We have tried several different diapering combinations since leaving our diaper service behind when we moved out of the city. Alva diapers were one brand I decided to give a try on. I'll be honest, what attracted me initially was the price. I've been using Alvas now for around four months, and feel I can give a good review on all points of the diapers, not just pricing 😉
Please note that Alva diapers are made in China, by a Chinese company (Alva). Many moms want diapers made in their own country. I also think it's important to know that many big diaper companies have at least part of their diapers made overseas… the difference is the company itself is based in the US. For fully American-made diapers, I would shop with WAHM's who make their own diapers.
Fit
I love the fit I can get with Alva pocket diapers. I haven't used them on a small baby yet (soon), but we've used them for Honor for several months now, and she has changed a lot over those months.
When we first got the Alva's she was pretty lean and I was still able to get a good fit. She's really gotten chunky over the past few months as she's begun eating full meals with us, and we have a great fit with slightly different settings.
You can get Alva's with hook and loop closure (Velcro or Aplix), but all of ours are snaps. They're all one-size with snaps for the rise and for the waist. All of our diapers also have a hip snap. At first I was a little intimidated by the snaps, but now they're a cinch and give a lot of custom fit.
I did up the rise snaps, then showed Scott and the kids how to fasten the hip and waist snaps (the rise snaps don't need to change until she grows a bit more). Scott grumbled a bit about four snaps (two waist, two hip), but got it quickly. The kids usually snap Honor's diapers too loosely, but they stay on 😉
I can also unsnap the diapers fairly quickly if Honor gives a potty cue.
Absorbancy / Inserts
All Alvababy diapers are pocket diapers. When you look at the website things can get confusing because the Chinese to English translations aren't the greatest. Just know that all styles are pockets!
Alva has three different insert options: microfiber, bamboo, or a microfiber/bamboo blend. We use bamboo and that's all I have used.
They're super absorbent and I love the bamboo inserts. I've used the diapers with an insert stuffed in the pocket and with an insert lying inside the shell (sort of like an AI2).
Honor is a heavy wetter, and I've found what works best for us is to have the pocket stuffed, then to double over a liner in the “wet zone” – I just put this inside the diaper, up against her skin. Unless we leave the diaper on way too long, this combination never leaks and I'm confident going out and about with her diapered like this.
The inserts are very soft, though if I don't use a diaper-safe fabric softener in the wash they will feel a little rougher. On the whole I really love the inserts and I'm pleased with the absorbancy.
Poop-Trapping
The pocket / outer layer of Alva diapers is PUL or Minky. The inner lining of the pocket cover is either suedecloth or fleece, but to be honest I have both and can't tell much difference. I love the minky diapers because they're cute and soft. They're lined inside with PUL so are waterproof too. The minky ones seem to be cut a little smaller and have less “stretch” than the PUL diapers.
Both perform fabulously when asked to hold in poop. Again, I haven't used them with exclusive breastfed poop (soon), but they will hold in the biggest blow-outs Honor gives them.
We catch almost all of Honor's poops on the potty, so the poops that go into the diaper are almost always those lovely blow-outs that go from end-to-end and are of a much looser texture than her normal bowel movements. So pleasant! Hah! But they stay held in by these diapers.
We have a diaper sprayer and both the insert and the pocket itself spray clean very easily. Some of my inserts have light staining. I have not had any of the pockets stain.
Prints and Cuts
There are many, many adorable prints in the Alva's!! If you look on the site there are many different “series” and you can order from any of those series. I love almost all of them 😉
As I said above, the minky prints are my favorites, personally, even though they do seem to run a little smaller. I just think they're so cute on Honor! We have a mix of minky and PUL, though, and really all the prints are adorable. We also have several of the solids, and the colors are vibrant and look great.
There is one series that is cut a little different than the rest, and I don't like that cut as much. It fits Honor just fine, but it's just not my preference. I have the star patterns from this series, the E series.
Durability / Quality
Okay, besides absorbancy and poop-trapping, this is where the rubber meets the road for diapers. You've read all the articles that say “don't buy ‘China cheapies'”…
I'll be honest, these diapers have held up fantastically. I know we're only four months in, but based on other reviews I have no reason to believe these diapers won't make it all through the next baby. They get washed about three times every week, dried in the dryer (I'll try out line drying next summer), and they're doing great.
Minimal staining of inserts, no staining on the pocket itself. Snaps and laminate are in good condition. I have had NO delamination, despite drying on “high” setting.
There has been no fading — in fact, these look essentially the same as the day that I got them.
Price
You can't beat the pricing on Alva diapers. Like I said above, I was initially attracted to the price, which would let me get diapers for Honor and for the new baby without spending a huge amount. All we had were a few prefolds and wool since we'd been using a diaper service. If I'd tried the Alva diapers when Honor was younger, I'd have cancelled the diaper service and saved us a bundle!!
Alva diapers run around $6 (USD) per diaper. That's with a microfiber insert. If you want bamboo or blend inserts, it comes to a little closer to $8 per diaper. That's a lot less than the $20 for many “name brand” cloth diapers on the market. If you buy in bulk with a co-op of other moms, you can get them for around $5 per diaper (Alva is completely fine with co-op bulk orders). Alva also makes newborn diapers that run around $4-5 per diaper.
In Summary
I love our Alva diapers. We have tried a whole lot of diapers over the years with all of our babies, and I can honestly say that I like these best. I know they're not American made, and I know they're supposed to be cheap. But my experience with them has been that they're of great quality, they fit well, they don't leak, they hold in our occasional poop misses, and they look really cute! Most of our stash is Alvababy diapers at this point, and it's probably going to stay that way 🙂
The ALVA diapers look exactly like the ones I bought on Ebay $40 for 10. Except I got the microfibre and I have never had an Issue with them “not holding up”
Even though we EC I have an extensive collection of cloth since my hubby likes to have our babies diapered up when he holds them.
Our ALVA type are solid colors and have held up over two E.C. babies exactly the same as our bamboo brand names: Cushie Tushies and Pea Pods.
I don’t get the whole “Micro-fiber is bad” thing. since I’ve never ever had an issue with lack of absorbency or diaper stink with them but have with the bamboo. maybe someone could fill me in on that. but yeah.. I agree ALVA is a great and very affordable choice.
The only ones I got cheaper and better where the ones I made myself.
Thanks for sharing Lana! I’m glad to hear someone else has had a good experience… most reviews seem pretty good, with the biggest argument against them being that they’re made in China and undercut more local businesses. I certainly respect wanting to buy product made in one’s own country, but I do like these diapers 🙂
I think it’s funny how diaper materials are for different families. Some love microfiber and find they work best, others like different like bamboo. I’ve never had good luck with microfiber but bamboo works really well for us! I’ve always had good luck with cotton, too.
I do still like prefolds with wool over them, but pockets are very easy for at home and while out, and they’re very daddy-friendly!
Most local brands are still made overseas usually, so I didn’t feel too bad about the international trading. And I’m sure the people who got to eat because I bought their cheapies wheren’t worried either- no welfare in china! 🙂
My bamboo ones are great- but they’re the only ones that have needed stripping. wondering if it’s the detergent I’m using. Or maybe my older son just has really toxic pee and ruined them. They don’t smell unless he’s the one that’s been wearing them overnight and wet them. I don’t put my microfiber dipes on him much coz he only wears them at night. But the times he has worn them they’ve been fine and not much of a “scent” to them.. oh well I’ll work it out eventually.
We started out with pockets made by a wahm from etsy- they always leaked. We switched to covers/inserts from flip. I wanted more, and found alva, who had just started making covers. I like theirs so much more! Then I started buying their pockets. I am an alva convert! They have made it through 2 kids and we have another on the way. They have minimal to no staining and almost all look amazing (one has a stitch that has come out). We have another on the way and will be using our alvas again. I may try the newborn size. I also am curious about their all in one’s!
Thank you for this post! We are pregnant with our first and I am still in research mode for cloth diapering. I was interested in Alva’s and despite being China made, they seem pretty fantastic, ESPECIALLY for the low price! What’s your opinion on how many/kind of inserts to purchase? That’s the part I’m stuck at now.
I LOVE my Alva diapers. I love how well they clean and how easy they are. I would like to also support made in the US and WAHM’s; however, I have not had any luck with any of these. Besides Alva’s the only other brand that I have liked are the Rumparooz. Again, I have tried others and did not like them. I have tried the pocket and covers of different brands and again only go with Rumparooz and Alva for both.
Currently in my second trimester with baby #3 (my other two are 8 and 9 years old) and are wanting to cloth diaper this time around! I’m also attracted to Alva because of price and great reviews like this! Do you have an update on how Alva worked for younger/smaller babies than the one (Honor) you mentioned in your review? Thanks!
I have found that the Alva diapers work well for all babies. We did get Alva newborn diapers to use with Corwin (the next baby), and I used those with Corwin, Sadie, and Phoenix – because I have big babies, they grew out of those pretty fast. Then we went into the regular Alva diapers and they work well. Phoenix was a pretty heavy wetter right from the start, so I used two liners for him, but the diapers still seem pretty trim and they work well!
Thanks for your review. Are the Minky nappies made with a different material? Are they warmer?
The minky is different on the outside, but the inner part seems really similar (the waterproofing). The minky ones are also cut a little smaller I think, than the standard PUL, but I do think the minky is bonded to PUL somehow. They may be slightly warmer, but there’s not really a huge difference because I think the PUL is going to hold heat against the baby more than the little bit of fuzz on the minky.
Thanks for the review! This is very helpful. I can’t find a date on when this was written, but do you have any follow up about the durability since writing this? Hoping to purchase cloth diapers that will last us through many kiddos.
Hi Erin, the Alvas did well through three babies for me; by the third, there were some that weren’t doing as well. I used a water-proofing spray made for camping gear on some of the covers (around the seams) and that extended the life on those. I feel like I definitely got my money’s worth on them – and there are some of them that I’m still using with Phoenix, the fourth baby to go through them!
I’ll be having my first baby next month (due August 15th) and I’ve been stocking up on disposable diapers of different sizes (NBto size 2) from Pampers and Parents Choice brands. However I know that I’ll go through hundreds of diapers in a short time and it’ll just be too expensive to keep up. I started researching cloth diapers and one of my friends got me the Gerber cloth diapers that I’d have to fold and use pins to secure. I wasn’t sold on this idea and when reading reviews, many parents use this as burp cloths so that really confused me. Then I ran into the cloth diapers that have snaps which led me to alvababy and when I read the reviews, I was sold! I ordered a pack of 6 and it’s “one size” for babies between 6-33 pounds, so they arrived today and I’m excited to use them around the time my baby is about 2-3 months old. The inserts are thick and soft, the diaper itself looks very durable and is soft as well. I believe this will be a great alternative to disposable diapers!
sorry but whats a liner?
A liner is fabric (usually a multi-layered rectangle) that’s used as the soaker layer in a diaper.
We used exclusively Alva pockets for our son from birth until now at one year old. We love them and I recommend them to every new mom I meet who is considering cloth! We use the 5 layer inserts with zero issues. The fit is almost the exact same as the Bumgenius 4.0 and 5.0 diapers, and they’re virtually the same size. Microfiber alone never worked for us, but the 5 layer inserts are a single layer of microfiber sandwiched in four layers of bamboo and they work great for us.
I absolutely love ALVAS!! I have cloth diapered my daughter for the last 2 1/2 yrs and they are my absolute favorite!! I have a few Happy Flute, and my daughter leaked right through them, but not one problem with the ALVAS! Am I correct ALVA doesn’t have newborn covers though? For my daughter I used a hack to make the Alva’s a little smaller, but I had to be really careful so I was hoping to get some newborn covers this time around. Any advice?
Kelley, Alva does have newborn sizes – I used them with my last three babies. I liked those in the first few weeks, but my babies grew so quickly that we were in normal sized Alvas snapped down fairly quickly.