Adult Diapers
Adult diapers help people to live fuller lives by remaining active in the community. Without reliable diapers, many people would remain home for fear of uncontrollable voiding. Reliability of a diaper depends on the quality of the manufacturing process (which also includes the design phase) and the quality of the testing protocols. When deciding which diaper to purchase, the consumer can find it almost impossible to determine which will perform well and which will not.
How are Adult Diapers Made?
Adult diapers are disposable diapers. Their intended use is for the adult with incontinence to wear them for a short time. They are designed to absorb and retain urine and fecal fluids. The design is also made to hold the bulk of the stool until the user can get to a facility to clean himself properly and change into another adult diaper.
The absorbency is created from a layered pad that's lined with polymer and fibrous materials. The polymer particles are like tiny sponges and can hold 15 times their weight.
The absorbency would not be effective if the pad was able to move freely. For this reason, the body of the diaper is created from sheets of polyester, nylon, polyethylene or polypropylene.
The manufacturing of the adult diaper begins with three layers: the top sheet, absorbent pad and backing sheet. The three elements are long strips that are fed onto conveyor belts. When the three layers are made, they are joined by gluing and heating. Closures are added next. Finally, the strip is cut into individual diapers and ready to be packaged.
Testing
Each manufacturer of adult diapers has its own quality control testing processes. Manufacturers test to ensure that the ratio of polymer to fiber in the absorbent pad is correct. A significant variation in ratio affects the reliability of the adult diaper. Other tests evaluate the actual absorbency of the diaper. This test simulates the person sitting on the wet diaper. In addition to the absorbency factors, the physical comfort of the diaper must be evaluated. These characteristics include the alignment of the absorbent pad (alignment must be proper in order to prevent leaks) and the texture of the inner layer.
XPMedical is a consumer provider of incontinence products. It has tested each adult diaper they sell. For its testing practices, the diaper is tested for dry measurements, initial capacity testing and rewet testing and wet measurements.
