Cloth covered are, in fact, better...

[kadillac]

I bought some Tena Super Night Briefs and am able to wear them 24/7 with perfect discretion. They don't crinkle, unbelievably absorbant, bunch in the crotch when wet, and are discreet 24/7 because they bunch only at the crotch area.

I forget I'm wearing, but am free to go whenever I like! I love these diapers. Cloth covered are awesome,

 

[SulliLan]

they are better for those reason and yes i agree that padding is a really good brand. just some babyfur's, diaper furs, AB/DL teen babys prefer the plastic cover. i think this is because it sounds more babyish and reminds them of there younger years when they were in diapers again.

also depends on if u can hide the crinkle or not. i can myself mostly form lose shorts or pants and a belt along the top weist band to stop the wings form moving

 

[kadillac]

I was unimpressed with the Abenas, so I was kind of turned off to those and have searched for a good one since them. I've settled on the Molicare & Tena Super Night Briefs.

 

[thedlguy]

I love my abena's but I also liked the Prevail Breezers that I used once. I have to agree if your looking for discreetness that the cloth covered are the way to go. And yes they do hold alot

 

[SulliLan]

if i could afford it, i would be getting molicare super plus and bambinos all the time, but unfortunently due to money issues right now i may not be wearing much in the next few months.

i do agree with you cloth is a better choice for diapers for most, but ot my knowlage a lot of people prefer the plastic ones. or just straight cloth diapers

 

[Darkfinn]

I am going to have to disagree.

In my experience cloth covered disposables:
1) Sag horribly when wet.
2) Stretch out after a few hours of wear, losing that snug leak-proof fit.
3) Chafe the insides of my thighs horribly.
4) Seep moisture through the outer cover.

I tried some Tenas when they first switched to the all-cloth design. Got a whole case where the tabs were poorly attached to the wings... they pulled right off when you tried to snug them up. I haven't ordered from them since.

 

[wetd]

i have to admit i do like the cloth better. they're quieter when walking around the house and that's a plus if any of my grand kids are visiting. as for them sagging a bit when wet, i just readjust the tapes. that's another good thing about them.

 

[Butterfly Mage]

I think I would miss the crinkle sound if I switched to cloth cover. I have tried the Attends cloth covered variety (from XP Medical, which ships the extra-absorbant type), and they did a pretty good job. But I generally stick with Abena and Molicare.

 

[kadillac]

The tapes are perfect on the Tenas.

 

[WoXxY]

I make these statements based on roughly a decade of my need to wear and everyday experience.

I absolutely HATE:
*They fall apart easier.
*Feeling clammy when wet. (inside AND out, perticularly around legs)
*Sagging and constant need for retightening.
*Shifting, bunching, and stretching due to friction of moving against something. (clothes, bed, chairs, getting in/out of cars, etc)
*Weaker tape to back-wing strength. (tape comes off of back panel, still attached to front)
*Leaks straight through backing/out sides.
*Inability to make a tight seal.
*Higher cost. (If they are the same price, then features have been removed or package count is lowered)
*They smell like urine when wet.

Things I like:
*Slightly more comfort when dry. (if you don't count the extra mental discomfort of worrying about leaks)
*Quieter if you are really paranoid about 'crinkles'.
*They circulate air better. (more from the loose fit than through the material itself, so this is actually a very bad thing for a diaper in terms of leaks and smells)

It seems to me that the only advantages are they feel more like 'normal' underwear when dry.
It's all from a 'need' to have diapers closer resemble underwear and be less 'diaper-like'.
NEWS FLASH:
A diaper's job is more important as being a diaper than being like underwear.

While I do like plastic backed as a personal preference, above all else I stand firm: I do not like leaks! I'm sure all my friends with furnature and carpets would agree too.

If there were cloth-covered diapers that perform exactly as well and cost just the same, I would have no problems wearing them (except for the friction issue). However, this is entirely just not the case.
________________________________________
Cloth-backed sucks compared to plastic-backed

 

[Elli]

Boots StayDry are cloth-feel but they have adhesive tapes, not the 'velco'-ish type. They do have plastic panel 'landing zone' squares but using it on both sides would make the nappy too big and generally a rubbish fit, so I stick the tapes straight to the cloth-feel material. It sticks alright, but if you untape there's no way it's going to stick again.

I haven't tried better quality cloth feel nappies, but I agree that they do stretch out of shape and lose their snug fit. I read somewhere that they also have more friction against clothes and bed sheets etc, which might contribute to this.

Boots brand aren't all that cheap really, and they seem to be pure bags of gel crystals, no fluff. But as they aren't regarded as the best quality, I'd be interested if people could tell me; with other brands, are the sides made of only that fine, thin material, not much thicker than the material that lines plastic nappies? That material isn't water-proof is it? And I think then that plastic ones would perform better. I'd prefer cloth-feel if it performed better.

If plastic performs better though, why is it only the very cheapest baby nappies that are still made with it? Are adult nappies like the cheapest baby ones?

Another question...Back in the day, when baby nappies were always plastic, did they have some sort of lining or was it actually plastic against skin? If it was, that must have been pretty uncomfortable.

Edit: Oops, sorry WoXxY, I took ages writing my post because I was doing three things at once and then you posted and I had repeated some of yours.

 

[WoXxY]

There's very little wrong with having plastic against skin and it's generally not uncomfortable. The company that first did the whole 'cloth-backed' thing mislead mothers into believing that plastic is horrible bad, and eventually this line of thinking was unstoppable. Who would dare be so careless to put a baby into something like that? Poor kids who were diapered in the 80's and early 90's must be dropping like flies from the health-related risk of PoS (Plastic on Skin) syndrome. I don't dare mention the billions who suffered from the plastic and rubber pants of the earlier era!

Kidding, kidding, kidding.

This is pretty much the result of grossly misleading information and the "I'm a better mother than you!" competetive thinking. This gets them to buy THEIR diapers over the other brands. Way to go, you bastards.

Winner: Diaper companies.

If Kimberly-Clark or Proctor & Gamble went back to making plastic diapers, they could sell them at a lower cost and still maintain profit margins. They deal in HUGE amounts of volume which smaller companies can only dream of. More production = lower overall costs. Parents could save alot of money on diapers!
However, it's too late for that kind of thinking from the masses (at least in the USA). The damage is done and nobody is going back to plastic.

 

[Elli]

Yeah. I guess with babies, people think they should be all huggly but I guess that's really how the baby feels to the parents touch rather than comfort for the baby. But did the old plastic ones have the lining that today's adult ones do?

Also, if they don't leak for babies like they do for adults, then it's less of an issue. But, yeah, it could be cheaper. Currently I think only the value store brand baby nappies are plastic backed. (I know because I saw an opened packet in a store with one nappy out on the shelf). But because these are cheap, they might not have as good absorbency or other features like an elasticated waist. But if plastic ones were made with these features, they might be as good...and cheaper, as you say.

I'm 23 and I was put in terries and plastic pants as a baby. Disposables at the time were too expensive and were reserved for days out. Disposables also caused a rash.

 

[WoXxY]

I would suspect that with all of today's technologies, plastic baby disposables would probably be closer to zero leaks than ever.

If I remember right, the old plastic backed diapers also had the inner lining against the skin. I don't know if this was ever not a feature, but I haven't had any hands-on experience with the really old diapers, pre-80s. I'm sure the old Z-fold diapers had tons of problems. The rash and leaks were more due to diaper design than the acutal usage of plastic.

(FYI, I'm 29 and was in cloth too as a child)

 

[Crinkly]

Paper or Plastic?

NEWS FLASH:
A diaper's job is more important as being a diaper than being like underwear.

While I do like plastic backed as a personal preference, above all else I stand firm: I do not like leaks! I'm sure all my friends with furniture and carpets would agree too.

I totally agree - if a diaper doesn't do the job of a diaper, then it's not much of a diaper. It's why it has always seemed so silly that some adult diapers, particularly the earlier designs, compromised that function to the degree they did.

Elli,
Yes, the plastic backed baby diapers of the '80s and '90s did have the inner lining similar to what they have now, all the way to the edges. The plastic would possibly have only contacted the skin between the legs, which isn't bothersome to me at all. It feels so smooth.


I think the outer plastic makes the purpose of the diaper much more obvious, and I like knowing that I'm wearing one. I also love the crinkling sound, since it reminds me of how a baby in a disposable diaper could easily be heard crinkling as they moved and walked around. The slickness of the outer plastic is pretty cool too, so it's easier to slide one's pants over it when getting dressed. And while sleeping, it's easier to change position - my diaper butt just glides over the sheets.

So, the only real advantage a cloth-like covered diaper has is stealth, which can be important in front of others. But I still prefer plastic 95% of the time.

 

[kadillac]

What I'm saying is that Tena Cloth-Backed diapers don't leak, at least as easily as the Abena I had did, are more comfortable, don't smell like urine like my Attends, and don't sag.

 

[Dakota13]

I prefer plastic backed diapers, however the better diapers at stores tend to be cloth. Sorry to thread jack but are the new depends plastic still?

 

[goodnitesgirl]

For discretion I do like a cloth covering but can't beat the feel of a thick plastic diaper

 

[captainAmazing]

If i could get cloth at the quality that baby diapers are made in i would prefer them, but the problem is that the adult variety are, as everyone else mentioned, poorly made. I think when i was in diapers (as a baby ) they were plastic, but as a little kid a was pretty good at stealing and fitting into baby diapers, which were at the time primarily cloth. So cloth is what i remember best.

 

[Angusmac]

I was unimpressed with the Abenas, so I was kind of turned off to those and have searched for a good one since them. I've settled on the Molicare & Tena Super Night Briefs.

I have some of the Abenas now, they are good...but believe it or not, for a "cloth like" covered diaper, Attends Extended Wear are the best, while the Attends are not as absorbant as the Abenas, they have tapes that hold forever, you can fasten and refasten as often as you want.

I still prefer plastic to cloth-like for a diaper, only because that's what I remember from my youth. I loved it when I'd see my younger cousin, or any other younger kid in diapers walking around with a noticable "crinkle". I would always think to myself "ha ha you're in diapers :tongueout: But I'd also be jealous that it wasn't me :sad:

For wearing to the movies, I like the Abena Pull ups (which I've only ever done just once, and very recently).

-Gus