The hygiene tissue industry has an extensive global market that is quickly growing. Market research has indicated that softness is one of consumers’ most highly desired properties. For certain hygiene tissue products (specifically bath tissue), this property can influence prices. A better understanding of the science of softness would allow companies to engineer soft tissue more economically and efficiently. Softness is a subjective perception related to physical aspects that make it challenging to express and measure. Human handfeel panel testing, which ranks the specimens through physical tests, has been recognized as the most reliable method to measure tissue softness. Much effort has been expanded in correlating the panel test results with some measurable properties. In this regard, equipment has been recently developed by combining several different mechanical, surface, and acoustic properties to characterize softness. In comparison with panel tests, these instruments (e.g., tissue softness analyzer) have been found to give equivalent softness metrics. A combination of materials selection and manufacturing operations are used to create softer tissue sheets. This paper reviews the sensation of softness as perceived by the human touch, techniques for measuring softness, the influence of fiber on softness, manufacturing techniques, and additives used for softness enhancement.
Nonwoven products are widely used in disposable products, such as wipes, diapers, and masks. Microfibers shed from these products in the aquatic and air environment have not been fully described. In the present study, 15 commercial single-use nonwoven products (wipes) and 16 meltblown nonwoven materials produced in a pilot plant were investigated regarding their microfiber generation in aquatic and air environments and compared to selected textile materials and paper tissue materials. Microfibers shed in water were studied using a Launder Ometer equipment (1–65 mg of microfibers per gram material), and microfibers shed in air were evaluated using a dusting testing machine that shakes a piece of the nonwoven back and forth (~ 4 mg of microfibers per gram material). The raw materials and bonding technologies affected the microfiber generation both in water and air conditions. When the commercial nonwovens contained less natural cellulosic fibers, less microfibers were generated. Bonding with hydroentangling and/or double bonding by two different bonding methods could improve the resistance to microfiber generation. Meltblown nonwoven fabrics generated fewer microfibers compared to the other commercial nonwovens studied here, and the manufacturing factors, such as DCD (die-to-collector distance) and air flow rate, affected the tendency of microfiber generation. The results suggest that it is possible to control the tendency of microfiber shedding through the choice of operating parameters during nonwoven manufacturing processes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-20053-z.
Linting and dusting are commonly used terms to describe the tendency of a tissue web to release unbound and loosely bound bers or ller particles during the tissue-making process or in the nished tissue product. Lint/dust generation has an overall negative impact across tissue paper manufacturing and handling operations, causing safety hazards, machine runnability di culties, and product quality issues. To date, there are no well-established industry standards to quantify dusting/linting propensities in nished tissue products, thus evaluating the effectiveness of dust/lint control programs is challenging yet intriguing. This research aims to ll this gap by developing a methodology to characterize dusting in tissue papers. We have developed a device prototype (named the Tissue Dust Collector) and a methodology that together have been named the Tissue Dust Analysis System (TDAS), which aims at quantifying the propensity for tissue-grade paper products to generate dust/lint in a controlled and reproducible manner. Two samples, corresponding to commercial products with a low and high linting propensity, were tested using the proposed device and methodology, and the released particles were quanti ed and characterized. The device and methodology provided reproducible results for simulated consumer handling and product manufacturing scenarios. By changing the instrument's motor frequency, the force of agitation changes, mimicking/simulating consumer (60 strokes per min, spm) and producer/manufacturing (180 spm) handling scenarios (though manufacturing processes are much faster in practice). Particle counts at each level for each product showed reproducible values differentiable at different agitation levels. Adopting the proposed Tissue Dust Analysis System may help to collect, characterize and understand the mechanisms behind dusting to alleviate this issue at its various sources through dust-control strategies.
Nonwoven products are widely used in various fields, including many disposable products, such as wipes, diapers, and masks. However, microfibers shed from these products in the aquatic and air environment have not been fully described. In the present study, several commercial single-use nonwoven products and a series of meltblown nonwoven materials produced in a pilot plant were investigated regarding their microfiber generation during their use in aquatic and air environments. Microfibers shed in water were studied using a Launder Ometer equipment (1- 65 mg of microfibers per gram material), and microfibers shed in air were evaluated using a dusting testing machine that shakes a piece of the nonwoven back and forth (~0 to 6000 microfibers (4 mg of microfibers) per gram material). The raw materials and bonding technologies applied to the commercial nonwovens affected the microfiber generation both in water and air conditions. Meltblown nonwoven fabrics generated fewer microfibers compared to the other commercial nonwovens studied here, and the manufacturing factors, such as DCD (Die to collector distance) and air flow rate, affected the tendency of microfiber generation. Microfibers of nonwovens shed in water and air environment were compared to selected textile materials and paper tissue materials. The results herein suggest that it is possible to control the tendency of microfiber shedding through the choice of operating parameters during nonwoven manufacturing processes.
Linting and dusting are commonly used terms to describe the tendency of a tissue web to release unbound and loosely bound fibers or filler particles during the tissue-making process or in the finished tissue product. Lint/dust generation has an overall negative impact across tissue paper manufacturing and handling operations, causing safety hazards, machine runnability difficulties, and product quality issues. To date, there are no well-established industry standards to quantify dusting/linting propensities in finished tissue products, thus evaluating the effectiveness of dust/lint control programs is challenging yet intriguing. This research aims to fill this gap by developing a methodology to characterize dusting in tissue papers. We have developed a device prototype (named the Tissue Dust Collector) and a methodology that together have been named the Tissue Dust Analysis System (TDAS), which aims at quantifying the propensity for tissue-grade paper products to generate dust/lint in a controlled and reproducible manner. Two samples, corresponding to commercial products with a low and high linting propensity, were tested using the proposed device and methodology, and the released particles were quantified and characterized. The device and methodology provided reproducible results for simulated consumer handling and product manufacturing scenarios. By changing the instrument's motor frequency, the force of agitation changes, mimicking/simulating consumer (60 strokes per min, spm) and producer/manufacturing (180 spm) handling scenarios (though manufacturing processes are much faster in practice). Particle counts at each level for each product showed reproducible values differentiable at different agitation levels. Adopting the proposed Tissue Dust Analysis System may help to collect, characterize and understand the mechanisms behind dusting to alleviate this issue at its various sources through dust-control strategies.
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