The idea for Diaperaps was born while I was living in Hong Kong with a new baby son. The humid weather, in combination with rubber pants, left my baby boy with terrible diaper rash. It was then that I invented Diaperaps, proving literally that necessity is the mother of invention. Diaperaps was a patented diaper cover that would revolutionize cloth diapering by eliminating pins and rubber pants. It was to be the beginning of a long journey that took us around the world and back again and taught us so many life lessons. It was also to be the beginning of a long and difficult battle against the intrenched interests of disposable diaper makers who relied upon parents using 7000 diapers and throwing them away rather than 80 reusable cloth ones in order to benefit their bottom line. (They also spend millions of dollars to convince parents that their babies bottom line would be more comfortable wrapped in plastic rather than breathable cotton).

Diaperaps diaper cover + natural cloth diapers

That was back in 1980. For the few dedicated cloth diaper users back then , the only choices were diaper pins and rubber pants. When I started this business, I knew nothing of manufacturing, clothing design or textile fabrication. But I believed strongly then as I do now that disposable diapers are not only the greatest symbol of our throw away mentality, they also represent an enormous waste of resources.

So I began to learn all that I could about pattern making and the garment industry. I even flew back to Hong Kong to find a manufacturer (no one in this country would make it for us) which was no easy task as I hated flying and was scared to go by myself (we couldn’t afford for both my husband and I to go) had a terrible case of  laryngitis (I could barely be heard) and I had no contacts or leads or connections in Hong Kong. But I had lots of determination, which is a good thing to have when you are trying to start a business that you know nothing about.

Our first color flyer - 1984

Ultimately the Hong Kong manufacturer used our deposit money to bail themselves out of trouble with their suppliers and our bank gave us a hard time in returning our life savings — we had sunk this money into a letter of credit ( you do a letter of credit because you are suppose to get your money back if something like this happens ). The hardest decision I had to make was not to sink any more money into this manufacturer who lied to us over and over again, even if it meant we wouldn’t be able to go on.

Life Lesson # 1  You can’t build a business with people you don’t trust

On crutches due to a broken ankle from stepping into a big hole while trying to catch our family rabbit that got loose in the backyard, I hobbled around downtown Los Angeles trying to find people to help me out. And because I was willing to ask for help and also listen when they gave advice, even if it was advice I didn’t want to hear, I found many people willing to lend me a hand .

Life Lesson # 2  : Don’t chase things in the dark    

Life Lesson # 3 : You have to ask for help and listen when you get it.   

For the water proof barrier material, I had to convince a manufacturer’s sales rep to design a fabric especially for diaper cover use (they made things for aviation and the medical industry). The guy’s boss laughed at him and said well if you want to fly with this, it’s on your time. Within 5 years we were their largest customer.

Life Lesson # 4  People are willing to take a chance with you, if they believe in you

In the beginning, my husband and I were the sole employees. I carried responsibility for design, product development, pattern making, manufacturing, inventory and accounting. I even went to vocational school to learn pattern making. Abraham carried responsibility for sales, marketing, shipping and general running around . We both worked at raising money by asking everyone we knew. Many of our family and close friends really came through for us. In the early days, we drew up lots of budgets and cash flow charts,  but somehow in the process of imaging our business growing , we forgot to imagine all of the staff we would have to hire.

Life Lesson # 5   It always costs more than you think

There was so much to learn about the garment industry. I can honestly say, it is a miracle that anyone has anything to wear. Early on, before we understood the importance of Quality Control, we discovered a huge problem with our hook and loop (the generic name for velcro). And let me tell you that If the Hook and Loop is defective, ain’t nobody going to be happy when that diaper cover comes undone. At first the tech person at the mill that produced it for us took responsibility but then the higher ups decided that it wasn’t their responsibility to fix.

So I had to repair thousands of covers (didn’t have the money to pay for the repairs) and Abraham had to snip all the threads.
Don’t Ask !!!   

Life Lesson # 6 was learned the hard way. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure … Quality Control !  

In the 1990′s we really grew up.  I designed several innovative diapering products that earned me patents, back then they had gold foil and pretty blue ribbons on the front. We were the first to use PUL in a reusable diapering product, paving the way for a whole new generation of cloth diapering products. We were also the first to add leg gussets and to have an umbilical cut out. Our diaper covers were the first to be sold in national stores, going into JC Penney’s in 1988. We were first to offer a complete line of swim diapers for girls and boys and to manufacture an absorbent training pant that a baby couldn’t just pee straight through to the floor when you were in the store and couldn’t get to the bathroom in time (yes, real life experiences were the inspiration for all our products)

Our Swim Diaper for girls

At our height we had over 35 employees. From the very beginning we offered everyone health insurance and flexible working hours (especially appreciated by our moms). We wanted it to be more than a workplace, we wanted a community that supported each other and valued each member’s contributions. This did not come easy as everyone comes to work with their own personal baggage. I was amazed at how rewarding I found this work to be. We celebrated birthdays, fridays, new accounts… and most people gained several pounds after working at Diaperaps. I was also surprised to learn how many people had never experienced Bagels, Lox and Cream cheese (our Friday breakfast). I believe that when you develop a business culture that treats employees with respect and care, then that is how they will treat your customers – and they also become incredibly loyal.  The only complaint I ever received about our customer service was from a customer

who called me to say how rudely she was treated on the phone by our customer service rep. ” Right in the middle of the order, she started screaming at me COFFEE BREAK coffee break and then hung up the phone.” I laughed and then told her we were located in Southern California and that our rep wasn’t screaming COFFEE BREAK but EARTHQUAKE. Then we both laughed and she apologized and I sent her a free diaper cover.

Life Lessons # 7 – # 1000   From Coffee Breaks to Earth Quakes, there will be ups and downs in anything that you do, so try to keep perspective and balance and remember things will look better tomorrow.  

We did end up manufacturing in China for several years. But before I committed to manufacturing there, I had to be sure that it was the kind of factory that treated their workers fairly, had good working conditions, only employed adults, you get the picture.  This was all right before the big explosion over Kathy Lee Gifford and the factories where her clothing line were made using child labor. But I decided to fly there myself (remember I hate flying) and see it with my own eyes. The factory was co owned by an American who was to become my partner for many years. He was a generous and gracious man from Louisiana who made China his home and really loved it’s people and it’s challenges. And it showed in his factory, which when it was inspected a few years later by a team from a very large department store that we were selling to, said it was the nicest clothing factory they had ever seen in China.

We loved the people and they took great pride in making our product for us and were always so excited when we introduced new colors. But it was a whole different culture and it was important to understand their culture and not expect them to understand ours. After all I was working in their country.  I got to eat really great Chinese food every time I visited and experienced a whole different perspective. There are too many life lessons about working in China to list them all here.

The time came for us to bring it all back to the U.S. This was a hard decision. We were in major department stores such as J.C.Penney’s and Sears and selling to large retail stores in the U.K and distributors all over Europe. Manufacturing in the U.S. would mean that we would have to give up that part of the business that sold to the large retailers since we wouldn’t have the price point to compete. But I grew really tired of all the time away from my family. One day after spending 6 weeks in China overseeing the meticulous and ridiculous packaging instructions for our swim diapers from Woolworth’s in the United Kingdom and spending both my birthday and Mother’s Day in a hotel room instead of my family, I asked myself, is it worth it ? And the answer was No.  There were so many quality control problems that I was always dealing with (the sewing was perfect but they had so many problems with quality control over the raw materials).  It was wonderful coming back home. We got to reestablish long term relationships with our vendors, provide employment for local workers in the factory and it was only a 10 minutes from where we lived.

Life Lesson # 1,000,000   Know what is important and value it.    

Children learn through imitation. They learn to speak because they hear us speak. When they are young, they yearn to be just like their mommies and daddies. We try to teach them our values and what is most important to us. We hope they will grow up strong and caring. You can make a difference in how much you consume & what example you set for your children. You can teach them, from their first day, the value of caring for the earth and dealing with waste in a responsible way. ”

Over the past 7 years we’ve seen a wonderful growth of interest in reusable diapers and an abundance of choices for responsible and healthy diapering. There has also been a lot of hype around single use diapers that are biodegradable. Nothing biodegrades in a landfill because there is no oxygen. A Landfill study conducted by the University of Arizona found 50 year old newspapers that were still readable. There are so many great choices in reusable cloth diapers – please try and use them whenever you can and reserve the single use only when necessary. There are also many great choices made in the U.S.A. Unfortunately most of the large manufacturers have gone to China so read the labels so you know who and what you are supporting with your money.

Life Lesson # 1,000,001   Know when it’s time to say goodbye, let go and move on.

I devoted my time and efforts to the Diaperaps® diapering system because I believe the diaper choice you make will have a lasting effect on your baby and the future of our planet. It has been an honor to provide the diapers and covers that went on millions of little babies bottoms.

 With gratitude for all that I have learned through this journey.

And now for the next adventure…

Rachael Flug