Best Of The Worst Of The Worst: Generic/Off-Brand Diapers

[Nihi]

It goes without saying, but diapers are an expensive interest. There are reusable cloth diapers, of course-- but for many of us we lack either the interest in them or the privacy to clean them properly. And so for those of us without the spare cash for any middle-shelf diapers, let alone the premium ones, we're left with the cheap kind. But, even then, there are good generic diapers and there are bad generic diapers. So, I figure that we should have a thread for generics.

I can't say I've ever tried them, but I've heard that Assurance -- the Walmart brand -- are the best among cheap diapers. They're moderately absorbant and the tapes aren't incredibly terrible. Then there are the CVS and Walgreens brand, which are passable, but that's about it. And as for the very low-quality ones, I'd say that the worst diaper I've ever tried was from a brand called Leader. I've only ever seen then at a local pharmacy, so I guess they're not exactly prevalent, but they were exemplary of just how bad cheap diapers can be.

So, what other brands are there out there? Are any of them particularly noteworthy, in either an "avoid these like they were the plague" or "hey, these actually aren't too bad" sense? Is there any way, apart from the obvious use of booster pads, to make generic diapers any better?

[ItchyTasty]

The uk nappy brand Senset are totally and utterly shite.

They are yellow plastic, medium thickness and always seem to split down the middle getting gel/fluff everywhere. The don't hold that much, and the leak guards are useless.

Also they seem to leave you feeling like your sitting in a puddle and give you bad rashes.

They have no waistbands either.

And the tapes suck, the plastic stretches and goes floppy meaning you need to reply the useless tapes, after not much time worn.

And they clump up/padding bunches up very easily, even if totally dry.

Avoid at all costs, even though they are dirt cheap.

[Zander]

Beesana - Classic

This is a hard product to review positively. It just seems to fall down on every qualitative measure which I consider when reviewing a diaper. I don't see where it quite fits as a product since there are cheaper products that are better and only marginally more expensive ones which are vastly superior.

At only 88g this diaper (as expected) is fairly low in its max capacity. If you don't need high absorbency / capacity that might be enough, but that leads me to think it would be mainly suited for day-time use and an adult pull-up would be much much better. The bright chalky colours, the hilarious quantity of backing plastic (particularly when compared with the size of the absorbent core - see the pictures) and the products overall noisiness mean its clearly not a discrete product so doesn't seem to fit that market. I wouldn't have thought it would be widely used in hospitals or care-homes either, as the absorbency is just too low to make it a 'standard' diaper for them to stock.

Fitting the diaper is difficult to get done comfortably - due to poor tab positioning (again due to the backing sheet's size) and anti-leak leg-cuffs which are a too short hence end up pinching the skin and causing irritation. Of course, the huge mass of backing plastic on your skin will make you sweat too.

Avoid it.

Beesana - Comfort:

See the review for the Beesana Classic. This one is even worse - the tabs bearly stick down at all - both layers - and keep coming off. Terrible. Utterly terrible.

Prevail - StretchFit:

The Prevail StretchFit is a low cost product and as you might expect some sacrifices have been made. The outer cover feels like the recycled paper towels that can be found in some office lavatories for drying hands (where they are really skimping on the budget), and the absorbent core is a fair bit shorter than I think it needs to be even on sensibly sized human. That said, it does what it's supposed to do and there is one particular feature which might make this product more suitable to some people....

The tabs are positioned on two elasticated panels which can be stretched out to accommodate what I expect to be a very large waist size. The smallest size marketed - Size A - required me to overlap these two extendible panels in order to get a proper fit. By '32-inch upwards', they really do mean the 'upwards' part. That said, given the name of the product is "StretchFit", we can assume the target market for this is, frankly, the obese and rather fat people - and in this department I expect the product will perform better.

The tabs can be re-sat an unlimited number of times (within reason) due to the fact they act like Velcro and stick to the paper-like outer cover of the diaper. The downside with this is that for those who wear underwear, pyjamas, trousers etc. over their diaper, they may find the tabs stick to these clothes as well and this can be pulled loose inadvertently. That they can be re-sat at will is fortunate, because I found I had to re-seat this diaper many times.

The absorbency isn't great (i.e. these are not aimed at heavy wetters), but overall they perform reasonably. There is a tendency for them to fail in "wicking away" moisture from the outer edges of the diaper, which for some may lead to diaper-rash in these areas if they are not promptly changed when needed.

Tender Care - Slip:

The UK (well, greek import) brother of the Beesana products mentioned earlier. The plastic backing is so thin it actually leaks on its own, even without SAP crystals having punctured it. The medium size is fine around the waist but it's so short it hardly reaches above the pelvis bone. The capacity is low and the the single-use sticky tabs will tear the plastic backing if you move too much.

[Bettypooh]

My favorite "worst" are the "Dollar General" store brand (US) "Super Absorbent Underwear" which I used to wear daily. I think they are made by First Quality, and the only true thing in their name is that they are underwear- the rest of the name is a lie! The fit was OK, absorbency about what you'd expect for the cheapest diapers on the market (two average wettings was pushing your luck), the lines on the waistband which indicated the rear were sometimes in the front and sometimes invisible, and the white cloth-like cover leaked like a sieve I had to wear plastic panties with them which offset the price enough to make me change brands At about $0.50 each you get what you pay for.

The Walgreens/CVS store brands are similar in that the cloth-like covers leak just as bad especially when you sit down in one that's fairly wet but not leaking while standing. Not a nice thing to have happen

Bettypooh

[willnotwill]

The Walmart/Sams Club aren't too bad. They're certainly cheap. Much better than the "Embrace skin caring diapers" which are MUCH more expensive and not as good.

I had some "Prevail Breezer" samples which weren't too bad if you want the cloth-like/velcro. I like the name, sounds more like a baby diaper brand.

[square_duck]

I have some old "stay dry" briefs that,.... well.......don't talk about cheap. I don't remember how much they were, and I think I got them off Ebay *shrug* they are in a box that I had stashed away and must be 8 years old or so. They don't:

*have inner leak guards

*any SAP

*an elastic waistband

*good tapes

*they are LOUD though, if thats what you are into

They are just a really cheap fluff filled plastic backed 4 tape design that......'might' work for light usage. I used one a couple of weeks ago, with a Bambino quattro booster, thinking (hoping) to get more mileage out of the thing and guess what???? and the booster held more then the diaper did!

Sooooooooooo.... For crappy diapers, this is pretty much the bottom of the barrel...no, wait sorry. I have some of those "abel" (sp) one tape no shape quasi diaper things that are reminiscent of the very first Pampers that came out that you had to sort of fold and didn't have any tapes, and you had to pin...Now T*H*O*S*E are BAD. Just a thin pad of fluff, no leg bands or anything and a loud plastic shell....talk about useless You sneeze and they are leaking!

Theres a lot of crappy (no pun) products out there, and there is some really good stuff. You have to move past the hype and advertising and look at performance, if thats what you want. I will go out on a limb to even say that ABU work better then these above items (G*A*S*P) yeah, I know, but I have my standards and limits, and am willing to put myself in the line of fire for standing up for what I believe.....and I believe I need to go put on a diaper now

[Letluvsrool]

I like the First Quality plastic-backed diapers, they had a lot of fluff in the wings and were really affordable when I'm lucky enough to find a bunch at a thrift store. The Nu Fit are the newer cloth-backed versions, and aside from the obvious downside, they also have a lot less fluff in them and none on the wings.