www.incontinentsupport.org

NorthShore Care is now marketing their own house-brand adult diaper, the NorthShore Supreme and the NorthShore Air Supreme. What makes this interesting is that it is the same diaper available in both plastic and a breathable cloth-like shell. It is not common these days to see a new plastic-backed diaper introduced to the marketplace.

Both Northshore diapers have white exteriors with tall standing leak guards!! That is great news for those of us who are bowel incontinent and have been concerned at the disappearing numbers of plastic-backed diapers with leak guards.

Both are listed as “Extra-wide at front and rear.” A stripe runs down the outside center of the diaper, but it is unclear whether it is a wetness indicator. Size Large absorbs 40 oz. The diapers are made in France.

A case of 45 with either backing costs $69.99 ($1.55 ea.). The price seems a little high for a house-brand diaper. We will have to wait to see whether it is discounted.

The most recent house-brand diaper that I am aware of is the Absorbency Plus from XP Medical. The Northshore diapers have a lower total absorbent capacity than XP Med's A+ diapers but do have standing internal leak guards, which are absent on the A+. The NorthShore diapers cost more than the A+.

Re the price, you can buy ConfiDry 24/7 diapers for the same price as the Northshore diapers and several other quality diapers with plastic shells and leak guards for less, e.g., Wellness Superio Signature and Molicare Super Plus.

I just received free samples of the breathable version of the diaper. I suspect that a lot of us may have received free trial samples. I'll post my initial impressions. If you try it, post your opinions here. As always, it helps to have the views of both bladder and bowel incontinent users.

--John

Thanks JD,

I would have completely missed this. I know North shore is one of the bigger companies but I find them a little bit more expensive then some of the others.
Please, let us know what you think. I would like to hear if they would be worth a try.

Rope

A few additional observations about the new Northshore Air Supreme diapers.

I wore my only remaining one (breathable shell) this morning on my exercise walk. As circumstances had it, I was having a good day and no bowel accident, so I cannot report on the practical side of things.

The stripe on Northshore diapers indeed is a wetness indicator.

The diaper fits and feels very much like a Molicare Super Plus. As it is made in France could it be a house-brand clone of the Molicare, perhaps made in the same factory?

Regarding the claimed 40 oz. absorbent capacity, that is very close to the measured 46 oz. capacity of the Molicare Super Plus (as rated by XP Med).

When first put on, and dry, the diaper bulges in the lower front and lower front sides (like the Molicare Super Plus).

The tapes seem adequate on the cloth-like shell. They are wider than on most plastic backed diapers.

It is a lot of diaper. Probably o.k. for concealment to wear outside in jeans, but it may be a problem with dress slacks. It is comfortable, but you are very much aware of the diaper. There is a significantly large amount of mat in the crotch, between the legs. This caused some rubbing against the inner thighs during exercise walking.

It feels bulkier and heavier than the Abena Abriform Premium Air Plus Level 3, more like a Level 4, but I do not have a Level 4 available for comparison.

The diaper is very quiet, with no rustle.

There is a good fecal drop zone with generous space.

After 6 hours of dry use it had stretched considerably. This probably was not worse than most diapers with breathable shells. The new Seni seemed to stretch less than the Northshore.

The Northshore is a good diaper, but, so far, given its price, I do not see a critical factor that would cause me to buy it in its breathable shell. In its plastic shell version, there is still too much competition available at a lower price. However, if that competition changed over to only breathable shells, I would buy the Northshore in its plastic shell version, despite the price.

--John

John,

Thanks for the great feedback on our new NorthShore Supreme and AirSupreme Briefs.

I can report for certain that the NorthShore briefs are not a clone of Molicare Super Plus nor are they made by Hartmann, the mfg of Molicare. These briefs are made in Europe to our specifications after 2 years of testing and altering specs to get the best product possible. I would say they are most similar to Abena Level 4 but with a variety of differences including:

- Level 4 absorbency in all sizes: Plastic (Supreme) M, L and XL, and Breathable (AirSupreme) XS, S, M, L, XL
- More reliable tapes
- Lining stays soft to skin even when fully saturated without getting clumpy like Abena
- NorthShore AirSupreme model does not use breathable material down the center like Abena Air Plus Premium. Our breathability is all from the side panels. So we have no risk of moisture seeping through the center backsheet and better control of odors.
- We guarantee plastic models will be available for years to come while Molicare and Abena will not provide any guarantee that their plastic models will still be available in US at all.

While some other briefs may state they absorb more than NorthShore Supreme, we have not found that to be true in our testing. Of course we know everyone has different needs and NorthShore will not be best choice for all, but topping our absorbency in actual use will not be easy and no one is close in sizes XS or Small.

I encourage more feedback from anyone that tries our new products as we are committed to making them the best we can and always take customer feedback very seriously.

We are offering coupon code NSC87 for Free Shipping (on your whole order) to anyone that orders at least one bag of NorthShore Supreme or AirSupreme briefs, so now is a great time to give them a try.

I hope this helps explain a little more about the products. I'll monitor this thread and try to answer any questions that come up.

Sincerely,
Adam
Owner/President
NorthShore Care Supply
(800) 563 - 0161
http://www.NorthShoreCare.com

Hello Adam.

Thanks for the info on your new line. They look impressive.
Just a heads up, we don't normally like soliciting here but you have some good information to your new line and I think the members would appreciate. Only thing in ask is try to keep things focused on your new line and answering any questions.

Thanks
Rope

Adam,

I found your information to be very helpful. Thanks. I did not realize that the diaper was a hybrid (plastic over absorbent matting with breathable side panels).

Regarding the 40-oz. capacity, is that a maximum total absorbency or a "working capacity?"

--John

The AirSupreme backsheet is still cloth-like, it is just non-breathable clothlike. Clothlike backsheets are actually just plastic covered up with a layer of nonwoven tissue. However, this cloth-like backsheet (In Europe they call it Textile backsheet) is made in two varieties (1) Standard with no microholes for air vapor flow and (2) Breathable WITH microholes for air vapor flow.

NorthShore AirSupreme uses the standard cloth-like backsheet with no holes and Abena Air Plus Premium uses the breathable with air vapor holes. We've found that condensation can build up on the extrior of the breathable variety which is one reason we stayed with the standard cloth-like backsheet.

Regarding absorbency of 40 oz...we get to that number with our own internal proprietary testing which is most similar to what some companies call "Capacity Under Pressure". It is meant to determine the maximum absorbency before there is risk of leakage.

This is very different than the ISO Rothchild test that many companies publish where the whole diaper is dunked in a bucket of water and weighed afterward, even if there are puddles on the diaper and it hasn't really absorbed it all. ISO values are on average about 3 to 4 times the absorbencies from the testing we do. We just don't feel the ISO absorbencies are of any value to our customers since they do not simulate real world usage in any form at all.

For comparison, based on our testing, Molicare Super Plus rated at 26 oz and Abena Abri-Form rated at 37 oz. for size large.

Sincerely,
Adam
NorthShore Care Supply

The reason we had to go to Europe to have our NorthShore Supreme briefs made is because after years of research, we determined there were no brief manufacturers in the US that could produce an absorbent core that would stay together well enough with the high absorbency we required. While US manufacturers could add more superabsorbent polymers and/or cotton fluff to techincally reach the absorbency we needed, we found that when the user stood up, that the core falls apart too much and loses its integrity and usefulness. Customers have always complained about this with Tranquility briefs. XP's Absorbency + seems to be made the same way as Tranquility, but it is too new and I don't have customer feedback yet on it.

Sincerely,
Adam
NorthShore Care Supply

I took a look at the new offering you have on the site, and being from Canada, the shipping for a case of Medium Supreme was beyond ridiculous at $129.16, I find that with XPMedical as well, unless you can tie into a Canadian contact/supplier such as B4NS, that makes getting them North of the border a real long shot. Puffy

_________________
Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

Adam,

Re absorbency, "Capacity under pressure" is exactly the explanation I was looking for. That is what I was thinking of when I suggested "working capacity." If I understand it correctly, "capacity under pressure" approximates maximum functional (useable) capacity versus total absorbent capacity. Thanks.

--John