Sandra / Henleys Vinyl Pouch Pants?

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jamesattends

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Hi everyone,

Has anyone tried these plastic waterproof pants before and what tips do you have for wearing and looking after them?

I’m talking about the Sandra /Henleys pants which I believe have been around since the 1960s in the U.K and are basically just strong soft supple PVC with a plastic pouch inside for a pad.

So you would wear them with a pad using the pouch with the plastic straight onto your skin, no nappy lining them inside. They’re partly transparent as well.

They’re available on the Henleys Medical website directly if anyone is interested.


Does anyone on here wear them on a regular basis or has tried them before? I like the fact they’re very discreet as they’re literally like a second (albeit plastic) skin.


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They were my first plastic pants that I bought when I was in my late teens (early 1970s). Before that it was traditional rubber pants. I never used the pouch as intended but over terry nappies. Looking back I remember they were quite loose in the waist and the legs despite buying the correct size. I would say there are a lot better pants out there. I use the hain ones from china and also have gary pants. Also from memory the waist and leg elastics are very thin.
 
They are good hard wearing pants but worn under clothes every one will know you are incontinent.
 
Oh goodness... I wear them all the time....


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Funny you say that they’re loose: well now they’re quite trim, and the fit is quite close nowadays. They have sizes in inches every two inches - so for example 32’, 34’ etc. It’s done by hip size though.


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These were the most common plastic pants in the UK 30+ years ago, and the first ones I wore. They changed slightly a couple of years after I started wearing them and the plastic became slightly softer. I always found them nice and tight at the leg. Some might say too tight, as it sometimes left a mark, but I didn't mind that as it made them more reliably waterproof than some of the others. Many nappies were still cloth in those days, so they needed to be as watertight as possible.

My mum had a terrible job getting me to wear them the first time, but we were going to stay with relatives and I was embarrassed about my wetting as I was sixteen by then and tried to cultivate a macho image (ha ha) and I knew I would be sharing a room with a cousin. I was delighted when I woke up to find the bed was dry although I had wet.

For a long time they were the only brand I had. There was another brand called Robinson at that time, but (for me anyway) they were not as waterproof at the leg as Sandras.

The 'pouch' was never used and I wore them with a nappy or terry trainer pants.
 
Great to hear from you Iggie. I did wonder about them as they’ve been around for decades. I normally wear them and just line the pouch with fabric, so they are very effective on catching light urine for me. I too wear them tighter on the leg, as there seems to be more security in wearing them like that knowing you’re protected.

The PVC is extremely soft and effectively stops excessive perspiration irritating the skin. When you take them off, there’s never much sweat on the plastic. I love the trim fit they have nowadays even though I tend to wear them a bit more ‘airtight’ generally anyway.

It’s quite amazing how comfortable a pair of plastic pants on the skin all day can be!


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Thanks James. I meant to add that I found Henleys ('Sandras') with a cloth towelling far more effective than the disposables I wore a bit later (though disposable have improved now). They were also easier to deal with sometimes. I found that if I went to stay anywhere I could use a large towel under the Henleys, and I could then wash the towel in a wash basin the next morning. People wouldn't see a nappy, they would see a towel, and if necessary I could say I dropped it in the bath. The plastic pants could just be rinsed and wiped dry. Thanks to Henleys I was therefore able to be a bit more daring about staying away from home, and it did help my confidence.
I also had occasional day accidents and for long journeys (and going out drinking if public transport home would be needed) I wore Henleys with towelling underpants that had several layers, and they too seemed more effective than the disposables at that time. Looser and leakier plastic pants just didn't cut the mustard. I found the layered cloth trainer didn't show as much under jeans as the disposable either.
By the way, that pouch was used to hold 'inco roll' and similar stuff available at the time. This was a roll of cotton wool material that you cut off with scissors to a length that suited you. They were next to useless for anything other than small accidents, which is why the pouch probably wasn't used much. Four or five pairs of underpants would have soaked up much more, as I found out myself.
 
Oh wow thank you for your reply Iggie. I didn’t know that about the pants. Yes I normally wear them with cuts of fabric that can absorb the urine, placed carefully in the pouch. It does the job for me. The weather at the moment has been a bit frustrating as it has been rather stuffy inside my plastic pants, probably cooking my privates!

I still find them the most comfortable; the PVC is so soft and smooth on the skin and doesn’t smell like some do.

That ‘inco roll’ you mention sounds interesting - I’d never heard of it, you were right. Sounds like toilet paper at first, but you mention it was like cotton wool....

Did you know anyone who wore these Sandra/Henleys with just the pad / inco roll inside?

The only other issue I get is that plastic sticks to my bottom but you do get used to it easily.




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Try adding a little baby powder ,i use powder on my rubber/vinyl pants sometimes keeps them from sticking ,i dont use powder in my diapers at all just a straight barrier cream on the skin ,and a light dusting on the pant .
jamesattends said:
Oh wow thank you for your reply Iggie. I didn’t know that about the pants. Yes I normally wear them with cuts of fabric that can absorb the urine, placed carefully in the pouch. It does the job for me. The weather at the moment has been a bit frustrating as it has been rather stuffy inside my plastic pants, probably cooking my privates!

I still find them the most comfortable; the PVC is so soft and smooth on the skin and doesn’t smell like some do.

That ‘inco roll’ you mention sounds interesting - I’d never heard of it, you were right. Sounds like toilet paper at first, but you mention it was like cotton wool....

Did you know anyone who wore these Sandra/Henleys with just the pad / inco roll inside?

The only other issue I get is that plastic sticks to my bottom but you do get used to it easily.




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Ref inco roll which I mentioned in post 8, much to my surprise it is still made.
https://www.flemingmedical.ie/Inco-Roll-1000g
This, or something similar, was what the 'pouch' in plastic pants was for. I briefly had inco roll but they really weren't that absorbent and hardly ever stayed in position. I suspect they were mainly used in nursing homes and for more immobile people. For more active people, especially younger males, they presented problems as I discovered. They could bunch to one side of your plastic pants despite the pouch, and if you were wearing shorts with them as I did once (and only the once!) you could find the pad had worked its way to one side and (if they were the shorter sort of shorts) could poke out at one of the leg openings. I decided that cloth nappies or trainers were far safer until they produced disposables that actually worked.
 
Hi Iggie

Yes, thanks for the explanation.... I too have noticed my pad i self-made from thin washable fabric material bunches in the crotch of my plastic pants throughout the day when I wear them. I only really notice it if I sit in my plastic pants with the pad in the pouch, it gets a little jarring on the bus seat being jolted about as you do on a rickety form of transport!

I do try at the moment to use double sided tape inside the pants, but notice this causes annoying sticky glue that isn’t very easy to clean off and gets less sticky as well.

The fabric I double side sticky tape to just above my privates in the pouch but don’t bother with the bit where my bum is.

I do a lot of squatting and bending over in my plastic pants with the pad at work, so they’re fairly actively used!


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I experimented for a while with pouch pants because I wanted to go washable - not this brand but the same sort of thing. For the pads themselves I used Zorb, which is a super-absorbent felt-like cloth.

The biggest issues I found was the lack of leak-guards, and no odour-control. Even the smallest amount of urine would just leak out the sides even before the pads were fully wet. They were uncomfortable, smelly, and almost impossible to deal with wet changes at work. So I gave up. The pants went in the bin and the Zorb is now used for cleaning.
 
Thankyou for your reply downtide. I must admit I have got used to wearing these Henleys variety; the only thing that stands out is the plastic sticks to my bottom where the pad isn’t in. They are slightly hot at the moment due to the summer heat, but actually are relatively sweat free when you take them off later in the day. Most of the year here, they would be very comfortable to wear. I do notice where the plastic doesn’t touch my skin at the front condensation forms lol. That’s above the front section of the pad pouch. I use a thin piece of material I place in the pouch as I’m only a dribbler and they do the job for me fine. As they’re a trim fit, it’s fine with a thin piece there and everything seems secure.

I don’t seem to have a problem with the Henleys pants actually. I wash them every day after I wear them in washing up liquid warm water, but soak them in it for maybe 5 mins then wash off with clean water. I do rub the washing up liquid in to try to remove any smell, but I don’t really have what you describe. The most I can say is that it either smells like the soap or just maybe it’s the plastic. I try to wash the crotch of the pants more as the plastic does absorb smells (as they are literally airtight all day, the crotch of the pants takes the full brunt of my sweat, and bottom. Overall though, they aren’t smelly.

Overall, I really like the Henleys pants. The pvc material they’re made from is very soft and my skin doesn’t mind the feel of it which is good.


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