The History of Diapers: From Grandma’s Cloth Squares to Today’s Super-Absorbent Technology

Before modern diapers became the lifesaving everyday essential for parents worldwide, they went through a long — and sometimes surprisingly funny — evolution.
If today’s diaper is thin, soft, and absorbs moisture in seconds, things looked VERY different 100 years ago.

This is the story of how diapers were invented, who created them, how they changed over time, and how we ended up with the advanced designs we use today.

How to Properly Put a Diaper on a Newborn With an Unhealed Umbilical Cord Reading The History of Diapers: From Grandma’s Cloth Squares to Today’s Super-Absorbent Technology 3 minutes

By Kaspars MagrinsDec 9, 20250 comments

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Before True Diapers (until ~1800s)

Before anything resembling a diaper existed, parents simply used whatever they had around:

linen cloths
wool pieces
leather straps
animal skins
natural absorbents (like moss or leaves in some cultures)

The goal was simple: wrap the baby in something absorbent.
Hygiene standards, of course, were very different.

Cloth and Gauze Diapers (1800–1930)

With the Industrial Revolution, reusable cloth diapers became common:

cotton squares
folded gauze cloth
secured with safety pins

These were the first “real diapers” widely used in Europe and the U.S.

Pros: reusable.
Cons: constant boiling, washing, drying… and LOTS of leaks.

1946: The First Disposable Diaper — Invented by a Mom, Not a Company

The first disposable diaper was created completely by accident.

Marion Donovan (American mother)

In 1946, she sewed a cloth diaper with a waterproof cover made from a shower curtain.
She called it the Boater.
Parents loved it — but big companies initially dismissed the idea as “unnecessary.”

Donovan later patented her waterproof diaper cover and created the prototype for today’s diaper.

1949–1950: First Mass-Produced Disposable Diapers

This era marked the beginning of large-scale diaper production.

Johnson & Johnson

Began selling disposable diapers in limited quantities in 1949.

Pampers (Procter & Gamble) — 1961

This was the moment diapers went global.

P&G engineer Vic Mills created Pampers in 1961 after struggling to diaper his own grandchild.
Pampers revolutionized the market by offering a practical, absorbent, disposable diaper for the first time.