Measurement of Liquid Transport Properties of Sanitary Napkin with Modified Forced Flow Water Transport Tester

Sanitary napkin is worn in direct skin contact and is an essential product for most women. Its liquid transport properties, depending on the material and design, affect skin wetness, skin irritating potential and comfortable feeling. Disposable sanitary napkin is commonly used whilst reusable sanitary napkin is also available in the market for sustainable reason. In this study, a measurement method originated from Forced Flow Water Transport Tester (FFWTT) was introduced which can characterize the direction of liquid transport of sanitary napkin under different pressure loadings. Disposable sanitary napkins with nonwoven or perforated film surface were compared against the reusable sanitary napkins. The results found that the reusable sanitary napkins tend to accumulate more next-to-skin moisture than the disposable sanitary napkin at equivalent loadings. Also, its transplanar wicking is poor. Besides, disposable sanitary napkins incorporated with superabsorbent polymer provide acceptable liquid transport property whilst those made of flex foam give the best performance.