For a while now here at Minkylicious we’ve been extending our range of products, and one of the most recent arrivals is Zorb. You may be wondering though what is zorb? What can I use it for? Why would I want to buy it? Here’s a chance to learn about one of our newest arrivals.
What is Zorb?
Zorb is a fabric that has been created by Wazoodle in America, it is designed to be a highly absorbent fabric for use in cloth nappies and other items that need something that can hold a lot of water. It is designed to absorb ten times it’s own weight in water in around 20 seconds, which is far faster than cotton, bamboo or hemp can soak it up. Made from a secret mixture of fibres including cotton, tencel, bamboo and other fibres interspersed with polyester nylon it manages both to absorb liquid quickly and hold onto it well once the liquid has been soaked up. Although it is a little thicker than some other fabrics, as you actually need less of it, it makes for a much slimmer and trimmer fitting cloth nappy.
Zorb II
Although Zorb is a great new fabric to use in cloth nappies, the company that makes it found that some people found it a little difficult to work with. It was designed to be used with a different fabric on the outside, such as cotton or bamboo. For this reason they introduced Zorb II, which is what we are stocking here at Minkylicious. We currently have the two versions of this available, Zorb II dimples which has an inner layer of Zorb between two layers of bamboo and organic cotton fabric, and is designed to shrink and fluff up slightly less than the diamond pattern fabric. Zorb II diamond has a layer of bamboo and organic cotton, a layer of Zorb and a stay dry layer of wicking polyester. This is designed to be used in smaller areas such as soaker pads, it will shrink and thicken quite considerably, but should not be pre-washed before sewing.
Why Zorb
Could this be the fabric that you’ve been looking for? When it comes to cloth nappies, we all want something that is super absorbent, and yet not too thick, and while there are many fabrics that don’t do too badly on this front, there are still issues and difficulties with all of them. With a relatively new product, such as Zorb, it can be difficult to know how much to use, and when to use it. Wazoodle recommends that to get the same level of absorbency as just two layers of Zorb, you would need to use 8 layers of flannel, 6 layers of french terry or 5 layers of cotton fleece. If you’re looking for a trim fabric for a heavy wetter, then this could possibly be your answer.
has Zorb been proven by a study of diapers?
Zorb has been tested for its absorbency. Plenty of people use it for cloth nappies.
Is it SUITABLE for reusable sanitary pads?
Yes, it works really well for reusable menstrual products such as pads.
Would the zorb be good for homemade eye makeup remover pads too? Or too thick? 🙂
It may absorbent? by absorbing too much liquid & then not wipe away the makeup. The organic cotton is quite thick. The bamboo Zorb, that I can’t get my hands on at the moment, is softer & could work. I will try some scraps & test them.