VIP / Gerber Adult Vinyl Pants equivalents

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:49 AM, rusty pins said:

Oil is used to make plastics.  8% to 10% of oil supply is used to make plastics.  12 million barrels a year just for plastic bags alone.  https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bags-petroleum/

Plastic bags are not made of vinyl. A.C Medical had a video by one of the founders of Greenpeace, which I have posted here, that said PVC does NOT use petroleum, which I doubt I could find as I have not looked for it on Google for a number of years

Well, I got lucky. Someone should save this to a DD video library

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

On 4/23/2019 at 9:11 AM, BabyJune said:

The old style plastic has been replaced by polyurethane laminate (PUL). PUL is a vinyl coated stretchy fabric that actually "breathes" so it won't trap moisture, which can cause diaper rash. If you take the nostalgia factor out of the mix, PUL waterproof pants are great and with a good panty pattern, they are fairly easy to make if you are handy with a sewing machine. If you aren't, there are plenty of commercially-made pants available--check amazon and Etsy. PUL also comes in a variety of colors and prints, which makes the pants a lot less boring than plain old vinyl...although I don't mind "plain old pants" if that is the effect you're looking for.

Not Really: The overwhelming bulk of those of us using cloth diapers are using rubber panties

How can P(olyurathane) fabric be vinyl coated? As I understand it from what I have heard and from the word "laminate" the structure is a thin layer of PU sandwiched (laminated) between two layers of a textile (usually nylon) like Gore-Tex, used for high-end outdoorsman rainwear, which has bewen around for over 30 years

Beyond that,, if they are "breathable" that means they are gas-permeable. That is fine for rainwear since pretty muvh the only thing they are dealing with is water and water vapor. There have been complaints about the panties "leaking" what actually happens is that, at near body temperatures, some of the elements of bodily ejecta are gaseous or vapors, they escape since what "breathes" in, also "Breathes" out. Away from the body, they condense back into liquids and get on the outside of the panty and on the clothing. If you are in fairly thick diapers, than "breathe"ability is not an issue since the diapers are too thick for it to be useful. They have been trying to replace the fuly protective materials for  well... http://other.sandralyn.net/1942.html   and I have heard the same thing about  these kinds of fabrics for 4-1/2 decades. I also heard that the waterproofing separates from the textile. Also the material feels a bit out-of-place creepy for baby panties

[babystevie]

I've been using the nylon taffeta pants from Babykins. They are definitely cooler than vinyl and I haven't had any problems with leaks. I just wish they came in prints.

[Noisey Pants]

I am replying to this post late. Back in the 80's I become incontentent and purchased a lot of the VIP pants from those ladies. I probably purchased 150 pairs of the X-Large. I asked them if they could make custom sizes and they said no. That the machine they purchased from Gerber stamped out the pants. So I started purchasing the vinyl from them. Over the years I would buy yards of the vinyl and they would sent it to a Seamstress who made Bear Bottoms Diapers. Diane would make custom size pants for me made out of the original Gerber Vinyl. I grew up wearing the Gerber pants and loved the texture. I was a bedwetter into my 20's then became incontentent in a work related accident. Gerber Pants were my favorite along with Comco. I still have almost 100 pair of the VIP X-Large that are in excellent unused condition. And over 40 pairs of the custom made pants out of the original Gerber Vinyl. I didn't realize how popular they were until the internet came along. I sure miss those wonder ladies at VIP and also Wendy at Comco. They also made a lot of custom size pants for me. I will be willing to sell the VIP X-Large pants if people are interested. They can't fit over my thick cloth diapers. I have attached pictures of me wearing the custom size pants made out of the original Gerber Vinyl. If anyone knows about the pants they can tell by the pictures they are the real deal. And also a picture of the VIP X-Large pants if have stored away safely. 

[rusty pins]

All I can say to the above is, "Holy Cow!"

[square_duck]

No kidding!!! Those are some serious bulky diapers there dude!! ? If you sell those VIP pants, you could retire!!! Thats a fortune in plastic pants you have there!!! Good luck with that. ?

 

As to the op, ( though I to am 'late') I was very distressed when VIP went under, as they made what I always loved and wanted!! ? 

But, through shopping I found a.... "Reasonable" substitute in the plastic-pants website as well as the ones from Kins that Angela Bauer likes, and the Protex "I can't believe they aren't Gerber' pants, ( which are hella expensive!!) 

I ordered a bunch from the plastic-pants site, since they seemed to be the best compromise for what I wanted, but I have a couple of VIP pants for comparison.... I'm still sad that they went under, but at least there are substitutions that work for me.. ?? for which I am grateful..?

Qwack

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Protex sells a line called I Can't Believe it's Not Gerber II. From what I understand, Gerber/VIP were made of a grainy material, the ones from Portex are made of a smooth material. Now some 11 years ago, at a thrift store, I picked up some Gerber baby panties for my dolls, they were also made of smooth, milkly material. Did Gerber ever make adult panties in smooth material?

The Protaex item, which I like (all my reviews are in RUBBER PANTIES'R'US), is frosted transparent and colors and looks mosre like some of the early and middle fifties items. The Gerber in colors that I saw in the middle 1980'a were opaque. What I would like to know is when Gerber used clear, milky "white" material. I got mine for the dollies  about 10-15 years ago and that was in a thrift store so they must have been around well before that

Of late,, say the last 30 years MANY more panties are made of smooth material than grainy, which was not the case for baby panties over the last 60 years and adult panties from about 1970 to 1995 or so. Then there came the mixed materials, smooth on one side and grainy on the other, which for me, make no sense

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

On 5/12/2018 at 5:02 PM, dlnoir said:

Finding old school plastic pants the ones we wore when we were young really is a royal pain in the butt. Personally I favor plastic pants made with an embossed type of vinyl, back in the days that was the choice of manufacturers here in Europe. Over the years they moved towards smooth sometimes even high gloss vinyl, can’t belief it . Not only that, I like my plastic pants to have a snap front and pockets to tuck your diaper into. Every so now and then I come across a toddler sized plastic pant which I can stretch to fit my adult body. I find them mostly in Germany they probably had a large market for plastic pants made with an embossed type of vinyl. Usually the fit is quite snug but not so snug it will block my blood circulation or pinch my skin, I prefer to wear snug fitting plastic pants anyway.   For me it is a continuous struggle to find plastic pants with the old type of vinyl then again every so now and then I am able to find one which fits me right away of I have to make it fit me. Bottom line, there is nothing better than old school plastic pants.  Noticed only the somewhat older members replied so far to this topic. 

The old style was the smooth material. I do not even remember grainy material before I was about 8-1/2 at least and the items made of it tended to be cheaper than the same kinds made from smooth material and I instinctively thought it was either janky or trying to make it feel like cloth to hide what it really should be. I had the smooth material in 1948. It is amazing how much misinformation there is

[rachelB]

On 12/30/2020 at 7:39 PM, Noisey Pants said:

I am replying to this post late. Back in the 80's I become incontentent and purchased a lot of the VIP pants from those ladies. I probably purchased 150 pairs of the X-Large. I asked them if they could make custom sizes and they said no. That the machine they purchased from Gerber stamped out the pants. So I started purchasing the vinyl from them. Over the years I would buy yards of the vinyl and they would sent it to a Seamstress who made Bear Bottoms Diapers. Diane would make custom size pants for me made out of the original Gerber Vinyl. I grew up wearing the Gerber pants and loved the texture. I was a bedwetter into my 20's then became incontentent in a work related accident. Gerber Pants were my favorite along with Comco. I still have almost 100 pair of the VIP X-Large that are in excellent unused condition. And over 40 pairs of the custom made pants out of the original Gerber Vinyl. I didn't realize how popular they were until the internet came along. I sure miss those wonder ladies at VIP and also Wendy at Comco. They also made a lot of custom size pants for me. I will be willing to sell the VIP X-Large pants if people are interested. They can't fit over my thick cloth diapers. I have attached pictures of me wearing the custom size pants made out of the original Gerber Vinyl. If anyone knows about the pants they can tell by the pictures they are the real deal. And also a picture of the VIP X-Large pants if have stored away safely. 

 

Is Diane at Bear Bottom still in business? I had some great 12 layer bedwetter pants from her many years ago; would love to get some more.

[Noisey Pants]

7 hours ago, rachelB said:

Is Diane at Bear Bottom still in business? I had some great 12 layer bedwetter pants from her many years ago; would love to get some more.

Diane retired several years ago. She gave all her regular customers a years notice. It broke my heart. She made the best quality diapers I have every had. Over the years I purchased over 100 diapers from her. She always made very thick diapers and to ones specs. She was hard to replace, but I found a lady and conveniced her to make diapers and plastic pants for me. Then I had her making some cute adult baby clothes. I talked her into starting a business. It's call Sweet Baby Designs by Helen. A wonder lady who will make anything you want, and is a Great Seamstress. If your looking for custom diapers, pants and clothes she's the one to contact.  

[AbabeBill]

On 1/4/2021 at 10:08 PM, Noisey Pants said:

Diane retired several years ago. She gave all her regular customers a years notice. It broke my heart. She made the best quality diapers I have every had. Over the years I purchased over 100 diapers from her. She always made very thick diapers and to ones specs. She was hard to replace, but I found a lady and conveniced her to make diapers and plastic pants for me. Then I had her making some cute adult baby clothes. I talked her into starting a business. It's call Sweet Baby Designs by Helen. A wonder lady who will make anything you want, and is a Great Seamstress. If your looking for custom diapers, pants and clothes she's the one to contact.  

I have had her make things for me, and they were great, to say the least. It’s a special treasure, to have people like her, who will do these things. 

[Gerberboy]

I did find some very Gerber/VIP-ish vinyl, measures 4 mil thick and very inexpensive. The samples are remarkably similar to the vintage gerber pant in the photo. I ordered a couple rolls and having my favorite seamstress make some pants for me, with matte side out 🙂

https://www.onlinefabricstore.com/white-unsupported-vinyl-sheeting-fabric-.htm

[zzyzx]

3 hours ago, Gerberboy said:

I did find some very Gerber/VIP-ish vinyl, measures 4 mil thick and very inexpensive. The samples are remarkably similar to the vintage gerber pant in the photo. I ordered a couple rolls and having my favorite seamstress make some pants for me, with matte side out 🙂

https://www.onlinefabricstore.com/white-unsupported-vinyl-sheeting-fabric-.htm

The old VIP vinyl pants were thicker than 4 mil....  I thought at least 7 and probably thicker.

[Gerberboy]

I bet you're thinking of Comco, as the material I found was the same thickness as the Gerber baby pant in the photo, which VIP used identical vinyl.

[ppdude]

On 4/29/2018 at 5:31 PM, Little BabyDoll Christine said:

Protex has something called i CAN'T BELIEVE ITS NOT GERBER II https://www.myprotex.com/products/135

Page not found.

 

[zzyzx]

8 hours ago, Gerberboy said:

I bet you're thinking of Comco, as the material I found was the same thickness as the Gerber baby pant in the photo, which VIP used identical vinyl.

I believe I've I the thicker vinyl from both VIP, and then from Comco after VIP shut down.

[Gerberboy]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:35 PM, zzyzx said:

The old VIP vinyl pants were thicker than 4 mil....  I thought at least 7 and probably thicker.

FYI, one mil equals .001 inches.

[wetbedmo]

Now if someone like gary would get this vinyl and make pants that are sized and shaped like comco we would have a hit.

[Fakename4me]

On 2/12/2024 at 9:34 PM, Gerberboy said:

I did find some very Gerber/VIP-ish vinyl, measures 4 mil thick and very inexpensive. The samples are remarkably similar to the vintage gerber pant in the photo. I ordered a couple rolls and having my favorite seamstress make some pants for me, with matte side out 🙂

https://www.onlinefabricstore.com/white-unsupported-vinyl-sheeting-fabric-.htm

You should talk to your seamstress and maybe collaborate and sell these.  I for one like the one pair of VIP pants I still have.

[willnotwill]

I just got a pair of Beta plastic pants from MyInnerBaby.   They look right, perhaps a touch thinner than the old Comcos.  I've not had a chance to try them on yet.

[Gerberboy]

On 2/24/2024 at 12:00 PM, Fakename4me said:

You should talk to your seamstress and maybe collaborate and sell these.  I for one like the one pair of VIP pants I still have.

Probably not, as she is retiring due to health reasons. But I did give CTDC a heads up about the vinyl, as they're thinking about making their own line of pants.

[Fakename4me]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:39 AM, Gerberboy said:

Probably not, as she is retiring due to health reasons. But I did give CTDC a heads up about the vinyl, as they're thinking about making their own line of pants.

That is interesting news.  I do hope something comes from it.

[Gerberboy]

8 hours ago, Fakename4me said:

That is interesting news.  I do hope something comes from it.

Seamstress got some done. I haven't been this happy since VIP was in business 😁

[Fakename4me]

Now you are just being a tease! 😄

Seriously, those pants look great!

[Gerberboy]

 

And they feel awesome! Unfortunately Darlene my seamstress is retiring, but perhaps Helen at Sweet Baby Designs, who Noisey Pants mentioned, could make you some 😉