FAQ #2: Why don’t you seal your wet bags?

I hate answering this question…such a sticky situation.

Let me start with the first reason: I don’t have a sealing machine!

When I decided that this “hobby” of mine would be a little more long-term that originally thought I had to make some decisions about what kinds of things I was willing to invest in. The first thing that came to mind was: should I get a sealing machine? The price is affordable and perhaps it would create a better product for my customers?

After some thought I decided this was not an investment I wanted to make. Here are some reasons why (please note these are based on my opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of others):

1) A bag with sealed seams is not more effective than a bag without sealed seams.
Let’s be honest, unless you are rinsing your diapers with a diaper sprayer or dunking them in the toilet, the natural moisture of a wet diaper is not going to leak through a wet bag without sealed seams. If you are dunking your diapers or rinsing them than you might want to consider a wet bag system designed for this type of moisture (pail liner in a plastic pail would be ideal).

2) If I decided to make wet bags with sealed seams I’d have to totally redesign my wet bags.
EEK! This is totally overwhelming for me. Not to mention I couldn’t think of a way to do this without having an ugly topstitch along one side of the bag. No thanks!

3) One of the largest manufacturers of wet bags claims to have a patent pending on the sealing process.
Do they really have a patent pending? Some claim they do not. See the link below:
http://wazoodle.com/index.php/diapermaking/seamseal/
Because this is a pretty ugly dispute, I choose not to get involved. It isn’t worth my time or energy to get involved in something which may or may not be “patent pending”.

Wow, I’m already feeling uneasy about this post. I hope that this is a sufficient answer to the question and that I haven’t offended anyone in the process of justifying my decision!

FAQ #1: What is the difference between PUL and ProCare?

PUL on the left, ProCare on the right


I’ve been getting this question a lot lately, so I thought I’d write some thoughts on the subject. First let me say a little about my decision to offer both products as waterproof linings in my wet bags. It all started when I began making snack bags for my daughter. I was constructing them out of PUL with the non-shiny side facing the pouch where the food would go.

Shortly after I started making these I was bombarded by information stating PUL was not food safe and that I should NOT be using it for snack bags. What?! After doing some reading I discovered that many vendors use ProCare as an alternative lining in snack bags because it is considered food safe.

At the same time I was also doing a lot of research on 2mil PUL. I had ordered some for use on some special order wet bags for a customer. I was impressed with the weight of this PUL and found it to be far superior to the 1mil PUL I was used to using. It was especially useful for the hanging wet bags, because it helped the bag to hold its shape even after hanging with a good amount of weight inside. The problem was the price. I was only able to find the 2mil PUL from 2 companies and it was significantly more expensive than the 1mil PUL.

I wanted to offer something to my customers that was a heavier weight waterproof lining, but I didn’t want to have to charge more for the product. After some research and investment I was able to purchase ProCare at the same price as the 1mil PUL. This was the perfect solution for me as a vendor because I could now offer a heavier weight waterproof material and a “food safe” option for those wishing to use the XS wet bags as a snack bag (see my notes on food safe below).

Here are a few words on ProCare and PUL- I hope it helps to distinguish the two.

PUL stands for polyurethane laminated fabric. It is laminated on one side and polyester interlock fabric on the other. The PUL I use in my wet bags is 1 mil in thickness. It is lightweight, breathable, stretchy and waterproof. PUL can be thrown in the wash and dryer (No Bleach or Fabric Softener, and no Softener Sheets in dryer). The PUL I use is made in the USA, 100% Latex Free, CPSIA Approved.
ProCare is similar to PUL, but there are some major differences. The ProCare I use is made in Canada, the company describes it the following way:

“ProCare is a durable barrier fabric commonly used in the medical, diapering and veterinary care markets. Use this durable fabric anywhere you need barrier protection and frequent sanitizing. Procare is stable in stretch and recovery, and does not shrink. (it is not as stretchy as PUL) This fabric meets duty, laundering and material safety standards for use in medical and institutional products - it is CPSIA compliant and very tough & durable - good for 300 industrial washings or 1,000 home washings!!!”

A note about food safe:
The company that makes this ProCare fabric claims that it is foodsafe - it is BPA, phlalate, and lead free. We should remember that this company is based in Canada. I am unaware of the standards in Canada for stating that products are “food safe”, it should not be assumed that this product would also be called “food safe” in the USA.



PUL on the left, ProCare on the right



I think I can summarize with the following:

PUL is an excellent waterproof fabric for diapers. It’s ability to breath and stretchy nature lend it well to this application. It also works well for wet bags. It is lightweight, so the bag itself is lighter to carry in a diaper bag.

ProCare is also a great waterproof fabric. It is heavier in weight than PUL, so it is best used with large sized wet bags. Because of its heavier weight, it is a little stiff and it keeps its shape better than a bag made with PUL which may be beneficial for bags that will hang on a door or hook. ProCare may also be a better choice for a wet bag that will hold food because of the Canadian claims that it is food-safe.

A wet bag in the kitchen?

OK, I know I’ve not been posting to this blog. The decline began when my family went from 3 to 8 thanks to the addition of 5 hens. Feel free to see my chicken related adventures at my sister blog: ChickensOnOsborne.blogspot.com

Following this addition I opened my ETSY shop: ClothOnOsborne.ETSY.com

This was purely an experiment to see if I could sell my organic cloth wipes in the larger marketplace. I was soon able to add wet bags to my list of custom made items and the business grew in leaps and bounds (to the point where I had to ask my mother to help me with the sewing!).

How does one maintain a full time job, life with a 5 year old, being married to a man who has just undertaken a HUGE new venture himself (theEdgeHalfmoon.com) and a business on the side? Yes, I spend just about every minute of my free time sewing! Thankfully I really enjoy it, and am able to pay for my hobby by selling my products to others. I even make a small profit which I’m able to donate to the non-profit of my choice. What a blessing!

So if you haven’t visited my shop, feel free to stop by and look at the assortment of products I am now making. Let me discuss my newest creation, the kitchen wet bag.

As many of you may know, I am no longer cloth diapering. My daughter has been out of diapers for almost three years now and I don’t have the heart to put my chickens in cloth (although I admit I have thought about it- crazy, I know!). I recently heard a news story on a local radio station talking about a family who spent a year traveling in an RV. When they returned they came up with a list of 10 things that they could live without.

I can’t remember much of what was on the list, but the one that stuck with me was paper towels. I think because at the time I was out of paper towels and wondering when I was going to get to the store to get some. Solution: live without them!

I was then reminded of something I saw recently in my ETSY browsing. Un-Paper Towels. WHAT!? I remember thinking, this is stupid, these are what we call rags in my house. Why do they need a special name? Well, I admit: the idea is pretty clever.

What is an un-paper towel? It is basically a cloth that is roughly the size of a paper towel, sometimes 1-ply, sometimes 2-ply. The fanciest un-paper towels have snaps on both ends so that you can snap the towels together and store them on a paper towel roll holder. Brilliant! These towels can be tossed in the wash and used again and again.

What does this have to do with me? Well I have plenty of cloth rags around my house as well as a bunch of “seconds” cloth wipes. The problem is making the use of these more efficient. I find that the inconvenience of using the rag is not finding a rag and using it, but getting rid of it after it’s been used. This is where I come in. I admit this is not a new idea, but it has made the use of un-paper towels a reality in my house. The kitchen wet bag!

This is basically a wet bag, the same materials and construction that go into a wet bag for diapers, but it has two straps on the back that can be snapped around a bar. Example: below is a picture of my kitchen wet bag hanging from the freezer door bar handle(we have a bottom drawer freezer in our kitchen).


Here is a picture of my kitchen wet bag, full of cloth towels.


I can’t say that un-paper towels and a kitchen wet bag are for everyone (when I told my mom about it she didn’t think it was so brilliant), but for those seeking a greener solution this may be a great thing. I also want to mention that part of the dread of buying paper towels was the cost. Really? $2 per roll?! Perhaps this will also encourage you to make the switch!