Cloth backed diapers

[Draventhedark]

Anyone else have issues with weeping from the cloth backed diapers? Everyone I have tried so far has felt damp on the outside of the cover. I always wear a Garywear pul-pant over top but don't like going to change and having it damp inside. I've tried the incontrol, abena, molicare and a few others and all the same thing happens. Maybe it's the way I'm putting them on and being very snug fitting.

[Little Sherri]

It's a phenomenon I have experienced. It's like the breathable material acts as an RO membrane or something. If I'm in a cloth-backed diaper that is notably damp, for a period of time, the cover gets a bit of a dewy dampness to it. It's not leaking, and, at least for good products, the sheen doesn't seem to smell, but, after a while, I can detect the slightest of dampness on my clothes. The NorthShore Air Supreme, for example, can hold a fair bit, so I might be in one for several hours, and by the end, I can tell that my shorts are... humid. Not wet, and it's nothing you can see, but, it's there. But if I do a sniff test on the shorts the next day, they will not smell, whereas if I'd had an actual diaper leak, there would be a telltale scent. Maybe it's condensed water vapor or something. At the same time, wearing plastic pants over a "breathable" diaper kind of defeats the purpose. I guess maybe that combo would be a bit quieter than some disposables, depending on what shape the plastic pants are in - new and supple or old and stiff. But I have done it. I was watching a movie with my wife earlier in the summer, and she was kind of leaning on me, and I started to worry that my "breathable" diaper would develop bad breath, so when I got up to get us drinks, I put plastic pants on. I'd been wearing the cloth-backed diaper - a Rearz Active Air, I think - because I'd done a bunch of landscaping stuff in a plastic diaper on a hot day and I felt like my skin needed a break from direct contact with plastic. 

[fillemup]

Try Seni Super Plus and Seni Quatro diapers. They are both cloth backed diapers and don’t weep when soaked with pee. They are also very good at containing poop as well.

[Moochie]

I am in a Cushies cloth back diaper that is wet but not messy this morning,,,oops,,,correction, make that also messy.

[rusty pins]

12 hours ago, Moochie said:

I am in a Cushies cloth back diaper that is wet but not messy this morning,,,oops,,,correction, make that also messy.

What took you so long?

[babykeiff]

Cloth backed diapers as compared to plastic backed diapers have a problem that is hidden.

In a plastic backed diaper, the plastic backing has to be thick enough to hold everything together - i.e. like the frame on a product.

Cloth backed diapers split this job between the plastic and the cloth. As a result, the plastic is a lot thinner.

Within disposable diapers are super absorbant polymer particles that are sharp, and the compaction of diapers to fit into packaging causes these to poke mini holes in the thiner plastic of cloth backed diapers. This is sold as 'breathable', but in reality, it causes weeping and leaks. A thicker diaper tends to reduce the amount of micro holes in the plastic layers due to either less SAP and/or protection with the pulp but the holes still occur.

This means that cloth backed diapers are less effective, by design, at keeping clothes dry as compared to plastic backed, but none are really guarenteed to keep clothes dry without the addition of another absorbant layer (such as training pants etc) and plastic pants.

From my own perspective, I don't trust the cloth backed diapers as, apart from the leakage, they also rely on velcro type tapes which I find either slip when the diaper gets wet AND once the diaper gets heavy at all, the diaper stretches since the plastic is so thin and the cloth layer can tear. With plastic backed diapers, if tapes are an issue, they can be reinforced with a layer of sticky tape over them. This doesn't work with a cloth backed diaper, where I have had more than a few fall off me. Another issue I have found is that overnight, bed clothes can pull a cloth diaper off - which also makes cloth backed diapers in bed unreliable for me.

The only real benifit of cloth diapers is that they are supposed to be more comfortable in the summer heat - i.e. reduce and/or eliminate the outer layer of a plastic diaper sticking to skin - however, talcuum powder between the plastic outer and legs solve the issue with plastic backed diapers without all the problems of cloth backed.

If one needs more protection in plastic backed, one can add stuffers inside and plastic pants outside - the same one would need with cloth - which means cloth backed has no advantage, but all the disadvantages. All I see with cloth backed is less absorbancy, more changes and more profit to the maker.

[foreverdl]

What I have never understood. Is why do they think the cloth outers are any better? The leak much worse than any plastic backed I have ever used.

[Little_Mouse]

6 hours ago, foreverdl said:

What I have never understood. Is why do they think the cloth outers are any better? The leak much worse than any plastic backed I have ever used.

I don't believe they "think" it's a better product. It's just an excuse to make a diaper that's cheaper to produce (and maybe a form of greenwashing - looks good, but is bad). I think it's all about the money. 🥸

[babykeiff]

2 hours ago, Little_Mouse said:

I don't believe they "think" it's a better product. It's just an excuse to make a diaper that's cheaper to produce (and maybe a form of greenwashing - looks good, but is bad). I think it's all about the money. 🥸

It must be cheaper to produce per unit when one critically compares a plastic backed to a cloth backed. A cloth backed uses much much thinner plastic backing. As a result, even if the less plastic was $0.01 cost as opposed to plastic costs on a plastic backed being $0.02, the maker is saving $0.01 per unit. Add that to the fact that these weep when wet, the user is changing more often which equates to using almost twice the amount of diapers per time period. This ends up with projected sales being doubled yet production costs being reduced.

It is only the ABDL world and/or smart users who compare plastic backed to cloth backed diapers that find out this reality. So the actual sales of cloth backed never reach projected sales unless the company removes the plastic backed from sale - which is a risk as they are the staple that keeps the company afloat.

A lot of companies have done that with baby diapers, but are loosing out to the older brands that still are plastic backed OR still produce plastic backed for night time use etc. Similar exist in the adult diaper market - cloth backed, but these companies still produce 'Active' adult diapers for mobile adults as the cloth backed tapes tend to fail with a mobile adult user due to scale. Have a look at the size of the tape on a baby cloth backed diapers in proportion to the size of a tape on an adult cloth backed diaper. The adult one is much smaller (in proportion) and will stretch / fail. Baby ones to compensate have this 'elastic stretchy band' thingy between the diaper and the tape. I have yet to see similar on an adult sized diaper - so the whole back of the diaper has to compensate for movement, which usually doesn't work, and the tape (velcro thing) fails.

So yes, it is all about money, how much money the manufacturer can make while at the same time, convince the user that it is better for them to change more often. Yes, it is better to change more often a diaper that keeps the skin damp, but with SAP in pulp, a wet diapers does not rewet skin. Therefore, the advances in cheaper manufacturer of adding SAP to reduce costly pulp created a situation where diapers could last almost 24 hours (depending on usage). The makers, for pure profit, created a product to increase their profit - after all, it doesn't cost them for a diaper change.

In a medical setting where paitents are semi-mobile / stationary (like in bed etc), the cloth backed tend to work, but since they leak, a diaper change also includes changing bedclothes. This is avoided by adding an indwelling catheter plus a bag strapped to the bed. As a result, the diaper only has to protect modesty and/or contain mess in a paitent the is bedridden and immobile. With mobile paitents, these diapers are changed more often - i.e. after one or two wettings.

It won't be long, I suspect, before accountants in a medical setting will notice the increased cost due to increased usage. Added to this is the increased labour involved in multiple changes - and despite the lie of 'breathability', compromises will be made by these medical businesses to decrease change count and go back to plastic backed.

[foreverdl]

13 hours ago, Little_Mouse said:

I don't believe they "think" it's a better product. It's just an excuse to make a diaper that's cheaper to produce (and maybe a form of greenwashing - looks good, but is bad). I think it's all about the money. 🥸

I agree about the money part that's for sure, but they make it sound like they're helping the environment, so they probably get tax credits etc??

[Three Rivers]

Cross posted in another area. I commented on design changes.

https://www.northshorecare.com/adult-diapers/adult-diapers-with-tabs/northshore-megamax-airlock-tab-style-briefs

[foreverdl]

10 hours ago, Three Rivers said:

Cross posted in another area. I commented on design changes.

https://www.northshorecare.com/adult-diapers/adult-diapers-with-tabs/northshore-megamax-airlock-tab-style-briefs

Thanks they look real good but if they're more than $4 a pack I am out priced. I have to get 95 % of mine at thrift stores, I stay really stocked up for the times when they don't have any.