Flushable wipes: Trützschler & Voith write a success story

At the end of October, Voith Paper and Trützschler Nonwovens reached an important milestone: a nonwovens fabric from the jointly developed production process successfully passed the official INDA and EDANA test, and became certified as "flushable".

Flushable wipes are moist wipes that can be disposed of down the toilet, for instance baby cleaning wipes, or cleansing tissues. For the producers, this has been a small but economically interesting market segment up to now, with high demands on the product: On the one hand, the cloths must be strong enough for cleaning; on the other hand they must not pollute the sewage system or the environment after disposal.

Voith and Trützschler Nonwovens have been successful in producing wet laid and hydroentangled nonwovens with a high level of wet strength, consisting only of fibres of natural origin that quickly disperse in water, and that are 100 per cent biodegradable.

The raw material is exclusively cellulose, the main component is bleached long fibre pulp as used in paper manufacturing. A small percentage of viscose fibres spun from cellulose ensures the strength of the nonwovens. The newly developed production process uses neither binding agents nor melt fibres. For this reason, the cloths quickly disperse in water, and the fibre material is completely biodegradable. Another advantage of the large quantities of long fibre pulp is that they lower production costs significantly.

The certificate is an impressive example of the efficiency of the newly developed production process, whose core components are the Voiths HydroFormer for web formation, and the Trützschler Nonwovens AquaJet for web bonding.

INDA/EDANA: "Guidelines for Assessing the Flushability of Disposable Nonwoven Products"

In August, the American and European Nonwovens Associations INDA and EDANA published the third edition of the flushability guidelines. The "Guidelines for Assessing the Flushability of Disposable Nonwoven Products" have been developed in co-operation with waste water authorities and the nonwovens industry. They specify seven material tests, thus establishing standardised measurement methods.

To be awarded the "flushable" certificate, a product must pass all the tests. The tests include such properties as flushability and dispersement of the nonwoven product into single fibres, as well as degradation by means of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Just one negative test result makes the "Do not Flush" marking mandatory.

Trützschler, founded in 1888, is one of the worlds leading textile machinery manufacturers with approximately 3,000 employees. The traditional family-owned company specialises in machines, installations and accessories for spinning preparation, nonwovens and man-made fibre industry. Trützschler Nonwovens is part of Trützschler Nonwovens & Man-Made fibres and was created through the merger of the long-established Fleissner, Erko and Bastian companies. Here, manufacturers around the globe can find solutions for the entire nonwovens process chain from bale opening, fibre blending, bonding, finishing and winding, as well as for man-made fibre installations.

Voith Paper is a division of the Voith Group and the leading partner to and pioneer in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimising the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-saving products to reduce the use of energy, water, and fibres. Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transportation & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs almost 42,000 people, generates Ç5.7 billion in sales, operates in about 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.

For further information:

Voith Paper
Julia Bachmeier