Thin PUL does not mean "cheap" PUL

Eco-PUL fabric is thin, soft, and lightweight. If you are going wear a diaper all day, wouldn't you want the fabric to be soft, thin, and light?

Yet once in a while, someone mistakenly thinks this means that Eco-PUL must be "cheap." They think a thicker, more rubbery PUL would indicate higher quality just by the fact that it is thicker. Or they imagine thicker PUL will somehow be "more" waterproof.

This is a misunderstanding. It takes skill to a create a bonded product that is drapes and is breathable -- and at the same time, is waterproof.

Now, tote bag makers might prefer a rubbery PUL (if not backing the outside with a cotton woven or other fabric). In this case a thick laminate would make the bag more stiff and keep it standing up. A tote bag is not going to be washed as much as a diaper, where that extensive washing can cause the thick, rubbery laminates to crack. Whether the fabric is comfortable to wear is not an issue.

If you're going to wear it, you don't want to feel like you're wrapped in a balloon! Modern PUL is a far cry from the rubber pants of yesteryear, and we aim to keep it that way.

PUL edges might not be pretty, but that's okay

The look of PUL sometimes surprises people. PUL does not always have tidy selvedge edges like other fabrics, and so they think something must be wrong! This is because PUL is not a regular knit or woven fabric, is a bonded fabric. Let me explain...

PUL starts with a lightweight, stretchy polyester knit fabric. It is married to TPU film (thermoplastic polyurethane) in a shotgun wedding involving heat, adhesive, and pressure. The two separate elements become one fabric.

But we're not done yet. The TPU film is very wide, and if we stopped now, the fabric would have several inches of loose film hanging off the edges. So as the last step, the edges are mechanically trimmed. The fabric runs past the knives at high speed, which means the fabric can shift as it runs past the knife.

Here are some surprising things you might see with perfectly normal, good PUL fabric:

• a rough edge if the trimming blades start to dull
• width that varies by an inch or so throughout the roll of fabric
• loose (unbonded) TPU film along the edge that missed getting trimmed off

We sometimes get emails from people worried that this means something is wrong with their fabric, and it is about to fall apart. Relax: we have never had a case of delamintion with Eco-PUL. It's all good. Just remember, laminated fabrics are much different from woven or knit fabrics where you see a tidy selvedge edge.