The old design goes a little something like this! When you use fluff/pulp it is very soft & comfortable & makes the Diaper thick enough to insert lots of tiny little gel crystals into! :smile1:
When the Fluff padding becomes wet, it vastly shrinks in size as the Gel expands in the space created in exchange.
Think of how Cotton or even spinach shrinks! lol It's like that!
This is why the old Pampers & so forth worked so well.
But unfortunately, companies have found that they can sell more Diapers in a package, if they machine compress them. Now, contrary to common belief (that may also be a tad stimulated by people's fear of the diaper swelling & swelling until it pops! Hence "Gel Explosion"!) the Gel (Super absorbent Polymer) will NOT.. I say again.. NOT absorb under pressure. This isn't a design flaw. This is just science. You can't pour more water into a glass until the glass shatters! The glass shall merely store as much volume as the glass is capable of. And it's the same with SAP. :smartass:
It's all about giving it space to absorb.
So the problem arises where there isn't enough thickness of fluff to distribute fluid throughout the core & wicking becomes a less efficient process. It will just clump together in small batches instead of spreading out evenly in some circumstances. It's less about SAP VS. Pulp, & more a case of how much they have machine compressed it to allow for a balanced absorption.
The Good news is fluffing it up yourself can make a slight difference. The bad news is it isn't much of a difference. Because the material is organic. You can't un-flatten a Dandelion!
Just to put this into perspective, the last company that didn't press their diapers was Comficare. And now there are very few left. Thankfully, ABDL manufactures are becoming aware of this, but they are fighting the urge to get more money in their pockets. It's up to us to ask that they remain thick, soft, cushy, flocculent.. ha ha & unblemished! I may have got carried away a bit at the end there! Sorry! :surrender: