Product Focus: Blueberry Diapers

Short description of Blueberry Diapers:

Best known for our Minky Diapers, Blueberry offers a line of high quality, fashion-forward diapers to give moms a viable alternative to today's modern cloth diapers. Established in May 2007, it has grown to be one of the most sought-after brands among those who use cloth diapers. Having diapers made with minky in bold colors and prints, along with a wide selection of unique PUL prints and colors,top quality craftsmanship, anatomically-correct fit and reliable performance helps differentiate Blueberry Diapers from other cloth diapers in the market today.

Why choose Blueberry?

1. Reliability. If all we had were good-looking diapers that leaked, we would have gone nowhere. Beyond the fashionable aspect of our line, there is also a science to making the diapers work. You have to have the best quality materials. The microfleece we use virtually has no problems with any kind of repelling issues. No special detergents needed other than what you can buy from your local grocery store (of course as long as no fabric softener is added). Whether you have hard water or soft water, it's not a problem. The inserts that come with our diapers are extremely absorbent. Where a lot of people have to buy extra hemp inserts or doublers to combine them with the microfiber terry inserts you typically get with pocket diapers, you don't have to do such a thing with ours since we've already combined the hemp and microfiber for you. The minky fabric we use are all laminated. We are the only one in our industry that I know of that uses laminated minky. It is a long and expensive process to do it, but the reason we laminate the fabric directly is to eliminate extra bulk, especially for our one size diapers, and to prevent any wicking issues that may occur when you have an outer layer that is not laminated. So there's your formula for making a diaper that works: a good waterproof outer layer, non-repelling inner layer, and and absorbent core = a very reliable diaper. Plus our diapers fit really really well.

2. Variety & Options. We make both snaps and hook & loop diapers in almost 40 different solid colors and prints (both minky & PUL). It would be so easy for us to just make 1 type of diaper in a handful of colors and only use white snaps. But where's the fun in doing that? People want colors and prints and dots and animal prints and multi-colored-snaps! We cater to the "advanced" cloth diapering mom. We want to add excitement to changing diapers. Only cloth diapering moms look forward to changing diapers when they have something cute in their stash to use next. I don't know many people that get excited about changing another white diaper, much less a disposable.

3. No human was harmed in the production of our diapers. The laminate used for our waterproof fabrics is a non-solvent based type. Other than the fact that it is more environmentally sound, it is also safer for people to work around it because there are no fumes. Even a pregnant woman can safely work in the factory that laminates our fabrics. Same thing with our prints. You don't smell that oil-based ink smell in the factory where our prints are made since they are all water-based. But more importantly, the fact that the very fabric that touches the baby is made in the US also helps assure us that they are made with higher standards of quality.

A brief intro about Blueberry & Me

Making diapers was something I accidentally stumbled into. All my life I thought I was going to be in food service. I had my first food business in high school at age 16. After a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Administration, I went to go to culinary school in San Francisco to earn my "chef" degree. After working in the field and owning 2 restaurants later, I realized I did not want to cook for a living. Why? Because of all the dishes. I hate doing dishes. I don't like cleaning up after I cook. And it bored me to tears to have to cook the same thing over and over again. I make the best Shrimp Scampi in the world...and Tiramisu. But I don't want to have to do it 50..80..120 times a day. Yes there are cooks and staff that can do it for us, but when someone doesn't come in for their shift, me and my husband ends up doing the work. I loved the people we met and the customers we had, but the thought of managing a staff of people that aren't as passionate about the business as I am just gives me knots in my stomach.

I started making diapers shortly after my first son was born. We established Swaddlebees in April 2005, we still had a restaurant back then. But within just 2 years, Swaddlebees sales had already surpassed that of our restaurant with just 2 employees compared to the restuarant's 25. That's when we decided to shut down the restaurant and make diapers full time.

The concept of Blueberry Diapers came about as a way to fill a niche market in the world of cloth diapers. It's all about having fun. It began as a personal project in late 2006 as simply a way to test different designs and fabrics just to see how people would respond to it. I never planned on wholesaling it. Production began in Feb. 2007 and the website was launched in May that year. I already knew there was a huge market for cloth diapers with our experience with Swaddlebees. And I also know that among the moms who are already using cloth diapers, there is that certain percentage that is always looking for something more, regardless of the cost and whether or not they even needed more diapers. Using the best materials possible, and being able to find a high quality US manufacturer meant we will be pushing way beyond the "normal" price limits of cloth diapers. But then again, I didn't intend for it to be "normal". Blueberry Diapers are supposed to be different...fun, fashionable & funky....something you don't see everyday. It's something you will want to pull your baby's pants down to show people what they have underneath....or something you may even not want to cover up.

I've never been the type to try to convince people to use cloth diapers, much less try to push our products on parents. I blush when I have to do that because I feel like a used car salesman. The way I see it, people either get it or they don't. There's no judgment. But if they do get cloth and are looking for something more than what you see everywhere else and what everybody else has, that's where Blueberry Diapers come in. :)

-Written by Margarita McClure-Inventor of Blueberry and Swaddlebees Diapers