Welcome!
My name is Gretchen Gilpin and I am the owner and creator of twinkie tush! I hope to include in this blog post answers to all of the questions you might have as a new member of our community! We are so glad you’re here and can’t wait to make you the diapers, clothing and accessories you’ve been dreaming of for your little one! :)
My name is Gretchen Gilpin and I am the owner and creator of twinkie tush! I hope to include in this blog post answers to all of the questions you might have as a new member of our community! We are so glad you’re here and can’t wait to make you the diapers, clothing and accessories you’ve been dreaming of for your little one! :)
First of all, a little about the company:
We started as a small WAHM (work at home mom) company in late 2010. We began with one employee: me! ;) In my home in New Jersey I made something in the realm of 30-40 diapers a month and we stocked new diapers every 2 weeks on Hyena Cart. After a short time we moved to weekly stockings. I did everything myself in those early days, from designing to cutting to snapping to sewing to creating listings to email-answering to shipping and more, and that worked at that level of production. Within a few stockings, we were selling out in minutes each time. We quickly realized that the demand was high for our one size fitted cloth diapers, and we took steps to increase production. In April of 2011 we brought on our first team member to help cut fabric part-time. Shortly thereafter we added 3 more part-time team members – including the amazingly talented Jen, who did all of our knitting in those early years. My husband Mike took on what has been an increasingly expanding role as well. He started out pinning soakers and helping with Group Custom drawings, and as I write this in June of 2014 he is the twinkie tush General Manager, directing all shipping, inventory, custom drawings and invoicing, website maintenance, listing creation and the running of stockings (just to name a few things!).
We started as a small WAHM (work at home mom) company in late 2010. We began with one employee: me! ;) In my home in New Jersey I made something in the realm of 30-40 diapers a month and we stocked new diapers every 2 weeks on Hyena Cart. After a short time we moved to weekly stockings. I did everything myself in those early days, from designing to cutting to snapping to sewing to creating listings to email-answering to shipping and more, and that worked at that level of production. Within a few stockings, we were selling out in minutes each time. We quickly realized that the demand was high for our one size fitted cloth diapers, and we took steps to increase production. In April of 2011 we brought on our first team member to help cut fabric part-time. Shortly thereafter we added 3 more part-time team members – including the amazingly talented Jen, who did all of our knitting in those early years. My husband Mike took on what has been an increasingly expanding role as well. He started out pinning soakers and helping with Group Custom drawings, and as I write this in June of 2014 he is the twinkie tush General Manager, directing all shipping, inventory, custom drawings and invoicing, website maintenance, listing creation and the running of stockings (just to name a few things!).
Back in late 2012, having maxed out what we could do from
home with a handful of part-time helpers, we had our first major expansion, taking twinkie tush from our living
room to our first out-of-home production space!
We began in our studio in Ithaca, NY with a team of 5 full-time
employees and we quadrupled my highest level at-home production, now making
upwards of 800 diapers a month. We began
to meet more of the demand for our diapers, but as we grew, so did our customer
community! And that propelled us into
further growth. Over the past year and a
half we have further increased diaper production, added new styles and
accessories like blankets and wipes, and we have added 4 more employees to our
team. We have recently expanded into the
upper floor of our studio space as well!
In stride with that physical and team expansion and increase in diaper
production, we further expanded our product line, adding our sub-brand, twinkie
togs! Read about twinkie togs here.
We look forward to continued growth and expansion, creating more jobs in
our local community and giving our amazing customer community more of the
things you most want! You are the reason
for all of this growth, and we can’t thank you enough for being a part of it!
So what all do we make and sell here, and where can you find it?
First and foremost, we are a cloth diaper company. We make 2 types of diapers, fitteds and
FUSION hybrid fitteds. In each of those
categories there are 3 sizes: teenie tush (newborn size, recommended for 5-12
lbs), little tush (recommended for 10-25 lbs and/or lean frames), and one size
(recommended for 12-35 lbs and our most popular size).
Let’s talk about materials and soaker systems!
First let me tell you about what goes into our fitteds:
First let me tell you about what goes into our fitteds:
There are four types of fabric in our fitted diapers. There is the inner lining which is either organic bamboo velour (obv) or cotton velour (cv) depending on the diaper. Then there is organic bamboo fleece (obf) and stretch fleece in between the inner velour and the outer print fabric. And finally the face of the diaper - the print! The vast majority of our diapers consist of stretchy knit outer prints (jersey, interlock, poly lycra, etc.) but on occasion we use non-stretchy woven prints (aka quilter’s cotton) or minky as well.
That covers our standard anytime diapers, which we offer in
a constantly changing array of beautiful prints. We do also make 2 types of diapers with cv or
obv outer layers – the twinkie tush night-night and the twinkie tush simplify. The simplify is exactly what it sounds like –
a simpler anytime diaper in solid colors for simpler tastes. With squishy velour outers, our simplify
diapers are very popular for their cuddle factor! :) The simplify soaker system is exactly like
that of our print fitteds and we will go into detail about that below.
The twinkie tush night-night is our night-time diaper, with
an even more ample, easily customizable soaker system for heavy wetters! It has
been called the Holy Grail of night-time diapering, and is one of our most
popular diapers.
* If you aren’t familiar with obv, cv and obf:
Organic bamboo velour (obv) is just about the softest,
silkiest fabric you can imagine when it's new and unwashed. The term organic bamboo velour or obv refers
to industry standard obv which is made up of 70% bamboo, 28% organic cotton,
and 2% polyester.
Cotton velour (cv) is almost as heavenly soft when it's new
but not quite as silky as obv. Cotton
velour is made up of 80% cotton and 20% poly blend. Cotton velour or cv tends to stay softer
longer than obv, which is part of why some people prefer cv.
Organic bamboo fleece (obf) is made up of 70% bamboo and 30%
organic cotton. It is an extremely
absorbent fabric which is why you will find the many layers of obf in a twinkie
tush diaper lead to extremely high levels of absorbency all around! :) We pre-wash the obf that goes into our diaper
bodies to combat shrinkage, but some further shrinkage is expected with these
natural fibers.
Stretch obf is made of 70% Bamboo, 25% Organic Cotton and 5%
spandex.
Stretch fleece is included in all knit prints and in twinkie
tush night-nights but is not included in woven prints. The reason for this is because a diaper is
only as stretchy as its least stretchy component. In the case of a woven that would be the
outer print. Nothing is gained in adding
stretch to the inner of a diaper when the outer prevents any stretch from
occurring. However, shortly after
introducing the new stretch fleece fit we adjusted our woven pattern to allow
for longer wings. This gives the
illusion of stretch and our customers report that our wovens fit incredibly
well.
The other materials that go into all twinkie tush diapers
are polyacetal resin snaps and thread, as well as our labels.
Now what does the soaker system look like and how do you use
a one size or little tush twinkie tush fitted cloth diaper?
For that, take a moment to view this instructional video as well as the photos below. :)
For that, take a moment to view this instructional video as well as the photos below. :)
And for a look at the teenie tush (newborn) soaker system,
check out this album on facebook.
The twinkie tush night-night soaker system is more
elaborate, and can be seen in this albumon facebook.
All of our fitted diapers require covers to be
waterproof. They are highly absorbent
but do not contain a liquid barrier.
We have covered our fitteds! :)
Now let’s move on to the twinkie tush FUSION!
Now let’s move on to the twinkie tush FUSION!
The FUSION is our hybrid fitted, containing a layer of
hydrophobic (polyester) fleece in the shell as well as in the soaker system,
which serves to push moisture back into the absorbent layers of the soaker
system. Those layers are comprised of the
same OBF and velour (either cotton velour or organic bamboo velour) as our
fitted diapers.
The differences between our fitted and FUSION diapers are
the use of poly fleece in the FUSION, as well as the soaker layouts. The shell patterns are the same, but you will
find that FUSION has a stretchier, larger-feeling fit due to the difference in
materials. In addition, the FUSION
diaper bodies are less prone to shrinkage than the natural fibers in the fitted
diaper bodies.
We make FUSION diapers in prints and we also offer FUSION
simplify diapers. We do not have
night-nights in FUSION at this time.
The FUSION soaker system looks and behaves differently than
our fitted soaker system. Visit this album on facebook to see how it
works!
FUSION diapers do still require covers to be completely
waterproof.
Now about the accessories we offer:
Currently we offer twinkie tush blankets and wipes. Blanket fabric is pre-washed to combat
shrinkage. Our blankets are sized at
28x28” and 34x34”. The smaller size is a
great car seat or stroller option, and wonderful for small babies any
time! The larger size is our most
popular, and is big enough for my own almost-kindergarteners to use and
love! We plan to offer more sizes in the
future.
Our wipe sets are extremely popular and well loved! Our customers use them for everything from
runny noses to washcloths to countertop cleaners to baby doll blankies, to (of
course) diaper changes! :) We sell wipes
in various 3, 6 and 12 packs.
And twinkie togs!
I mentioned our clothing sub-brand, twinkie togs,
above. Here again is the link to more info about our togs, which are
growing more popular by the week! Many
customers love twinkie togs for the way they coordinate perfectly with matching
twinkie tush diapers, but many customers who don’t have little ones in cloth
diapers are also twinkie togs lovers!
And of course the twinkies themselves, out of diapers for years now, are
never without their twinkie togs. ;)
Now that we’ve covered the products we currently make, let’s
discuss where you can find them! There
are 3 basic ways to purchase our diapers, and all come directly from us at
twinkie tush Headquarters in Ithaca, NY!
1 – Ready-to-ship items on our website. We stock new, ready-to-ship diapers, togs,
blankets and wipes in our online store every Wednesday at 2pm Eastern. We always preview the new diapers
on our facebook page on Tuesday afternoons, and announce stocking times along
with the preview photos. You can also
find price, velour and other information in the preview photo captions on
facebook.
This blog post covers how stockings work on twinkietush.com,
and includes a helpful photo tutorial as well.
We get a lot of traffic at our stockings, and sometimes listings sell
out quickly. There are almost always
substantial quantities of product available within each individual listing, but
when a certain item is in very high demand it can move fast. We recommend being at our site a few minutes
ahead of stocking time, and being on the page for the listing you most want to
purchase.
We ship all stocking items to the address you provide on
twinkietush.com (note that changing the address in paypal will not change it on
our site). We automatically combine
shipping wherever possible, and we issue shipping adjustment refunds once
packages have gone out. Our primary
shipping day is Friday, and all stocking items from the week, as well as
customs and pre-orders, ship together that day.
That means that if you have customs and/or pre-orders coming up for
shipment, we will automatically combine them with any stocking items you
purchase *as long as the names and addresses on the orders are identical.
Often there are diapers, blankets and togs in stock between
stockings as well! Any time you are looking
for a new twinkie tush product, make sure to check the site first to see what
is currently available!
2 – Customs. We offer
2 kinds of custom slots for diapers: mini groups (3 diapers, knit prints only),
and large groups (5-15 diapers, knit or woven prints). Information about mini groups (offered at our
stockings) can be found here, and information about large groups (currently
offered via random drawing) can be found here.
We also offer blanket customs. Information about blanket custom groups can
be found here! :)
In the future we plan to offer custom twinkie togs. More on that in the coming months.
Customs ship 4-6 weeks from the time your group fabric
arrives to us at TTHQ OR 4-6 weeks from the close of the group payment period,
whichever comes second.
3 – Pre-orders.
Pre-orders are another very popular way to purchase twinkie tush
diapers, blankets, wipes, and twinkie togs!
Most Fridays we offer items for pre-order, and we show photos of those
items on Thursday afternoons or evenings on our facebook page! Pre-orders allow you to individually choose
your diaper type, size, finishing style and velour from the available options,
as well as to choose your blanket backing and clothing size!
We stock pre-order slots on Fridays at 2pm eastern on www.twinkietush.com. Listings are usually up
the night before. Some listings sell out
very quickly and others are open through the weekend. Within about 48 hours of your order, you will
receive an email from us that contains a link to a preference form. That is how you tell us exactly what to make
you! Pre-order items are custom made
based on the preferences you provide, and ship 4-6 weeks from date of order.
About how we price our diapers:
The reason our high-absorbency fitteds and FUSION diapers have a relatively
high price point is because of all of the materials that go into them, as well
as the fact that they are handmade domestically. The cost of the velours and fleece is
substantial. Why is it worth paying more
for diapers made with these high end materials?
Because there is nothing gentler and more luxurious to put next to your
baby's skin. There is nothing softer or more breathable. We
stand by our materials with pride. We
also consider it very important to pay our team members a fair wage. Those things necessitate the price point we
reside at. One thing we have never done
and won't ever do is to raise prices for the sole purpose of increasing our
profit margin. Any price increases have
been and will be a direct result of greater material cost and/or labor cost.
Caring for your twinkie tush diapers, accessories and
twinkie togs
All of our diapers and togs come with care instructions on
the care tags found within the individual items. For diapers it is important that you use a
cloth diaper safe detergent. We do not
recommend any specific brand, but we often see discussion about the best brands
and routines for different kinds of water and washers on our fan discussionpage. We do not recommend additives like
fabric softener or bleach. For all items
we recommend using low to warm heat settings to prolong the life of the fabrics
and elastic (where applicable) and to resist fading and shrinking.
We have covered a bit about our company, what we make, how
we make it, where you can find it, and how you should care for it! Now let’s talk about our community and social
media!
I mentioned our primary facebook page a couple of
times. That is where we post almost all
updates – it is important to “like” us there and to make sure you are receiving
our notifications in your newsfeed to see previews for stockings and
pre-orders, announcements about Group Custom drawings, general updates, charity
and benefit auctions, and much more.
In addition to the facebook page make sure to follow us on
Instagram as @twinkietush. We post lots
of early previews, behind the scenes shots and other fun miscellany on IG!
Our twitter account is occasionally updated as well, and we
plan to be more active on both twitter and Pinterest in the near future!
This blog is another way we communicate with our customer
base, and it is searchable via the link on the upper right of the page! Whenever we write up a new blog post or
update an older one, we link to it on the main facebook page.
And if you want to see the most comprehensive collection of
photos of our prints and previous designs, check out our flickr photostreamhere! :)
The best way to connect with other twinkie tush families is
on our facebook discussion, Group Custom formation and B/S/T page! The page has grown to the extent that we will
soon be splitting it into 2 separate pages: one for Group Custom formation and the
other for discussion and B/S/T. That
change will take place within a month or two (written 6/2014) and of course we
will announce all changes on our main facebook page as well as the current
discussion page!
Our website offers additional answers to Frequently AskedQuestions, and includes more detail about our company as well! Make sure to peruse it and let us know if you
have any questions for which you do not find answers!
We can be reached via email at info@twinkietush.com. We have several other email addresses as
well, all of which can be found on our contact page, here!
Thank you for being here and for your interest in and
support of the twinkie tush brand and our family and employees! We are so honored and grateful to spend our
days creating the diapers, togs and accessories you seek for your little
ones. Nothing is more important to us
than their comfort and happiness, and we can’t thank you enough for allowing us
to be a part of that. :)
