Now That Plastic Depends Are Gone

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BrattyPrincessSophie

Pottypants Bratty Princess Extraordinaire
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Do you think that the pendulum that has slowly swung in the direction of cloth-like could start to slowly swing back to plastic?

Was the loss of plastic Depends the wake up call the industry needed?

I apologize for not being as active as I once was, school can keep you incredibly busy. I also apologize for bringing attention to relatively old news but when I got wind of it,I felt heartbroken.

Plastic backed adult diapers have been dying a slow and painful death, but could now be the time the pendulum starts to swing back in the other direction? Let me show you what I mean.

Here, check this out: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Depend-Fitted-Maxium-Protection-Briefs-S-M-20ct/893190

That is the Walmart page for the new Depends diaper. First off, notice the shady way Kimberly Clark rolled out this change. Notice how the product picture looks deceptively like the old version. The actual packing is the same or similar from what I've heard. There was also little to no advance warning that I'm aware of.

Now look at the reviews and general reception.

Pretty damning, isn't it?

97 1 star reviews

16 2 star reviews

15 3 star reviews

38 4 star reviews

93 5 star reviews

At best the reception to the new and "improved" (/sarcasm) Depends is at best, polarizing and extremely mixed and at worst, almost universally negative

Most of the reviews are coming from active users who need them and caregivers, not just the AB/DL crowd.

So the industry has slowly shifted towards breathable backing and some people like breathable products, and they work for some people, but definitely not for everyone.

Could this be the wake up call that helps us realize what we've lost now that it's gone?

Depends were never the best diapers in the world, they were out performed by what some would consider mid range but not quite premium brands like Tranquility. However, for me, and quite a few others, they were more effective at what they were designed to do than what people give them credit for.

So, without further ado, I present a few solutions that not just KC but also other adult diaper companies could implement to alleviate this dilemma.

1. Bring back the old style and replace the new breathable style - The only problem with this solution is that it would make fans of the old product happy, but risk alienating people who liked the new version and believe it works for them.

2. Bring back the old style alongside the new style with redesigned and clearly labeled packaging to avoid confusion on what consumers are buying. - This option offers maximum choice and makes as many consumers happy as possible, fans of the old style are happy, fans of the new style are not alienated in the process.

3. Look to the Bambino Hybrid diaper and the long defunct Provider's Choice Active Ultra for inspiration. Work out a way to design a hybrid diaper that provides the benefits of cloth-like with the benefits of plastic. Add strong velcro tabs and a preferably non-breathable landing zone which the tabs can stick to while the rest of the diaper has a traditional poly backing. Also adding more padding in the wings couldn't hurt to offer more protection for side sleepers like myself. Breathability and audio discretion will need to be sacrificed in order to ensure an adequate level of odor control and side leak protection.

4. Add a landing zone to the old style plastic diapers which should help to address the complaints over the lack of adjustability of the tabs and ripping of the plastic.

5. Look to Japan for inspiration. Based on what people who have tried Japanese brands say, our friends in the land of the rising sun seem to have figured out how to make cloth-like work for adult products about as well as it does for baby products. I wouldn't mind an all cloth-like market if NA and EU and elsewhere if they simply followed Japan's example.

So is this the start of the pendulum reversing course? or is this the final nail in the plastic coffin?

If the latter is the case, I may deal with the extra expenses of buying from AB/DL companies or just switch to old school reusable cloth diapers and just deal with the extra work of washing them.

So what are your thoughts?
 
Give up on cheaped out medical diapers altogether and only buy from ABDL quality makers is my opinion.

Once they start cheapening out it is highly doubtful they will invest in making their products better sorry to say.

Of course if you like cloth use those too as they seem less likely to be ruined by a corporation.
 
I don't think there is any chance they will go back to plastic backed.... its cheaper to have universal matirials so they can borrow matirial accross their lines (you'll notice depends uses pullup covers for their depends if you look closely you see little stars when the brief gets wet) Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 12.45.20 PM.png

Also depends long gave up on their brief line awhile ago, getting stingier with the absorbent area in the front and back (especially in the back) messing mid production with tapes, sending out many batches of briefs with tapes cut badly.
 
So there's no chance the pendulum could reverse course? despite the universally negative reception from users and caregivers? That's discouraging. I still hold out hope that in a decade or two some new technology will produce a more advanced, possibly biodegradeable, cheaper to product plastic, and the technology will get cheaper over time, also with new manufacturing technologies like 3D printing and nanofabrication either backing should be cheaper to produce and maybe then in either of those circumstances the pendulum should begin to change course. I guess for now I'll have to stick to the few medical companies left that offer a plastic option, Abena, Molicare, etc. Maybe try out Bambino's Total Dry product line. I think the other AB/DL Companies could make an alienated consumer base very happy by offering their own medical oriented line of products. Imagine if ABU or Tykables/Snuggies produce a separate medical line. Until then, I may just stock up from AB/DL companies and the few medical companies that haven't alienated customers like me just yet. Maybe switch to reusable cloth, or some combination of both.
 
Depends has made it clear time and again they don't give a hoot about the wearers or the product particularly briefs... the only way to send a message to them would be not to by and their only reply would be simillar to their old undergarment and boost pad reply... removing the product.

The other companies have gotten pretty comfy using prevail who seems to be pretty successful with their cloth back line ( which is actually not as bad as some people say, you can stuff it pretty well and elf works well.
 
I have Angelfluff U-3 contours and super heavyweight nite diapers with bloomers as a fall back, I tend to hold all cloth when I have more mobility issues, for dispes my insurance provides 3 cases of ATN'S, that is my basic level of protection for traveling I have Northshore Supremes provided for long trips. Therefor my extra cash gets spent on radios and the latest greatest ABDL for me to play in.
Tranquility is the best insurance provided diaper and with 96 diapers in a case(Just shy of 300 hundred diapers a month) I give all my extras away in the ABDL community so people who dont have any diaper funds or Web use can still have a case or two of a midrange diaper to play in.
If Depend was really interested in the US market they would bring out the European product here and call it a day, a successfull day, since there last "improvement" they have success in causing harm to there subscribed customers who are now asking people like me on like 20 other communities " how do I keep my Dad/Mom dry for longer than an hour" I send them to XP and Northshore with the knowledge that they will get a full nights rest, people come back and are so happy to have a choice and are amazed at the quality they can get for just a little more than the Depends service. I'm a people person and know if my mom was alive still I would not put her in depend.

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Fair enough, I have heard some people say some pretty good things about the plastic Prevail IB diapers, the plastic Invacare Value Diapers, Wings diapers seem ok, Subjectively, there still seem to be some ok medical brands that offer plastic options that will likely be better than Depends. I wonder how good the XP Medical A+ are? Might try those as well as Northshore Supreme.
 
Unfortunately I'm not talking the first quality IB breifs (which prevail acquired awhile back, luckily they haven't changed them though, they also don't advertise them on their site either) the vast majority of the ones they make for others like cvs and walmart are based on their per fit and stretch fit briefs. The Per fits are meh, not the worst ever but also not great either can be used fairly effectively for moderate incontinence, wouldn't be the most fun for heavy diarrhea days. The stretch fit which walmart just switched to as the one they have in stores is horrid as its almost in possible to get a good leakless fit.
 
As I am disabled I have used the Invacare ones they aren't the best but are far from the worst, they are supposedly made by Molicare ( my bed,mattress ,my nightstand, my tray table, and the wheelchair I just junked are from Invacare, a subsidiary of Baxter Pharmaceutical) located in Elyria Ohio but everything is made someplace in China or Korea and just shipped from Ohio

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I also heard the medline protection plus diapers are decent, and I mostly heard good things about the tapes on breathable Prevail products and how their ELF system seems to work better than most other velcro systems in terms of sticking and maintaining fit. I saw a lot complaints about the velcro tapes on the new Depends not sticking at all or very well and the fit loosening very easily.
 
SnowPrincessSophie said:
I also heard the medline protection plus diapers are decent, and I mostly heard good things about the tapes on breathable Prevail products and how their ELF system seems to work better than most other velcro systems in terms of sticking and maintaining fit. I saw a lot complaints about the velcro tapes on the new Depends not sticking at all or very well and the fit loosening very easily.
Those are as good as ATNs if you can find them and get a good fit. Also think they may have discontinued them in favor of the contoured briefs.
 
I see, any other recommendations for either breathable or poly backed products?
 
I can honestly say there are more choices for poly backed adult diapers today then we ever had back in the 80s or 90s.
 
I wore the Medline "remedy" diapers for about four years, they were awesome and never came undone, in the back of the closet I probably have a couple more cases of them stashed behind the Tranquility ATN'S.

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SnowPrincessSophie said:
I see, any other recommendations for either breathable or poly backed products?

Dignity extra if you can find for poly
Assorbs for cloth.
 
Found both of them with a Goggle search, the first seemed to be called Dignity Classic Extra so they must have rebranded but still the same product overall. Asorbs looks nice, too.
 
Actually same idea but mine are not the fit right garbage, it's that "remedy" that I love , it's barrier cream you buy but they also manufacture right into the liner of the diaper, it has all the essential amino acid chains for healthy skin growth, I truly believe that that stuff has given me an iron ass it takes a lot to make me uncomfortable, my diapers are pre fit right, I honestly did not like when they changed to the fit right design and i bailed out over to Tranquility because the old ones are a much "stouty" diaper,much better heavy construction , I preferred the fit of the older style so much more, these ones are a much lighter construction and will not roll with the punches and stay sealed the way the older style did, then again I went to these when the Attends tri-tapes got redesigned into a lame diaper, can you tell I have always stayed on search for the best of the insurance diapers and have moved around a bit in brands over the years actually I went to these and stayed happy and protected for 4 years before the redesign to fit right , these were the only non super premium diaper that I could get with velcro at the time because my right side was completely paralyzed and did not participate in diapering at all, when the fit right style came in, the diaper did not fit my body the way I wanted like the older ones did, it was when I left these that I started buying the "remedy" products in bottles that I still buy and use with my cloth, I'll shut up and stop gushing about former awesome diapers.
Believe me if the fit had of stayed the same I'd still use them , I just don't dig the new cut style like the older stuff.
They are definitely worthy of trying and see if you like the cut. We all like different things you may love them. They are pretty inexpensive also, I think a case of 128 was like $65.00 or something when I wore them, definitely a deal and a half , and if you ever try the cream or wipe on version you will be hooked. Cleans you smells good and lays down a barrier all at the same time with no rubbing or water needed. I said I would shut up !! Now do it
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The old style sounds amazing, but I'll probably still gravitate towards poly backing since odor control is a much bigger priority with IBS in the mix.
 
I was pretty disappointed when I found out that Kimberly-Clark was discontinuing the plastic Depends. I even went on a hunt for any remaining old stock in nearby stores, which I'll get back to later...

I might be in the minority here but I actually really like the new design! The outline of the diaper looks like the old version, the padding seems identitcal, and i think the stars on the back are cute. The cloth-like backing is more substantial than the store-brand tape-ons and the refastenable tapes hold up just fine for me (but I haven't worn them under clothing, which could make a difference).

The problem is that none of the stores that used to stock the Depend Protection with Tabs are carrying them anymore! It seems that American retail stores are all about pull-ups and nothing else. Walmart's store-brand Assurance makes an interesting single-tab diaper that works nicely, and at 15 bucks for 40ish diapers, it's a good bargain for recreational users. But aside from those, we're stuck with pullups in retail or online shopping, which isn't practical for some of the members of this community.

I've found that if I'm feeling like I want to wear a thinner, plastic-back diaper, Tranquility ATNs or Tranquility Slimline briefs are pretty close to what the Depends used to be. Plus, they're cheap (in the USA, at least) and they actually hold a little more than Depends.
 
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