- Messages
- 904
- Age
- 22
- Role
- Adult Baby
- Diaper Lover
- Little
The ABDL market is not perfect and is still in its infancy (pun intended) compared to where it will be in the next ten, twenty, and even fifty years. Here is a place where you can share and elaborate on the problems that the market currently has and possibilities for ways to fix them.
I'll start-
1. Bad Hook and Loop Fasteners
When it comes to securing diapers on yourself, you pretty much have two options when it comes to disposables - Adhesive or hook and loop tapes. While the adhesive variety is generally the preferred tape due to strength, it really doesn't have to be that way. The problem we currently face in the market is that the vast majority of medical and ABDL cloth-backed diapers use subpar H&L and landing zone materials. I have tried many lines of hook and loop diapers from different price ranges, and the weird thing is that most of the ABDL diapers use the same low-density H&L material and medicals also use a similar but different low-density material. The problem with this is that these garbage H&L fasteners simply do not have the strength to stay in place very well, especially when moving around or sitting.
Want to know the only diapers I've tried with exceptional hook and loop tapes that actually hold and stay in place? Size 7 baby diapers!
Like what the heck, how does a person who is way out of the advertised range of fitment for the product have such great results with the tapes compared to a properly-fitting adult diaper with tapes that can barely hold under a fraction of the force?
Just based on my very basic testing of pulling by hand until the tape slips (I don't have a pull scale), baby diaper tapes have had way more strength than adult diapers every single time I tested. I hypothesize that this is down to the high-density hook and loop fasteners seen on the baby diapers which must have a way higher max pull force per unit area. The only adult diaper to come close was a cheap and very bad adult diaper from McKesson that somehow had the best h&l of any adult diaper I've tried despite also being the worst at everything else.
So why aren't companies using this superior hook and loop on adult diapers? I have no idea. All I know is that I need to test putting this stuff on a good adult diaper and seeing what happens.
2. Bad Pacifiers
I'm just going to get right to the chase - The most common ABDL pacifiers out there are also some of the worst.
Ever seen one of these?
That was a rhetorical question, as I am almost certain that every ABDL that has been an ABDL for more than five minutes has seen one.
The problem with these is that they are generally very bad quality but also the most commonly available paci for purchase, that being because they all come from the same factory (likely but not certainly) and just get distributed to tons of different sites to be aesthetically customized. Doesn't matter if you bought one from Rearz, LittleForBig, ABDLCompany, Etsy, Ebay, you name it, if it is this shape, it is almost guaranteed to come from that factory.
The quality is pretty much as low as you can go when it comes to a good pacifier experience, such as the bottom of the shield being elevated from the mouth due to it hitting the chin and the teat being very hard and wide. It can even get painful in the not-unlikely case that your lips get pinched between the teat and the shield!
The part that really makes me mad though is how it's almost predatory in how they get sold at all. In the vast majority of cases, the only way these things get bought is by vulnerable and uninformed ABDLs who have just started out and want to get their first pacifier. When they get it and use it, their only experience with pacis will revolve around this bad hunk of injection molded(?) plastic, which will more likely than not leave them thinking that all pacifiers are just as uncomfortable. And I'm not just speaking from some elitist high (rocking) horse either, because I fell for it when I started too!
If you are reading this and want to start out with a pacifier that you won't regret and also won't break the bank, go with something like an LFB Bigshield 2. I used one for over a year every night and had generally good experiences with it. If you're someone looking for an upgrade to something like a stock pacifier, I'd recommend something from AdultPacifier. I'm currently using one and absolutely love it and especially the lengthened stem.
Side note, notice anything wrong here?
Three of the four teats are upside down! It's evident that even the sellers of these pieces of garbage have no actual experience with pacifiers!
3. Velcro Shoes
@kratox and I share the same sentiment on this issue. Finding good, cute velcro shoes in adult sizes is practically impossible at the moment, at least unless you go for something custom which would cost in the triple digits. I currently wear these every day since I haven't been able to find anything better.
Why is velcro not more prevalent in adult sizes? Likely due to the stigma that velcro is only for young kids, the disabled, and the elderly. Some people seriously think that wearing velcro means you must be mentally handicapped, despite the fact that they likely wear other kinds of shoes which require LESS knowledge to put on, or already own velcro shoes without realizing it. Ever seen someone wear Crocs? Boots? Sandals? Slippers? Flip Flops? Imagine the logic of going up to someone wearing something along those lines and telling them they're handicapped and wearing those because they're too stupid to figure out laces. It just does not make sense. Honestly, if someone made fun of my velcro for that reason, I'd ask if they've ever worn the shoes mentioned above and tell them they're too stupid to use velcro.
The ironic part is how thinking that tying their shoes every time they need to put them on makes them some sort of intellectual. Tying laces is only a waste of time and impractical in the days of velcro - They're wasting time for no reason then being smug about it!
Imagine owning a modern car and getting bullied by people who own cars that have to be cranked by hand to start. They tell you you're mentally handicapped because all you do is turn a key to start the car and get going, while they're smart because they can sit there and crank the car until it turns over, finally letting them drive off.
It is simply stupid when you put it into perspective like this.
Oh yeah, and I just realized I didn't actually get to the market aspect really. That was just me rambling about society again.
Take a look at somewhere like Tykables.
They sell shoes with fun prints, but I will never buy them because they have laces! It kind of defeats the point to have a print that could go on a toddler shoe while also having laces that adults use. I know that it must be really hard to try to produce a new shoe using velcro since there are very few manufacturing lines that will do it cheaply, but it still does not make very much sense to me.
So that's a bit that I've wanted to get off my chest but haven't had the time to do so until now.
What are your gripes with the current state of the ABDL market?
I'll start-
1. Bad Hook and Loop Fasteners
When it comes to securing diapers on yourself, you pretty much have two options when it comes to disposables - Adhesive or hook and loop tapes. While the adhesive variety is generally the preferred tape due to strength, it really doesn't have to be that way. The problem we currently face in the market is that the vast majority of medical and ABDL cloth-backed diapers use subpar H&L and landing zone materials. I have tried many lines of hook and loop diapers from different price ranges, and the weird thing is that most of the ABDL diapers use the same low-density H&L material and medicals also use a similar but different low-density material. The problem with this is that these garbage H&L fasteners simply do not have the strength to stay in place very well, especially when moving around or sitting.
Want to know the only diapers I've tried with exceptional hook and loop tapes that actually hold and stay in place? Size 7 baby diapers!
Like what the heck, how does a person who is way out of the advertised range of fitment for the product have such great results with the tapes compared to a properly-fitting adult diaper with tapes that can barely hold under a fraction of the force?
Just based on my very basic testing of pulling by hand until the tape slips (I don't have a pull scale), baby diaper tapes have had way more strength than adult diapers every single time I tested. I hypothesize that this is down to the high-density hook and loop fasteners seen on the baby diapers which must have a way higher max pull force per unit area. The only adult diaper to come close was a cheap and very bad adult diaper from McKesson that somehow had the best h&l of any adult diaper I've tried despite also being the worst at everything else.
So why aren't companies using this superior hook and loop on adult diapers? I have no idea. All I know is that I need to test putting this stuff on a good adult diaper and seeing what happens.
2. Bad Pacifiers
I'm just going to get right to the chase - The most common ABDL pacifiers out there are also some of the worst.
Ever seen one of these?
That was a rhetorical question, as I am almost certain that every ABDL that has been an ABDL for more than five minutes has seen one.
The problem with these is that they are generally very bad quality but also the most commonly available paci for purchase, that being because they all come from the same factory (likely but not certainly) and just get distributed to tons of different sites to be aesthetically customized. Doesn't matter if you bought one from Rearz, LittleForBig, ABDLCompany, Etsy, Ebay, you name it, if it is this shape, it is almost guaranteed to come from that factory.
The quality is pretty much as low as you can go when it comes to a good pacifier experience, such as the bottom of the shield being elevated from the mouth due to it hitting the chin and the teat being very hard and wide. It can even get painful in the not-unlikely case that your lips get pinched between the teat and the shield!
The part that really makes me mad though is how it's almost predatory in how they get sold at all. In the vast majority of cases, the only way these things get bought is by vulnerable and uninformed ABDLs who have just started out and want to get their first pacifier. When they get it and use it, their only experience with pacis will revolve around this bad hunk of injection molded(?) plastic, which will more likely than not leave them thinking that all pacifiers are just as uncomfortable. And I'm not just speaking from some elitist high (rocking) horse either, because I fell for it when I started too!
If you are reading this and want to start out with a pacifier that you won't regret and also won't break the bank, go with something like an LFB Bigshield 2. I used one for over a year every night and had generally good experiences with it. If you're someone looking for an upgrade to something like a stock pacifier, I'd recommend something from AdultPacifier. I'm currently using one and absolutely love it and especially the lengthened stem.
Side note, notice anything wrong here?
Three of the four teats are upside down! It's evident that even the sellers of these pieces of garbage have no actual experience with pacifiers!
3. Velcro Shoes
@kratox and I share the same sentiment on this issue. Finding good, cute velcro shoes in adult sizes is practically impossible at the moment, at least unless you go for something custom which would cost in the triple digits. I currently wear these every day since I haven't been able to find anything better.
Why is velcro not more prevalent in adult sizes? Likely due to the stigma that velcro is only for young kids, the disabled, and the elderly. Some people seriously think that wearing velcro means you must be mentally handicapped, despite the fact that they likely wear other kinds of shoes which require LESS knowledge to put on, or already own velcro shoes without realizing it. Ever seen someone wear Crocs? Boots? Sandals? Slippers? Flip Flops? Imagine the logic of going up to someone wearing something along those lines and telling them they're handicapped and wearing those because they're too stupid to figure out laces. It just does not make sense. Honestly, if someone made fun of my velcro for that reason, I'd ask if they've ever worn the shoes mentioned above and tell them they're too stupid to use velcro.
The ironic part is how thinking that tying their shoes every time they need to put them on makes them some sort of intellectual. Tying laces is only a waste of time and impractical in the days of velcro - They're wasting time for no reason then being smug about it!
Imagine owning a modern car and getting bullied by people who own cars that have to be cranked by hand to start. They tell you you're mentally handicapped because all you do is turn a key to start the car and get going, while they're smart because they can sit there and crank the car until it turns over, finally letting them drive off.
It is simply stupid when you put it into perspective like this.
Oh yeah, and I just realized I didn't actually get to the market aspect really. That was just me rambling about society again.
Take a look at somewhere like Tykables.
They sell shoes with fun prints, but I will never buy them because they have laces! It kind of defeats the point to have a print that could go on a toddler shoe while also having laces that adults use. I know that it must be really hard to try to produce a new shoe using velcro since there are very few manufacturing lines that will do it cheaply, but it still does not make very much sense to me.
So that's a bit that I've wanted to get off my chest but haven't had the time to do so until now.
What are your gripes with the current state of the ABDL market?
)
but that’s because I’m on disability income and can’t afford anything in general ..... 
