Replacing the leg elastic in bumGenius 4.0 diapers is super easy and helps you get more wear out of your diapers. Most of our 4.0s were purchased before the birth of our second son over 2 years ago and have been worn and washed many times. Being worn by toddlers, repeated washings and age caused the leg elastic to relax and it was time to replace the leg elastic in preparation for the arrival of baby #3!
The bumGenius 4.0 diaper is my favorite diaper, which is why my diaper stash primarily consists of them. We do have several bumGenius 3.0s that are nearly 4 years old, have been worn by 2 babies and have already had the leg elastic replaced.
Replacing the leg elastic in the bumGenius 4.0 is simple since they are designed for easy leg elastic repair. (This is not the case for the 3.0s, the leg casings are completely, making this process a little more difficult. I’ll be replacing the elastic in our 3.0s for the second time to get some more wear out of those diapers too).
Supplies Needed:
- Elastic (1/4″ elastic, cut in 4.5″ strips)*
- Needle
- Thread
- Scissors
*I purchased 1/4″ elastic which will cost me about $2 to replace all the elastic in my diapers.
Directions:
Step 1 – Turn diaper inside out.
Step 2 – Locate one end of the elastic.
Step 3 – Pull a bit of the existing elastic out of the seam.
Step 4 – Take a new piece of elastic and sew onto the end of the existing elastic.
Step 5 – Make sure your stitches are tight and the new elastic is secure on the old piece.
Step 6 – Sew the opposite end of the new elastic onto the old elastic to prepare to pull it through the seam. Be sure this stitching is secure. You do not want the stitches to come apart while in the leg casing.
Step 7 – Snip the old elastic near where the new piece is sewn on.
Step 8 – Once the old elastic has been snipped, prepare to pull the new piece through the casing.
Step 9 – Go to the opposite end and pull on the existing elastic which will pul the new elastic through the casing.
Step 10 – The new elastic is through the casing and ready to be sewn on the other side.
Step 11 – While holding onto the new elastic that has been pulled through (so it doesn’t fall back into the casing), snip off the end of the old elastic. Remove the stitches holding the new and old elastic together.
Step 12 – It’s now time to sew the new elastic onto the small piece of old elastic.
Step 13 – Securely sew the new elastic onto the end of the old elastic.
Step 14 – Once the new elastic is securely sewn onto the end of the old elastic, you’re finished! You’re replaced one side of the leg elastic!
The elastic on the left has been replaced while the right side is the old elastic. You can see the difference replacing the elastic makes.
This shows you the difference replacing the leg elastic can make. The diaper on the left just had the elastic replaced while the diaper on the right has not. Over time and after many wears and washes, the elastic relaxes and makes the diaper bigger. Replacing the leg elastic gives new life to your diapers and makes them able to fit small babies.
It takes me about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on distractions, to replace the elastic in each diaper. It is well worth the time to extend the life of our diapers.
Replacing the back elastic follows the same steps as the leg elastic. The back elastic tends to wear slower so you may not even need to replace it.
Once I finish replacing all of the elastic in our diapers, we’ll have like new diapers ready for our new baby and will only have spent $2!
These diapers have been well worth the investment, 10 of them are nearly 4 years old and the rest are over 2 years old. We haven’t had to purchase any cloth diapers at all for baby number 3 since the ones we already have are in such wonderful shape.
I hope this tutorial helps you replace the leg elastic in your diapers and extend their life!
