My New Favorite Diaper

If you’ve read my Diaper Ranking post, you may recall that I listed the MoliCare Super Plus as my #1 favorite diaper, but the Prevail Air as a close #2. There were two reasons I ranked the Prevail below the MoliCare: (1) I was only on my first-ever pack of the Prevail and (2) the MoliCare has leak guards while the Prevail doesn’t.

Last night, I decided to wear a MoliCare Super Plus to bed. I hadn’t worn one for weeks, maybe months. Almost immediately after I put it on, I realized it wasn’t my #1 favorite diaper anymore. Since then, I have only become more certain of that realization.

Here’s how the Prevail Air beats the MoliCare in my mind:

• The material the Prevail is made of is significantly quieter than the material the Molicare is made of. This makes for more discreet changes and more peace of mind during regular movement.
• The fastening and unfastening of the Prevail is also significantly quieter than the (un)fastening of the MoliCare. The Prevail seems to utilize some sort of glue-like adhesive on its tabs for fastening, where the MoliCare clearly uses a blend of tape and Velcro technology. I’m guessing this difference is what makes the Prevail quieter, and I value quietness for when I need to change in close proximity to others.
• The lower adhesives on both diapers (and all diapers, for that matter) sometimes dig into my skin. This happens less often with the Prevail, though, and the Prevail’s adhesives are softer, so it bothers me less when they dig into me.
• The padding in the MoliCare is much thinner than the padding in the Prevail. For a long time, I thought the thinness of the MoliCare’s padding was really cool, seeing as how absorbent it is, but now I just see it as a gimmick that actually seems to cause problems. Because the padding is so thin (though maybe partially due to other design elements as well), the padding stays quite far from my skin and genitals in the front and center. This means that it takes longer for my urine to come into contact with the padding and be absorbed, increasing my chance of leaks.
• Thoughtfully, the MoliCare includes leak guards, but I’ve found that my chance of leaks in the MoliCare is about the same or maybe even a bit worse than it is in the Prevail. I think this is partially because of the thin padding in the MoliCare. Also, I think it comes from the odd ‘shape’ of the MoliCare (which you will know of if you’ve tried one). I’ve noticed that this ‘shape’ leaves gaps between the diaper and my legs at the front of the leg openings a significant portion of the time. I’m guessing that means it’s never tight against my skin there.
• I did think for a while that the Prevail was significantly weaker than the MoliCare in one leak-related area: The Prevail’s side panels have this part where they are stitched to the back panel of the diaper that will spring leaks if pee flows along the side panels. However, this morning, I sprung a couple leaks from my MoliCare’s left side panel as pee flowed along it. I think I had just forgotten this was a problem with the MoliCare. I guess the only side panels that can take pee flow are plastic ones.
• The MoliCare is, by nature, super tight at the top. By “tight at the top,” I mean that the top half or so of the front side (most of which isn’t padded) presses right up against my skin. It stays tight like this until right at the top base of my penis. That means I must always point my penis down or be very uncomfortable and super prone to leaks. The Prevail, on the other hand, naturally secures loose enough that it allows my penis to point up, down, and sideways, and it still gives me confidence I won’t have a leak if it’s pointed up or sideways. This confidence is largely due to the perfectly-snug fit of the padding (not too tight or too loose), but also partially due to the presence of padding above my penis.
• The Prevail is all white, whereas the MoliCare has purple lines, words, and symbols all over it. I prefer diapers that are all white. They look better to me and they are more easily mistakable for regular underwear than marked or patterned diapers.
• The MoliCare might actually absorb less liquid before requiring a change than the Prevail absorbs. I had one medium wetting in my MoliCare last night and one small wetting in it at around 8 this morning. I felt the need to change after that. I’ve been wearing a Prevail since noon and had one small and three medium wettings in it since then. I only just now think I should probably change. It’s no long-term comparison, but it’s worth noting. If this difference in the frequency with which changes are desired/needed is more than a one-time fluke, it’s probably largely due to my next two points.
• About half of the MoliCare’s front and back padding is usually still unused by the time I need to change. All my pee gets stuck in the center of the padding. On the other hand, the Prevail’s padding is usually all wet when I change. The pee seems to get more evenly distributed, even if I pee downward while standing like I’m basically forced to do in the MoliCare.
• Relatedly, the MoliCare’s sagging is bad. My sweatpants will hide if I’m wearing a soaking Prevail, but the MoliCare sags so much when wet that you can see through my sweatpants that I’m wearing it. No pants involved, the MoliCare’s sagging is still visibly way lower and physically more uncomfortable and cumbersome than the Prevail’s.
• The material the Prevail is made of is noticeably softer than the material the MoliCare is made of. I’m talking about both the padding and the non-padding, though the non-padding is where I notice the biggest difference. I can feel the greater softness of the Prevail both when I’m wearing it and when I touch it with my hands. This makes for a more pleasant wearing experience.
• The Prevail is a smaller rectangle when folded up, even though the MoliCare isn’t too much thinner when both are folded and have been left out to expand. The more compact nature of the Prevail’s fold makes it easier to store in the home and fit in a bag.

So, did you enjoy this in-depth account of why the Prevail Air has now dethroned the MoliCare Super Plus as my #1 favorite diaper? If so, please like this post. And if you have any comments, please type them out below so I and others can read them!