Discipline 03 · Materials

Beyond absorption:
fibre, bond, stretch.

A product that absorbs well and falls apart wet, scratches, or loosens at the waist has failed. Fibres, adhesives and elastics are engineered with the same care as the polymer — and tested on the same line.

Long-fibrefluff pulp from North American mills

3adhesive systems in every product

2.0–2.7spandex stretch ratios we set by zone

Cellulose

Long fibre or short fibre

Long fibres — softwood fluff pulp, a few millimetres long — build an open, springy network. It wicks liquid along the core, gives the polymer room to swell and keeps its structure when wet. This is what our cores are made of, sourced from North American fluff producers.

Short fibres — hardwood, around a millimetre — pack denser and feel smoother, but collapse when wet and wick less. They have their place in thin tissues and wraps, not as the backbone of a core.

The ratio of fluff to polymer is set per model and per size. More polymer means a thinner product; more fluff means a buffer that catches a fast surge before the polymer has time to swell.

Synthetic fibres

Engineered for one job each

Spunbond polypropylene for soft, strong topsheets — hydrophilic finish.
SMS (spunbond–meltblown–spunbond) for leg cuffs — hydrophobic barrier.
Through-air bonded synthetic fibre for the ADL — loft that catches a surge.
High-loft textile backsheet — ultra-soft, breathable, quiet.

Fibre fineness, loft and surface finish decide whether a layer drinks, passes on or repels.

Research with the pulp industry

Every point of the fibre, studied with its maker

We do not buy fluff pulp off a price list. We work with North American fluff pulp producers on each property of the cellulose, and test their pulps against our polymers on our own lines, to determine the best mixing profile between fibre and superabsorbent for each product.

The question is never “which pulp is best?” but “which pulp, defibrated how, blended with which polymer grade, at which ratio, gives the fastest, driest core for this size?”

What we study together

The fibre, parameter by parameter

Fibre length and coarseness — the strength of the network.
Defibration — how the pulp opens into fluff, and the knots and fines it leaves.
Bulk and density of the pad — room for the polymer to swell.
Wicking speed and capacity of the fibre on its own.
Wet integrity — whether the network holds once saturated.
The blend profile with each polymer grade, validated on the line.

Adhesives

Three glues, three problems

Too much hot-melt stiffens the product and blocks liquid between layers. Too little and it delaminates when wet. Add-on weight and pattern are specified per line.

Construction

Holds the layers

Sprayed in fine patterns so liquid still passes from layer to layer.

Elastic attachment

Holds the strands at tension

Must survive stretch, body heat and moisture without creeping.

Wetness indicator

Tells the carer

Printed lines that fade on contact with urine — a signal, not a guess.

Nateen Flexi Maxi — Poured in the middle, held in the middle: the surge is taken in and stored at the centre of the core, away from the leg cuffs — Flexi Maxi XXL.

Elastics

Tension is set, zone by zone

On a pull-on, spandex is laid at different stretch ratios for the front waist, the back waist, the lift-up zone and the leg cuffs — around 2.0 at the waist and 2.7 at the lift-up on our pull-ons. Too loose and it gaps; too tight and it marks the skin and rolls down.

Barrier strands in the leg cuffs stand the cuff up so liquid meets a wall rather than a crease.

Questions

Frequently asked

Why use long-fibre fluff pulp in an absorbent core?

Long softwood fibres form an open, springy network that wicks liquid, gives the superabsorbent room to swell and keeps its structure when wet. Short hardwood fibres pack denser and collapse when wet.

What adhesives are used in adult incontinence products?

Three systems: construction hot-melt that bonds the layers, elastic-attachment hot-melt that holds the strands at tension, and a wetness-indicator adhesive whose printed lines fade on contact with urine.

What is a textile backsheet (TBS)?

A soft, breathable nonwoven outer layer used instead of, or over, a plastic film. It is quieter and more comfortable against the skin and clothing.

How does Nateen choose the cellulose for its cores?

We work with North American fluff pulp producers on each property of the fibre — length, coarseness, defibration, bulk, wicking and wet integrity — and test their pulps with our polymers on our own lines to determine the best fibre–polymer mixing profile for each product.

Nateen products