Fruitkitty
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The Snuggies Waddler is the new and heavily-publicized printed ABDL diaper from snuggiesdiapers.com. A preview version was sold at the 2014 Folsom Street Fair and the first regular run, which is stated to make some improvements, has just been released.
I am reviewing the medium size Snuggies Waddler as shipped in December 2014 to pre-orders. The medium size is listed as fitting waist sizes of 30"-36" and the large size is listed as fitting 36"-54". The capacity is advertised as holding 67 oz or 2,000 mL, but it is not stated whether this corresponds to the capacity of the medium or large Waddler.
Appearance, Size, and Features
The Snuggies Waddler has an all-over print, with babyish icons on a centered white background between a wave pattern, green cross-hatch patterning on the sides and wings. The landing zone is transparent with a pattern of icons and the Snuggies logo printed on it. It is very similar in design to prints on modern baby diapers.
Front and Back of Folded Diaper, Respectively
To test their dry thickness, I stacked three diapers on top of each other, placed a heavy book on top of them, and measured their height. Together, the 3 diapers had a height of approximately 7.1 cm (2.9 in). Thus, the dry thickness of a single folded diaper is 2.4 cm (1.0 in). They are noticeably thinner to the eye and when held as compared to typical "premium" adult diapers.
The landing zone is placed unusually low from the top of the diaper. There's about 5 cm (2 in) from the top of the landing zone to the top of the waistband.
3 Diapers Stacked
Snuggies Waddlers use the conventional double tape design seen on most adult diapers. The tapes have a blue tip without adhesive to pull on and are a bit wider than most diaper tapes. I found that they stick about as well to the landing zone as tapes on other diapers which use plastic landing zones, but they are a bit nicer in that the wider tapes seem more resistant to slippage.
The Tapes
The outside of the diaper uses a very thin-feeling plastic cover that feels rough to the touch. It is thinner and more pliable than the backing of most adult diapers which I have tried. It does not crinkle particularly loudly as the diaper is unfolded. If not for the ABDL print, the degree to which the diaper feels thin when dry and relative lack of noise could lead one to assume that the diaper was designed to be discrete.
The inside of the diaper has a blue-colored core surrounded by white, and the padding is arranged in an hourglass shape. The padding is feels very soft, with a dry, cottony feel to it. The diaper has what seem like tall and especially stretchy standing leak guards; I found it difficult to get the diaper well-stretched out for the measurements and pictures. It has an elastic waistband both the front and back.
Front and Back of Unfolded Diaper
With the diaper outstretched, it measures 72 cm (28.6 in) in length, 59 cm (23.2 in) in width at the wings, 31 cm (12.2 in) in width at the center, and 20 cm (7.9 in) in width between the leak guards.
Performance and Fit
To test the capacity of this diaper quantitatively, I ran a test to simulate use. I put a diaper on and then repeatedly poured water into the front of it in 100 mL increments and sitting down in a chair for 30 seconds each time to give the diaper a chance to absorb the liquid, pace the process, and see if it would leak when sitting. After 1000 mL of water, I noticed wetness around the leg cuffs. At 1200 mL of water, the diaper began to leak on my chair, and I ended the test.
This measurement was substantially lower than the advertised capacity, though again, the website did not specify if that capacity was intended to apply to the medium size.
The diaper swelled really noticeably within just the first few 100 mL increments. It was very apparent during this test that the diaper was swelling much more than adult diapers typically do. I then took off the full diaper and folded it back up to compare its thickness to a dry diaper. It had expanded to roughly 9.5 cm (3.7 in), more than 3.5x its original size.
It's worth repeating this for emphasis: this diaper is really something special when it comes to swelling. There are not many diapers which we have reviewed that approach that wet thickness, and those that do had a lot more liquid in them by the end of the test than the Snuggies Waddler did. The diaper no longer feels any thinner than other diapers after just a small amount of wetting, and feels thicker in the middle of its use than many do when they are full.
Dry Diaper Next to Full Diaper After Quantitative Test
I then put on a fresh diaper and wore it while going about ordinary activities. The diaper lasted a total of 4 hours, during which time I had about 1 large wetting and some minor wettings, but did not flood it. I did not feel like there was a very wide tipping point with this diaper when it was full – once the front was full, a minor wetting was enough to swell up most of the bottom the diaper and cause it fail immediately. I decided to wear another diaper afterwards, and it lasted comparably long, with many minor wettings.
With a 36" waist, I am at the top of the listed size range for the medium. I normally wear size medium in other diaper brands and found the medium size Waddler fit me very well, with the tapes reaching similar distances across the diaper. Given how stretchy this diaper is, I am a bit surprised that the listed range for the medium is as narrow as it is; I would think after this test that a large would have been huge on me. The top of the diaper feels like it comes up high enough, though with the large distance between the top of the landing zone and the waistband and the flexibility of the cover, the top part of it tends to scrunch down.
The tapes stuck okay. One of the lower tapes started to pull and come undone after the area underneath it has stretched quite a bit from expansion of the diaper. I tried re-taping it, but like a lot of diaper tapes, these ones do not seem to stick particularly well if re-taped. I didn’t have this problem on the second diaper, though I did notice that one of the bottom tapes was bowing out in the center towards the end of its use.
The plastic is fairly quiet, especially under clothing. There is always audible crinkling with any plastic-backed diaper, but Waddler is not especially noisy.
Price and Final Thoughts
This section was updated to reflect a large price cut in May 2015 which substantially changed the conclusion.
These diapers are now available from snuggiesdiapers.com at the case size for 95.00 USD, with 80 diapers per case, or at the half-case size for $55. They can also be bought by the individual pack at $25 for the first pack and $15 each thereafter. Shipping is free to the US with any purchase of at least two packs total, including packs of different models of diaper. At the per case price, this works out to $1.19/diaper.
This makes the Snuggies Waddler the cheapest printed ABDL diaper on the market, meaningfully cheaper than other options including the regular Bambino diapers, which have been the benchmark for most of the past decade. In fact, it's a cheaper price than typical "premium" non-ABDL diapers; it's priced more like an Abena M3 than an M4.
This is a big deal. While my testing did not show it to have capacity comparable to a typical "premium" adult diaper, it's a still very much a functional and well-designed diaper. At its price point, it offers a very reasonable value just on its merits as a functional diaper alone.
Moreover, it has other features that many ABDLs who like babyish will be fond of. It has a very realistic baby diaper print which is arguably the most true to form print on the market today; there seems like there was a lot more thought put into this print than on many of the other ABDL printed diapers currently on the market. The wide tapes are a great feature, and other than being undermined by how much the diaper expands, I felt like they held very well. They swell more and more quickly than any other adult diaper that I have tried, save for their newer higher-capacity Snuggies brethren.
When Snuggies first released these to great fanfare in 2014, I felt that the diaper had an impressively thoughtful design, but that they were disappointing functionally at their much higher initial price point. The price was slashed by about 1/3 at the same time in 2015 as the Snuggies Waddler Overnight and S. Ex were released. Much focus has been on the shiny new products, but I honestly think the price cut on the original product is just as significant and disruptive. This diaper now has a strong claim to being the best value ABDL diaper on the market.
I am reviewing the medium size Snuggies Waddler as shipped in December 2014 to pre-orders. The medium size is listed as fitting waist sizes of 30"-36" and the large size is listed as fitting 36"-54". The capacity is advertised as holding 67 oz or 2,000 mL, but it is not stated whether this corresponds to the capacity of the medium or large Waddler.
Appearance, Size, and Features
The Snuggies Waddler has an all-over print, with babyish icons on a centered white background between a wave pattern, green cross-hatch patterning on the sides and wings. The landing zone is transparent with a pattern of icons and the Snuggies logo printed on it. It is very similar in design to prints on modern baby diapers.
Front and Back of Folded Diaper, Respectively
To test their dry thickness, I stacked three diapers on top of each other, placed a heavy book on top of them, and measured their height. Together, the 3 diapers had a height of approximately 7.1 cm (2.9 in). Thus, the dry thickness of a single folded diaper is 2.4 cm (1.0 in). They are noticeably thinner to the eye and when held as compared to typical "premium" adult diapers.
The landing zone is placed unusually low from the top of the diaper. There's about 5 cm (2 in) from the top of the landing zone to the top of the waistband.
3 Diapers Stacked
Snuggies Waddlers use the conventional double tape design seen on most adult diapers. The tapes have a blue tip without adhesive to pull on and are a bit wider than most diaper tapes. I found that they stick about as well to the landing zone as tapes on other diapers which use plastic landing zones, but they are a bit nicer in that the wider tapes seem more resistant to slippage.
The Tapes
The outside of the diaper uses a very thin-feeling plastic cover that feels rough to the touch. It is thinner and more pliable than the backing of most adult diapers which I have tried. It does not crinkle particularly loudly as the diaper is unfolded. If not for the ABDL print, the degree to which the diaper feels thin when dry and relative lack of noise could lead one to assume that the diaper was designed to be discrete.
The inside of the diaper has a blue-colored core surrounded by white, and the padding is arranged in an hourglass shape. The padding is feels very soft, with a dry, cottony feel to it. The diaper has what seem like tall and especially stretchy standing leak guards; I found it difficult to get the diaper well-stretched out for the measurements and pictures. It has an elastic waistband both the front and back.
Front and Back of Unfolded Diaper
With the diaper outstretched, it measures 72 cm (28.6 in) in length, 59 cm (23.2 in) in width at the wings, 31 cm (12.2 in) in width at the center, and 20 cm (7.9 in) in width between the leak guards.
Performance and Fit
To test the capacity of this diaper quantitatively, I ran a test to simulate use. I put a diaper on and then repeatedly poured water into the front of it in 100 mL increments and sitting down in a chair for 30 seconds each time to give the diaper a chance to absorb the liquid, pace the process, and see if it would leak when sitting. After 1000 mL of water, I noticed wetness around the leg cuffs. At 1200 mL of water, the diaper began to leak on my chair, and I ended the test.
This measurement was substantially lower than the advertised capacity, though again, the website did not specify if that capacity was intended to apply to the medium size.
The diaper swelled really noticeably within just the first few 100 mL increments. It was very apparent during this test that the diaper was swelling much more than adult diapers typically do. I then took off the full diaper and folded it back up to compare its thickness to a dry diaper. It had expanded to roughly 9.5 cm (3.7 in), more than 3.5x its original size.
It's worth repeating this for emphasis: this diaper is really something special when it comes to swelling. There are not many diapers which we have reviewed that approach that wet thickness, and those that do had a lot more liquid in them by the end of the test than the Snuggies Waddler did. The diaper no longer feels any thinner than other diapers after just a small amount of wetting, and feels thicker in the middle of its use than many do when they are full.
Dry Diaper Next to Full Diaper After Quantitative Test
I then put on a fresh diaper and wore it while going about ordinary activities. The diaper lasted a total of 4 hours, during which time I had about 1 large wetting and some minor wettings, but did not flood it. I did not feel like there was a very wide tipping point with this diaper when it was full – once the front was full, a minor wetting was enough to swell up most of the bottom the diaper and cause it fail immediately. I decided to wear another diaper afterwards, and it lasted comparably long, with many minor wettings.
With a 36" waist, I am at the top of the listed size range for the medium. I normally wear size medium in other diaper brands and found the medium size Waddler fit me very well, with the tapes reaching similar distances across the diaper. Given how stretchy this diaper is, I am a bit surprised that the listed range for the medium is as narrow as it is; I would think after this test that a large would have been huge on me. The top of the diaper feels like it comes up high enough, though with the large distance between the top of the landing zone and the waistband and the flexibility of the cover, the top part of it tends to scrunch down.
The tapes stuck okay. One of the lower tapes started to pull and come undone after the area underneath it has stretched quite a bit from expansion of the diaper. I tried re-taping it, but like a lot of diaper tapes, these ones do not seem to stick particularly well if re-taped. I didn’t have this problem on the second diaper, though I did notice that one of the bottom tapes was bowing out in the center towards the end of its use.
The plastic is fairly quiet, especially under clothing. There is always audible crinkling with any plastic-backed diaper, but Waddler is not especially noisy.
Price and Final Thoughts
This section was updated to reflect a large price cut in May 2015 which substantially changed the conclusion.
These diapers are now available from snuggiesdiapers.com at the case size for 95.00 USD, with 80 diapers per case, or at the half-case size for $55. They can also be bought by the individual pack at $25 for the first pack and $15 each thereafter. Shipping is free to the US with any purchase of at least two packs total, including packs of different models of diaper. At the per case price, this works out to $1.19/diaper.
This makes the Snuggies Waddler the cheapest printed ABDL diaper on the market, meaningfully cheaper than other options including the regular Bambino diapers, which have been the benchmark for most of the past decade. In fact, it's a cheaper price than typical "premium" non-ABDL diapers; it's priced more like an Abena M3 than an M4.
This is a big deal. While my testing did not show it to have capacity comparable to a typical "premium" adult diaper, it's a still very much a functional and well-designed diaper. At its price point, it offers a very reasonable value just on its merits as a functional diaper alone.
Moreover, it has other features that many ABDLs who like babyish will be fond of. It has a very realistic baby diaper print which is arguably the most true to form print on the market today; there seems like there was a lot more thought put into this print than on many of the other ABDL printed diapers currently on the market. The wide tapes are a great feature, and other than being undermined by how much the diaper expands, I felt like they held very well. They swell more and more quickly than any other adult diaper that I have tried, save for their newer higher-capacity Snuggies brethren.
When Snuggies first released these to great fanfare in 2014, I felt that the diaper had an impressively thoughtful design, but that they were disappointing functionally at their much higher initial price point. The price was slashed by about 1/3 at the same time in 2015 as the Snuggies Waddler Overnight and S. Ex were released. Much focus has been on the shiny new products, but I honestly think the price cut on the original product is just as significant and disruptive. This diaper now has a strong claim to being the best value ABDL diaper on the market.
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