Dry or wet wipes are widely used today in several hygiene-related applications, including both domestic and personal. Wipes are usually made from nonwovens.
The nonwoven manufacturing processes have renewed importance in the textile industry. Many textile manufacturers are looking for end-to-end solutions in all aspects of wipe manufacturing.
However, dry or wet wipes can be challenging to dispose of as they can clog sewage systems due to their failure to disintegrate in water. Landfilling of used wipes is not a sustainable option.
Voith Group (Division: Paper) and Truetzschler Nonwovens joined hands to develop flushable wipes. These wipes can be flushed down the toilet without worry because they disintegrate into individual fibers in agitated water. Most conventional dry or air-laid sheet forming processes are based on long fibers, which meant that it was often impossible to use the less expensive and more environmentally friendly pulp fibres for nonwoven production in the past. To close this gap, Voith’s HydroFormer acts as a bridge between paper and nonwoven production.
Inexpensive and biodegradable nonwovens produced by the HydroFormer can be produced entirely out of renewable, cost-efficient cellulose feedstock. Apart from the obvious cost savings and environmental benefits, this process offers homogeneous sheet formation and considerable flexibility for multi-ply end products.
It also enables the manufacturing of disposable cleaning wipes from 100% biodegradable materials. Voith’s HydroFormer has explicitly been optimized for the formation of wet-laid nonwovens. With more than 70 successful installations, the HydroFormer has gained worldwide acceptance.
The magnitude of fatbergs in some of our sewage systems is both surprising and disgusting. These rock-hard blockages are a nasty blend of flushed items cemented together with oils and fats that have been washed down our sinks and drains.
Thus, the problem of drainage clogging and non-biodegradable waste generation could be resolved by switching from conventional to eco-friendly flushable nonwovens.
