when did depends go cheap? It depends?

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MagicMeow

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I've been buying depends since about 2005, and they have always been a bit on the cheap side to me, I noticed them becoming MORE cheaply manufactured (by cheaply, I mean shoddy) in 2010 as well

Does anyone remember a time when they were not on the lower end of quality?
or have they always been this way?
 
Yes they have gone down in quality.
 
Never seen a decent quality Depends here in Australia but yes they have been subject to shrinkflation so even worse these days.

Time to make the switch to a good quality ABDL Diaper and stay away from this type IMO.
 
Protection with Tabs suited my needs pretty well but they were better back around the time that Attends went bad. Back then, the plastic shell was strong enough to allow for the repositioning of tapes even hours afterwards if you were careful about it rather than tearing most of the time. Now that they've gone to a clothlike cover, I don't have to bother trying to defend them to people.
 
Haven't tried the new cloth,and probably won't. The only reason I bought them is they were plastic. Other brands are cheaper and can hold the same. Now I'm stuck trying to find a local source that has plastic diapers.
 
The new cloth like ones stretch and fall down.
 
Trevor said:
Protection with Tabs suited my needs pretty well but they were better back around the time that Attends went bad. Back then, the plastic shell was strong enough to allow for the repositioning of tapes even hours afterwards if you were careful about it rather than tearing most of the time. Now that they've gone to a clothlike cover, I don't have to bother trying to defend them to people.


wow...thats impressive, I dont believe the ABU cushies even have that kinda retape potential, sometimes I can get away with it. but not often


as a note, I do not still buy depends, I stopped when I could reliably get shipments of ABDL brand nappies. but when i was waiting for a shipment in the past i have been known to get 1 of the depends and double or tripple up on it, and cut slashs into the front so drainage was effective.
 
sdsu09 said:
Haven't tried the new cloth,and probably won't. The only reason I bought them is they were plastic. Other brands are cheaper and can hold the same. Now I'm stuck trying to find a local source that has plastic diapers.

Same here. The struggle is real, because it seems every store quit stocking anything plastic backed. They put form over function with "breathable", "comfort", etc.
 
Easy, corporate big wigs always want to find ways to save money while producing the same product. Plus, consumers always look for the cheapest product before they look at quality. Little by little depends cut a corner here or thinned the material there. All in pursuit of this. Eventually, the people who need something that works switch to a better brand. Due to the loss of so many customers, depends then had to find a way to save on operating cost. The most common way of course is to make a cheaper product. And the cycle continues....

It's not just Depends either. Molicare supers used to be super, Abena xplus stood for xplus quality, and so on. Eventually even confidry and northshore will likely go this same route. And when that happens we'll just switch to the next newest manufacturer that works good. (At a higher cost of course)
 
Yooo said:
Same here. The struggle is real, because it seems every store quit stocking anything plastic backed. They put form over function with "breathable", "comfort", etc.

is the breathable comfort for the manufacturers treasury and peace of mind? or is it supposed to refer to us consumers?



Slomo said:
Plus, consumers always look for the cheapest product before they look at quality.

thats a bit of a over generalization, I mean i do look for the cheap products requently, but some things like lap tops for instance i am always willing to pay the extra penny.

that said I agree with pretty much everything else you posted, the scary thing is the same mentality goes to prepackaged food in our supermarkets O.O
 
ever since the early 90's when Kimberly Clark moved manufacturing from Wisconsin to Mexico the quality has went down hill badly . First to go was the signature green backing plastic second was the nice wide super sticky tapes third was the absorbent material and the merging of the Overnight diaper to the regular diaper and calling it "max protection " . Depends once was a decent diaper not since the move to Mexico and now the cloth backing is the nail in the coffin for Kimberly Clark adult incontinence line. May as well roll a roll of terliet paper around your waist and urine output region and pray you do not get wet!
 
MommyandMattling said:
as a note, I do not still buy depends, I stopped when I could reliably get shipments of ABDL brand nappies. but when i was waiting for a shipment in the past i have been known to get 1 of the depends and double or tripple up on it, and cut slashs into the front so drainage was effective.

Hooray another quality consumer!

I also will buy the corporate garbage in an emergency otherwise ABDL nappies for me all the way.
 
MommyandMattling said:
wow...thats impressive, I dont believe the ABU cushies even have that kinda retape potential, sometimes I can get away with it. but not often

as a note, I do not still buy depends, I stopped when I could reliably get shipments of ABDL brand nappies. but when i was waiting for a shipment in the past i have been known to get 1 of the depends and double or tripple up on it, and cut slashs into the front so drainage was effective.

The thing that impressed me with the tapes on Cushies and SDKs was how strong they were. Barring having powder or lotion on your fingers when putting them on, those tapes weren't coming off by accident. As someone who enjoys at least the idea of a diaper that won't necessarily come off when you want it to, that's a neat feature.

Plastic backed Depends were pretty low capacity but they were low profile and they suited me as a recreational wearer who doesn't need to go very often. I don't know what kind of incontinence they ever served well, if any.
 
I thought the plastic backed ones were at their worst around '03-'08 ish. I always had to use duct tape to get the tapes to hold. The last few years before they killed them with cloth backed the tapes held really well on their own. But they weren't really repositionable. The outer shell would tear when you tried to remove them.


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I miss the depends overnights when they was the mint green color. When they started to change I went to Tranquility ATN and slimline. I still like those today but prefer ABU simple/space or Abena M4's.
 
Trevor said:
The thing that impressed me with the tapes on Cushies and SDKs was how strong they were. Barring having powder or lotion on your fingers when putting them on, those tapes weren't coming off by accident. As someone who enjoys at least the idea of a diaper that won't necessarily come off when you want it to, that's a neat feature..

Those, and the Rearz Lil Squirts, with their wide tapes, sometimes I wonder when trying to change out in the morning, what's going to give out first? the tape or my fingers?!
 
bambinod said:
Those, and the Rearz Lil Squirts, with their wide tapes, sometimes I wonder when trying to change out in the morning, what's going to give out first? the tape or my fingers?!

I haven't tried those yet. I've got a bit of a backlog of diapers still and Rearz are pricey enough to keep me from diving in. One of these days...
 
During the time I was a DL, Depends was my go-to brand. Every store that sold diapers had them. Until their most recent update products that actually made them not as good. Then I got into eBay and ordered different brands to see which one I'll stick with from now on.
 
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