Paper? Tissue? Nonwovens!
Moist toilet tissues – or flushable wipes – are offered for both adults and toddlers. Nowadays, the material for these special end products are wet-laid, hydroentangled WLS nonwovens.
To ensure that a product can be flushed, it has to pass an official test procedure with seven different tests. However, there is only a labeling requirement for products that do not pass the test (“do not flush"). If a toilet tissue does not disperse in the plumbing system’s agitated water, it can clog pipes in the sewer system. Non-flushable wipes therefore must not be disposed of in the toilet.
Characteristics and manufacture
Flushable wipes disintegrate into into individual fibers either directly during the flushing process or later in the pipes. The fibers disperse.
In order to pass the flushability test, the raw material must biodegrade in both aerobic and an-aerobic environments. Viscose, lyocell and wood pulp are cellulose-based and thus biodegrade.
WLS lines by Truetzschler and Voith
The tests for flushable toilet tissues became more stringent over the past few years. The combination of Voith’s wet laying technology and the spunlacing, drying and winding equipment of Truetzschler Nonwovens ensures that these tests will be passed.
