Talk to me about booster absorbency!

[lollipopmother]

What material is the most absorbent? Hemp seems to be the most expensive so I assumed that was the most absorbent, but then I'm sure I read that Micro was supposed to be very absorbent too so now I'm not so sure.

Also, if I put a fleece-topped liner into my Wonderoos as a second insert would that be bad?

Hemp and bamboo are both very absorbent, but take ages to dry. Ordinary terry boosters are almost as good and a lot cheaper, and dry a lot faster (and cheapo face cloths or old towels/tea towels cut up do a perfectly good job imo - you can make them the size you want and fold them rather than have layers of cloth sown together).

Some people swear by microfibre, but personally I don't think it is as good, and also it tends to hold on to smells more than natural fibres, although it is quickest of the lot to dry.

A fleece topped liner as an extra insert runs the risk of reducing absorbency by trapping moisture between the 2 layers of fleece rather than letting it sink into the absorbent liners, but give it a go and see what happens - maybe put it fleece side against the waterproof outer of the wonderoos, so that all the absorbent stuff is between the 2 layers of fleece?.

I find bamboo the best, takes as long to dry as hemp but does not go as crunchy.

Fleece won't absorb anything so is no good as a booster. You could use it as a liner if you wanted - I use fleece liners inside my fleece lined pocket nappies without any problems (always have done).

Hemp plus microfibre is a good combination. Hemp takes a while to absorb but holds loads, microfibre absorb very quickly but will get saturated relatively quickly. Put the two together and you get a quickly absorbing booster with a large reservior. That said, hemp needs loads of prewashing to get the absorbancy up so it's best to buy used IMO. Hemp goes stiff if you line dry completely so bear that in mind.

I agree with nappyzone about bamboo. Not sure which bamboo booster is best for the huge wonderoo pocket - NZ will probably know though.

tbh it's not just the material that matters with boosters, the design plays a part too. GAD inserts are excellent (but a bit pricey) because of their design. Number of layers, shape and size are all important too and sometimes,like roskva says, a face cloth does just the job you need at minimal cost.

Oh I know that fleece doesn't absorb anything, it's just that I've got some bamboo boosters with a fleece top that I think makes my DDs bits red, so I was wondering whether I could use them to boost my Wonderoos as they'd go in the pocket and thus not be touching DDs skin.

I find that microfibre has a slightly 'wet dog' smell to it after being used, but it'd have to really stink for me not to use the Lovables because they dry so quickly that they're a God-send.

Thanks for the help ladies!

Oooh right . Well you'll just have to give them a go and see how you get on.

Microfibre = wet dog is quite common. If they start to get really bad you can do something to get them all nice and fresh smelling again .