fit and I didn’t have to booster them. The fabric is an interlock so you can just cut and use your flats, you do not have to serge the edges.

  3. Shauna says:

    This fabric is what I’ve seen the best reviews for. If you were to do it again would you double up by putting hemp on top?

    • Jamiegoof says:

      I would go hemp or bamboo all the way. Zorb did not impressed me in the long run. I found natural fibers to wash up better, and be sturdier.

  4. Katrina says:

    Thank you so much for this post and the further insight in the comments. I’m searching for a trim night time solution for a heavy wetting boy. I thought (just like you apparently) that zorb would be the magical answer to my problems, but it seems it may not be. I’m now thinking that hemp with bamboo on top may be the way to go. Thanks again for your post!

    • Jamiegoof says:

      Hi Katrina,
      Glad you found the post helpful! A bamboo hemp sounds great. I really like those fabrics combined.

      If you haven’t tried it yet, bamboo stretchy french terry flats are very trim and great for nights. I use 300 gsm from natures fabric with a small booster,… they are having a sale right now if you need any diaper fabric (they have pretty much everything!)

      Jamie

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