Adhesive’s Many Roles in Absorbent Hygiene Products

Today’s baby care, period care, and adult incontinence products consist of many complex designs and multiple materials. Most are created from the use of hot-melt adhesives. Over the years, these adhesives have been used to enable an ever-evolving list of new features, benefits, and designs.

In general, absorbent hygiene adhesives fall into five categories:

• Construction adhesives bond the layers of materials needed to support the product’s structure and integrity 
• Elastic attachment adhesives are used to hold elastic in place, while allowing it to stretch and contract as needed
• Core adhesives help to build and stabilise the core matrix for integrity, performance, and comfort
• Pad attachment adhesives are used to affix products such as period care and light incontinence pads to the user’s underwear
• Hot-melt wetness indicators in baby and adult diapers offer convenience to caregivers by detecting the insult and displaying an obvious colour change 

Adhesives have a wide variety of attributes, and each purpose requires a specific combination. For example, construction adhesives typically need a minimum of an appropriate level of peel strength. Elastic attachment adhesives must resist creep and shear forces. Pad attachment adhesives should allow the pad to be easy to attach and reposition, but then stay where intended throughout daily and nightly activities. Knowing the adhesive’s role and understanding the needed attributes is key to choosing the right adhesive.

Our trained experts at Bostik can walk you through the process of selecting the right hot-melt adhesive for each application in your design. Request a meeting today.

CODE: APP-22A01