What are those blue rectangles in diapers?

Swollover88

Swollover88

Est. Contributor
Messages
83
Role
  1. Diaper Lover
The new, amazing, wonderful Megamax diapers have these blue rectangles in them on the white padding. What are they for?

I've noticed blue or green or maybe even purple rectangles or designs in diaper padding from baby to adult diapers and wondered about those, too. They even have similar designs in things like men's shields and guards for lighter male wettings.

So what are they? What do they do?
 
It's called a "Surge Layer". Basically they pull the liquids more quickly into the diaper, specifically the bottom of it (away from your skin), and help spread it out.

Watch this video for more info.

--Goss
 
Last edited:
Reply
  • Like
Reactions: Paddy2020 and MASONJAR
You know, I've always been curious about the construction and science behind a diaper. Like, what is "SAP"? I hear that mentioned a lot. I would be interested if anyone had any more links or videos breaking down the mechanics of a diaper (specifically adult, if there's a marked difference).
 
Reply
  • Like
Reactions: SAPexpanded, antte91 and Paddy2020
Super Absorbent Polymer. It’s a plastic that absorbs up to 100 times its weight in liquid.
 
Reply
  • Like
Reactions: SAPexpanded, PurplePup89 and Paddy2020
A number of diapers I've seen recently have a "blue colored area" in the crotch, that just appears to be dye, like they're trying to imply there's a surge zone there. But with almost any premium diaper you can open up and hold up to the light and you'll see an hourglass or half-hourglass shaped darker area (sometimes with a yellow tint - denser pulp?) where the surge zone is. I expect that area to have less SAP and more pulp, so it doesn't swell up as much and stop-up the flow, and more pulp to improve wicking. (so that blue area is just a suggestion, the surge one itself isn't actually blue by design, and just because there's a blue patch does't mean there's actually anything there besides coloring)
 
Last edited:
You can buy water saving gel from walmart, Lowes, or home depot that actsvin a way similar to the absorbance polymer. If you cut a slit into the back of the diaper you can pour some inside and itll make your diaper more squishy and a little more absorbant.
 
bambinod said:
...that just appears to be dye, like they're trying to imply there's a surge zone there. But with almost any premium diaper you can open up and hold up to the light and you'll see an hourglass or half-hourglass shaped darker area (sometimes with a yellow tint - denser pulp?) where the surge zone is. I expect that area to have less SAP and more pulp...
Click to expand...
The blue area is supposed to be a surge zone also known as an ADL (Absorption Distribution Layer). The purpose of the ADL is to allow a space between the absorbent core and the skin to control the flow of fluid channeling it out without letting it flow too freely. It also ends up creating an air space between the skin and absorbent layer after fluid has flown through it helping keep skin dryer. The colored ones are usually super thin and worthless. So Bambinod was correct in that statement.

A good ADL is like what you see in a baby diaper/pullup. They are white and about 1/8" or 3mm thick. The more area they cover the better they work. Euro manufacturers use this style of ADL more often and is one of the reasons why Crinklz and Northshore Supreme wick so well and continue feeling dryer over time.

The darker area Bambinod speaks about is a denser area of padding but does not contain less SAP(Super Absorbent Polymer). It actually contains more than the rest of the diaper. It is also a separate layer from the rest of the padding. This is another reason adult diapers have issues with wicking. If the layer closest to the skin has too high of a concentration of SAP, the SAP swells to the point where it will create a clump of fluid blocking gel. Couple that with the garbage ADL and you have fluid running over the top sheet to the leak guards which can't hold back large floods of fluid and 'SQUISH!'. Leaks galore without using more than half of what the diaper can actually absorb.

Another thing about adult diaper construction I would like to talk about here specifically target ABU Peekabu, Ultra and the Megamax. There are possibly more that have the same construction but I don't have any experience with others. All of these are constructed completely upside down. Starting with the useless ADL and moving on. The super absorbent core is right next to the skin causing a traffic jam for fluids. The next layer has very little sap in it and is comprised of mostly synthetic fibers which don't do much to help distribute fluid since they don't absorb or wick. the third layer is what appears to be an ADL and that's what ABU calls it on their website. This has to be the saddest excuse for an ADL I have ever seen. Not only is it in the wrong place, but, it's filled with SAP. This renders the ADL completely useless for the same reason the super absorbent layer helps cause leaks. The SAP swells and causes a gel barrier that fluids can't flow through. There is also a fairly excessive amount of glue between the padding and ADL to hold it in place which contributes to fluids not flowing as well as they should. ADL's are supposed to be completely free of SAP and directly under the top sheet. If you have a baby diaper/pullup, Crinklz or Northshore supreme laying around give the top layer a little pinch and you will feel what I'm talking about. A thick soft layer free of SAP.

These above reasons are why I can tell you with 100% confidence that if the leg gathers and leak guards on a Northshore Supreme were more like what you see in the Megamax the Supreme would absorb as much if not more in real world use situations. I also know that if adult diapers were constructed more like baby diapers it would eliminate the need for the ridiculously large amounts of extra padding in the wings. Baby diapers went away from padding in the wings in the 90's for a reason and it wasn't to skimp on materials to make more money. The padding isn't what stops leaks. The leak guards and leg elastics are. The only real reason for the padding in the wings is to make them more discrete by covering a larger area eliminating the telltale diaper butt fluff lines. That's not to say that the padding there isn't necessary for us folk. It would be nice to still have it for nostalgia reasons but a bit trimmer cut would be nice to closer mimic earlier diapers. It's also still necessary on the products needed for those wanting to be more discrete in public. But it would also be nice to have a diaper that just performs like it should and keeps us feeling dry and secure.

I hope you're taking more notes @NorthShoreAdam ;)
 
Last edited:
Reply
  • Like
Reactions: nzdy1, pampers4U, irnub and 1 other person
Joediaper said:
The darker area Bambinod speaks about is a denser area of padding but does not contain less SAP(Super Absorbent Polymer). It actually contains more than the rest of the diaper. It is also a separate layer from the rest of the padding. This is another reason adult diapers have issues with wicking. If the layer closest to the skin has too high of a concentration of SAP, the SAP swells to the point where it will create a clump of fluid blocking gel. Couple that with the garbage ADL and you have fluid running over the top sheet to the leak guards which can't hold back large floods of fluid and 'SQUISH!'. Leaks galore without using more than half of what the diaper can actually absorb.
Click to expand...

I suppose I was discussing what's supposed to be there, more than what's actually there then?

And I've ran into that "crotch swelled shut and closed the channel to the back" issue on many occasions. It's a problem for me with diapers like Crinklz, MegaMax, and PeekABU, all of which swell a lot in the crotch when wet. I try to fold in a nice "V in the crotch as I change before bed, and make sure that "channel" is still there after I've laid down, but then by morning with those diapers I find that while the "V" is still there, there's little to no gap between the sides, and the channel is effectively gone. Another wetting and I'd have started "backing up" in my diaper, and leak out the sides in the front. Hate it when that happens!
 
bambinod said:
I suppose I was discussing what's supposed to be there, more than what's actually there then?
Click to expand...
🤔 I suppose so. 😊
bambinod said:
And I've ran into that "crotch swelled shut and closed the channel to the back" issue on many occasions. It's a problem for me with diapers like Crinklz, MegaMax, and PeekABU, all of which swell a lot in the crotch when wet. I try to fold in a nice "V in the crotch as I change before bed, and make sure that "channel" is still there after I've laid down, but then by morning with those diapers I find that while the "V" is still there, there's little to no gap between the sides, and the channel is effectively gone. Another wetting and I'd have started "backing up" in my diaper, and leak out the sides in the front. Hate it when that happens!
Click to expand...
Crinklz do seem to handle it a bit better than others though thanks to the better ADL helping channel fluids away from the lump of swelled SAP but still could be better.
 
Wow thank you so much for your help guys. Thanks for the immense information, NorthShoreAdam! I was a little confused, but I think I get it. I wish all diapers were like the 90's baby and toddler diapers.
 
Last edited:
Reply
  • Wow
Reactions: Joediaper
Swollover88 said:
Thanks for the immense information, NorthShoreAdam!
Click to expand...
o_OUmmmm...:unsure:

That wasn't a signoff. I tagged him in my post hoping he would see it. ;)
 
Reply
  • Haha
Reactions: TypicalFloof
Ohhhh! Thank you JoeDiaper! You are so knowledgeable about diapers! How do you know all this stuff?
 
I've been modifying adult diapers for more than 20 years. I have deconstructed them down to bare bones and reassembled them piece by piece along side baby diapers and figured out what works and what doesn't. It's a process that takes a lot of time, up to three hours in a few cases, but can be worth the effort. The Megamax is one of those cases where it almost isn't since you have to get down to the base layer, peel it up and toss it since it's pretty much worthless. You then place the original padding back down, find a stuffer to place on top that will wick better with a good ADL and close it up with the leg elastics stretched a bit tighter to make it all work. I am generally pretty satisfied if it takes an hour or less and there are a few that I can make that happen with.
 
Idk about anyone else, but the peekABUs wick and absorb overall the best of any diaper I’ve tried. I’ve probably tried more than I haven’t... 🤷‍♂️ I sit on my rump 4-6 hours a day and they outperform crinklz and everything else I’ve tried up to this point. (I haven’t tried camalots yet, but I got some on the way 😁). That said, they’re way more expensive than crinklz, and I use crinklz quite a bit, but peekABUs are definitely strapped on for the longer days. Maybe they just fit me better, idk 🤷‍♂️
 
PeekABU's do outperform the Megamax in wicking in my experience as well, but, not a properly fluffed Crinklz. In my dissection of a PeekABU I have found they don't have as much glue between layers as the Megamax and would be the reason they absorb better and further in to the base ADL layer. It may also come down to the materials in the padding and the ratio of sap in the different layers. Those are very difficult to quantify though and not something I have done.
 
Oh wow, awesome. Thanks for the info guys.
 
Very nice video and proof in point of my assessment of the adult diaper manufacturers upside down construction and just how worthless a paper thin ADL really is.
 
Reply
  • Like
Reactions: FudgedInLuvs and pampers4U
Joediaper said:
Very nice video and proof in point of my assessment of the adult diaper manufacturers upside down construction and just how worthless a paper thin ADL really is.
Click to expand...
I found it absolutely fascinating about the thought and design process of a diaper!
 
That was an amazing video!
 
Back
Top