Makeshift Diapers: A How-To Guide

Thisusernameistaken said:
I have really liked this makeshift diaper! I normally use paper towels because it leads to a much easier cleanup. But I want to try the towel version and was wondering, how would you clean up the towels? I want to be able to cover my tracks and put the towels back but I don't know how to do it as I dont do laundry in my house often.
I don’t do this very often these days, but when I do I try to do it on (or the night before) laundry day.
 
Carnifex said:
Has anyone tried to use a t shirt for a diaper I am curious about it I am about to try would like to know what other people think
I've made one before, and it didn't work but I didn't use any materials other than the shirt so if you got some padding it might work
 
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Carnifex said:
Has anyone tried to use a t shirt for a diaper I am curious about it I am about to try would like to know what other people think
I have not tried it, but I read on one web site (I forget which one) that even with plastic pants (or a cloth diaper cover) it only works for a very short time even on an actual baby. Therefore this approach should only be used when there is absolutely nothing else available.
 
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I used to do this with rhe paper towel before I was old enough to buy diapers on my own.
 
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Before wearing my first nappies, I used to fill my underwear with toilet paper and paper towels. Then, just toilet paper. I tried messing in a plastic bag with paper towels one time, as well.

Although it can help you messing or weeing, I agree the real deal is far better and you get the cotton cloud bonus sensation.
 
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I used to wear a bathing suit since it had that brief-like lining inside. I would either line them with pads I stole from my sisters (yes, I'm very embarrassed about doing so and wish I never did) for wetting, or just paper towels when I wanted to mess.

Also, Swiffer pads?! Wish I had thought of that one!
 
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Like many ADISC articles, this one was written back when kids ages 15-17 were allowed to join. Nowadays, though some very small number of our members are truly unable to order supplies, it's probably much more common that members are able to order supplies, but worry about hiding them. For these members, a "hybrid" approach is probably a lot more practical. What I mean by that is: Order yourself a pair or two of actual, purpose made plastic pants or other waterproof diaper covers, preferably unlined. These take up very little room when folded and can be hidden pretty much anywhere. As well, if they're unlined, they can simply be rinsed off in the sink (unless soiled). With actual plastic pants, wearing makeshift diapers (like bath towels) is fast, easy, and extremely effective. The vast majority of your stash can still "hide in plain sight," you'll be able to diaper yourself quickly, and you'll be a drier baby...at least outwardly. :)
 
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The cheap thin plastic picnic table covers make good mattress covers or furniture covers. The plastic bags pillows come in make good plastic pants or diaper covers. Old underwear or shorts work well too. Try 6 or 8 cotton panties under the plastic bag.
 
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Diaperloverj said:
The cheap thin plastic picnic table covers make good mattress covers or furniture covers. The plastic bags pillows come in make good plastic pants or diaper covers. Old underwear or shorts work well too. Try 6 or 8 cotton panties under the plastic bag.
Old underwear 🩲 shorts over diapers? Will they not get soaked and wet my pants 👖?
 
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when i was a kid this was what i did all the time
 
Billies1 said:
Old underwear 🩲 shorts over diapers? Will they not get soaked and wet my pants 👖?
Yes, absolutely. That's the point.
 
I did something like this before. I had to stay out of town a couple nights for work but things changed and it turned into 4 nights.
The last night I was there I had ran out of diapers all except one. I did not want to use it that night because I needed something the next day to wear so I could keep dry pants. So I went to the lobby and asked them if they had I large trash bag I could put my dirty laundry in. So I got it and went back to the room and I took the towels and I did the exact same thing. I had no diaper pins but I did have duct tape out in my truck. So I folded my towels wrapped them under me and out like I would a cloth diaper then I pulled my bag up and holding everything the best I could I wrapped my waste with duct tape. to keep the towel's and bag up snug. Sadly it did not catch all of my pee but it damn sure caught most of it.. I was a bit embarrassed checking out with a wet mattress but it was not two bad and I am sure that it had to of had far worse on it before. Besides it had like a washable cotton mattress topper as it was a $150 room back 20 years ago. It was my last night anyway thank God. But it was a hotel I used a lot when on this route.

When you cant control your pee you get creative. One other time I was away from home not for work but just out and my diaper bag had got taken out of the car. I was using abena's and it was soaked and leaking. I was about a hour from home and fixing to head home. To stop the sag on the Abena I always worn a neoprene underwear over it to help old it. So I went in a Walmart I at first I was going to buy some adult diapers but I was like this sucks because I am going to spen12 bucks and use one and chunk the rest because I do not wear Depends or Walmart diapers I went to the rest room and to the changing station and purchased to baby diapers from the vending machine for 75 cents each. I cut up the back on one and stacked them and paced them in my underwear like a shape pad. It worked and kept me dry for my car ride home.

I been wearing since about 8th grad but my entire adult life it was my responsibility to have spare diapers so in the last 25 years those two times are the only time I ev.er ran out of diapers. I always carry enough to be gone 4 days longer than I plan. So if I go for a 2 day stay I take enough for six days. I am never running out again I have over 110 Mega Max in the closet and a got of InControl and more. I try to keep 3 months worth at all times.


I don't know how old you are but it wont be long before you can get some real AB diapers or just some good medical ones like NS. NS gives a couple free samples to anyone that asked. I am not sure on the samples but I know you can have the bags and cases sent to a fedex location you can pick up. So maybe mow some lawn or something to make a few extra bucks and try to get a good diaper. Mega Max is the best ever made. I would check and see if you could get the samples sent to a local fed ex site to pick up. But Mega Max it will spoil the shit out of you. They are so nice. Just go to NorthShore.com and look under samples.
 
Thisusernameistaken said:
I have really liked this makeshift diaper! I normally use paper towels because it leads to a much easier cleanup. But I want to try the towel version and was wondering, how would you clean up the towels? I want to be able to cover my tracks and put the towels back but I don't know how to do it as I dont do laundry in my house often.
Best way I can think of is you don't just take it off, instead jump into the shower with the towel diaper still on and do your hair shampoo and body wash as usual, as it rinses down it will help wash out the towel and freshen it up. Once you are basically done undo the diaper and let it fall to the bottom of the shower beneath your feet and wash away any urine smell from your lower body, hygiene is very important!

After that if the towel still looks or smells bad the take the shower head and run it all over the towel to wash out any remaining urine. Once it is somewhat clean enough you can hop out of the shower and dry off and then ring out the soaking towel diaper until it is just damp and dump it into the laundry basket for whoever normally does the laundry. Just make sure to sufficiently ring it out first, don't leave it soaking wet, too suspicious. You could even hang it over radiators once ringed out to reduce dampness even more to bring it to about what you would expect for a used towel.

They (whoever does your laundry) will just think it is damp from you drying off after a shower and won't think much more of it and any remaining bad smell will be covered by the smell of your shampoo and body wash residuals. They won't think much more into it than that and will just go ahead and do the laundry, no one will suspect a thing.
 
As for pins, if you're not enthralled by the idea of having giant nappy pins (very cute, but might embarrass if your stash is discovered), you can buy kilt pins (yes, the type that tough Irish guys use for holding closed their ceremonial skirts!). You can get these cheaply online in several sizes, and they're pretty good (and will pin through just about anything). Try it. P.
 
I have tried the above and it works well.....I also use real terries nappies and layout 3 Terry squares and sit on them then 3 more terries shares over my front.I use proper snap lock nappy pins at the sides, inside leg and middle....you can get these from craft websites on the net and adult pull on plastic pants....instant toddler....prefer zorbit or mother care terries....soooo soft
 
terrynappi said:
I have tried the above and it works well.....I also use real terries nappies and layout 3 Terry squares and sit on them then 3 more terries shares over my front.I use proper snap lock nappy pins at the sides, inside leg and middle....you can get these from craft websites on the net and adult pull on plastic pants....instant toddler....prefer zorbit or mother care terries....soooo soft
occasionally they leak usually at the legs in fact I just got up and the chair is wet.....but they are sopping wet..the more wet they are the more excited I get anyone else get like that.....and sometimes my female friend puts a custard pie down the front of them..usually birthdays...cant wait
 
GoldDragonAurkarm said:
There are many types of diapers for ABDLs to enjoy, but sadly, access to those diapers is sometimes extremely limited by finances, overbearing parents, lack of transportation, or other mitigating factors. But, with a little ingenuity and some common, inexpensive materials, one can make something that will at least partially assuage the desire for a diaper.

Materials

First, let's look at some of the materials that might be randomly lying about your residence or easily purchased at a store without too much parental inquiry.

  • Garbage/Plastic bags/Plastic sheeting - Garbage bags or the plastic bags from practically any store can serve as the waterproof outer shell of a makeshift diaper. These are typically available in great quantity, and simply involve a little cutting and sealing. Plastic sheeting, as in the kind used for construction or covering windows, are also excellent options.
  • Towels - Every household has plenty of towels, ordinarily for those coming from the shower to dry themselves. However, because they are incredibly absorbent, they also work quite well for the absorptive portion of a diaper.
  • Paper Towels or Toilet Paper - These are things that are ordinarily available in sufficient quantity that if some gets used it won't be missed. It takes a considerable quantity of any paper toweling product to get sufficient absorption for a diaper, so use these only if disposability is absolutely essential.
  • Diaper Pins - Diaper pins will be necessary if making a cloth (towel-based) makeshift diaper. Ordinary safety pins will absolutely work for this purpose, although they might be a bit duller and harder to press through the material.
  • Swiffer Pads - The refill pads for certain Swiffer brand cleaning products are dry pads, approximately 4 inches by 12 inches (10 x 30 cm), that contain SAP, the same absorbent material used in many diapers. These could be used for purposes of a makeshift diaper.

Projects

Now that we've taken a look at some of the materials, we can move on to construction.

A diaper is composed of two essential components, an absorbent core of some sort and a waterproof outer membrane.

Cloth Core

Cloth diapers have been around for eons and were the staple of diapering until disposables became prevalent in the late 1980s. As with any diaper, the principles of an absorbent core with a waterproof outer membrane are the standard. Cloth diapers are so named because the absorbent core is made up literally of fabric (cloth), rather than the petrochemical-engineered cores of disposables.

The absorbent part of the diaper in a cloth makeshift is easy. Use some ordinary bath towels (the bigger, the better), preferably no less than two so there is an acceptable amount of absorbent material. More towels will directly translate to more capacity, but they will also translate to more washing to be done afterward, which should be remembered when grabbing materials.

Once you've gathered them, lay the first down as a base. Because the towel will be too long, take one end and fold it partly over the rest of the towel, at a roughly one-third over two-thirds ratio.

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Once the first towel (base) is ready, spread out the second towel and fold it like the first. Then, you'll fold it twice more, but instead of reducing the length, you'll be reducing the width in order to make a soaker. Fold the towel twice, once from either side, making the final width approximately one-third the original width.

If you have any additional towels intended to become additional soakers, prepare them as you did the first soaker.

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Once all soakers are prepared, lay them into the center of the base towel.

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Then, fold each side of the base towel over the soaker. Instead of having a rectangle shape, you should now have a “flattened” V shape. At this point, the towels-turned-diaper will be ready to be pinned on. (If you need more material at the waist, you can flare out the bottom part of the V.)

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Disposable Core

The procedure for making a makeshift disposable diaper will be quite similar to the cloth diaper procedure, except of course for the material choices. The description here will be based on using paper towels, but the same directions will apply for other things (i.e. toilet paper), save for the quantities.

To make a suitably thick diaper using paper towel, approximately 10 pieces of paper towel (presuming a standard piece of 8-12 inches/20-30 cm) is a good starting point, of course remembering that can adjust as you feel is appropriate. There is no need to tear them into individual pieces. Instead, fold a long string of paper towels at every second piece, layering them onto each other. (the pic shows the size of one layer)

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Once folded into layers, one more fold is required. Fold the stack of paper towels in half, in the opposite direction of the perforations (which you were using for earlier folds).

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Once this final fold is done, the stack is ready to be put into underwear or a pair of makeshift plastic pants.

Although these directions focus on paper towels, toilet paper can easily be used in this role, as well. Simply gather a sufficient length of toilet paper, and fold it over itself into layers in approximately 16-24 inch/40-60cm lengths. Because toilet paper is already narrow, there is no need for a second fold once layered.

Alternatively, you can use the dry Swiffer brand refill pads that are made for some Swiffer products. These pads contain SAP, the same absorbent material of disposable diapers, and they are already a perfect size for use in a makeshift diaper. Several of them might be necessary for sufficient absorption. To layer them, use a knife or other sharp or bladed object to pierce the plastic backing on all but one of the pads, then stack them, leaving the pad with the intact plastic backing at the bottom of the stack (so the plastic is on the outside layer).


Plastic Pants

Unless you plan to simply stand in the bathtub and cut loose, in order to cover whatever absorbent material you've chosen, you'll need a waterproof cover, and a makeshift pair of plastic pants is reasonably easy to make.

First, you'll need plastic. Plastic sheeting, like used to cover windows and the like, is absolutely the best option here, but sadly, this is not something many households commonly have lying about, let alone in large quantities. In lieu of plastic sheeting, a garbage bag is an excellent choice as well (If you're using a garbage bag, you can split the bottom and one side to get a larger piece of plastic.). Plastic grocery bags are not recommended unless no other options are present. A square of material approximately 36 x 36 inches (just shy of 1 meter by 1 meter) should work for many, but the width, length, or both can be altered if you are particularly small or large.

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Once you have the square, cut two semi-circles from two opposing sides. These will be the cut-outs for your legs. Freehanding the cuts is acceptable, but if you're unsure, you can use a dinner plate or something similar as a template.

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Once you have the two semi-circles cut, you now have a plastic cover that is ready to be taped on.

Final Assembly

Once you have made an absorbent core and a waterproof membrane, you are ready to put on your diaper. For securing the plastic pants, duct tape or a similarly strong tape is recommended, as thinner tape choices (like blue painter's tape) can rip quite easily under the stresses of walking and moving about. If you're using something disposable, lay that in the center of the cover before taping it on. If you're using a cloth diaper, pin the diaper on first.

Using approximately six-inch/15 cm long pieces of tape, tape the cover on at the sides in the fashion of a diaper. Using at least two tapes per side is recommended, as that will allow for a better fit at both the legs and the waist.

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Because of the lack of elastic in these plastic pants, additional tape is recommended to bolster the seal at the waist and legs. There should be sufficient material at the leg openings to allow for a long piece of tape to be wrapped snugly around each leg. Another piece can also be snugly wrapped around the waist for additional sealing.

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Conclusion

As with any new project, it might take a couple of tries to get a result that truly suits your needs and desires, but once you understand the basic concepts, you can modify them as needed. As with a genuine diaper, the absorbent core is what does the work of holding what you release, and the plastic shell keeps that in place, so do be sure to use a sufficient amount of absorbent material.

And of course, enjoy your handiwork!!
magiver would be proud ! :giggle:
 
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