Are there adult cloth diapers? Basic overview & Popular brands
Yes, there are cloth diapers for adults, as well as a few other reusable solutions to help make living with adult incontinence easier and more affordable, such as incontinence underwear and incontinence pads.
Are adult cloth diapers hard to use?
If you happen to remember baby cloth diapers from back in the 70s and before, you may be thinking ” oh no, anything but the pins and plastic pants! I can’t do this”.
Well lucky for you, cloth diapers just like cars, phones and televisions have come a long way since the 70s.
There are now many different options as far as fabrics, sizes, how the cloth diaper is fastened, you can even buy cloth diapers with different colors and patterns on them!
Cloth diapers today are usually fastened with either snaps or hook & loop (Velcro), so pins are no longer necessary.
And with the advancements in washing machines, dryers and laundry detergent washing cloth diapers is super-fast, easy and relatively hands off.
While they do have adult sized flats, prefolds, pins and plastic pants, they would be a little cumbersome to put on by yourself.
So, while I have not used adult cloth diapers myself I personally feel that hook & loop/ Velcro all-in-ones (cloth diapers that go on and come off like a disposable) would be the easiest option.
Do adult cloth diapers save you money?
Yes, adult cloth diapers do save you money.
Typically, adult cloth diapers cost around $20- $60 each, and while at first glance that seems like a lot of money especially when you consider the fact that you will need about 8-12 of them (assuming you can wash them every other day).
That means it would cost $280.00-$720.00 to purchase a full stash of of adult cloth diapers.
Now, if you look at adult disposable diapers they are around $0.55 each but you will end up needing (on average) 4 a day for around 5 years.
That’s 1,825 days in 5 years X 4 disposable diapers a day = 7,300 diapers
Now, if you take that $0.55 per disposable diaper and times that by the 7,300 disposable diapers you will need, you get a grand total of $4,015!! (Not factoring in nighttime diapers which are more expensive)
That means cloth diapers would save you $3,295, and that’s if you only use them for 5 years.
Are adult cloth diapers hard to clean?
No, adult cloth diapers and most other cloth/reusable adult incontinence products are actually very easy to clean.
All you need to do is
Remove as much of the solid waste as possible.
Put cloth diapers in the washing machine on a short wash cycle (should agitate for about 15 minutes) with a small amount of your favorite laundry detergent.
Once the first wash cycle has finished, start a second wash cycle.
The second wash cycle should be the longest wash cycle your washing machine has (at least 20 minutes of agitation) with a larger amount of detergent.
NEVER USE FABRIC SOFTENER WITH YOUR REUSABLE INCONTINENCE PRODUCTS!!
You can use any water temperature you want in either wash (unless stated otherwise on the diapers tag) however I would suggest that you not use hot water in the first wash since hot water can set stains.
Washing machines are very good at their jobs, so they do all the hard work for you.
That along with how many options there are as far as detergents and laundry additives such as Borax, washing soda and oxygenated bleach (chlorine bleach should be avoided) washing cloth diapers has never been easier!
The most difficult part of the washing process would be the removing any solids before putting the diapers in the washing machine.
While modern washing machines are perfectly capable of removing small amounts of solids, you really should be trying your best to remove as much of the solids as possible.
But even that has become way easier because now we have cloth diaper sprayers!
Cloth diaper sprayers attach to the clean water line of your toilet, are typically around $50.00, and make removing solid waste a ton easier.
If you want to learn more about washing cloth diapers check out my articles ” How to tell if cloth diapers are clean?”, “Best detergent for cloth diapers” and “What do you soak cloth diapers in? Options & reasons why”
Are adult cloth diapers discrete?
One of the biggest pros to using cloth diapers is that they do not change shape in any way when wet, and there is no crinkly sound when you move around, they don’t have absorbent beads so no uncomfortable clumping when diaper is wet.
Also, cloth diapers do not have any chemically smell when wet (if your cloth diapers are smelly when wet it’s probably a side effect of a bad wash routine).
Are adult cloth diapers bulky under clothes?
Adult cloth diapers can be bulkier than disposable diapers, however cloth diapers do not change shape (swell) and do not sag as much when wet.
However, many adult incontinence products look exactly like underwear and are very trim.
Are there other cloth options for adult incontinence?
YES! There are a few different options to make living with incontinence easier, more comfortable and more affordable.
There is incontinence underwear, which is basically just regular looking underwear with some extra padding.
There are cloth incontinence pads, which are good for urinary incontinence.
These of course are all in addition to the wide variety of adult cloth diapers on the market.
Where do you buy reusable incontinence products?
Finding adult cloth diapers, cloth incontinence pads and underwear is easier than you would think.
Walmart for instance carries both adult cloth diapers and incontinence underwear.
There are many cloth diaper shops and brands online (several linked in the “Resources” section) that offer different designs, colors and prices.
Adultclothdiaper.com offers both the traditional prefolds and plastic pants as well as the more modern all-in-ones, which are good quality at very affordable prices.
With the cheapest prefold, the Leakmaster Adult Prefold costing $17.95, to the Leakmaster Adult All-in-one costing $39.95.
They also have many other products and accessories to make cloth diapers easier for you and/or your caregivers.
ThreadedArmor.com has very simple to use pull-on cloth diapers that look like thick underwear.
Their lowest cost adult cloth diaper is their Basic Brief costing $54.95 (for daytime use), and their most expensive is the Protective Brief costing $64.95 (for daytime & nighttime use).
While they don’t have a huge variety of products, they do seem to be of good quality.
Little Onion Cloth on Esty mostly sells sewing patterns so that you can make your own adult incontinence products at home, but they do sell a few already made cloth diapers.
Their patterns range from $10.00-$13.00 each and their already made products are $34.00 for a regular absorbency adult pull up, to $52.00 bamboo fleece fitted diaper.
Making your own adult incontinence products can save you a lot of money so that is a great option if you are working with a really tight budget, and the ready-made products seem very well made.
Ecoable adult/teen cloth diapers come in a variety of fun prints if you are wanting a little more pizazz in your cloth diaper collection.
Ecoable adult cloth diapers are pocket diapers, meaning you take whatever absorbency you are using and stuff it inside the pocket.
This means that you/ your caregiver only has one flat surface to deal with during diaper changes.
The cheapest Ecoable adult product is their inserts & prefolds at $16.99 and their most expensive diaper is the Adult Pocket Cloth Diaper 2.0 at $40.99 (does not come with absorbency, insert is an additional $16.99)
Sigzagor is a brand that sells their cloth diapers through Amazon (I did find a few on Ebay), all the adult cloth diapers from Sigzagor that I can find are pocket style cloth diapers.
I wouldn’t say that only having pocket style cloth diapers is a negative since pocket style diapers are easier to clean since you pull the absorbency out of the pocket to wash and therefore each piece can agitate better.
That being said, you will have to make sure you get both the shell (waterproof outer layer & stay dry inner layer) and the insert (absorbent pad that goes in the pocket between the outer waterproof layer & the inner stay dry layer).
If you only get the shell it will have no absorbency and will leak the second it is wet, and if you only get the Sizagor inserts, there isn’t a way to attach them to your body.
Also, Sizagor adult cloth diaper inserts are made of microfiber which if placed directly against the skin will cause skin irritation and possibly rashes.
This is why the stay dry inner layer of the Sigzagor pocket diapers is so important, it provides the needed barrier between the microfiber and the skin.
Sigzagor adult cloth diapers are also pretty affordable at $11.00-$15.00, plus the insert which is sold separately at $8.99 each.
If you would like to learn more about pocket style cloth diapers check out my article ” What is the point of a pocket style cloth diaper?”
Resources
Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links. * Indicates an affiliate link
Quality & budget focused cloth diapers at Adultclothdiaper.com*
Pull up style adult cloth diapers at ThreadedArmor.com
Little Onion Cloth on Etsy.com
Website is a little hard to navigate but product looks solid Angelfluff.com
Ecoable Adult/teen cloth diapers at Ecoable.net
Incontinence underwear and adult cloth diapers at Walmart.com
Lace pattern incontinence underwear at Walmart.com
Other women’s incontinence underwear at Walmart.com
Sigzagor adult cloth diapers on Amazon.com
SprayPal cloth diaper sprayer at clothdiaper.com*
Pampered Shop Pads on Esty.com
