Review: Charis Designs diaper cover wraps

I've planned to begin reviewing some of my cloth diapering (and other baby-related) products for awhile now, but my current addiction to entering giveaways has made this challenging. :) Soooo in order to get the ball rolling on this, I thought I'd sacrifice sleep for one night. The wisest idea? Perhaps not. But hey - I'm a new mama. I'm resilient!!!!

So, where to start? Well, remember these covers? I've been using them on S now for a month and a half and have yet to comment on how they're working out. Plus, the seller has a cool story which I think would be great to profile! On that note, here we go....

Background:

Charis Designs is an Etsy shop owned and operated by a WAHM mom named Kim. She and her family sold their small homestead in order to move onto a sailboat and cruise around. In order to help make ends meet, she decided to sew cloth diapering products and other accessories. She sews using a solar powered machine, so her products are truly made "green"! Charis is the name of their sailboat, so she decided to pay homage to this in the name of her Etsy shop.





The Transaction:

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did not work with Kim directly on the transaction; rather, I purchased three of her wraps from another local mama who was no longer cloth diapering. However, Kim's feedback rating is 100% positive on Etsy, so I would feel extremely confident doing business with her!

Technical Details:

Kim's wraps are made with 1 mm PUL waterproof fabric and fold-over elastic, and close with aplix loop velcro. They come in 4 sizes (small, medium, large and extra large) and each lists very precise measurements and weight recommendations to help the prospective buyer. For example, the medium size (which I purchased) has the following specs:

- Fits 10-19 pounds
- Waist adjusts 13 inches to 18-21 inches
- Rise 15 inches

Wraps are made with leg gussets for added protection.

Laundering recommendations are to wash in cold or warm water and hang to dry.

My Review:

When I first saw these wraps listed on Kijiji, I thought they looked super cute! I especially loved the blue one with the stripes. It turns out that Kim accents many of her wraps with ribbons on the crossover tabs; a very nice touch!

The three wraps I purchased are in traditional "boy" colours - blues and greens - however my husband and I feel that sticking to girly pinks and the like for our DD is limiting. Heck, we even painted her nursery a shade of blue! That said, the vast majority of her clothing is still pink, so it's nice to mix it up with some dipes in "stronger" shades:



















My first observation upon receiving the wraps was that they're really lightweight compared to others I own. My second was "Wow, check out those leg gussets! Nothing's getting by those babies!"




















My final thought was that I couldn't wait to try them out on S!

So how do they fit? Very well, I must say! S was about 10.5 pounds (low end of recommended range) when I first tried one on her and I was able to get a snug fit over her skinny waist & legs. As I suspected due to their weight, they also result in a relatively trim fluffy bum over her Bummis prefolds. And hey, S seems to like wearing them!



















The gussets are as awesome in practice as they look! The wraps have yet to leak since we started using them, even with some of her most plentiful EBF poops. Look how nicely it hugs her leg:















The only thing I was initially somewhat concerned with in terms of comfort was that the fold-over elastic felt a bit stiff. However, this doesn't seem to bother S and the elastic doesn't leave any red marks, so this turned out not to be a problem.

I should also mention that despite the recommendations, I actually wash the covers in hot water with the rest of my CD laundry (tsk tsk) for convenience. Regardless, they've held up exceptionally well over the last 1.5 months and I have no reason to think they're going to degrade anytime soon.

If I could make one constructive criticism, it is that the wraps do not have laundry tabs. Due to this, I attach the tabs to the regular velcro in order to avoid diaper chains. So far, they're getting clean using this method, though I wonder if there'd be enough agitation to remove all the grime with a really bad blow-out on the cover. In any case, tabs would solve things here.

Also, I'm not sure they'll last up until the suggested 19 pound upper limit as they strike me as having similar measurements to my other covers which fit up to 16 pounds, however time will tell here!

All in all, I'd wholeheartedly recommend these wraps to anyone looking for a high-quality, reliable, trim and snazzy cover! Plus, it's always nice to support other mamas, isn't it?

Buy It:

You can buy these wraps from Kim's Etsy store here. At prices ranging from $9.50 to $12.25 USD (depending on size and style) plus shipping, they're a very affordable addition to your stash!