Angel Bean Review and Giveaway

August 25th, 2011

9:00pm

 

This week, I'll be bringing you cloth diapers from around the world! Today, I want to introduce you to Angel Bean. Aimee, owner and creator of Angel Bean, was a middle school teacher in New York but moved to the island of Crete (which is part of Greece) when she met her husband there. Here is what Aimee has to say about the start of her shop:

"The inspiration for my shop came from my two boys, Angelo and Dino (but we call him Bean). They are the reason I dusted off my sewing machine in an attempt to make some cloth diapers. My middle son has really sensitive skin and disposable diapers are really irritating for him, so I took the plunge into cloth and never looked back. After having my last baby, I just knew I would use cloth with him and wanted to try to make them myself. I received so many compliments from friends and family and they encouraged me to start a business sewing diapers. And of course it helps that my husband is really supportive of using cloth with our boys (and he even changes diapers!). Now you are probably wondering why my other child is not included in that name, well Sofia is the heart in the middle. She is my oldest and my one and only girl and never stops making me laugh."

The Angel Bean Etsy shop carries fleece diaper cover, skirties, and cloth diapers. Fleece diaper covers are an inexpensive addition to any stash. They aren't waterproof like PUL but are water resistant and breathable. Plus, you can find them in so many cute prints. Take a look!

I LOVE these skirties! 

The Review:

Aimee kindly sent me a fitted cloth diaper and fleece diaper cover to review. She has recently branched out and started to make her own fitted diaper pattern. The fitted diaper is turned and topstiched for durability and comfort of baby. The diaper has three layers plus two snap in inserts. The diaper outer is made from a cotton knit. A hidden layer of bamboo hemp fleece is in between the outer layer and the cotton velour inner. The bi-fold soaker is made of one layer of cotton velour on the top and a layer of bamboo hemp terry. When this is folded in half, it creates four layers of protection. The other soaker snaps into the inside of the bi-fold soaker. It is made of two layers of heavy bamboo fleece. The cover is made out of fleece with an extra layer in the wet zone.

Fitted Diaper:   

Ease of Use:This diaper has two snaps on each wing (four snaps to get the diaper on). There are four waist adjustments on the body of the diaper. I love the coordinating features that Aimee has tied into this diaper. The snaps match the inner velour color and the serging around the snap in soaker is the magenta just like the velour. Since there are two rows of snaps on the body of the diaper, you can adjust the waist and the legs seperately. This is great for chubby- legged babies or babies who's legs are thinner than their tummy's.

Fit: This diaper had a pretty good fit on Charlotte. The legs were snug and didn't mark her sensitive skin. I found that this wasn't this most trim diaper (fitteds and covers usually aren't), but it wasn't extrmemly fluffy. It as a good middle of the road "my baby is definately wearing cloth" fluffiness.

Performance:We had one or two leaks with this diaper. It was near the beginning and I might not have prepped it well enough. Both leaks were overnight and I believe they were when she was going through a growth spurt (babies always have more urine output when they are growing). After a few more washes, we never had any problems. I line dried this diaper most of the time and I don't know if it was the hot Texas weather or what but it dried fast! Sometimes line drying can give you stiff diapers but the velour helped keep this diaper softer than most when line drying.

Care: Normal wash routine (cold rinse, hot wash, cold wash) worked great with this one. Make sure to prep it properly first. Works great line drying.

Materials: Cotton knit outer, hidden layer of bamboo hemp fleece, cotton velour inner. Insets: cotton velour outer, bamboo hemp terry; heavy bamboo fleece.

Cost: Right now Aimee is working on stocking her shop up. I believe the fitteds run in the range of $15. Click here to purchase.

Overall Opinion: What can I say, I'm a two part diapering system fan! This diaper worked out really well for us. It gave us ample room to grow yet has fit well at every stage. The velour is so soft next to Charlotte's skin. The magenta really brightens up my diaper laundry! Aimee has done a great job with quality and craftsmanship. A great basic staple to build the perfect stash!

Cover:
Ease of Use: This is a pull on style cover made with fleece. Fleece is a light weight, breathable materials that is water resistant (not waterproof like PUL). The pull on style covers can be used in place of shorts since they are so cute. I do this in the summer all the time! This style might not be for everyone as it takes a little more time to put on than, say, a wrap style cover would.

Fit: Like Aimee's description says, these covers run on the small side.  The Large fits Charlotte but is a tight fit on her large thighs. This makes it hard to put on sometimes. There is also a gap at the back of the cover and you can see the top of her diaper (the diaper doesn't stick out but since the cover doesn't have much stretchiness to it, it doesn't conform to her skin). This doesn't affect how the cover works; it's just aestetical. Perhaps some adjustments could be made or another size added. Maybe a stretchy top?


Performance: The extra layer in the wet zone is just perfect for this cover. Some people have touted fleece as an inexpensive alternative to wool. The fleece works similarly (it gets damp when it needs to be changed) but it doesn't have the cleansing properties of wool (wool turns urine in to salt). Needless to say, we didn't have any redness, just nice clean, dry skin.

Care: Air dry this cover if you can! It will prolong the life of the fleece and help it not to pill as much. Fleece will pill overtime. Again, this won't affect its performance, just the way it looks.

Materials: Fleece

Cost: A small goes for $7.00. Click here to purchase.


Overall Opinion: I liked this cover. The argyle print was so cute and perfect for Charlotte (who is becoming quite the girly girl). Although it was a little hard to put on because of the lack of stretchiness, it worked great and help up well overnights. Now that Charlotte has started to crawl her thighs are sliming down *insert sad face here* (I love baby chub) and the cover seems to fit better over her legs.

Aimee is generously giving one fitted and one cover to a lucky winner! Enter in the Rafflecopter form below!