Cloth Diapering

Why I Still Love My Flip Diaper Covers After a Year

Flip cover - front

Among many other things, I blame Target and Costco for my decision to ditch disposables and go cloth. As much as I love the convenience of those stores, it seems to be a law of nature that I always spend more than I intend to, and adding a baby to the mix magnified the problem. Funny how such a tiny little human quadrupled my spending, and he doesn’t even lift a finger around the house!

After his arrival a year and a half ago, my husband and I found ourselves heading out to the store twice as often and rarely spending under $100 each time no matter how few items were on our shopping list. The biggest culprit? Disposable diapers.

It was like throwing money in the garbage… money that didn’t even contain those explosive breastfed poops very well.

After 5 months of this, I did what I had repeatedly told friends and family I’d never do and started seriously contemplating cloth diapers.

Flip cover - right side

It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to get my husband on board with the switch. I really had to make a case for it—one which was primarily focused on the savings aspect. Eventually, the long-term cost comparison, the resale value, and the promise that I would be in charge of diaper laundry won him over. The upfront expense, however, was still a concern. I told him I would try my best to build our stash to be simple and affordable, and this led us to start out with the time-tested basics: covers and prefolds.

Cotton Babies happened to be having a huge sale on their Flip System, so we were able to get off to a great start with 24 prefolds, 2 Snappis, and 7 Flip covers all for just over $100. Score!

Since then we’ve added several other styles to our stash, but these covers and prefolds have been our bread and butter for the last year. It was a fluke that I ended up with this style, but I’m so glad I did. Of all the other reputable covers I was considering, the Flip system just happened to have the best deal at the time, but now that I’ve had over a year to try several brands, I love my Flips the best.

So what makes Flip diaper covers different?

I’ve tried several brands over the last year or so, and though I don’t have any serious complaints about any of them, there are a few things I definitely prefer about my Flips.

The contour flaps at the top and bottom do a great job holding any kind of insert in place. No slipping around or bunching up as can sometimes be the case with regular covers. They stand the toddler test!

Flip cover

They come in snap or hook & loop closure. I have both, but the hook & loop definitely gives a more custom fit on my little <3% featherweight. He’s always been at the very bottom of the charts—if he’s even on there at all—and the Flip covers have fit him perfectly since we started cloth on him at 5 months.

Flip cover - left side

Overall, they’re pretty trim, but there is enough excess fabric to double stuff them for night time or if you have a heavy wetter. They have 3 rows of rise snaps and claim to fit babies 8 to 35 lbs. After a year of use, we still have room to grow and will very likely still be using these when he’s ready to potty train.

Flip cover - back

Though we stick to prefolds for the most part, the Flip system offers three of their own insert options: Stay Dry, organic, and disposable.

How have my Flip covers held up?

The PUL: A teeny bit wrinkly on a few of them but still in good shape with no leaking issues.

The hook & loop: It’s as sticky as ever but does show minor pilling around the edges.

Elastics: They are all in great shape and shouldn’t need replacing anytime soon.

The fabric: We’ve had some minor staining near the leg elastics on occasion, but an afternoon of sunning takes care of it.

What does a year old Flip cover look like
It would be a lie to say they look like new, but I am very impressed with how little wear and tear they’ve accumulated. I’m happy to say these covers should last for years (and babies!) to come.

I wish I could tell you the official resale value of my Flip covers so you’d have an idea of how much expense can be recouped for these in excellent used condition, but my son is still a ways off from potty training, and it looks like we’ll be starting the cloth diapering adventure all over again with our BABY GIRL due in January!

Flip diaper covers are available at Diaper Junction for $14.95 apiece.

long-term diaper reviews

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I have no relationship with Cotton Babies or its retailers, and I did not receive any compensation financially or in kind. I bought these diapers with my own money. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ. This post contains affiliate links. I will receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, at no additional cost to you.


SamanthaSamantha Levang is a contributor at This West Coast Mommy, specializing in cloth diaper and baby item reviews. She lives with her husband and one-year-old son in Washington state, and they look forward to welcoming a baby girl into the family this January. Between changing diapers and Braxton Hicks contractions, she enjoys landscape photography and the never-ending process of home decorating.

Leave a Comment

24 Comments

  • I love my Flips too! If I was starting my stash all over again, I’d probably get a lot more of these. And boy, I wish I could say I only spent $100 to get my stash started 😐 It’s so easy to go overboard with cloth diapers…

    • Glad to hear there’s another fan out there! I know what you mean about going overboard…let’s just say I didn’t stop here. Finding good deals can be addictive!

  • Hmm, not going to lie, I’m a little surprised to hear that yours held up so well. We had two Flip covers that I loved, but after less than a year the elastic was totally stretched out and the hook and loop didn’t grip any more :\ (I bought them at separate times, so I don’t think they were part of a defective batch or anything). I sure liked the way they fit (particularly for overnight!) but this was a number of years ago so maybe they’ve made improvements since then!

    • I’m sorry yours didn’t work out. That’s so frustrating when they’re supposed to last years! I’ve heard that the company that makes Flip covers and BumGenius have changed manufacturers over the years, so the quality may have improved over time. I also break the rules and don’t follow their recommended wash/dry routine. I don’t know if that hurts or helps, but I like to think it extends the life a bit.

        • Thanks for asking! I haven’t posted this anywhere, and I must advise that following an alternate routine from the one the diaper manufacturer recommends may void the warrantee, but here goes. 🙂 My top loader is usually about 3/4 full, and I live in an area with soft water, so I start with a heavy duty prewash on warm and include enough mainstream detergent as would be recommended for a half load. This gets most of the nasties off the diapers before the real wash. After that’s done, I follow it up with a heavy duty regular wash on hot with 1.5x the amount of mainstream detergent as would be recommended for a large, heavily soiled load. When the wash cycle is done, I put everything in the dryer on medium heat until dry, and I wait until it’s cool before folding/stuffing. The awesome admins at fluffloveuniversity.com helped me out when I first started. 🙂

  • I also am surprised. I have had ours a year & a bit & most of them are so stretched out. I had to get some replacement ones from Cotton Babies (after maybe 4 months) and those ones are much less stretched out. I have been doing the exact same with them all and am curios how much my “not stretched” ones are actually stretched out.

    • It seems like elastic wear is a common issue. Do you follow their recommended wash and dry routine? I know this probably voids any kind of warranty, but I don’t follow their directions, and mine have held up so nicely. I can’t be certain if my altered routine has anything to do with it, but it seems to be working.

      • I don’t know what they recommend… I do prewash cold, hot main wash & hang covers to dry. So nothing crazy for them to be so bad so quick. I’m on the hunt for some that will hold up a little longer. …That said, my cousin also got flips & hasn’t had any issues with them. So it obviously depends.

  • I am pleased to hear that Samantha had such success with her Flip diapers. I an so amazed at the number of women who use disposables, considering the cost. I know the cloth are very, very less expensive and are better for baby’s bottom. If more people added up the cost, I think more moms would use Flips or another brand of cloth diapers.

    • Yes! There are so many benefits–less chemicals on baby’s skin, better for the environment, and a much better investment than disposables. I also try to convince friends and family that it’s not as “gross” as they assume it is. I’m touching way less nastiness now than I ever did in those first five months with disposables. Properly fitted cloth is just so much better at containing everything!

  • I’m glad to hear yours are in good shape! Sadly my experience has been that Cottonbabies elastic and H&L aren’t as durable as other brands.

  • This was a very helpful! I got some flip covers second hand and I am hoping they will last for at least a year or until my babies grow out of them!

  • I always enjoy reading your posts about how certain brands have held up over time. I have a Flip cover and it’s one of my favorites.

  • my youngest child just turned 20, her brother is 22, I had cloth for both, from a company in Albeta (I seriously can’t recall the name but they had this HUGE catelogue!!) Anyways, I had bought them for the first child and they lasted for both of them. I passed them onto my sister and she used them a bit for her son and then passed them onto my baby sister. They all had the velcro things but mine were a full diaper, no inserts etc. I lived in a small town were diapers were just too expensive to buy and we only went to the city every few months, so it was ok for me. And as I was self employed I had plenty of time to do diapers (we had a hotel and we lived in it, and back then self employed people did not get EI, so I worked the day I got out of the hospital with the babies and did the reg stuff I always did LOL…I did use a disposable when I did travel though, but that was quite rare.

  • I only have one hook & loop Flip cover that Cotton Babies sold as a second. At first I wasn’t impressed with the weight of the fabric and how big it was. Now that is out of the NB stage I absolutely love the fit on him, the softness of the fabric, & how it is roomy enough for a prefold or fitted.

  • I’ve used Flip diapers for both my 3 year old son, as well as my 8th month old daughter. My son has chunky thighs and can barely fit into his one-size diapers. The trainers still work, as long as I don’t double stuff them–but they are on their largest setting.

    I’ve also found that their “stay-dry” inserts tend to get ammonia build up and require a lot of stripping. I’ve switched to using 100% cotton prefolds and flats as inserts for both my son and daughter. I like Osocozy for flats/prefolds–they’re affordable and durable. I’ve had to mend a few of my sons to continue using them for my daughter, but they’re still doing a great job absorbing what needs to be absorbed.

    I’ve also stopped drying the covers in the sun, as that seems to degrade the waterproofing sooner. I hang-dry them inside. With washing every 2-3 days and drying outside, they only last 1-1.5 years before cracking or the elastic wearing out. I’m hoping for a much longer lifespan when dried inside.

    I’ve also tried their disposable inserts and have been pleased by how eco-friendly they are (no plastic, they decompose, made primarily of bamboo and cotton), They don’t absorb as well as flat diaper, but are pretty close in comparison.

    All in all, I’ve been pleased with Flip–enough that I chose to get more for my 2nd child. They’re pretty much the only diaper cover we use.

  • I LOVE my flip diapers too and have used them exclusively to diaper my little one from 3 months to now (26 months). One new discovery as of late though…two of my covers have recently got cracks in their PUL and leak straight through. I’m slightly dissapointed because this does mean they won’t likely last through multiple children…but if you consider I’ve likely washed them 200-400 times (I only bought a set of 12 and ALWAYS air dried the covers) it’s still pretty good (and cheaper and better for the landfill)! But just be warned…this promise of reusables (or at least the covers) lasting through multiple children may be only partially true. My stay dry inserts are pretty much as good as new, so all.ill need to.replace over the years are the covers (another reason why the Flip system is awesome!)

  • I am really glad that you have liked the Flip system for so long. This is the system my husband and I are looking at when we have our first especially because of how cheap and easy it seems. It is nice to see a long term review with them instead of short term.

  • So, this is years behind but as a cloth diapering mommy I wanted to share my experience with Flips. I bought my first Flip covers 6 years ago direct from the company. At that time we were going to Mexico as missionaries. I had 2 in diapers full time and 2 overnight. I got a bunch of the organic day packs. I ended up with 14 covers and 48 daytime organic diapers and bought 14 organic night diapers. I used them fulltime from newborn to potty training and overnight for 2 of my daughters until they were 7 (a very petite 7). I have had 3 more babies since then. So 6 month-ish out they started having leakage issues. I contacted the company they taught me how to strip them. I did that and they worked again for awhile but them started leaking. They replaced the entire lot even though I had voided the warranty because I had never received the warranty and washing instructions. The replacement set is still going strong. (I did have to replace the organic flat folds about a year and ago.) They have been in constant use for 5 years, washed on scrub boards, with a laundry plunger, hung in the sun, dried in a dryer, hung on barbed wire fences to dry (oops, one got a hole in it but it still doesn’t leak). I have only had to throw one out so far. It finally delaminated. About 2 years ago I bought 10 more New-without-tags off ebay. My old ones are holding up way better. I have had to throw one of my new ones out for delaminating but the elastics are in better shape and they look new but they leak. I read that there are companies that have copied the Flip and are selling them as Flips. And Amazon mixes them all together in their bins instead of keeping them separate because even though they are different vendors they are suppose to be the same item. Moral of the story… deal direct. Cotton Babies cares for their reputation and they are going to stand by their products. I wish I could include a photo of my covers. My husband loves them and won’t let me buy anything else. My 10 and 11 year old daughter change diapers and my 7 year old is learning. My 4 year old is begging too. All but the oldest 3 of my 10 children have worn these diapers.