A woman I've never met filled a turkey baster with dyed water and aimed it at my underwear.
I had no idea it was happening.
Her name is Anna Wenner, and she writes for The New York Times Wirecutter.
For 60 hours, she tested 63 different incontinence products, one after another.
Did the water soak through? Did it pool? Did water come back up when she put pressure on it?
Then she handed the best-performing products to a panel of testers living with light to moderate incontinence.
They ranged in age from 30 to 90. Different body types. One man living with dementia. Every one of them wore Freewill for at least two days.
Some wore them at home. Some through an active day at work. Some overnight. Some out running errands in a humid summer heat wave.
I didn't pay or even pitch the NY Times for this. Couldn't have, even if I'd wanted to.
Fact: You can't buy your way into Wirecutter testing, or the guides themselves.
Anna wasn’t out to help us sell underwear. Her job was to see what actually worked.
She had nothing to gain by saying nice things about us. But…
Out of 63 incontinence products The New York Times Wirecutter tested, Freewill was the top pick in our category.
Here's the part I've read more than forty times:
Out of everything in the guide - men's, women's, disposable, reusable, all 63 products - she said the Freewill pads were the most straightforward to change when you're out of the house.
I've been saying that for two years. But I get that coming from me, it feels like marketing.
Here's what she's talking about:
With Freewill, you don't take your pants down to swap a guard.
There’s simply a front pouch on the underwear; the used guard slides out, a new one slides in. Ten seconds at the urinal with a line behind you and you're washing your hands.
And yes, we designed Freewill guard pouch underwear to keep you dry. But it was just as important to us to create a system so easy you barely have to think about it.
Now the thing guys never believe when I say it: you stay dry.
And I get the skepticism. Urine passes through a quick-dry mesh on the inside of the underwear to reach the guard in the pouch. Guys hear that and picture wetness.
But the Wirecutter testers said the Freewill pairs were among the most comfortably dry against their skin of anything they wore. Reusable or disposable.
Now the part I'd want to know if I were you.
She also found the guard can seep if it gets oversaturated. That's true. Freewill isn't built for a full void, and I've never said it was.
But here's the fix.
Full guard? Change it. Standing up, wherever you happen to be, in ten seconds.
For two years, the only people telling you Freewill works were guys who left reviews and me.
Now it's the New York Times.
- Jack
P.S. My First Pair Money-Back Guarantee still stands. Worn or unworn, a full refund if you're not happy, no questions asked.
