The cost and performance characteristics of nonwovens make them ideally suited for wiping applications. Nonwoven wipes and towels offer numerous advantages compared to textile and paper wipers and have achieved a significant and growing share of the North American and international industrial wiper markets.
Designed with Industry-specific Features
Disposable nonwoven wipers have achieved over one-third share of the North American industrial wiper business, with rags and textile shop towels accounting for the balance. The penetration of nonwoven disposables continues to grow as new generation products are tailored to the specific cost and performance requirements of various segments of the market.
For example, nonwovens have gained an impressive share of the food service towel segment at the expense of textile bar towels. Unlike bar towels, foodservice-specific nonwovens are engineered to properly disperse antimicrobial chemical solution to sanitize surfaces and prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses. Disposable food service towels use color coding and on-towel printing to help staff avoid cross-contamination and easily differentiate the correct towel for front- and back-of-house wiping tasks. Since they generally provide equal or lower cost per use, superior absorbency, rinseability and reusability, nonwoven food service towels are now a staple in many establishments.
Process-integrated, Task-specific Wipers
Many industries view wipers as necessary tools since they provide better value-in-use than other alternatives in special applications. Virtually lint-free special wipers are used by technicians who service copy machines and electronics, and by the automotive and aerospace industries who use them for surface preparation prior to painting. Because they are ISO-class rated for particle release and have low extractables while being soft, strong and absorbent, critical environment wipers are the select option in clean rooms and controlled manufacturing environments in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor, biotechnology and aerospace industries.
Nonwovens are replacing rags, paper and shop towels in many general manufacturing markets such as automotive, furniture, transportation, utilities and printing/graphic arts. In many of these markets, price is an important factor in wiper selection. However, a number of other requirements must also be met such as specific absorbency, durability/strength, low lint and low/negligible extractables. Nonwovens often provide a better balance of cost/performance than alternatives.
Designing the Right Wiper Product for Each Industry
Disposable wipers are made from many types of nonwoven materials including carded, spunlaced, air laid pulp, double re-creped paper, wet laid, melt blown, and scrim reinforced tissue. The success of nonwoven manufacturers in this large and highly diverse wiper market is related to their ability to thoroughly understand the requirements of specific wiping tasks and to engineer fabrics to meet those specifications. PRO-SERIES® professional grade wiping products incorporate a broad range of nonwoven materials for use across a wide variety of environments. All PRO-SERIES wipers are designed to deliver each industry segment the right material, properly sized for use, in a package that protects and keeps the wipers conveniently accessible to efficiently perform the wiping task at hand!