Originally Published August 2013, Updated Regularly
Is it really possible to get free cloth diapers? Who’s giving them away? And do any companies offer free samples? Find the answers below! I’ve taken advantage of nearly all the methods below to score free diapers, so I know they work.
#1 JUST ASK. This is so easy, and it works so please don’t skip this tip and go to the others just yet. Hit up your friends, your relatives and even the ladies at church. Tell them you are cloth diapering. Ask if they have any old stuff that isn’t being used any more. Post “Want Ads” on Craigslist and your local Freecycle. Post an ISO (In Search Of) status in a Facebook group or your public profile. Chat with other mamas in online forums. When we first started using cloth, I received free diapers on 3 separate occasions. (1) A friend at church told me “You cloth diaper, right? I have some prefolds that have been in my closet for years.” She gave me the whole bag (her children were grown). (2) A friend posted on Facebook about a box of used diapers, and I claimed them on the thread. (3) A lady in my Freecycle group responded to my “wanted” post and gave me some Curity prefolds and said I could do whatever I wanted with them. They were too old and worn out to use, but I was able to sell them to a collector for $50 and buy new covers and prefolds.
#2 GIVEAWAYS & SWEEPSTAKES. My condolences in advance if you’ve already some of my giveaways and still haven’t won diddly squat. But keep on keeping on. Use DAILY entries like shares, tweets, comments and votes. Daily entries work because you’re throwing your name in the hat intermittently, which gets your entries “mixed in” at regular intervals. Lots of cloth diaper giveaways happen on Facebook and not on blogs, so you’ll need to check in to your favorite pages regularly.
#3 GET A TESTER. Keep your eyes peeled for tester opportunities from brands, retailers and WAHM shops. They will sometimes post on social media that tester slots are open. GroVia did this a while back. Bambino Mio mailed free AIO diapers recently for the cost of shipping only. Last year, Gerber was giving away free prefolds.
#4 STORE PROMOS: In this case, you do have to make a purchase to get the freebie. But hey, you do get something free! And chances are, it’s probably one of your favorite cloth diaper stores. So yes, this freebie does have “strings attached.” To sweeten the bargain, be sure to get free shipping as well.
#5 CHECK WITH CHARITIES. If you are truly going through a financial hardship that prevents the purchase of new or even used diapers, look up charities that provide free packages to deserving families. A few that come to mind off the top of my head are Jake’s Diapers and Cloth for Everybum. You can see my full list here. Also, if you need prayers and encouragement, please post your need on my Bee a Friend apostolate page.
#6 SEW AWAY. Google free cloth diaper patterns and you’ll get hundreds, if not thousands, of results. You can use towels, t-shirts, receiving blankets, old fleece and any other suitable materials you already have on hand to create a decent stash for nothing (except the cost of velcro for your covers).
#7 BE A PROMOTER: Every single diaper in the photo posted at the top was earned for free by promoting my affiliate links at cloth diaper stores or Amazon. It pays to sign up for your favorite stores, because every time you share your unique link and someone clicks it and makes a purchase, you’ll earn 5 to 10 percent of the sale. If you don’t have a blog, some of the best places to share your links are online forums (if it’s allowed), online chats, Facebook threads with friends and family and email conversations.
Many brands also offer Ambassador positions that they will announce on social media. Brand Ambassadors receive free diapers and accessories and other fun perks.
#8 BRAND GROUPS & LISTS: Many brands have private Facebook groups for their fans, or exclusive email lists, and often hold giveaways using these venues. Off the top of my head, these come to mind: AppleCheeks, Lighthouse Kids, Mama Koala, Green Mountain, and Buttons. Scout around and see what you can find! Make sure you turn on notifications for the group.
#9 LOCAL EVENTS: If you attend local events like the Great Cloth Diaper Change or natural parenting seminars, expos, cloth diaper store openings or anniversaries, etc., there are often free diapers and samples given away. (Thanks to Whitney for this tip!)
#10 MAKE A TRADE: Post on social media what you have available for trade and say you’re ISO (in search of) diapers in exchange. You can offer almost anything for trade (shoes, books, CD’s and DVD’s, clothing, toys and even stuff like Mary Kay and coupons). If someone really wants what you have, they will be willing to send you free diapers in exchange. Another example of trading is using online cash rewards programs to buy diapers. More trading possibilities open up if you have an active blog: trade a review for a free diaper, trade ad space for a free diaper, trade a spotlight post for a free diaper.
#11 BABY OR GIFT REGISTRY: If you’re expecting or creating a gift wish list, add cloth diapers to it. Amazon has a lot of cloth diapers for sale and Prime members get free shipping. Wal-mart now has cloth diapers; you can register in-store or online, plus get free 2-day shipping on orders over $35. If someone asks what you’d like best for your birthday or Christmas or Mother’s Day, mention that you are trying to build a stash of diapers for your baby. (thanks to Tessa for this tip!)
#12 LEAVE REVIEWS: Many online cloth diaper retailers offer incentives to customers who take time to leave product reviews. The reward might be a product, gift card or store credit/rewards points. (Thanks to Melissa for this tip!)
#13 GIFT CARD SWAP: Next time someone gives you a gift card to Wal-Mart or Amazon, use it to buy cloth diapers. Same goes for generic gift cards (Visa, AmEx, Mastercard, etc.). Ask friends or post on Facebook if you have gift cards from Starbucks or restaurants that you would be willing to swap for something that can be used at a cloth retailer.
#14 YOUTUBE: YouTube has become a popular venue for cloth diaper reviews and giveaways. Just use the search bar and narrow down to the most recent posts. The entry mechanism is generally just to view the video and leave a comment. Some good channels to follow are Jess is Blessed, Cloth Diapers for Beginners and Kinder Cloth Diapers.
CAN I GET FREE SAMPLES? You might be wondering, “why doesn’t anyone offer free samples of cloth diapers?” There’s a good reason that companies don’t hand out free cloth samples all the time. It costs too much! A throw-away Huggies diaper is worth a few pennies, but one of the most popular pocket diapers in America (bumGenius 5.0) is $19.99. Besides, it’s not really practical to send just one diaper to try out because many potential customers aren’t even using cloth yet. Washing just 1 diaper, and trying to get a taste for cloth with just 1 diaper, don’t make much sense. Add to this the low mark-up for cloth and see why free samples would be a huge money drain for companies. This is why you instead have discounted sample packages or trial programs being offered. This enables you to get a full set of diapers to try out.
GOT ANY MORE FREE DIAPER SOURCES? I’d love to hear about them!
This is a very helpful post for a new cloth diaperer! Thank you!
Great tips! We received almost all of our diapers free, either from friends who had ones they no longer needed or through our baby registry. We’ve only had to buy a couple of covers! We made sure to ask for gender-neutral too, so that they can be used for all our future babies!
This is so helpful! I wish I’d have known this before I spent so much 😉
I am a first-time mom to my daughter, Jenny who is 12-days-old. I came across your website and was wondering if your company mails out free diaper samples? My address: HIDDEN FOR PRIVACY
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you via email.
-Ms. Lisa Eastman
Lisa, sent you an email. Thanks for commenting!
Hi,
I have a stash of used cloth diapers. If you know anyone who needs them do let me know. I would love to give them to someone who can use them instead of discarding them
I’ll send you an email. Thanks for your generosity! – Anne
Is this stash available? I’d love to get some. Thanks.
Hi Kendra, I’m waiting to hear from this mom. Thanks for asking! ~Anne
I am looking for cloth diapers. Would you still have any? You could email me at hiddenforprivacy@yahoo.com…
Hi Tonya, you can find lots of great deals on cloth diapers here http://www.zephyrhillblog.com/clothdiapershops/ and also check out the reviews on my blog to see what might work best for your baby. ~Anne
Hi hello my name is Christina I need help with baby diapers & other stuff if you can contact me
I really need them!
I was never able to get in touch with this person, unfortunately, so I don’t believe these diapers are available anymore. ~Anne Marie
Want to try cloth diapers not sure and have no idea about them. I’m a beginner and looking to invest in eco friendly stuff… thanx
I am 8 months pregnant and would like to try cloth diapers. If any one could give me a brand that would be good to try that would be greatly appreciated. If any one is giving away any that would be even better. Thanks
correction to my email address
Rasha, congrats! There are some very economical brands out there like Imagine, Diaper Rite and Nicki’s. And you can get free shipping on them, too. ~Anne
If anyone has any extras id love to try this method. My little one is just over a year old and keeps getting these bad fungal type infections that were trying every method as far as medication and and home remedies and nothing has really cleared him up. I feel helpless because they’re so expensive to just go buy them outright to try them.
This is a very helpful post for a new cloth diapers! Thanks
I am using my old Fuzzibunz right now as covers because the elastic is pretty loose but my son is a big toddler now so they fit well enough on him. If anyone has some free or cheap waterproof covers to destash I would be interested. Thanks Nicky
I am a new foster mom to a sweet little cutie and a friend was kind enough to loan me her stash but I’d really like to build my own, since it was an emergency placement, if anyone has any diapers they’d be willing to part with, I’d really appreciate them!
Hi. I’m expecting my fourth child, our first girl, and in wanting to cloth diaper. I’m clueless at where to even begin. Any tips or suggestions for a newbie?
Hi Jessica, I can try and answer any questions you might have. Are you just trying to decide which style to use at this point? Congrats on your pregnancy! ~Anne
Yes. I want what is best for her, but also leak proof, durable, etc.
For a newborn, I would recommend a reliable waterproof cover like Sweet Pea, Thirsties or Blueberry, and then some bamboo prefolds. They are really soft and have a slight edge on absorbency as compared to plain cotton. ~Anne
Love this I think I’m going to start using cloth diapers my daughter has gotten really bad diaper rashes which now we can no longer use baby wipes but reading this has helped me a lot thank you
Hi
I m a new mom..was searching for samples of cloth diaper as i want to start cloth diaper for my baby..
Thank you for this. I’m thinking about getting into cloth diapering.
Thanks for the tips! I had no idea there were so many ways to get free diapers!
Im trying to figure out how to get cloth diapers for my little one.
Try some of my ideas above, Tiana. You can also start a cloth diaper savings plan and put aside $5 or $10 each week, whatever works with your budget. When you have about $75 saved up, you can purchase a few covers and a pack of flats or prefolds and this will last you a day or so before having to wash. The best time to buy your first set of diapers is Black Friday through Cyber Monday. The deals are incredible, sometimes 50% off! ~Anne Marie
Hello.I would like to ask if there available cloth diaper for my two sons.aged 1year and the other is one month.Life is hard as I cant return to work as my sons are too young to leave behind and cant find someone to take care of them.I am looking gor ways to save on diapers and cloth is the best option. thanks for someone who has good heart here.
Hi Shelia, please check into the cloth diaper lending programs listed above! ~Anne Marie