Plastic Backed Disposables

[NewGuy20]

Hi everyone, 

Please forgive my ignorance. I know this subject has been covered before on this forum but I can't find any recent discussions on it. I am well aware that plastic backed disposable diapers seem to be getting phased out by diaper manufacturers. I understand this is a concern for those ABDL who like that particular type of diaper.

However, I still buy "Attends Waistband" disposables online fairly regularly at a reasonable cost. My question is this: should I expect this brand of plastic backed diapers (or any others for that matter) to miraculously disappear at some point in the near future? Has Attends already ceased making this product and the ones that ARE available are just a sort of 'surplus' that exist temporarily until they are all gone? What sort of 'danger' is there in regards to different brands of plastic backed diapers disappearing in the near future? 

Again, I know this subject has likely already been covered before so I want to thank anyone in advance for forgiving my ignorance on the topic. I just had a moment of paranoia that perhaps my favorite brand of diapers might suddenly dissapear without warning. Thanks again!

[Smash-N-Dash]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like they’ve discontinued that product, per the description on several various medical supply websites. I’d say you hit the nail on the head regarding what is currently available to be limited stock, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. Another user here ran into a similar dilemma a few months ago: 

As for what they’re being replaced with, I honestly don’t know. Your best bet would be either to buy up what you can or start looking for alternatives.

[TheBabyPants]

I think you will continue to watch plastic back being phased out.  I just hope it never happened to my trusted Dry 24/7

[Rachael-Little]

North Shore continues to promote their plastic back diapers and hospitals still use them as they keep beds dryer so no they will still be around especially if companies get complaints about the cloth backed ones 

[rusty pins]

My thoughts.  For years in grocery stores and drug stores like Wallgreens I have seen the trend from plastic packed diapers to cloth backed diapers.  The evolution of the diaper, so to speak.  Once someone came up with the bright idea of making baby diapers cloth backed, everyone followed that pattern, especially manufacturers of adult diapers.  After all, what adult who medically needs to wear diapers wants something plastic backed that looks like a baby diaper (AB/DL's aside)?

With the fact that the AB/DL lifestyle is so prevalent and becoming better known, I can't see plastic backed disposable diapers going away.  Sure, you may never find many brands like Depends, Attends, Tena and what you buy in stores plastic backed, and you may also find many of the other medical incontinence brands like Molicare, Abena and other premium diapers going to cloth backed.  As long as there are AB/DL people, you will have manufacturers marketing to them.  You will still have your plastic backed Rearz printed diapers and Northshore and other brands available to our market.  You may have no choice but to order on-line or pay more for manufacturing costs, but as long as there are AB/DL's, there will be plastic backed disposable diapers, even if we can't walk into the nearest Walmart or CVS store and buy them off the shelf.

[willnotwill]

Domtar is set on ruining both Attends and HDIS.    

[drynot]

I think the main threat to plastic backed diapers and whatnot is the serious push to eliminate the use of single use plastic things from our society.  Things seem to be trending towards eliminating plastic grocery bags, straws, and other items and replacing them with a more environmentally friendly product.  While some folks here would embrace the idea of getting away from plastic backed diapers and going cloth I, for one,  would hate that.  If that trend was seen then I'd likely stock up heavily on plastic diapers.

As long as the market remains robust and the cost and accessibility of the manufacturing stock continues then we will have plastic backed diapers for a while yet. 

[willnotwill]

If they believe that, they are deluded.   There's still plastic in the "cloth" back diapers.   It's little more than marketing.

[Mindylou]

On 9/30/2019 at 7:38 AM, rusty pins said:

My thoughts.  For years in grocery stores and drug stores like Wallgreens I have seen the trend from plastic packed diapers to cloth backed diapers.  The evolution of the diaper, so to speak.  Once someone came up with the bright idea of making baby diapers cloth backed, everyone followed that pattern, especially manufacturers of adult diapers.  After all, what adult who medically needs to wear diapers wants something plastic backed that looks like a baby diaper (AB/DL's aside)?

With the fact that the AB/DL lifestyle is so prevalent and becoming better known, I can't see plastic backed disposable diapers going away.  Sure, you may never find many brands like Depends, Attends, Tena and what you buy in stores plastic backed, and you may also find many of the other medical incontinence brands like Molicare, Abena and other premium diapers going to cloth backed.  As long as there are AB/DL people, you will have manufacturers marketing to them.  You will still have your plastic backed Rearz printed diapers and Northshore and other brands available to our market.  You may have no choice but to order on-line or pay more for manufacturing costs, but as long as there are AB/DL's, there will be plastic backed disposable diapers, even if we can't walk into the nearest Walmart or CVS store and buy them off the shelf.

Oh please don't say my beloved Abena are going cloth backed!! Those are my absolute favorite because they are plastic back ☹️☹️

[DL-Boy]

At least for now the Abri-form CLASSIC is still plastic backed.  The Abri-form Premium is cloth backed.  They're still designated by size and absorbency level like the classics (S1-S4, M1-M4, L1-L4 and XL1-XL4) so that can be confusing but make sure if you want plastic to look for and AVOID the "PREMIUM" designation.

I bought a case of the Abri-Form PREMIUM deliberately because the plastic is so fragile on the classics and easily torn.  The only issue I've run into with the Premiums is that they have a hybrid tape/hook closure but the hook part is a tiny quarter-inch white strip right next to the elastic on the tab with the tape at the end.  The cloth backed diapers do still have the two-tape system though so that's a plus.  I've harvested four 1" sections of hook fastener material from my Assurance stretch briefs when I was changing out of a wet one recently so I attach the LOOP fastener sections to the blue tapes on the Abri-form Premium before putting it on and then it's simple to position and reposition the tabs at will even the next morning, without damage to the diaper or the tab.

I just retrieve the loop closure sections from the wet Abena before rolling it up (separate the white tape and use it to close up the rolled diaper).  Then I remove the blue tape from the closure sections and put them up for the next night's Abena.

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

The trend is away from single-use plastic items, which was NEVER a good idea. Prior to the 1970s. Boxes were made of cardbord and if direct view of the itms was in order, Cellophane 'windows" were put in. At this time we burned our own trash in the suburbs, in sturdy barrels or wire mesh trash burners. I do not know the current status of that process, since muicipal incinerators were tried with varying result. The process of avoiding single-use products in general may increase the first plastic of which was Saran wrap, in the late 1950's Saran is a kind of vinyl.. Then came Baggies 10 years later Back in the day, we cleaned and saved things like glass jars  and metal coffee cans to hold small objects like buttons, screws and the like. we even saved the polyethelene bags that came out in the early and middle '50's as well as paper bags and cardboard boxes from stores. My parents, aunts, uncles and most of the neighbors lived through the Great Depression and learend the lessons therefrom. I cannnot tell you how many arguemts there ensued when my generation, raised in prosperity, started using disposables, usually called, generically "pampers" or "throw-aways" as the main diapers. These arguments centered around  wasting money and  not dumping your mess for someone else to clean up

The first throw awaym s diaper was the Platex Dryper which ultimately, in the US was discontinued. Throw-away diapers msy or go away with the rest of the single-use items like plastic straws which, in the 1950's and 60's were made of paper. Dryper consisted of a liner and a rubber panty like a snap-on panty. This may be the model for future disposables, with a thick paper backing. This means only one waterproof item is purchased that will be used for many diapers and flushables may be the goal since bio-degradable may release toxins that an ordinary landfill may not be able to handle. The first targets for this will be baby diapers and sanitary pads, since they constitute the vast bulk of diaper use and landfill buildup, after which the technology will migrate to adult diapers. It is possible that disposable sale may be restricted to medical facilites and nursing homes which often have  special disposal arrangements. Over 60% of radioactive waste comes from Nuke Med. So these institutions need an have special ways to dispose of things