Pad Attachment Adhesives: Which One Should You Use

As a producer of disposable feminine hygiene pads, you already have a good understanding of consumer needs and expectations for sanitary napkins. When it comes to your ability to meet those needs—especially creating products that adequately stay in place throughout the various movements in a woman’s daily life—do your suppliers truly understand the challenges you face? They should! 

For example, consumer preferences for undergarment fabrics can influence which adhesive will be needed to provide the most secure attachment. This makes having a strong understanding of pad attachment needs in regional markets important information for your supplier to know, so they can assist you in choosing the right adhesive. 

Listening to her feminine hygiene needs can help grow your business

An effective way to help differentiate your feminine care products from competitors and retain loyal users is to listen to her experiences, expectations, and concerns. This feedback helps increase your understanding of where your products and those of your competition are falling short or excelling in creating consumer satisfaction. 

At Bostik, we recently conducted our own in-house survey of sanitary pad users to understand their most common concerns. While our participant sample included only a selection of Bostik employees, it did provide valuable insight about what concerns might be revealed in a larger-scale survey. Our findings showed that approximately half of all participants reported stay-in-place (SIP) problems about 50% of the time. We also found that some of those SIP problems correlated to body type and garment type. 

Testing feminine care pads for stay-in-place performance

To create a pad that keeps her feeling confident and satisfied, you need a pad attachment adhesive that will help each pad meet performance expectations.  Testing can help you determine which adhesive will do just that.

If you do not already have this level of information for your current adhesive, ask your supplier to provide performance results or insights for:

• Peel strength
• Residue amounts
• Stay-in-place strength 

Notably, there is currently no industry-standard test to evaluate how well an adhesive holds a pad in place. Some suppliers may use peel tests as a proxy for stay-in-place testing, but the forces involved with daily movements and motions are not the same as the forces used in peel testing. Peel testing does not truly measure how the pad will perform during a woman’s activities of daily life. At Bostik, we saw this measurement gap as a real opportunity for innovation.

Introducing Staybility™ Testing

We developed and introduced our own stay-in-place performance test method, Staybility, to more accurately evaluate the forces involved in stay-in-place performance. The data gleaned from Staybility Testing could be key to both predicting and achieving better performance and higher levels of consumer satisfaction. 

Take advantage of all that Bostik can do for you

Wherever you are in the product development process, Bostik adds value with smart thinking. We are uniquely positioned to help you overcome challenges and support you in choosing the right adhesive for the regional markets you serve. The results: quicker product introductions, performance that meets expectations, and more efficient operations that may lead to your better profitability and consumer loyalty.

Contact us to learn more about our feminine hygiene adhesives, industry expertise, and testing services—including Staybility™ Testing.