If You Could Bring Back One Adult Diaper

Status
Not open for further replies.

Dork

Contributor
Messages
117
Role
  1. Diaper Lover
AB/DL diaper companies mainly focus on designing adult diapers that replicate or are inspired by baby diapers. That makes a lot of sense, but what about replicating adult diapers that no longer exist?

My question to you: If a prominent AB/DL diaper company was going to release a reproduction of a vintage adult diaper, what would you want it to be?

Update: Focus on esthetic instead of function.
 
Last edited:
I have been wearing adult diapers for 17 years now, there is no reason to bring back any old adult diaper, they all stink compared to what we have today.
Many people including myself are reminiscent to the attends of the early 90’s or depends overnights, to tell you the true, the diapers of today such as dry 24/7 and Abu simple absolutely kick butt to those old diapers, it’s just back then there was no “better product”
 
No, I wouldn't. Past versions of adult diapers started out so-so, but with their constantly being cheapened up made them terrible. That has brought about better diapers still, and they cycle has continued. Even IF we could get, say the 80's old style depends back, they still wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the current Betterdry diapers. Which by the way are NOT abdl designed diapers. (and fyi, Crinklz were made after Betterdry)
 
pampers4U said:
I have been wearing adult diapers for 17 years now, there is no reason to bring back any old adult diaper, they all stink compared to what we have today.
Many people including myself are reminiscent to the attends of the early 90’s or depends overnights, to tell you the true, the diapers of today such as dry 24/7 and Abu simple absolutely kick butt to those old diapers, it’s just back then there was no “better product”

Slomo said:
No, I wouldn't. Past versions of adult diapers started out so-so, but with their constantly being cheapened up made them terrible. That has brought about better diapers still, and they cycle has continued. Even IF we could get, say the 80's old style depends back, they still wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the current Betterdry diapers. Which by the way are NOT abdl designed diapers. (and fyi, Crinklz were made after Betterdry)

That makes me feel better as a younger DL who never got the opportunity wear (adult) diapers in the 80s, 90s, or early 2000s.

But to answer the original question, I think the only discontinued diaper that I do feel a bit nostalgic about is the old plastic-backed Tena Slip Maxi. I love the design of the purple dots on the front and the way they fit, which was almost more like two-tape diaper since the tapes were so small and close together and towards the top of the diaper on taping panel.
 
LOL. I don't even have nostalgia for the things that are still available. Diapers that were cutting edge 5 years ago are eclipsed by what is available now.
 
What if we base things off of esthetic? No doubt SDK are more absorbent than the Pampers they are based off of.

I loved the look of the old school Attends with the light blue tapes and the wetness indicated made of yellow lines. The Tena Slip Maxi was also attractive, especially the shape of the padding and the elastic leg bands that road up around the butt. I also think the Comfycare diapers had a great look going for them.
 
The Kolibri Comslip diapers that were available until a few years ago were amazing. The new ones are rubbish.

And the old Abena Abri-Form X-Plus with thicker padding and PE backing was pretty good too.

There used to be so many good diapers available. As for the modern ABDL diapers, the BetterDry ones are really good, but other than that... the old medical ones were better!
 
Old medical grade better than current ABDL diapers? I find that quite hard to believe as I don't think the diapers of decades past would hold 5L (in a lab setting), or past 2L practical limit in real world use.
 
I don't think anybody here is familiar with the old Assurance brand, which was actually quite thick, and had a lining and backing that was very similar to the Luvs diapers made in the late 1970's. Proctor & Gamble made Attends with a lining and plastic backing that was also similar to Pampers, but with a different scent that I did not care for. This was back around 1994, and I remember them well. First Quality made their products with standing leak barriers that again, worked similar to Luvs.

And then, what very few people here know, is that many adults would buy Pampers to use like the male pads they make today, for very light dribbling. I have read some articles on that. You could buy a box of disposable diapers at a grocery store, and everybody would assume that you were buying them for use on a baby, when instead they were being purchased for other needs. What people didn't know, didn't hurt them.

So today. Yes, the ABDL diapers are far better than anything they make for infants. Nothing from Huggies comes close, and Pampers can't hold a candle to even the most basic Bambino Bellissimo, and certainly not anything offered by Rearz, ABUniverse, or Thrust Vector. I guess the only thing missing from today's adult-sized diapers, is a halfway decent baby-powder scent like Pampers used to have in the mid 1970's to early 1990's. Proctor & Gamble would use that exact same perfume on their Charmian products. The Johnson's Disposable Diapers made in the mid 1970's also had a very pleasant scent. And believe it or not, Johnson & Johnson used to also make adult diapers.
 
would bring back the old p&g attends i know they are not a real abdl diaper but was very useful diaper for those that wear for true need they rarely leaked and just did what they was tended to do
 
tiny said:
The Kolibri Comslip diapers that were available until a few years ago were amazing. The new ones are rubbish.

That would be my pick as well!
 
First Generation Green Backed Depend Fitted Briefs the Overnight ones My gosh they were thick and had 6 wide tapes and awesome waist bands & Leg gatherers and inner leak barriers. To me they never leaked. Man I miss those.

- - - Updated - - -

Honeywell6180 said:
I don't think anybody here is familiar with the old Assurance brand, which was actually quite thick, and had a lining and backing that was very similar to the Luvs diapers made in the late 1970's. Proctor & Gamble made Attends with a lining and plastic backing that was also similar to Pampers, but with a different scent that I did not care for. This was back around 1994, and I remember them well. First Quality made their products with standing leak barriers that again, worked similar to Luvs.

And then, what very few people here know, is that many adults would buy Pampers to use like the male pads they make today, for very light dribbling. I have read some articles on that. You could buy a box of disposable diapers at a grocery store, and everybody would assume that you were buying them for use on a baby, when instead they were being purchased for other needs. What people didn't know, didn't hurt them.

So today. Yes, the ABDL diapers are far better than anything they make for infants. Nothing from Huggies comes close, and Pampers can't hold a candle to even the most basic Bambino Bellissimo, and certainly not anything offered by Rearz, ABUniverse, or Thrust Vector. I guess the only thing missing from today's adult-sized diapers, is a halfway decent baby-powder scent like Pampers used to have in the mid 1970's to early 1990's. Proctor & Gamble would use that exact same perfume on their Charmian products. The Johnson's Disposable Diapers made in the mid 1970's also had a very pleasant scent. And believe it or not, Johnson & Johnson used to also make adult diapers.

I hated that perfumey smell on those Attends diapers. Everyone with in 8 feet of you knew you were wearing a diaper from the perfumey smell and of course the very loud crinkling of the plastic backing. I cringed when I had to wear them to class when the stores were out of the Depends ones. Was even worse in PE class in High School my sweat & that perfumey smell made for a odd combination.

- - - Updated - - -

Honeywell6180 said:
I don't think anybody here is familiar with the old Assurance brand, which was actually quite thick, and had a lining and backing that was very similar to the Luvs diapers made in the late 1970's. Proctor & Gamble made Attends with a lining and plastic backing that was also similar to Pampers, but with a different scent that I did not care for. This was back around 1994, and I remember them well. First Quality made their products with standing leak barriers that again, worked similar to Luvs.

And then, what very few people here know, is that many adults would buy Pampers to use like the male pads they make today, for very light dribbling. I have read some articles on that. You could buy a box of disposable diapers at a grocery store, and everybody would assume that you were buying them for use on a baby, when instead they were being purchased for other needs. What people didn't know, didn't hurt them.

So today. Yes, the ABDL diapers are far better than anything they make for infants. Nothing from Huggies comes close, and Pampers can't hold a candle to even the most basic Bambino Bellissimo, and certainly not anything offered by Rearz, ABUniverse, or Thrust Vector. I guess the only thing missing from today's adult-sized diapers, is a halfway decent baby-powder scent like Pampers used to have in the mid 1970's to early 1990's. Proctor & Gamble would use that exact same perfume on their Charmian products. The Johnson's Disposable Diapers made in the mid 1970's also had a very pleasant scent. And believe it or not, Johnson & Johnson used to also make adult diapers.

I hated that perfumey smell on those Attends diapers. Everyone with in 8 feet of you knew you were wearing a diaper from the perfumey smell and of course the very loud crinkling of the plastic backing. I cringed when I had to wear them to class when the stores were out of the Depends ones. Was even worse in PE class in High School my sweat & that perfumey smell made for a odd combination.
 
Tactile-wise my votes would be: any of the old Attends, Molicare "Classic Plus" (a rarer blue version whose fit greatly surpassed the popular purple), Green Overnight Depends, Vlesi Slip (purple striped heavy plastic, German?) and the old plastic backed ID Slip and definitely the Assurance Brand anytime before [somewhere around] 2006 when it started to suck.

KC stopped the extra-thick green Overnight depends production I'm guessing around 1996 when the company starting playing with white for both the regular and overnight versions, decreasing the thickness at the same time. The general public seemed to always bash Depends for "that awful medical green", however that color set them apart from the competition. Europeans didn't seem to be so against colors as Americans for some reason. The new Overnight Depends were more absorbent in the white because I believe that's when they started using SAP technology although there didn't seem to be an absorbency difference in the plain. Despite how thick they may have been, any Green Depends were never that absorbent and usually leaked. SAP technology definitely was a game-changer. When people liken even the cheapest medical diapers of today to plastic-backed tissue, they might not have any idea how bad plain old cellulose-fiber leaked in the old days! The worst diapers didn't seem to have any wicking capability.

Attends were unique in the fact that they were one of the only diapers that had a "plastic-feel" on the inside due to their micro-pore technology (borrowed from maxi pads) which was a plastic sheet with tiny round holes over the padding, but only in the non-wastband version. The plastic tended to stick to your skin but had a great tactile sensation all of its own. The waistband version didn't have this micro-pore technology but rose taller towards your belly button. I'm not sure why these two features had to be mutually exclusive, but unfortunately they were. When P&G sold Attends to PaperPak around 2000, they stopped using this micro-pore technology and the brief was cheapened considerably with all versions going from a buttery soft outer cover to a thinner rough-plastic feel. I guess PaperPak's specialty was making paper and they certainly imparted this into their recently acquired Attends. While Attends always absorbed better Depends overall, especially the micro-pore versions, they were always thicker and cost more. Unfortunately this made them harder to find in retail stores but they were carried right next to Depends in just about all retail outlets. Heck, in the early 90s, Depends samplers were carried in gas stations and always easy to find. As far as the Attends scent goes, the only way to describe it was an intrusive "old-lady" perfume similar to pungent flowers. I can see how others would dislike it, but it kind of grew on me and I've actually tried to find perfumes that duplicated the scent because it brings me back.

I'm glad the old Assurance brand was mentioned earlier because these were probably the best and most underrated diapers that could be found in any Target. They had great outer plastic, decent gathers and surprising absorbency despite how thin they were. I'd always grab up any Vintage Assurance that showed up on eBay because people didn't think they amounted to much as they looked generic and no different than the typical diapers that carried whatever store brand name that sold them on the package. They were truly one of the best kept secrets.
 
The talk of Assurance brand has reminded me of another old favorite. Certainty brand from Walgreen back when they were plastic was one of my favorite store brands. It was so embarrassing buying them too because they didn't compress the bags. I would turn red walking to the counter with this huge obvious bag of adult diapers.

As far as perfume goes, I distinctly remember a faint scent on the white Depends. Could have been just the smell of the materials, but I always really liked it.
 
Another brand that comes to mind, is Curity. They made their adult diapers very thick, and they also had a high absorbency. They were sized for adults, but looked more like something an infant would wear. I was very unhappy when Tyco took over the company, and discontinued all the Curity and Kendall products, to focus on their Wings brand. It was all pump, and dump. And Curity was trashed by the time they were done.
 
Speaking of Walgreens, I remember when there were "Walgreens" brand briefs which were available at possibly up to 2003-2004, but the name Certainty may have also been applied. They weren't the usual cheap-o plastic generics as they absorbed at least double and had a unique foam-rubber-polystyrene type waistband that I have yet to see duplicated; very nice.

When I say cheap-o generics, there were the opposite of the cheap-o generics nowadays and it was almost as if it was more cost effective to mass produce adult diapers with the thicker and louder plastic backing. Imagine the sound of an old green Depend times 3 and not only that, they held only a very small wetting. The problem the diapers did not have is that you could move the tapes many times - tearing that plastic was practically impossible. The K-Mart briefs were a good example of this, but I saw many different drugstore package these same diapers. The only thing as loud as these were any of the 3 variants of the Whitestone Ultrashield which a distinguishing factor in that they were sold in long packages where the diapers were only folded once in the middle. These may very well have been the loudest diapers of all time and I usually see them show up on eBay every 6 months or so. Unfortunately they leaked pretty well too.

As far as Depend scent goes, that reminds me. For a period up to the VERY early 90s, Depend briefs had some faint scent in them but you could only pick it out when wet and it was a scent where you might confuse it with the smell of urine. Maybe some type of experimental deodorizer. Keep in mind at that time, Depend and Attends were heavily Competing against one another for the retail space. It was not an overt scent like Attends. Starting in the early 90s when pretty much all diapers were "unscented", I too have noticed certain synthetic smells as a result of the manufacturing process which weren't unpleasing although they do seem to vary from batch to batch. Some diapers had this more than others.

Anyone remember the Prime Time briefs from the Medical Disposables company? They were very similar if not identical in manufacturing to the SureCare briefs. They had a superior fit, had thick padding and a nice thick plastic backing. I don't know who bought them out, but I'm guessing it was Tyco/Kendall (the same company who messed up Curity). A good demonstration of economic philosophy we see corporations exhibit all the time: "acquire and extinguish". IMO, the Wings weren't bad as they used to have a lot of fluff in the sides, but they have gotten progressively less fluff and less thick each time a new company takes over. Heck just when we got used to seeing the name Covidien Wings, they are currently known as MedTronic Wings. Go figure...

I'm kind of a hoarder and I have my own "archive" of retail packaging of vintage adult diapers with around 50+(?) unique brands. The diapers are all gone, but I've thought about creating some type of online museum of the images. The trick would be stuffing the plastic packages so they were cube-shaped again so I could take accurate pictures of all 6 sides...
 
I’d bring back the early 2000s Abena Abriform (all sizes plastic backed). They were much better quality back then.
 
jellyjigger said:
Speaking of Walgreens, I remember when there were "Walgreens" brand briefs which were available at possibly up to 2003-2004, but the name Certainty may have also been applied. They weren't the usual cheap-o plastic generics as they absorbed at least double and had a unique foam-rubber-polystyrene type waistband that I have yet to see duplicated; very nice.

When I say cheap-o generics, there were the opposite of the cheap-o generics nowadays and it was almost as if it was more cost effective to mass produce adult diapers with the thicker and louder plastic backing. Imagine the sound of an old green Depend times 3 and not only that, they held only a very small wetting. The problem the diapers did not have is that you could move the tapes many times - tearing that plastic was practically impossible. The K-Mart briefs were a good example of this, but I saw many different drugstore package these same diapers. The only thing as loud as these were any of the 3 variants of the Whitestone Ultrashield which a distinguishing factor in that they were sold in long packages where the diapers were only folded once in the middle. These may very well have been the loudest diapers of all time and I usually see them show up on eBay every 6 months or so. Unfortunately they leaked pretty well too.

As far as Depend scent goes, that reminds me. For a period up to the VERY early 90s, Depend briefs had some faint scent in them but you could only pick it out when wet and it was a scent where you might confuse it with the smell of urine. Maybe some type of experimental deodorizer. Keep in mind at that time, Depend and Attends were heavily Competing against one another for the retail space. It was not an overt scent like Attends. Starting in the early 90s when pretty much all diapers were "unscented", I too have noticed certain synthetic smells as a result of the manufacturing process which weren't unpleasing although they do seem to vary from batch to batch. Some diapers had this more than others.

Anyone remember the Prime Time briefs from the Medical Disposables company? They were very similar if not identical in manufacturing to the SureCare briefs. They had a superior fit, had thick padding and a nice thick plastic backing. I don't know who bought them out, but I'm guessing it was Tyco/Kendall (the same company who messed up Curity). A good demonstration of economic philosophy we see corporations exhibit all the time: "acquire and extinguish". IMO, the Wings weren't bad as they used to have a lot of fluff in the sides, but they have gotten progressively less fluff and less thick each time a new company takes over. Heck just when we got used to seeing the name Covidien Wings, they are currently known as MedTronic Wings. Go figure...

I'm kind of a hoarder and I have my own "archive" of retail packaging of vintage adult diapers with around 50+(?) unique brands. The diapers are all gone, but I've thought about creating some type of online museum of the images. The trick would be stuffing the plastic packages so they were cube-shaped again so I could take accurate pictures of all 6 sides...

I'm pretty sure that is the same Walgreens diaper I was thinking of. I distinctly remember the foam waistband. That was the second disposable I tried. At first I hated them, but after switching back to Depends I really grew to appreciate their puffiness.

I'm also thinking we are talking about the same Depend scent. I could always smell it when I first opened the bag, but it was "activated" when the diaper became wet. I thought I might have imagined it because I don't think they advertised it as a feature.
 
I really miss the medi prime euro briefs, the plastic backed ones were really comfortable and did well for me during the day. Also the first time they tried cloth backed they were pretty good as far as absorbency but were so thick and stiff i waddled like a duck every time i wore them. Another one sombody else mentioned was the micro pore attends, i wore those for a few years before i discovered premium diapers but man those old attends were a league of there own back in the day
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top