As a follow up to the Snuggleblanks review I thought I would move on to another regularly used and trusty product, that I have used often enough to allow me to form a balanced and useful opinion. This will include a set of items that are all made and supplied by Ecoable, a US-based company, who provide an amazing array of products for adult incontinence and have developed a wide range of products, so you are likely to find something here that will suit you, especially if you need larger capacity or overnight solutions.
Ecoable Website Cloth Adult Diapers Section
Ecoable were one of the first companies that I came across when trying to find good quality reusable options that went beyond the standardly available absorbent underwear for minor drips and dribbles. They cater for a wide range of differing customers from traditional cloth nappies for babies through potty training and bigger kids nappies; ending up with products to fit teens and adults.
Looking through the options there was one that caught me eye for quite some time. It was a flexible day/night kit that comprises of a pocket nappy with a waterproof shell, a bamboo fibre fitted nappy and a bamboo snap-in insert. This means that you have a wide range of options ranging from just the pocket nappy alone for a nappy with minimal absorbency, but waterproof and comfortable as an insurance policy. For more general daytime use, the insert can be snapped in and tucked into the pocket. This provides pretty reasonable functionality for me during the day. You can then step up to using the bamboo fitted nappy as the absorbency with the pocket nappy as a waterproof cover. Finally the insert will also snap into the bamboo nappy to allow for further absorbency
So to the outer layer first. This is a pocket nappy with a PUL waterproof covering and the layer next to the skin is a stay-dry fleece lining. There are 3 rows of snaps to allow adjustment of waist size as well as further snaps to adjust the rise setting, so this can really be tailored to whatever fits you well. There are gussets by the leg holes to help stop leaks too. I am not generally a prolific user of pocket nappies, but this really is a step above the average. On its own the absorbency is obviously minimal, but can be used as a fairly discreet method of ‘just in case’ protection. If you add in the booster it the becomes a very useable means of providing daytime protection, especially if you have the ability to change, as the absorbency will still not be huge with the booster alone.
In terms of downsides, there aren’t so many. The biggest one for me is that it is now starting to show a bit of wear, but nothing that wouldn’t be expected given the amount of use it has had. Having snaps closures is mostly great, as they aren’t as noisy as Velcro when changing, but there is slightly less sizing flexibility and occasionally an innermost snap will come undone under tension, but this has never caused a serious issue, as there are several backups, especially with this design.
The fitted nappy is also a great product. Again there are copious sets of snaps to allow adjustment of waist and rise setting, so that you can get a good fit. On the nappy itself there are only 2 rows of snaps, in line with many other manufacturers, but in contrast to 3 on the pocket nappy outer shell. Again the inner layer is made from stay dry fleece, which is the same for the pocket nappy and the booster. The absorbency is good, as you would expect with bamboo fibre and has the added benefit that, unlike in a disposable, the absorbency is all around, so it is a good option for overnight. I have never yet had a leak, even with quite heavy wetting. What worried me switching from disposable was whether I would feel the wet and be uncomfortable and with this nappy I have to say that it really does stay feeling dry to the surface and this is probably the closest I have managed to get in terms of reliability, discretion and comfort to a disposable nappy. In fact I would say comfort is far superior!
As with all cloth products, in order to get good absorption it is necessary to have a lot of padding, but that said this does seem to be trimmer than many other reliable options and is actually discreet enough to wear with confidence under normal clothes whilst retaining confidence in the protective abilities of the nappy.
The biggest downside for me is the fact that because they are based in the US it is difficult and costly to get hold of the products. If there was a good UK supplier I think they would be squarely at the top of my list for all round use. I live in hope that this will be the case one day!
Incontinence Cloth 