Different Pad Attachment Adhesive | Bostik Blog

There is a lot to consider when choosing the right pad attachment adhesive. Will it hold your period care and light urinary incontinence pads in place? Will it leave residue? Does it support your production and business goals? These 6 key factors can help you choose the right adhesives for you.

The simple truth is, pads for period care and light urinary incontinence only work if they adhere as intended and stay in place. That’s what makes the pad attachment adhesive a fundamental component to the success or failure of any such article.

There’s a lot to consider when making your adhesive choice. Will it meet consumer expectations? How well does it process? Can it help satisfy your top business goals?

Here are six reasons you may need a different pad attachment adhesive—or supplier—for your absorbent hygiene products.

1. Improving Consumer Satisfaction

The right pad attachment adhesive needs to meet several consumer expectations, from how they affix and stay in place, to how cleanly they remove. If your current adhesive is failing on even one, it can affect a consumer’s ongoing loyalty and referrals to your brand.

These can include:

The right initial and in-use peel to make the pad easy to attach, remove, or reposition in the underwear. Each enhances consumer confidence.
Superior stay-in-place performance minimizes shifting and gives consumers a comfortable, leak-free experience.
Clean and easy removal from the underwear leaves no adhesive residue.

2. Meeting Consumers’ Ever-Changing Expectations

User needs are always evolving. Year to year ... month to month ... day to day ... even hour to hour. At the same time, technologies change. Your competition may already be offering new ways to make your consumers’ lives easier, even better.

Keeping up with current expectations for pad attachment is a sound business tactic. But pulling a step ahead—setting the next trend—is a time-tested way to grow your market share. Providing a better pad attachment experience could be just what you need. A new type of adhesive could make that possible.

3. Serving the Needs of Diverse Users

Just because an adhesive may attach a pad to consumers’ undergarments, that does not mean it is the right fit for all products or markets. You want a pad attachment adhesive that holds up to users’ daily lives … the ones on the move, the exercise enthusiasts, the active sleepers, and more.

And keep in mind, those who use period care products come in all shapes, sizes, and a variety of ages. Teens, young adults, and more mature generations have differing experiences with menstrual health. The same is true for those managing light urinary incontinence.

If you are looking to target specific user groups, different period pad and incontinence pad adhesives may be best suited to their needs.

4. Regional and Cultural Factors Affecting Performance

The right adhesive for one region may not be well-suited to another. This is because climate—where users are in the world—impacts pad attachment. Low temperatures can interfere with secure adhesion, causing the pad to shift more easily.

In higher temperatures or humidity, the adhesive may become tackier. As a result, the chances of residue and tearing of the pad during removal increases. Also consider shipping, storage, and on-the-shelf conditions. Choosing the wrong pad attachment adhesive can disappoint your consumers from the moment the pack is opened.

But it doesn’t stop there. Underwear preferences—fabric types, weaves, and surface treatments—affect pad attachment performance. The same is true for regional product preferences such as fragrances, lotions, and additives for keeping the skin dry or cool.

All of these factors need to be considered when selecting your pad attachment adhesive for any given product and region.

Underwear Whitepaper

5. Meeting Your Own Business Needs

Of course, your choice is not just about the consumer. The right hot melts may create new opportunities for assisting with your own company’s goals. For example:

Consistent performance across a variety of backsheet materials reduces the need to change adhesive when you update substrates or designs, for more efficient operations.
Reliable peel performance with reduced adhesive add-on, enables increased profitability.
The right initial and in-use peel support greater consumer confidence by making the pad easy to remove and reposition in the underwear. It also holds the pad in place, leading to a comfortable, leak-free experience.
You can also further your goals for social responsibility through:
- Compatibility with lighter or more sustainable substrates
- Secure adhesion with lower add-ons to reduce material use
- Bio-based adhesives, compostable adhesives, and other options for reduced environmental impact

6. Additional Advantages From Your Hot Melt Supplier

The right partner is able to offer you benefits beyond the adhesive itself. At a minimum, this should include coater trials, troubleshooting support where you need it, and additional services such as:

Product audits
Performance testing including initial and in-use peel, and residue
Recommendations on how to improve pad performance, drawing on a full product line of adhesives
Assistance with product and feature development

The Bostik Advantage

Partnering with Bostik can help give you a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. Customers like you can rely on our years of experience in adhesive testing, our smart adhesives, and innovative thinking. We also offer expert service and support where you need it with numerous locations worldwide, and a wealth of knowledge and resources to back you up as you move forward.

Our global adhesive experts can share the information you need on sustainability and compliance issues, including:

European standards, FDA approval, and other regional requirements
Certification by numerous governmental and third-party labels
Sustainable incontinence pad adhesive solutions

And here’s one more reason to choose Bostik: Our patented Staybility™ Testing to help optimize stay-in-place performance and adhesive use.

Considering a Change in Pad Attachment Adhesives?

Take advantage of all that Bostik can do for you. Our experts can help you learn more about your options for period care and light incontinence pad adhesives. Contact a Bostik expert today!

All information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, is provided “as-is” and is subject to change without notice. To review our full U.S. Legal Disclaimer, visit: https://bostik.com/us/en_US/privacy-policy/legal-disclaimer

6 Reasons Why You May Need a Different Pad Attachment Adhesive