Road trips

[Ellyn]

Let me start by saying that part of my job involves visiting customer’s offices and work sites so I’m in the car a lot. By a lot, I mean that, on average, I make between one and three customer visits per day, which can be a few travel hours on the road, one way. The rest of the time is ‘working’ from home, running errands, and going into the office, which is a few times per week for several hours.
We also have a ranch that we visit in East Texas that is four hours from home. I sometimes travel there for a few days, taking the canine kids so stopping along the way is difficult.
If I’m going to be traveling locally (an hour or so away) and will be at a work site, I’ll wear cloth diapers due to the comfort factor. Cloth diapers are much more comfortable in the Texas climate in that they feel cooler and don’t bunch up like most disposables do. If the “local” trip involves only one change during the round trip, cloth it is. I change In pre-chosen restaurant restrooms as they are usually very clean and somewhat private. If the trip involves more than one change, it’s usually a MegaMax or Supreme. On the other hand, if I’m traveling to the ranch (4 hours away), I’ll usually wear cloth as we have a washer/dryer there.
My point is that it’s always a carefully planned trip with contingency supplies and plans. I keep a well supplied bag in the back of each of our vehicles and always have my backpack with one or two changes and changing supplies (plastic bags, extra pins, wipes, etc).
I usually wear a dress or skirt so changes are relatively quick and easy. At a restaurant, I use a small amount of Lysol and wipes on the restroom partition wall before I lean into it to hold the diaper in place while changing. I’ve gotten very good at changing quickly and quietly in places like that. The only potential give away is the plastic pants but they are only brought down to my knees so there’s not a lot of noise. PUL pants produce even less noise but feel bulkier than the EuroFlex urethane pants that are paper thin.
The remainder of my day includes cloth diapers so by the day’s end, I’ve accumulated eight or more diapers (4 sets of double diapers, 1 set being thick nighttime diapers) to wash and dry. It seems like the washer and dryer are constantly running with diapers (dedicated wash) and clothes, bedding, and the like for a family of four. Yet, that (LG) equipment seems to run flawlessly for years!

 

[Zeke]

Sounds like I’m not the only one who likes to use cloth reusables whenever possible. It also seems that we share the almost overwhelming need to have multiple workable plans in place for dealing with the logistics involved in dealing with non disposable products. In my case about the only time that I wear disposables is when I’m going to be away from home for more than a day making the return of “used” reusables challenging. As to why I feel the way that I do about cloth diapers I can’t say if it’s because that’s what I was diapered with as a child, it was what my wife and I used to diaper our children, or that cloth diapers just go so naturally with plastic pants (for which I’ve had an affinity for as far back as I can remember). It could be their comfort or that they just work well for me, especially being a side sleeper for which cloth have proven to far superior to any disposable that I’ve tried. The biggest difference in my cloth diapering, from mine and my children’s diapering as infants, was over a year ago when I begin to use Snappis in place of the 3” stainless steel safety pins that I had been using to secure my diapers.

 

[Pino]

When going much longer than one hour i will choose a Foley catheter and a bed bag most times, for shorter trips a normal diaper works just fine.

 

[CheshireCat]

...by the day’s end, I’ve accumulated eight or more diapers (4 sets of double diapers, 1 set being thick nighttime diapers) to wash and dry. It seems like the washer and dryer are constantly running with diapers (dedicated wash) and clothes, bedding, and the like for a family of four.

Being widowed with adult kids who have families, I live alone, so I don't have so much overall laundry at my house. But that's how many cloth diapers end up in my wash each day when I stay home in cloth all day. That's a full wash load. I have never understood how people say they keep a diaper pail for their adult cloth diapers and wash them every 3 days. I'll run a load of today's diapers when I go to bed and throw them in the dryer when I get up tomorrow morning. It's good to hear from someone who goes through them as prolifically as I do!

 

[greatlake5]

Never considered cloth but I did think about it. They do look comfortable but having to wash cloth diapers sounds a lot of work. Especially when I get up in the morning and I typically have a dirty diaper. Which complicates cleaning and washing. Besides of that I have a cleaning lady. She knows I'm IC and helps stocking the supplies. She's only here once per week. Washes my clothes, bed sheets and emptying my diaper pail (though I try to leave it empty when she comes) along with any other garbage. I think the bulge of cloth diapers would be difficult to hide them (I don't wear dresses and skirts.) It's hard enough hiding disposables (diapers, boosters and plastic pants.) - Sounds like you've figured out all the issues. Good for you.

 

[Mapboy]

I’ve thought about trying cloth to be more environmentally conscious but I have some concerns. You said you have to change at least once while out, how do you handle the soiled garments (do you have to have a special bag for them or do you use a shopping bag.). secondly if you’ve changed and you have other stops afterwards, how do you control odor in your vehicle especially in the Texas heat (I have the same issue where I live). Finally you mentioned that you wear cloth with pins. Do you wear prefolds or do you have to fold them on the fly and how hard is it to fold and pin a diaper when on the road

 

[Angelapinks]

Let me start by saying that part of my job involves visiting customer’s offices and work sites so I’m in the car a lot. By a lot, I mean that, on average, I make between one and three customer visits per day, which can be a few travel hours on the road, one way. The rest of the time is ‘working’ from home, running errands, and going into the office, which is a few times per week for several hours.
We also have a ranch that we visit in East Texas that is four hours from home. I sometimes travel there for a few days, taking the canine kids so stopping along the way is difficult.
If I’m going to be traveling locally (an hour or so away) and will be at a work site, I’ll wear cloth diapers due to the comfort factor. Cloth diapers are much more comfortable in the Texas climate in that they feel cooler and don’t bunch up like most disposables do. If the “local” trip involves only one change during the round trip, cloth it is. I change In pre-chosen restaurant restrooms as they are usually very clean and somewhat private. If the trip involves more than one change, it’s usually a MegaMax or Supreme. On the other hand, if I’m traveling to the ranch (4 hours away), I’ll usually wear cloth as we have a washer/dryer there.
My point is that it’s always a carefully planned trip with contingency supplies and plans. I keep a well supplied bag in the back of each of our vehicles and always have my backpack with one or two changes and changing supplies (plastic bags, extra pins, wipes, etc).
I usually wear a dress or skirt so changes are relatively quick and easy. At a restaurant, I use a small amount of Lysol and wipes on the restroom partition wall before I lean into it to hold the diaper in place while changing. I’ve gotten very good at changing quickly and quietly in places like that. The only potential give away is the plastic pants but they are only brought down to my knees so there’s not a lot of noise. PUL pants produce even less noise but feel bulkier than the EuroFlex urethane pants that are paper thin.
The remainder of my day includes cloth diapers so by the day’s end, I’ve accumulated eight or more diapers (4 sets of double diapers, 1 set being thick nighttime diapers) to wash and dry. It seems like the washer and dryer are constantly running with diapers (dedicated wash) and clothes, bedding, and the like for a family of four. Yet, that (LG) equipment seems to run flawlessly for years!

Sounds like you have a real good plan for traveling. So far I have only been trying this since Covid hit as many public bathrooms were closed and I needed to travel to a nearby city for family issues. As I have not tried cloth diapers for my issues, it was always pull up style pants with rubber pants on top. Our climate is not as hot as yours but I started wearing nylon or PUL pants as the weather warmed and created skin irritation. If I am out for an hour or less I can get away with one Tranquility Overnight pullup but if the trip is longer I double up so I can rip off the wet inner one as it becomes soaked . This is a trick I learned from somebody on this site and it has saved me a few times. I now need to plan for a much longer trip (4 hours or more) to visit extended family and the complications of over night stays. I always keep extra supply's in my SUV but have not resorted to carrying a backpack yet. As my supply of rubber and plastic pants is ageing out I need to find replacements and the EuroFlex sounds good. My usual supply of rubber pants is Kins and the available supply is now mostly larger sizes. As I am in Canada I have not ordered from U.S. suppliers as yet. Thanks for your input.

 

[Ellyn]

Hi Mapboy!
I’m happy to answer your questions, but remember, you asked…
1- I use T shirt plastic bags from Sams. They and new and not ripped like shopping bags tend to be.
2- I roll up and put the damp to lightly wet diapers set (two diapers folded together) in the bag and tie it up snugly and put them in my medium size backpack, which has a very durable vinyl lining. I bought the backpack at Academy and it was sold as a water resistant bag for canoeing and the like where getting splashed is likely. It’s not a cute little backpack that many women use and I’m quite small to start so I think it borders looking too large for me, but that’s what I need for my change supplies. This bag helps contain residual odors. Honestly, urine from my body chemistry doesn’t start to smell for hours, even in the parked car in the bags. I think absence of oxygen helps delay smell anyway.
3- At home, I fold up two thinner ‘prefolds’ from ACD (into 1/3s the long way and then folded in half) together and put the set in my backpack for my change on the road. On location in a restroom stall, I lightly spray the wall that I’ll lean against with Lysol and wipe it with Cottonelle wipes. Next, I pull the plastic pants down to my knees (sorry for being graphic but again you asked), unpin the diapers, fold the set into 1/3s and roll it up tightly and put into the plastic bag. I then tie the bag tightly. I set the bag aside and pull out the fresh set and while standing next to the wall, I pull the diaper set between my legs while still folded into 1/3s and hold it there with my legs. I then fan out the back of the set and lean against the wall to hold it in place. Next, I fan out the front and pin the left side together at my pelvic bone. I’ve done this whole thing a few times before…. so I know how much to pin together. Then the right side, pulling the set snugly together at my waist before pinning.
Lastly, pull up the plastic pants, pull down skirt, pack away the soiled diapers into the backpack and zip it up, flush toilet with used disposable wipes, grab the backpack (usually off the hanger on the back of the stall door) and go out to thoroughly wash my hands. All that takes about 2-3 minutes. If there are others close by, I usually will slow things down a bit and be conscious of the sounds. I never had gotten strange looks, understanding that plastic bag sounds aren’t unusual in a lady’s room.

 

[diaperdude]

Hi Mapboy!
I’m happy to answer your questions, but remember, you asked…
1- I use T shirt plastic bags from Sams. They and new and not ripped like shopping bags tend to be.
2- I roll up and put the damp to lightly wet diapers set (two diapers folded together) in the bag and tie it up snugly and put them in my medium size backpack, which has a very durable vinyl lining. I bought the backpack at Academy and it was sold as a water resistant bag for canoeing and the like where getting splashed is likely. It’s not a cute little backpack that many women use and I’m quite small to start so I think it borders looking too large for me, but that’s what I need for my change supplies. This bag helps contain residual odors. Honestly, urine from my body chemistry doesn’t start to smell for hours, even in the parked car in the bags. I think absence of oxygen helps delay smell anyway.
3- At home, I fold up two thinner ‘prefolds’ from ACD (into 1/3s the long way and then folded in half) together and put the set in my backpack for my change on the road. On location in a restroom stall, I lightly spray the wall that I’ll lean against with Lysol and wipe it with Cottonelle wipes. Next, I pull the plastic pants down to my knees (sorry for being graphic but again you asked), unpin the diapers, fold the set into 1/3s and roll it up tightly and put into the plastic bag. I then tie the bag tightly. I set the bag aside and pull out the fresh set and while standing next to the wall, I pull the diaper set between my legs while still folded into 1/3s and hold it there with my legs. I then fan out the back of the set and lean against the wall to hold it in place. Next, I fan out the front and pin the left side together at my pelvic bone. I’ve done this whole thing a few times before…. so I know how much to pin together. Then the right side, pulling the set snugly together at my waist before pinning.
Lastly, pull up the plastic pants, pull down skirt, pack away the soiled diapers into the backpack and zip it up, flush toilet with used disposable wipes, grab the backpack (usually off the hanger on the back of the stall door) and go out to thoroughly wash my hands. All that takes about 2-3 minutes. If there are others close by, I usually will slow things down a bit and be conscious of the sounds. I never had gotten strange looks, understanding that plastic bag sounds aren’t unusual in a lady’s room.

I have urge incontinence and sometimes I can’t stop my flow. How would cloth work for me?

 

[Ellyn]

Diaperdude,
Cloth isn’t for everyone. Guys are possibly less suited for cloth diapers than women due to ability to camouflage the bulk. If you have easily accessible washing facilities (not everyone does), some initial investment money to buy minimum supplies, don’t mind handling your own urine dampened (or soaked) diapers…. cloth might be for you. If nothing else, if you have wetting issues at night and have leakage problems from the diaper onto your bedding, cloth diapers of the appropriate thickness will DEFINITELY help you! Really it’s a personal choice. Personally, I have a tendency to develop rashes from disposables, especially if I’m outside in the heat a lot. DOUBLED (thinner) cloth diapers absorb obviously urine but also perspiration and keeps me much more comfortable than even a MegaMax. Interestingly, a single cloth diaper outside gets absolutely soaked and quite uncomfortable. Doubling up using thinner older diapers is SO MUCH BETTER!
If costs are a factor, you will find that you’ll save a little to a bunch by going cloth. There’s always a need for some disposables though, depending on various circumstances.

 

[diaperdude]

Diaperdude,
Cloth isn’t for everyone. Guys are possibly less suited for cloth diapers than women due to ability to camouflage the bulk. If you have easily accessible washing facilities (not everyone does), some initial investment money to buy minimum supplies, don’t mind handling your own urine dampened (or soaked) diapers…. cloth might be for you. If nothing else, if you have wetting issues at night and have leakage problems from the diaper onto your bedding, cloth diapers of the appropriate thickness will DEFINITELY help you! Really it’s a personal choice. Personally, I have a tendency to develop rashes from disposables, especially if I’m outside in the heat a lot. DOUBLED (thinner) cloth diapers absorb obviously urine but also perspiration and keeps me much more comfortable than even a MegaMax. Interestingly, a single cloth diaper outside gets absolutely soaked and quite uncomfortable. Doubling up using thinner older diapers is SO MUCH BETTER!
If costs are a factor, you will find that you’ll save a little to a bunch by going cloth. There’s always a need for some disposables though, depending on various circumstances.

Thanks I did purchase a threaded armor Diaper but haven’t had much time to try it. My wife normally does the laundry because she is working from home right now but I don’t think I’d want to put this burden on her. If I can get a chance to use it a little more I’ll see.

 

[mechanicX]

Have you tried the reusable velcro style nappies ? I have purchased some and I'll try them out for sleep wear soon.

 

[Ellyn]

MechanicX,
Nope. Never tried them but was pretty interested in trying them awhile back. I believe they were from Rearz. I needed more regular pin on prefolds at the time to replace worn out ones so I didn’t pursue them.
As I recall, they are hour glass shaped. I feel like women can benefit from full width material between their legs for maximum absorption and wicking to the entire diaper. There’s much less material in the hour glass shape where it counts so that’s why I stayed away. I’d guess men would have even more difficulty wicking to the back of an hour glass shape due to less material.
Something to ponder.

 

[Eclectic]

Welcome to ADISC Ellyn. I live in a hot climate too (Florida) and completely understand your cloth setup. I have used something similar in at least three periods of 1-2 years since I started wearing diapers full time about 19 years ago.

Today, I wear cloth mostly at night, which is far more comfortable and trustworthy than a disposable. In the day, I used to wear a small cotton twill prefold (from Changing Times) with a booster from ACD and a thin flat baby diaper as a liner. Then I wore a Dependeco PUL cover over my diaper. It was a good setup. I stopped mostly because of the bulk, the frequent laundry, and my extremely busy schedule.

I can’t do the wall thing in public bathrooms. It’s easy for me to change a disposable by standing up and spreading my legs apart. Cloth is harder, but I would just pin them in place initially, then adjust my diaper and folds and re-pin to get a good fit without touching anything in the bathroom.

Final note, I promise. When I wore the daytime cloth setup to work about 10 years ago, I had four pairs of thick cargo shorts with a full seat that easily hid the bulk. It’s hard these days to find clothes like that. The pants fad for some time is thin material, close fitting, and little room in the seat. It’s so much easier for women to hide diaper bulk under their dresses.

 

[babyjoe698]

yes the texas heat can be bad. I mainly wear goodnites at work and wear disposable diapers to bed

 

[OriginalWetone]

If you're going to be outside in S. Texas any kind of diaper with a plastic cover is going to get hot and uncomfortable. Whether it's disposables or cloth with a plastic panty cover. Outdoors, I prefer cloth without any protective cover and black mesh gym shorts. If the diaper gets wet enough that the shorts get wet, it doesn't show and the shorts will dry quickly. Cloth diapers seem to be much more comfortable when running or hiking.

 

[Mapboy]

T

Hi Mapboy!
I’m happy to answer your questions, but remember, you asked…
1- I use T shirt plastic bags from Sams. They and new and not ripped like shopping bags tend to be.
2- I roll up and put the damp to lightly wet diapers set (two diapers folded together) in the bag and tie it up snugly and put them in my medium size backpack, which has a very durable vinyl lining. I bought the backpack at Academy and it was sold as a water resistant bag for canoeing and the like where getting splashed is likely. It’s not a cute little backpack that many women use and I’m quite small to start so I think it borders looking too large for me, but that’s what I need for my change supplies. This bag helps contain residual odors. Honestly, urine from my body chemistry doesn’t start to smell for hours, even in the parked car in the bags. I think absence of oxygen helps delay smell anyway.
3- At home, I fold up two thinner ‘prefolds’ from ACD (into 1/3s the long way and then folded in half) together and put the set in my backpack for my change on the road. On location in a restroom stall, I lightly spray the wall that I’ll lean against with Lysol and wipe it with Cottonelle wipes. Next, I pull the plastic pants down to my knees (sorry for being graphic but again you asked), unpin the diapers, fold the set into 1/3s and roll it up tightly and put into the plastic bag. I then tie the bag tightly. I set the bag aside and pull out the fresh set and while standing next to the wall, I pull the diaper set between my legs while still folded into 1/3s and hold it there with my legs. I then fan out the back of the set and lean against the wall to hold it in place. Next, I fan out the front and pin the left side together at my pelvic bone. I’ve done this whole thing a few times before…. so I know how much to pin together. Then the right side, pulling the set snugly together at my waist before pinning.
Lastly, pull up the plastic pants, pull down skirt, pack away the soiled diapers into the backpack and zip it up, flush toilet with used disposable wipes, grab the backpack (usually off the hanger on the back of the stall door) and go out to thoroughly wash my hands. All that takes about 2-3 minutes. If there are others close by, I usually will slow things down a bit and be conscious of the sounds. I never had gotten strange looks, understanding that plastic bag sounds aren’t unusual in a lady’s room.

thank you, that was really informative and helped me realize that cloth diapers are a viable solution even for an active person. I think I might try them

 

[mechanicX]

MechanicX,
Nope. Never tried them but was pretty interested in trying them awhile back. I believe they were from Rearz. I needed more regular pin on prefolds at the time to replace worn out ones so I didn’t pursue them.
As I recall, they are hour glass shaped. I feel like women can benefit from full width material between their legs for maximum absorption and wicking to the entire diaper. There’s much less material in the hour glass shape where it counts so that’s why I stayed away. I’d guess men would have even more difficulty wicking to the back of an hour glass shape due to less material.
Something to ponder.

🤷 didn't know rearz did any I found these ones from amazon. They don't look like hour glass shape when spread out. They are for elderly people but they don't look half bad. , i haven't received them yet. There taking an age to arrive.

 

[HumanFly]

MechanicX,
Nope. Never tried them but was pretty interested in trying them awhile back. I believe they were from Rearz. I needed more regular pin on prefolds at the time to replace worn out ones so I didn’t pursue them.
As I recall, they are hour glass shaped. I feel like women can benefit from full width material between their legs for maximum absorption and wicking to the entire diaper. There’s much less material in the hour glass shape where it counts so that’s why I stayed away. I’d guess men would have even more difficulty wicking to the back of an hour glass shape due to less material.
Something to ponder.

There's a good one made in the UK by SnuggleBlanks; that has foldable inserts that go in the pocket, and you wear plastic pants over it. It's an upsised version of their child and special needs product; they don't envisage an ABDL clientele unlike Rearz. I've used it only occasionally (at night) because of the hassle of washing it, but it's very comfortable and doesn’t feel particularly wet because of the material that goes next to the skin.

 

[HumanFly]

If you're going to be outside in S. Texas any kind of diaper with a plastic cover is going to get hot and uncomfortable. Whether it's disposables or cloth with a plastic panty cover. Outdoors, I prefer cloth without any protective cover and black mesh gym shorts. If the diaper gets wet enough that the shorts get wet, it doesn't show and the shorts will dry quickly. Cloth diapers seem to be much more comfortable when running or hiking.

If you're not going to be sitting on anything (e.g. going for a run), I guess unprotected cloth could work. It wouldn't otherwise.