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Don't Spring a Leak
P&G Revolutionizes the Diaper Industry
An Ultra Advance in Diapers
Disposable Diaper Technology
How Ultra Thin Diapers Work
Improving Health and Dryness for Babies

Don't Spring a Leak

What was life like for babies before disposable diapers?

In the 1950s, babies sprang a lot of leaks. They also suffered from itchy diaper rash and dry skin. While they tried to explore their world, or just get to Mommy and Daddy, they had the added obstacle of a sagging bulge of cloth that kept their little legs from moving as fast as they could go.

Unfortunately, none of them were researchers, or they would have undoubtedly changed their fate. But it was up to the diaper changers to do this. It was a researcher at P&G who developed a keen dislike for changing diapers while caring for his grandson that would change the world for babies. He inspired a team of P&G scientists to develop a unique three-piece construction that absorbed moisture, distributed it uniformly, and transmitted fluid to the absorbent core without passing it back to the skin.

As a result, babies sprang fewer leaks, experienced less discomfort, and were a little freer, but life was still not perfect. Pampers® realized this, and in 1986 introduced the biggest change since the inception of the disposable diaper: Ultra Pampers. Through the use of superabsorbent, acrylic acid-based polymers (SAP) that held more fluid, diapers became 50 percent thinner. Leakage and diaper rash decreased by leaps and bounds, and with their new lightweight diaper, babies of the 1980s could move by leaps and bounds, too.

Today, babies are really traveling in comfort and style. Pampers Premium and Baby-Dry® diapers give them a protective layer of lotion that keeps their skin smooth and silky, while Pampers® Cruisers have super-stretchy sides and leg cuffs that follow their every move. What else can P&G say but "you've come a long way, baby?"

P&G Revolutionizes the Diaper Industry

Procter & Gamble's development of the disposable diaper revolutionized the diapering habits of consumers worldwide and virtually created the category. The introduction of Pampers paved the way for parents to bid farewell to the cumbersome cloth diapers that were irritating and uncomfortable to babies and to say hello to a single-use disposable diaper that was comfortable and better for a baby's skin, easy to store, and competitively priced with cloth diapers.

The conception of Pampers originated from a P&G researcher and grandfather who, while caring for his newborn grandchild, developed a dislike for changing diapers. Research among mothers confirmed that there was a need for something better than cloth diapers. To meet this need, P&G scientists developed a unique three-piece construction to absorb the moisture, distribute it uniformly, and transmit fluid to the absorbent core without passing it back to the skin. Additional product innovations have been developed to continue to make Pampers a leader and innovator in the category.

P&G's technology in the diaper arena has proven to provide more than just convenience and comfort for parents and children. It has provided health benefits to children who use Pampers and has become a major contributor to P&G's worldwide profits.

An Ultra Advance in Diapers

In 1986, the biggest change in Pampers was made since its inception. Ultra Pampers were introduced, featuring a Lock-Away core through the use of superabsorbent, acrylic acid-based polymers (SAP), which acted as a replacement for some of the mat cellulose fluff. The SAP enabled the Ultra diaper to decrease in thickness by half and offered unparalleled dryness and absorbency. The SAP polymers hold about 30 times their own weight in body fluid and hold the fluid by osmotic pressure.

The Ultra advance was not simply a matter of adding the SAP polymers to existing disposable diapers. A problem existed because the polymers were known not to function effectively in diaper cores. Therefore, an invention was developed to solve the problem—using a mixture of pulp and supersorber compressed by 50 percent or more into a finished absorbent core. This compression enabled the supersorber to create and maintain void space and liquid distribution channels and was later patented.

Disposable Diaper Technology

The primary reason for Pampers' initial success was the technology P&G used to develop the unique three-piece construction. Once the diaper was developed, however, P&G engineers were faced with one of the most complex production operation tasks the Company had ever faced. They needed to design machinery that would manufacture these new diapers efficiently and at a high speed. Although it seemed to be a simple task to fold and glue the three substances together, the technical challenge of handling three sheets of different stress-strain character proved difficult to overcome.

Additionally, while consumer test market data indicated that consumers liked the diaper, it had to be sold at a lower price than originally planned. This price reduction would need to be achieved through increased manufacturing throughput and efficiency.

Intense research led to dozens of material, design, and process patents for P&G researchers. By the mid-1960s, Pampers became the leader in the diaper industry and has remained a leader ever since.

As a leader in the disposable diaper category, P&G has continued to make major product innovations, embodied in more than 100 patents. Since 1970, improvements have been made, including refastenable tapes, elastic leg gathers, barrier leg cuffs, elasticized waistbands, waist caps, waist shields, fit guides, and conversion of the cores from creped tissue to a mat of cellulose fibers. In 1985, the company made an investment of more than $500 million in high-speed, sophisticated equipment to create a shaped, better-fitting diaper.

How Ultra Thin Diapers Work

Ultra thin diapers feature a Lock-Away core through the use of super-absorbent acrylic acid-based polymers (SAP) especially incorporated into a mat cellulose fluff core.

P&G was able to utilize the SAP polymers by compressing the core by 50 percent or more.

Improving Health and Dryness for Babies

This advanced technology decreased the leakage incidence among children from 30 percent to 5 percent. Beyond this, clinical studies have proven that children who use Pampers SAP have drier skin, more normal skin pH, and less frequent and less severe diaper rash than those who use cloth. Additionally, due to its superior containment, the spreading of germs is significantly less. Studies have shown that in a day-care setting, the number of contaminated objects was significantly lower in rooms where Pampers were used than in rooms where double cloth diapers with plastic overpants were used.

P&G diapers are now sold in more than 80 countries worldwide, with this multi-billion dollar business representing a major contributor to P&G's world profits.

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