Glossary

Cloth diapering has it's own language...from acronyms to cryptic terms, it can be confusing if you are just starting out. Here are a few common abbreviations, terms, and definitions that might help!


Note: For a more in-depth definition of each type of diaper, click here.


AC: AppleCheeks (a brand of diaper)
AFFF: ArtsyFartsy FooFoo (a brand of hemp insert and breast pads)
AI2: All-in-Two (see definition)
AIO: All-in-One (see definition)
All-in-One: All-in-Ones are diapers that have the absorbent part attached to the waterproof part permanently. They are very similar to disposable diapers, but you reuse them instead of throwing them away! You don't need separate liners, covers, inserts, or anything. Just the diaper!
All-in-Two: All-in-Two diapers are very similar to AIO diapers. Instead of being all one piece, the absorbent part is separate. You generally either snap it in or lay it in to the waterproof outer part. The separate absorbent part is either cloth and can be reused or is disposable and is thrown away. Depending on the brand, sometimes you can re-use the waterproof outer shell until it gets poop on it and just use a new insert.
AMP: Anna Marie Pandora (a brand of diaper)
AP: Attachment parenting
Aplix: Another name for Velcro
B4: BuBuBeBe (a brand of diaper)
Bamboo: An absorbent fiber often used in diaper inserts.
BB: Blueberry (a brand of diaper)
BG: BumGenius (a brand of diaper)
BGE: BumGenius Elemental (a brand of diaper)
BGF: BumGenius Freetime (a brand of diaper)
Bish: BeBe Britches (a brand of diaper)
BLW: Baby-led weaning (a philosophy about how and when to introduct solids)
BM: Breastmilk; bowel movement
BRU: Babies R Us (a baby store)
BSRB: Bagshot Row Bamboo (a brand of diaper)
B/S/T: Buy/Sell/Trade
Bulletproof: A leak-proof diaper system.
BW: Baby-wear (using a carrier)
CB: CottonBabies (a cloth diaper/baby sale retailer and website)
CC: Crunchy Clean detergent
CD: Cloth diaper
CIO: Cry it out (a sleep philosophy)
CJ's: CJ's BUTTer (a cloth diaper friendly rash cream)
Cloth Wipes: The cloth version of disposable wipes.
Co-op: A group of people who all place an order from a company together in one large group in order to get cheaper pricing.
Contour: Similar to a prefold, only cut to a baby's shape (like an hourglass). There is usually no leg elastic or back elastic. It needs a cover to be waterproof.
Cover: A waterproof outer layer that covers diapers without the waterproof layer built in. It can be PUL, TPU, or wool.
Coverless: Leaving the waterproof cover off of a prefold or fitted diaper. It allows more breathability and is good for treating diaper rash.
Crossover tabs: An option on diapers that allows the two sides of the diaper to cross over each other, making the waist much smaller. All aplix diapers have crossover; some sanps do.
CYM: Check your (e)mail
CV: Cotton velour (a common diaper fabric)
DD: Dear daughter (referring to a child); disposable diapers
Delaminating: When the waterproof coating on a PUL or TPU cover begins to pull away. 
DH: Dear husband (referring to a spouse)
Diaper Pail: A place to keep your dirty diapers, often a simple flip-top trash can or a regular diaper pail. Often lined with a wet bag.
Diaper Sprayer: Something similar to a kitchen sprayer that attaches to the toilet. Used to rinse poop off diapers into the toilet.
DIY: Do it yourself
Double gussets: Two parallel rows of elastic at the legs; believed to hold in poop better.
Doubler: Similar to an insert. Can be used in addition to a regular insert (doubling the absorbency) or as a newborn insert on its own.
Dryer balls: Wool balls the size of tennis balls that help laundry dry faster and fluffier without using any chemicals. 
DS: Dear son (referring to a child)
DSQ: Diaper-service quality, in reference to types of prefold diapers
EBF: Exclusively breastfed
EC: Excellent condition (to describe an item for sale); elimination communication, a form of potty learning that starts very young.
Ecover: a cloth-diaper safe natural fabric softener
EEUC: Extremely excellent used condition (to describe an item for sale)
EF: Eco-friendly
EFF: Eco-friendly family, exclusively formula feed
EO: Essential oil
EP: Exclusively (breast) pump
EUC: Excellent used condition (to describe an item for sale)
Family cloth: cloth wipes for the whole family, instead of toilet paper
FB: FuzziBunz (a brand of diaper); FaceBook
FDR: Fold-down rise.
FFS: Free for shipping; for f*ck's sake
Fitted: A diaper without the waterproof cover, but with leg elastic and back elastic.  You need to add a separate cover. Very absorbent and a popular overnight solution with either a PUL or wool cover.
FL, FL'er: Front loading washing machine
Flat: A single layer of absorbent cloth that can be folded to create inserts or folded around the baby to create a diaper shape. Usually 27" by 27".
Fluffy: Slang for cloth diapers
Fold-down rise: AKA fold-over rise. A way to make the diaper smaller by folding over the top of the diaper and using a row of snaps inside the diaper.
Fold-over rise: See fold-down rise.
FOR: Fold-over rise.
FS: For sale
FSOT: For sale or trade
FYI: For your information
GAD: Green Acre Designs (a brand of diaper)
GM: Goodmama (a brand of diaper)
GMD: Green Mountain Diapers (a brand of diaper)
GMGN: Goodmama GoodNights (a brand of diaper)
GN: Gender neutral
GNHW: Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter (a brand of diaper)
GS: Green Sprouts (a brand of diaper)
GSE: Grapefruit seed extract (commonly used as a natural way to combat yeast)
GUC: Good used condition (to describe an item for sale)
GV: GroVia
H&L: Hook and loop (velcro, aplix)
HC: Hyena Cart (an online retailer)
Hemp: An absorbent fiber often used in diaper inserts.
HH: Happy Heinys (a brand of diaper)
Hip snaps: A snap set towards the back of the waist of the diaper that helps prevent "wing droop" on small babies, where the wings of the diaper fall down and gape open.
Hook & Loop: Velcro or Touch Tape or Aplix
HTF: Hard to Find (in reference to a print/pattern on a diaper or fabric).
Hybrid: A diaper system that lets you choose between disposable and reusable soakers.
IHA: I have available
IMO: In my opinion
IMHO: In my humble opinion
Inserts: Used with pocket diapers to create absorbency. Often made of microfiber, bamboo, or hemp.
ISO: In search of
KL: Kissaluvs (a brand of diaper)
KL0: Kissaluvs size 0 (a brand of newborn diaper)
Lanolin: A cream that is dissolved in water to create waterproofing in wool.
Lanolizing: Using lanolin on wool covers to give it water resistance.
Laundry tabs: An extra spot of velcro on hook & loop diapers that allows you to secure the tabs so they don't get stuck on other items in the wash. 
Liners: A think layer of material, either disposable or reusable, that you can put on top of a diaper between the diaper and the baby. It can be used to help protect the diaper from non-cloth-diaper-safe diaper cream, or to help dispose of poop, or (if fleece liners) to help create a stay-dry feeling in a diaper that doesn't otherwise have one.
LIP: Link in post
LO: Little one (referring to a child)
Longies: Wool pants that are used as a cover over fitteds or prefolds.
MAO: Make an offer
Mama cloth: cloth menstrual pads
MF: Microfiber (a type of diaper insert)
Microfiber: A man-made type of fabric that is highly absorbent and often used in inserts. It cannot touch your baby's skin directly.
Microfleece: A man-made type of fabric that pulls moisture away and leaves the baby feeling "dry." Often used in pocket or AIO diapers.
Minky: A soft fuzzy fabric used on the outside of diapers or as a lining.
MMAO: Make me an offer
MMARO: Make me a reasonable offer
MS: Monkey snuggles (a brand of diaper)
MSO: Monkey Snuggles Overnight (a brand of diaper)
NB: Newborn
NDR: Not diaper related (also NCDR, N[insert any initials]R)
NWT: New with tags, used to describe an item for sale
OBF: Organic bamboo fleece (a common diaper fabric)
OBV: Organic bamboo velour (a common diaper fabric)
ODC: Orange Diaper Company (a brand of diaper)
One Size: A diaper that adjusts in size to fit a baby from (usually) about 10-35 pounds.
OS: One size
PF: Prefold (see definition)
PIP: Picture in post
PL, PL’ed: Potty learned or learning
Play condition: A very well used diaper that is only suitable for playtime.
PM: Private message
Pocket: A diaper that consists of a waterproof shell with a liner sewn onto it, with an opening (pocket) between the shell and liner. You use inserts inside the pocket opening to create absorbency.
PP: PayPal (a common way to exchange money)
PPD: Postage paid (included in price)
PPH: Pink puffy heart (a way of expressing love)
Prefitted: A countour diaper with added leg elastics and back elastics. It needs a separate cover to be waterproof.
Prefold: A flat diaper that has been sewn into a smaller shape with extra absorbancy in the middle. Prefolds can be folded into inserts and used with pocket diapers, folded into thirds and used as an insert with an AI2, or folded around the baby into a diaper shape and covered with a cover.
PSA: Public service announcement (used to share important/useful info)
PUL: Polyurethane laminate. PUL is a fabric that has been coated on one side to become waterproof. Often used in diaper covers and on the outside of pockets, AIOs, and AI2s.
PW: Planet Wise (a brand of wetbags)
RaR: Rumparooz (a brand of diaper)
Repelling: No longer absorbing liquid.
RLR: A brand of laundry additive.
RM: Rainbow Monster (a brand of cloth diaper)
RnG: Rockin' Green (a brand of cloth diaper friendly detergent)
SB: Swaddlebees (a brand of diaper), SunBaby (a brand of diaper)
Sbish: Sustainablebabyish/Sloomb (a brand of diaper and wool)
SC: Spot's Corner, a section of Hyena Cart that sells used items.
Seconds: Diapers that may have a flaw from the manufacturing process; often sold at a deep discount.
Serged: A way to sew and finish a diaper.
Shorties: Wool shorts that are used as a cover with fitteds and prefolds.
SIO: Snap-in-one, another name for a snap-in AI2.
Sized: A diaper that is sized for a specific weight of baby. For example, an x-small diaper might fit babies from 6-12 pounds, a small diaper from 12-20 pounds, a medium diaper from 20-30 pounds, and a large diaper from 30+ pounds.
Skirtie: A wool soaker or longie with a skirt attached for decoration.
Snap-down rise: A way to make the diaper smaller by using rows of snaps on the front of the diaper to shorten the rise.
Snap-in-one: Another name for a snap-in AI2, where the reusable soaker snaps into the diaper shell.
Snappi: A piece of stretchy plastic used to secure prefolds, instead of using diaper pins.
S/O: Speaking of
SO: Significant other (referring to a spouse)
Soaker: A wool or fleece cover that is pulled on over a fitted or prefold diaper to create the waterproof layer.  Alternately, the absorbent part of a diaper is often called a soaker and it may be used interchangeably with 'insert.'
Stash: Slang for the number of cloth diapers you have.
Stripping: A process where you attempt to remove build up or stains from your diaper. Most often you'll hear of a strip using blue Dawn detergent, but there are many different ways to do it.
Suedecloth: A man-made fabric used to line the inside of some diapers and provide a stay-dry feeling.
SYOF: Send your own fabric (a custom diaper for which you send the fabric to the diaper maker)
T&T: Turned and topstitched (a way to sew and finish a diaper)
TB: Tangerine Baby (a brand of diaper); The Bump (a message board)
TFF: Thirsties Fab Fitted (a brand of diaper)
TL, TL'er: Top loading washing machine
TPU: A waterproof fabric similar to PUL.
Trifold: Folding a flat or prefold diaper into thirds to sit inside a cover or be used as an insert.
TT: Twinkie Tush (a brand of diaper)
TTC: Trying to concieve
TTO: Tea tree oil; Twinkie Tush Overnight (a brand of diaper)
VGUC: Very good used condition (to describe an item for sale). May see multiple Vs to denote very, very, etc.
WAHM: Work at home mom
WB: Wooly Bottoms (a brand of wool)
WCW: Wild Coconut Wear (previously called Wild Child Woolies, a brand of wool)
Wet Bag: A waterproof bag used to store dirty diapers.
Wet Pail: A diaper pail that is filled with water and used to store dirty diapers. However, it is not a recommended way of storing dirty diapers any more, as it can be a health risk.
Wicking: Pulling wetness away from the baby's skin, leaving baby with a stay-dry feeling. Alternately, it can mean that wetness has been pulled from the diaper to another fabric (like a onesie) and the diaper is leaking.
Wing droop: An issue that can occur with the fit of diapers, where the wings of the diaper are loose and gaping even when snapped.
Wool: A fabric used to create waterproof diaper covers.
YGPM: You've got a private message (check your email/messages)
Zorb: A man-made fabric used in diaper inserts.