Review: Honest Diapers

June 9, 2012 at 10:27 AM (Health and Wellness, Parenting, Review, Shopping)
Tags: diapers, health, review

As I mentioned in my review of gDiapers, our family was looking for eco-friendly, yet convenient diapers. I stumbled upon The Honest Company around the same time I discovered the gDiapers newborn bundle pack. Since the gDiapers newborn pack was readily available to add to our baby registry, we went with that, plus those damn gPants are so cute (yes I know cuteness shouldn’t factor into diaper choice but since our Bean is often in just a diaper most of the day it became a factor to me.) But I was still intrigued with the Honest diapers and after the growing issues we were having with the gDiapers, I decided to send away for the sample pack from The Honest Company.

The sample pack is $4.95 (for shipping) and arrived in about 4 business days from when I ordered it. Shipping times may be different the further you are from California, I’m rather close-only a couple states away. The way Honest works is you set up a “nursery” that details some information about your child: current diaper size, child gender, and diaper styles. There are currently 7 styles to choose from-3 more aimed for girls, 3 more aimed at boys and white. I chose white, and the 3 aimed at boys. I received the sample pack which contained 7 diapers and a sample pack of 10 wipes. I really liked the function of the diapers, so I decided not to cancel my subscription (ordering the sample pack enrolls you in the bundle program) to have the full Honest diaper experience.

My full-sized bundle took 2 business days to arrive after it was shipped, as I said I live close to California, so this is probably a factor in shipping. The package weighed 19.6 pounds-it was no small box. The full-sized Honest diaper bundle costs $79.99 + $4.95 shipping, billed monthly, and the bundle is supposed to have a month’s supply of diapers and wipes. For size 1 (8-14 lbs) the package contains 300 diapers (6 packs of 50, in the designs of your choosing) and 320 wipes (4 packages of 80 count wipes.) As the size gets larger, the amount of diapers in each bundle gets a little less, accounting for you needing less diapers as your child gets older. The price of the bundle does not change.

What the site says:

 Our HONESTLY FREE GUARANTEE means you won’t find the following list of toxic nasties in our products or packaging:phthalates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, PVC, parabens, benzene, chlorine, synthetic fragrances, triclosan, formaldehyde-based preserving agents, nanoparticles, TEA, MEA, phosphates, polyethylene glycol (PEG), quaternium 15, DMDM hydantoin, 1-4 dioxane, bisphenol-A (BPA), alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs)/nonylphenol, BHA, benzalkonium chloride

Safer and better is our M.O. It’s our modus operandi, the foundation of what we do. We embrace the forethought of safety, so you don’t need to think about it. We have painstakingly focused on all the big & little things that go into creating an amazing product and service. Please see ourHealth & Sustainability Standards, Manifesto, Principles, and Our Honestly Free Guarantee. We’ve been trying to think of everything and continually work to improve our efforts on every front. If you noticed we missed anything, or have a new recommendation, please – we want to hear from you!

What I say:

I really like the principles behind The Honest Company and that the products are free of all the above listed chemicals. I like that they are eco-friendly and sustainable. I love the designs and the simplicity of having the diapers delivered right to my door. I like that the company donates to charity. The diapers perform as well as other less sustainable commercial diapers on the market. The size seems to fit true to size, not small or large and fit our Bean well. We have had issues with other diapers and feeling that our Bean was in between the sizes listed. These fit our guy well.

The only complaints/suggestions I could make are to have more styles that are gender neutral, especially since the shop is now open and people can buy the diapers unbundled as gifts at baby showers. The other thing is taht I couldn’t find out if the diapers were compostable. It would be great if they were, it could reduce waste. I’d also like to know how long it takes for the Honest Company diapers break down compared to commercial diapers. I am planning to contact the company for this information and I will post an update.

Pros:

• eco-friendly, sustainable materials
• Company that works to reduce their carbon footprint
• charitable donations
• convenience of door-to-door delivery
• fun designs
• perform as well as commercial diapers

Cons:

• expensive (although we did the math & Honest diapers are less expensive for us than the gDiapers inderts would have been; the company is also researching ways to reduce costs and pass those savings onto the consumer)
• you must rely on the company’s estimation for a month’s supply, which may not be accurate for your family (though now you can supplement from the shop)
• if you run out before your next shipment arrives you may need to buy commercial diapers
• unsure if the diapers are compostable, can lead to more landfill waste if they are not
• no true gender neutral styles

Would I recommend Honest Company Diapers? Yes I would. I am incredibly pleased with my purchase and I will continue my subscription to the diaper bundle. It is convenient and actually very cost effective for the product we are getting. I’ve discussed it with friends, and they say they would pay almost 100 dollars a month for diapers and wipes for their kids (and these were store-bought commercial brands) so I feel that I am getting a very good value for my money. I think the difference is that when you lay out the money all at once it seems to be high, but in actuality, the costs are very comparable to if we purchased commercial diapers at the store. Also, I pay less in shipping than what I would in tax.

You can research (or order) Honest Company diapers on their website, they are not available in stores. The Honest Company also sells eco-friendly bath and skin essentials singly and as a bundle. If you order both bundles each month, shipping is free.

All products purchased by me, all opinions are my own.

Edit 6/26/2012: I received a response regarding the compostability of Honest Diapers:

Hi,

Currently our diapers are made from 85% plant-based material. We do not recommend putting them in a compost pile at this time. We hope to keep improving our diapers to be more eco-friendly as we grow. Our product developer has recommended putting our diapers in a biobag to speed up the process. (http://www.biobagusa.com/) We are looking into creating a compostable bag in the future.

We appreciate your interest. Let us know if you have further questions.

Have a wonderful day!

Nicole Although I’m sad that they aren’t compostable, I am  encouraged to learn they are still trying to improve what I feel is a darn good product. I’ll be looking into the biobags suggested here as an option for composting. I will also say that I was impressed at how quickly I received a reply (24 hours roughly.) I apologize that I had let my followup fall by the wayside until now.

Edit 10/26/2012: Honest has come out with new designs. There are now tree limb/leaves, dinosaurs, and green/grey lumberjack plaid designs added to their original designs. Of note is than not all designs are available at every size, so if you have a design you really love, drop Honest a line & let them know, I’ve found their customer service to be very attentive.  In addition to the updated designs, the new diapers I received (dinosaur & trees, the  swatch plaid wasn’t available yet) had a new tab style with more flexibility.  When my next shipment arrives I’ll post a picture of the new designs here. What I have noticed is the new tab design is nice for getting a good fit, but it seems like the diapers are larger than the others in fit, as if the elastic around the legs is larger. We’re currently using size 2s for our Bug, but while the original design style 2s are nice and snug around the legs, the new designs aren’t as snug and have led to leaks. Also, the stretchiness of the new tabs mean we have to really overlap the tabs to get a snug fit around the waist on our skinny guy, whereas the older designs this is not an issue. I’m afraid if we upgrade to a size 3, the older designs will be fine, but the new designs with the new tabs will be gaping on little man. I’ll provide updates here as have them.