Fuzbaby Gallery: Refuz Reused and Recycled Diapers

2001 - 2002

Refuz diapers are now a thing of the past, just a mention in cloth diaper history. But let me tell you a story: long ago, when clothing was worn and holey but not quite ready to be rags, we would divert it into a new life as our shockingly bright and beautiful refuz diapers.

Why a thing of the past? Several reasons. First, we were producing so many Refuz diapers that it took more time sourcing the materials than it was ever worth. I priced out the fabric costs, and it cost less to dye our own organic cotton. Second, the materials were all 100% cotton T-shirts, but the fabrics were so different that they wore unpredictably. Finally, I wasn't just using stained or holey T-shirts. After I cleaned out the unwearable shirts from five local Goodwill stores, I reconsidered the idea of taking good, perfectly wearable shirts away from the people who should be wearing them. Low-impact dyed organic cotton replaced Refuz, but we still remember them fondly.

Setting. Wow, the photo above got a lot of comments over many years. Thank you, Marc! This pachysandra in my backyard is such a perfect diaper backdrop--always green and ready unless it's under 4' of snow--that we use it often. This photo is probably the catalyst to my thinking about a Diaper Garden.

More Refuz Diapers:

• Air: yellow, gold, tan, chartreuse, light peach, and so on.
• Fire: red, fuchsia, orange, brick, pink, berry, coral, fire engine, and so on.
• Water: blue, purple, green, teal, violet, lavender, turquoise, aqua, and so on.
• Earth: green, brown, terra cotta, tan, leaf green, forest green, olive, and so on.

See also our Recycling Resources.

Early 2001 First Bound Refuz The very first one. It wasn't perfect, but it became our most popular line of diapers by far.
May 2001 New York She Picked Refuz Diaper When I made Refuz, they followed my fairly strict four colorways. On this occasion, I auction a You-Pick Refuz. The auction winner choose a lush teal velour with gold accents all around.
June 2001 Ohio & Alberta Water Refuz Diaper Does it look just like an average (but quite beautiful) Refuz diaper? I thought so. But this caused such unanticipated interest at auction, that I offered to make it again for the disappointed 2nd-place bidder.