Disposables - What Happened?

[Guest sissypiggy]

I haven't been able to buy diapers due to living circumstances for a long time but decided this weekend that I needed to get some, just to enjoy wearing them once more.

What happened to disposables?? I saw row upon row of "protective underwear" and "fitted briefs" with some awful 'cloth'-type thing instead of the plastic i've loved for years. What were the diaper companies thinking???

What disposables are left that have plastic covers anymore? Please let me know so i can feel babyish once more instead of the horrid new Depends!

[Guest]

I haven't been able to buy diapers due to living circumstances for a long time but decided this weekend that I needed to get some, just to enjoy wearing them once more.

What happened to disposables?? I saw row upon row of "protective underwear" and "fitted briefs" with some awful 'cloth'-type thing instead of the plastic i've loved for years. What were the diaper companies thinking???

What disposables are left that have plastic covers anymore? Please let me know so i can feel babyish once more instead of the horrid new Depends!

I know that assurance diapers are still plastic. I'm wearing one right now. And I think Attends overnights are still plastic.

[Lost_Little_Sarah]

The companies that have done gone to clothlike backing have done so cause they believe its more descrete and that is what they are trying to go for. or something like that anyway. I myself use the assurance brand as I am able to afford them and they work nicely for now.

[Guest]

I've always liked the plastic backing on the Depends, but that's about all i like about them. they still make them with the plastic backing, you just have to look in the drug stores. what I do, is I put on a cloth backed diaper, with a depend fitted brief over it, that way, I get a noisy plastic backed diaper, and a thick absorbent diaper. I think the best bet would be to order online for a quality plastic diaper

[Acecool]

Go with xpmedical.com :-)

[ranger]

Here is my opinion. Anyone who has worked in manufacturing can back me up. The number one rule in manufacturing is to make the product at lower cost. In otherwords, the number one priority is the ceo's wallet. They can spin it to seem like they are concerned for the consumer. Quieter, more discreet, blah, blah, blah. If oil prices weren't up, plastic would be cheaper, making plastic disposables cheaper to manufacture. Then you would hear them say plastic is better. More absorbant, less leaks, better odor control, etc, etc. Bottom line is this, whatever is cheaper to make is what will be on the market.

[CjDiaper]

Here is my opinion. Anyone who has worked in manufacturing can back me up. The number one rule in manufacturing is to make the product at lower cost. In otherwords, the number one priority is the ceo's wallet. They can spin it to seem like they are concerned for the consumer. Quieter, more discreet, blah, blah, blah. If oil prices weren't up, plastic would be cheaper, making plastic disposables cheaper to manufacture. Then you would hear them say plastic is better. More absorbant, less leaks, better odor control, etc, etc. Bottom line is this, whatever is cheaper to make is what will be on the market.

Now I somewhat agree, yes, the main objective is to make the most money, HOWEVER reducing manufacturing costs is only one aspect to this. Marketing is the other. On a whole, most people who need diapers aren't necessarily proud of it, so the cloth covers help them 'hide' it much better. The cloth apparently also breathes better. So it's not just a big gimmick.... whatever will make the most money in the end will be what is on the market - whether that means reducing manufacturing costs or improving marketing strategies.

[Angela Bauer]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday a member posted a link in the Links section for a firm that provides consultation world-wide to makers of baby disposables. That firm is Carlos Richer Investments. They run a lab dedicated to doing disposable quality testing, and even explain how to do it for a science fair. The link is: http://disposablediaper.net

The author explains the similarity between the original polyethelene plastic outer layer, the transition to some other plastic and then to cloth-like. Turns out it is not cloth. It is an even thinner soft plastic bonded to thin plastic made to feel like cloth. Richer advocates using it for premium brands of baby diapers because when mothers hold infants in their arms the outer cloth-like is more comfy for the mom. The infant can't tell. The implication is cloth-like is more expensive, not a way the makers save making, but maybe sell more.

Oh, yes, if you want to make your own disposables, Richer sells an assortment of new and slightly used baby diaper making machines and low, low affordable prices. Only thing is the building needs to be at least 200x150 feet, longer is better.

[Knuxie Fawks]

Dese dat I have, I tink Wal-Mart tries ta hide. Dey's two rows on da bottom shelf. Dey says "briefs", but dey's regular diapies, wiff four tabs ta hold em...an' dey crinkle.

[BriGuy]

I have found that the cloth like backing will seep urine when it starts getting close to getting full... I also notice that it does not block much smell at all. I bought some and smelled like a urinal all day long. That didn't do much for my confidence level on that day. Im gonna have a big shop in the next couple of years maybe Ill buy one of those machines and manufacture my own damned diaper. One that doesn't leak, come apart, or have crappy tapes..... lol

~Brian

[Knuxie Fawks]

I have found that the cloth like backing will seep urine when it starts getting close to getting full... I also notice that it does not block much smell at all. I bought some and smelled like a urinal all day long. That didn't do much for my confidence level on that day. Im gonna have a big shop in the next couple of years maybe Ill buy one of those machines and manufacture my own damned diaper. One that doesn't leak, come apart, or have crappy tapes..... lol

~Brian

Yeah, that sounds rather....displeasing. These crinkle, but they're also odor absorbent, so when I pee, I, or anyone around me, don't smell it. When you get your shop going, would you be able to make diapers with prints? Custom prints, if possible?

[pctrasher]

Yea, I just bought me some of the white bambinos online monday, and they were due for delivery on wednesday. Well, needless to say, I still don't have them in hand yet. Apparently UPS doesn't know what the term 'Apt#' stands for and they've had 2 failed delivery attempts because my appartment apparently doesn't exist anymore. lol. So I had to do the horrid thing and head off to walgreens to grab some depends and OMG They're HORRID. When I first came across this post I thought, depeds aren't too bad, they're better than normal underwear. Well, after trying one of these new ones one...I have to add that not only are the 'absorbent underwear' packages winning the shelf space. But the diapers are even thinner than before. I felt like I was pulling out a sheet of paper when I pulled out the first depend diaper. I don't remember them ever being this bad. To top it off, they don't even fit upto my waist so I sure can't sleep in them. I don't see why they need to wetness indicator, the best way to check if you're wet is to check for dark spots on your pants.

But yea, it would appear as though the diaper industry is going down hill, except for Bambino. The Bambinos dominate ALL!!! And UPS sucks... for atleast right now.

[nitrous]

If you guys want a cheap plastic cuvered adult diaper then you have to get Equaline. You can find them at your local Albertsons. They work ok.

[StillNDiapers]

I haven't been able to buy diapers due to living circumstances for a long time but decided this weekend that I needed to get some, just to enjoy wearing them once more.

What happened to disposables?? I saw row upon row of "protective underwear" and "fitted briefs" with some awful 'cloth'-type thing instead of the plastic i've loved for years. What were the diaper companies thinking???

What disposables are left that have plastic covers anymore? Please let me know so i can feel babyish once more instead of the horrid new Depends!

No Ya i totally know what you are talking about i went to the Target in Manhattan Beach and rows of Adult Pull Ups and no diapers anymore. but man if thier is a whole row devoted to incontinence then incontinence is becoming bigger these days so anyway but ya i totally know what you mean Austa sean

[rusty pins]

As anyone in sales knows, to sell your products you have to establish a need for them. You have to make people feel that they just can't possibly do without your product. It's true that there are probably a lot more people out there that have an occasional leakage problem, either from excercise (why do you think that TENA Serenity disposable underwear has a commercial with a woman in the park doing Fung Shu excercises?), stress or laughing too hard. Those occasional leakers probably wouldn't have ever thought of wearing a bulky plastic backed diaper that had to be taped on just for a little leakage now and then. I would venture to say that most people are not like us "diaper lovers" and would welcome a disposable pull on cloth backed underpant that is discreet. That is where the market for store bought incontinence products is, and companies are doing everythihg they can to make people aware of their products and their uses to increase their market and sales. Face it, store brand disposable diapers have not been very good as far as absorbency which is why most good absorbent adult diapers are made in other countries. The brands that are pretty good are usually not found in drug stores or even medical supply stores. I think that people who actually need disposable diapers for heavy incontinence will buy a really good brand by the case mail order instead of buying individual packages off a store shelf. Over the past several years people have become well aware that there are pull on disposable underpants that are available just about everywhere and are discreet under clothes. Based on that, I'm sure that more and more people are buying them for there intended use, therefore the market has changed. It's now focusing on a different group of people, the occasional leakers as opposed to the full time incontinent market. I'm sure pull on disposable underwear are cheaper to make and easier to market to a larger customer data base than actual plastic backed disposable diapers. "Improvements" in design probably also contribute to things. I also notice that they are aimed towards women and not men. How many commercials have you seen for disposable underpants that show men as the target? I really expect that in a few years you will not find any tape on adult diapers in stores, just the pull on disposable underwear. On the other hand, I'm sure manufacturers are aware that there is still a smaller market for actual diapers for incontinent people and nursing homes so they will continue to make disposable diapers, even though their market has shifted to regular people who may just have an accident once in a while.