What Factors Should Be Considered When Choosing Medical Mask Non-Woven Fabric?

Non-woven fabrics are not interwoven and braided one by one, but are directly bonded together by physical methods. Therefore, non-woven fabrics cannot draw out individual threads. Non-woven fabrics break through the traditional textile principles and have the characteristics of short process flow, fast production rate, high output, low cost, wide use, and multiple sources of raw materials. So, what factors should be considered when choosing medical mask non-woven fabric?

1. Effective sterilization factor penetration to ensure the thoroughness of sterilization. Barrier and penetration are a contradiction. However, good barrier properties should not hinder the effective penetration of sterilization factors.

2. Good flexibility, which can take care of the convenience of use. Some brands of non-woven fabrics add plant fibers to improve the feel, but it is worth noting that this non-woven fabric may not be suitable for plasma sterilization. Plant fiber will adsorb hydrogen peroxide and cause sterilization failure. And the residual hydrogen peroxide may also cause burns and other injuries.

3. It should have good mechanical strength so that medical masks can be safely transported. The medical mask will face the challenge of various external force factors in the transportation process, which requires the medical mask non-woven fabric to have certain tensile strength, tear resistance, bursting strength, and wear resistance to meet the environmental or operational challenges.

4. There should be an effective microbial barrier to provide long-term aseptic efficacy. Staphylococcus aureus droplets are usually used for wetness testing, and quartz powder mixed with spores of sphaerotheca fuliginea is used for dryness testing. For example, Nelson Laboratories in the United States and ISEGA in Europe use aerosol methods for testing. The aerosol method takes into account the kinetic energy factor, which poses a higher challenge to the sterility effectiveness of the medical mask non-woven fabric.

5. It should be non-toxic, harmless, with no sterilization factor residue. This includes not only the medical mask non-woven fabric is not irritating, but also does not absorb sterilization factors. For low-temperature sterilization, the sterilizing agent is toxic, so it is required that the medical mask non-woven fabric should not have a large amount of residual sterilizing agent.