www.incontinentsupport.org

with me having some reaction to disposables and having bowel leakage i was looking to go to cloth diapers with a liner.

i decided with having a stack of disposables to see if i could use the inner lining so went about cutting one up.

it was my belief from the net that disposables are made up of inner material followed by the inner core made up of what ever then a thin plastic film then the outer woven material.

on closer inspection of the plastic film in tena slip woven i found no traces of any plastic film at all and to me it looks like some kind of waxing process.

just wondering if anyone else has taken these new woven disposable diapers apart to see what they are made up of.

there are complaints that the tena woven slips leak so wonder if their waxing process is not working properly.

also makes me wonder if this is the reason why the tena woven slips along with flex are not holding form (shape) and causing them to stretch resulting in drooping problems.

i know they want to cut down on plastic but surely a bit would be better than nothing like a plastic landing strip for the tabs and also a thin strip film inside the disposable.

i have worked in textiles so recognised the structure.

we have found two main types of "clothlike" backing types used in the industry so far , one is like the Tena you describe a woven plastic back sheet is still made with a type of plastic spun into threads and woven into the sheets, this provides the feel of cloth AND the breathability function that they advertise to allow air to escape the gaps are small enough to allow air into the product for skin health the gaps are too small to allow liquid drops to escape but vapor CAN escape . Many people will notice the back sheet gets damp on the outside of these products that is because the vapor escaping and it this is an easy way to tell the product is truly is breathable however many like me may find the damp feeling uncomfortable even though the dampness is not really a leak. products that are breathable tend to stretch more than other types of "cloth-like" products.

The other commonly found Clothlike back sheet we have found is they manufacture will laminate the woven plastic on top of a plastic film this method provides real liquid protection as the not even vapor will escape but the product will NOT be breathable. This method is used just for the feel of cloth for the user. These products will stretch more than a fully plastic backed product as usually the plastic film very thin and may not cover the entire product. but they will likely not stretch as much as a breathable product.

you can get an idea about how the product is made by how they market it, if they claim the product is breathable than it will likely NOT have a plastic film layer, If they market only as clothlike, than they will likely have that plastic film barrier or some barrier, also there are hybrids were the manufacturer will advertise breathable side panels usually the absorbent portion will have the film and the side panels will not for breathability.

This just a generic run down from our experience, I am sure there may be other types manufacturing styles and things are constantly changing. all manufacturers do it differently and market different some may advertise breathability and still use the film layer and the product would not truly be breathable.