One towel's review of 35 diapers (43 counting different sizes)

The sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15CCyaNn2xSb5ZpZsHSML7ZEDx-Ebp1UUSdnxJUleBA8/edit#gid=0


The contents: somewhat standardized absorbencies, weights, sizes, textures and pictures (scaled down because google to 1/3 size - sorry bout that). Less repeatable



The takeaway (keeping in mind this is for my body type, use pattern, etc):

There's no one clear winner for real-world absorbancy. There is a highest absorbancy diaper - but 5 others that differ by less than a held-till-near-bursting wetting (~400mL, which is about double the average error rate I had when repeat testing a single brand-size). An additional 14 rank within two.

If you wanna have a bad time, drink 1L+ of liquid an hour for 6+ hours. (1.2L/h over a day made me physically sick, and people start dying at the 1.8L/hour rate).

Going slightly under-size can stop standing-up/sitting leaks, going slightly-over can stop lying-on-side leaks. ymmv.

If you're moderately active, a diaper'll absorb about 50mL of sweat a day.



The stuff tested:

Depend Real Fit (L-XL and S-M)
GoodNites (XL)
McKesson Underwear (M)
Abena Abri-Form L4 / M4
Absorbancy Plus Level 4 (M)
Attends Breathable Briefs (L/M)
Attends Waistband Style (M)
ComfiCare M10
ConfiDry 24/7 (S/L)
Covidien Wings Choice Plus Quilted (M)?
Covidien Wings Choice Plus (M)?
ID Slip Expert Super (M)
Molicare Super Plus (M)
Northshore Supreme (M)
Snuggers Scene Extender (L)
Super Seni Quattro (M)
Tena Ultra (M)
Total Dry Plus (L)
Total Dry X-Plus (M)
Tranquility ATN (L)
Walgreens Certainty Wellness Original (L)
Wellness Superio (L)
ABU Cushies (L)
ABU LittlePawz (M)
ABU Space (L/M)
ABU Super Dry Kids (L)
Aww So Cute (M)
Bambino Bellissimo (L/M)
BareBum (L)
Cuddlz all-over print (M)
DC Amor (L)
Fabine Buntewindel (M)
Snuggies Waddler (L)
Snuggies Waddler Overnight (L/M)
Tykables Waddler Overnight (L/M)

Wow, that's incredible. I wear cloth but I know this will help a lot of the members and it's nice that someone has put all of this together.

Holy crap you're a hero.

Nice work.

Those are some interesting numbers. I'm surprised by how well the TotalDry X-Plus performed, in the 'medical' category it was only beaten by the M4 and Dry 24/7. Bambinos on the other hand seemed to under perform even though they're made by the same company, though looking at the numbers again it seems your missing the results of the medium bellissimo and likely had a bad fit with the large which contributed to early leaking. I kind of wish you'd been able to test the old plastic-backed Tena Slip Maxis to see where they fit in the lineup. The American Tenas performed better than one would think given their inferior reputation.

re InTrepid: I omitted results when things went wrong, essentially. There is a significant difference on absorbency depending on whether a wetting is all at once or spread out over many short bursts (floods vs trickle, see: abu space, snuggies waddler, and take my word for it in some unpublished results). With the medium Belli and the large 24/7, the numbers I got measuring the length of each wetting were too far outside my arbitrary tolerance to include.

The bellis vs totaldrys would've been interesting to compare - but I didn't get to (fairly) test one of the same size between them. And sizing makes a big difference!

And with about 90% of them, I only have one test for each. It could well be that I messed up horribly somehow and didn't notice.