An adult diaper is amazingly complex product but yet looks so simple on the outside.  The idea of an adult diaper is so simple, a piece of plastic with padding in it to contain fluids and solid matter.  When you describe it like that, an adult diaper seems so simple.  But, the making of an adult diaper is complex and takes into consideration a lot of factors.  So many factors go into making an adult diaper including design, appearance, absorbency, material used, features, and cost.  There is a balancing act that must be played with creating adult diapers because manufacturers don’t want to create a super everything diaper that is going to cost butt-loads of money so that only a few select people buy it…that would not be profitable nor beneficial to the masses.

For example, an adult diaper manufacturer could create a super absorbent diaper by purely using polymer which absorbs many times more than pulp/fluff in an adult diaper.  But, this would do two things:

  1. Make the cost of the diaper skyrocket because polymer is a lot more expensive than pulp.
  2. For ABDLs, using purely polymer would cause the diaper to be a lot thinner if it did not contain any pulp at all.

So, an adult diaper manufacturer has a balancing act to play.  Depending on what they are aiming for, they may add more or less polymer depending on the absorbency they are going for.  This exact situation can be seen in the adult diaper industry today, especially in the adult baby and diaper lover world.

The materials used to make adult diapers is extremely important in the diaper manufacturing process.  Everything from the type of plastic to the woven inner-lining of the diaper.  There are many different types of plastic outer coverings and the one you choose is important.  Some plastics have big pores and are more susceptible to leaking or feeling clammy because moisture from wetting the diaper seeps into the plastic outer coating.  The inner-lining of an adult diaper is probably a seemingly “taken for granted” part of the diaper.  But, if you were to compare certain adult diapers side by side you would be able to feel and immense difference in softness of the inner lining (inside) between them.  Bambino Diapers are famous for probably having the softest inner-lining on the market because they have a specially patented blend that makes the inner lining very soft.  So, if you compare for example, a Bambino Diaper’s inner lining to an Attends – you can definitely tell the difference in the diaper’s softness of the inner-lining.

Cost is one of the biggest factors that goes into creating adult diapers.  Keeping the diaper affordable but with the best features, absorbency, and materials used can prove quite a complex process.  Plus, the diaper provider/manufacturer’s “profitability factor” must be taken into account.  Obviously, each diaper sold is earning a profit for a diaper company, that amount earned is determined by the diaper company.  Obviously, some companies are going to be more apt to make a “quick buck” by jacking up their prices.  A person can easily determine the “greed factor” of a company by comparing that companies products with competitor’s prices in conjunction with features. Below, is a PRIME example of this:

The premium adult diapers include Bambino Diapers, Abena X-Plus, Secure X-Plus, Molicare and some would say the ABUniverse Diaper.  If you were to shop around for prices of EACH of these diapers you would notice a similarity somewhat (between a few cents to 10-20 cents per diaper) between the Bambino, Abena, Secure, and Molicare; BUT, there is an outlier and its strange.  The ABUniverse diaper costs around $2.25 PER DIAPER (ABU Cushie) while the Bambino is $1.36 PER DIAPER, Abena is $1.37 PER DIAPER, Secure is $1.36 PER DIAPER, and Molicare ranges from $1.40 to $1.57 PER DIAPER (depending on which store).  This is NOT a knock against the ABUniverse diaper but just merely pointing out a huge discrepancy in price of their diaper compared to the rest of the premium adult diaper market.

To further the argument above, the ABUniverse Cushie diaper does NOT have any insane features that would possibly cause the price to be jacked up so high.  Technically, the ABUniverse diaper is less absorbent than the Abena, Molicare, Bambino and Secure adult diapers.  The materials are of higher quality in all the other diapers than ABUniverse.  The only thing different is the look/design.  The pure design itself should not cause such a huge price discrepancy.  The only thing to conclude from this is that ABUniverse is more interested in making a higher profit by charging an outrageous price for technically an inferior diaper to its competitors in the premium diaper market.  For those with lots of money and really just want the looks, the ABUniverse diaper might be up your alley, but I know I cannot afford to shell out that sort of money when I can get better absorbency, features, and comfort in a Bambino, Abena, Secure, or Molicare diaper.

This article is not meant to bash any diaper but rather point out pure facts and educate the ABDL community and anyone else looking to purchase adult diapers.  Money is always tight now a days for many people, including myself, and I am trying to get the best bang for my buck.  Much of the adult baby and diaper lover community does not think about these things, which you don’t have to, but I just wanted to provide a little tidbit of information that I take into consideration when purchasing my adult diapers (which is quite often).  Money does not grow on trees for me, so I will take a cheaper price adult diaper with better absorbency, features, and material over a super expensive diaper that only has a different look.  But, then again, everyone is different and after something different..