hemp or bamboo nappies?

[MummyToToby]

does anyone know which is more absorbent?

I would think that hemp is more absorbant, but because of that it takes ages to dry. I have an Ella's house hemp nappy and a few Totsbots Bamboozles and the hemp always needs another 20 mins tumbling more than the babmboozles. Hth

Dunno but I have Ella's House hemp too (no tumble dryer) and they do take a fair while to dry but are great.

Hemp is more absorbent, but takes a long long time to dry. I use Ella's House Bumhuggers, and they take forever in the tumble dryer, and still need an airing for a few hours before going in the draw. Despite this, they are brilliant nappies, although I do love the Tots Bots Bamboozles too as they are so slim. Hemp and bamboo are both great choices!

I've got a bumhugger but don't find it so great on my 14m DS - it needs more padding at the front. Dries twice as slowly as our cotton Ultrafits too and nobody can see the pretty fleece inside! Not impressed but the poppers are good for wrap-free post-bath time (velcro is too tempting for him.)

Have found the cotton tots bots or flat terries to be the most absorbent and quick drying for me.

Now I have just been informed that it is bad for hemp nappies to tumble dry them. I just thought I'd mention.
I do tumble mine for about 10-15 minutes straight after washing them, so they're soft, then line-dry, does speed things along.
So I can't comment on the effects of tumbling completely, but my hemp nappies seem ok, if a little bobbled.
I don't have bamboo, but it would probably be a better bet for a hard-water area.
I love my hemp nappies (well ds's hemp nappies), they are very eco-friendly, apart from the processing and shipping, I think Bamboo is not very eco-friendly in its production - just saw an article somewhere, now where was that hmmm!
I'll get back to you on that one.
My ds is a bit nappy rash prone - since teething started, and hemp is the best for keeping the rash at bay, it's anti-bacterial or something. I find that a hemp nappy with a two layer hemp booster lasts a good 4 hours if on a shopping trip with a beaker permanantly in ds's hand.
We did have a bamboozle, but the containment of poop wasn't good enough for us, but I hear they improve dramatically with age (fluff up).
Most of my hemp nappies are originally from the US, but I do like the non-fleece lined happy hempy with a three layer hemp booster. It's got a big waist for big tums - could do with a cross-over tab.

I tried hemp boosters and didn't find them all that great, I prefer the bamboozles. Got this from the website where I bought my bamboozles:

"Absorbent, quicker drying than cotton, and slim fitting. Bamboo terry has antibacterial properties is very eco-friendly to cultivate and because it is reasonably quick to dry. A great nappy if you want the benefits of a natural fabric next to your baby without the possibility of it becoming rough in hard water areas as cotton or hemp can."

I agree that bamboo is probably a good bet for a hard-water area, it will be nice and soft more easily. I have found that the hemp I have used has grown softer over time.
I found the information re bamboo, being that bamboo is being farmed intensively with heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers, and because it provides a high return, is being planted in areas cleared of forest and other more diverse plants.
So I definately think it would be a good idea to look for organic bamboo. Hemp is pretty much organic, as it doesn't require pesticides.

Bamboo is actually grown WITHOUT pesticides and herbicides because it's such a fast growing and invasive crop that it's more keeping it down that's the problem! There is no organic certification for bamboo but it is essentially organic. Wham-Bamboo nappies are also oeko-tex certified free of nasties so a good choice in my opinion.

I have read that bamboo doesn't require require pesticides, however pesticides are still used to speed up the process of intensively farming bamboo according to an article I read a while ago.
I just thought I would post the article I read a while ago which raised some environmental concerns about bamboo growth
here
The article is about the use of bamboo in flooring, but the concerns expressed were about bamboo growth in general.
Re the WamBamboo, do you have more information about the oekotex certification of the bamboo, as I had been told by a large fabric retailer that bamboo had not been certified yet, but that the Chinese were working on a certification criteria?
Is it the farming method that is certified or the production of the fabric. How does it actually work, I find it all very confusing?

Hemp I just don't like it! I had a bumhugger, which I loathed. Now I have a hemp stuffie which is a little better, and pretty fast drying. But I still don't like it. Bamboo, OTOH, is gorgeous!

I don't have any hemp nappies but love the bamboo ones. I have bamboozles but my favourite are wambamboo which are so slim but ultra absorbant and because the booster is removable, I find they dry slightly quicker than the bamboozles.

I have both hemp and bamboo nappies and really like the bamboo nappies for nights, they are soft and quite trim. I have only tried bamboozles, and usually boost them with a couple of hemp boosters all covered up with a woolly wrap.
I have quite a few hemp nappies and really like them as well, the ones I use are from the US though and are very trim fitting, but there's not that much in this country that compares. The only nice nappy that I can think of with hemp in it is the swaddlebees fitted nappy, with a hemp core, although there is now a hemp version as well, which I have heard is very nice.
It's a shame, I kind of have a soft spot for hemp as a plant, because it is so versatile,it's non-invasive, you can use it to feed farm animals, fuel cars, make paper and the oil has very high levels of GLA (found in breastmilk - very healthy). It's also very strong - the strongest natural fibre and is stronger when wet than when dry - so handy for a nappy. Like bamboo it is anti-bacterial, so good for nappies from that point of view. Hemp is also anti-mildew, again quite a useful property in a nappy
However, pandas eat bamboo shoots and they are very cute.
Oh I just thought of another hemp nappy that is nice - hemp stuffie, just a fab night nappy with a fleece inner.