Hygiene and personal care industry innovations using nonwovens and engineered materials in a creative, novel and technically sophisticated approach will be presented at the sixth edition of Hygienix — the premier event devoted to the absorbent hygiene and personal care industry Nov. 17-19. The new virtual format of Hygienix will focus on global pandemic impacts and up-to-the-minute discoveries in sustainable technologies, packaging and labeling challenges, the future of absorbent hygiene, product development patents of note, and intellectual property, smart diapers, testing, and market trends.

The three finalists for the award were selected from 22 nominees by INDA’s Technical Advisory Board comprised of technical professionals from INDA member companies. The finalists are:

• Male Drip Protection from Dermasteel Ltd. is an innovative male leak protection product, with a patent-pending, proprietary design that is discreet, form-fitting, and tailored to the male anatomy. This new product provides effective containment of bodily fluids, protecting the wearer’s skin while affording him comfort and confidence.
• Full-Care 6217 from H.B. Fuller is a new class of adhesives for positioning femcare articles to the new variety of fabrics making up women’s underwear, thus meeting the evolving needs of millennial consumers with active lifestyles that require increased product functionality. This new product generation provides manufacturers cost savings through weight production, consistently higher peels with no adhesive transfer, higher performance on different fabrics, and excellent adhesion on both fabric sides.
• High Gel Strength (HGS) SAF from Technical Absorbents Limited is a new range of fabrics that allow the design and manufacture of materials with greater integrity and robustness for demanding absorbent hygiene applications. HGS SAF nonwovens provide decreased levels of absorbency, compared to standard SAF fibers, which can be advantageous in certain washable applications where durability is more important than absorbency.

Finalists will present their innovations virtually to hygiene and personal care professionals at Hygienix on Wed., Nov. 18, for a conference participant vote. The Hygienix Innovation Award winner will be announced on Thurs. Nov. 19.

The Virtual Hygienix conference opens Tues. morning, Nov. 17, with an Industry Outlook session for the absorbent hygiene industry under Covid-19. This year’s event will be highlighted by world-class presentations from over 20 industry experts and virtual networking events, including tabletop displays, cocktail hours, ask-the-experts, trivia breaks, engaging conversations, focused topics, coffee breaks and afternoon teas.