U.S. patent application number 10/514312 was filed with the patent office on 2005-10-13 for cosmetic cotton disc.
This patent application is currently assigned to Paul Hartmann AG. Invention is credited to Mangold, Rainer, Michelmann, Jana, Rompp, Angela.
Application Number | 20050223512 10/514312 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29762743 |
Filed Date | 2005-10-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050223512 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mangold, Rainer ; et
al. |
October 13, 2005 |
Cosmetic cotton disc
Abstract
The inventive cosmetic cotton disc (2) exhibiting an improved
effectiveness thereof for make-up removal contains or consists of
discontinuous synthetic microfibres whose length is equal to or
greater than 7 mm.
Inventors: |
Mangold, Rainer;
(Herbrechtingen, DE) ; Rompp, Angela; (Zell u. A.,
DE) ; Michelmann, Jana; (Heidenheim, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DREISS, FUHLENDORF, STEIMLE & BECKER
POSTFACH 10 37 62
D-70032 STUTTGART
DE
|
Assignee: |
Paul Hartmann AG
Paul-Hartmann-Strasse 12
Heidenheim
DE
D-89522
|
Family ID: |
29762743 |
Appl. No.: |
10/514312 |
Filed: |
November 12, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
July 15, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP03/07629 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/229.14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 442/638 20150401;
Y10T 442/2508 20150401; D04H 1/43832 20200501; A45D 2200/1063
20130101; A45D 34/04 20130101; D04H 1/5412 20200501; D04H 1/425
20130101; D04H 1/4258 20130101; A61K 2800/28 20130101; Y10T 442/614
20150401; Y10T 442/641 20150401; Y10T 442/615 20150401; A45D
2200/1054 20130101; D04H 1/43828 20200501; Y10T 442/619 20150401;
D04H 1/43838 20200501; Y10T 442/697 20150401; D04H 1/55 20130101;
D04H 1/492 20130101; Y10T 442/692 20150401; Y10T 442/689 20150401;
D04H 1/43835 20200501; D04H 1/5418 20200501; Y10T 442/637 20150401;
Y10T 442/69 20150401; Y10T 442/699 20150401; D04H 1/5414 20200501;
A45D 2200/1036 20130101; A61F 13/38 20130101; Y10T 442/2525
20150401; A61K 8/0208 20130101; Y10T 442/626 20150401; D04H 1/435
20130101; D04H 1/04 20130101; D04H 1/60 20130101; D04H 1/54
20130101; Y10T 442/698 20150401; D04H 1/02 20130101; A45D 2200/1018
20130101; A61Q 19/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/229.14 |
International
Class: |
A45D 001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 15, 2002 |
EP |
02400033.3 |
Claims
1-24. (canceled)
25. A cosmetic cotton pad comprising: synthetic micro staple fibers
of at least 7 mm in length.
26. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein said micro staple
fibers are polyester (PES) or viscose fibers.
27. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein said micro staple
fibers have a hydrophiliated surface.
28. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein a weight per unit
area of the cotton pad is 40-300 g/m.sup.2, 60-250 g/m.sup.2,
120-250 g/m.sup.2, or 150-250 g/m.sup.2.
29. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein a portion of micro
staple fibers is 15-85 weight %, 15-65 weight %, or 20-30 weight
%.
30. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, further comprising cotton
fibers of up to 72 weight %, 15-65 weight %, or 50-65 weight %.
31. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 30, wherein the cotton fibers
are cotton noils.
32. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, further comprising
thermally melting, binding fibers.
33. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 32, wherein said thermally
melting binding fibers have a weight percentage portion of 10-20
weight %, 12-18 weight %, or of 12-15 weight %.
34. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 32, wherein said binding
fibers are multi-component fibers or bicomponent fibers.
35. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 34, wherein said
multi-component fibers have a fiber thickness of 1.3-10 dtex or 1.3
to 3.0 dtex, and have a fiber length of 3-60 mm.
36. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 34, wherein said bicomponent
fibers are copolyester (CO-PES)/polyester (PES) bicomponent
fibers.
37. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 32, wherein a melting point of
said thermally melting binding fiber is lower than the melting
point of said micro staple fibers.
38. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 34, wherein a melting point of
a low melting component of said multiple-component fibers is lower
than a melting point of said micro staple fibers.
39. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein one side of the
cotton pad has a rough surface effected by disposing an
abrasive.
40. The cotton pad of claim 39, wherein said abrasive is formed
from a thermoplastic fusion adhesive powder which is sintered onto
one side of the cotton pad.
41. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 40, wherein said fusion
adhesive powder comprises polyethylene, polyamide and/or
polyester.
42. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 40, wherein said abrasive or
said fusion adhesive powder has a grain size of 1-500 .mu.m, 1-100
.mu.m, or 1-65 .mu.m.
43. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 39, wherein said abrasive is
disposed with a weight per unit area of 5-50 g/m.sup.2, or 10-40
g/m.sup.2, or 15-30 g/m.sup.2.
44. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein the pad is wet
during manufacture and packaged in a damp state in a substantially
moisture-proof fashion.
45. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, further comprising cotton
fibers which are treated with a softener to at least 0.2 weight
%.
46. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 45, wherein said softener
comprises a fatty acid condensation product, functional
polydimethyl siloxanes, and/or polyethylenes.
47. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 44, wherein the pad is wet
with an oil-in-water emulsion having a viscosity of <200 mPas,
or of <800 mPas.
48. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 47, wherein said oil-in-water
emulsion comprises a preservative, parabene, or benzyl alcohol in
an amount of 0.2-0.5 weight %.
49. The cosmetic cotton pad of claim 25, wherein the pad has an
optical permeability of less than 0.9%, less than 0.75%, less than
0.70%, or less than 0.6%.
50. Use of the cotton pad of claim 25 for cleaning skin and/or
removing make-up.
Description
[0001] The invention concerns a cosmetic cotton pad, i.e. a cotton
pad for cleaning the skin or for removing make-up, as well as for
applying cosmetic products such as creams, onto the skin.
[0002] There are many different types of cosmetic cotton pads. EP 1
106 723 A1 discloses e.g. a cotton pad, both surfaces of which are
water-jet needled. The cotton pad may also comprise 0 to 30% of
artificial fibers, such as viscose fibers, polyester fibers, or
bicomponent fibers.
[0003] EP 0 836 842 B1 discloses cotton pads and the production
thereof. The pads comprise hydrophilic materials such as e.g.
cotton, viscose or flax and/or hydrophobic materials such as e.g.
polyethylene terephtalate or polypropylene. However, cotton pads
are preferred which consist of 100% cotton, which consist of 100%
viscose, which have at least 25% viscose, the rest being cotton,
which have at least 25% cotton, the rest being viscose, which have
50% viscose and 50% polyethylene terephtalate, or which have 50%
viscose and 50% polypropylene. Water jet solidification is used to
solidify the non-woven fiber material.
[0004] EP 0 405 043 B1 discloses a three-layered cotton pad,
wherein the layers consist of 100% cotton noils. The two outer
layers are tightly compacted and have a honeycomb pattern on their
respective visible side. The three layers are combined into a
sandwich-type construction. The edge regions of at least the outer
layers are preferably connected to each other.
[0005] In accordance with WO 00/76384 A1, a cotton pad consists of
100% cotton fibers, wherein a first layer comprises fine fibers of
a thickness of between 0.7 and 1.75 denier (2 to 5 .mu.g/pouce) and
a second layer of thicker fibers, which is to form an abrasive
surface.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,324 describes a fiber mixture of wood
pulp fibers and thermoplastic microfibers having an average fiber
diameter of less than 10 .mu.m. Due to the fact that this fiber
mixture is produced quasi simultaneously with spinning of the
microfibers, by e.g. introducing an air flow and a cellulose fiber
flow into the region of the spinning head for the microfibers, the
fibers are connected and the microfibers cause fixation of the
cellulose fibers i.e. in a state in which the microfibers are still
at increased temperatures and not yet hardened. The microfibers
therefore form matrices for the wood pulp fibers and the wood pulp
fibers are embedded in a flexible i.e. not rigid manner, even with
very small microfiber contents up to less than 1 weight %. Further
fibers or particulate material, including synthetic fibers such as
nylon fibers and natural fibers such as cotton, flax, jute, and
silk may also be used.
[0007] Due to the production of the fiber mixture quasi in situ
with formation of the microfibers in the melt blown process, the
microfibers lose their independence in the fiber product and are
changed due to contact with the wood pulp fibers in the still
molten state.
[0008] It is the object of the present invention to produce a
cosmetic cotton pad which feels very soft and still has a very high
cleaning or make-up removing capability.
[0009] This object is achieved in accordance with the invention
with a cotton pad comprising or consisting essentially of synthetic
micro staple fibers of at least 7 mm in length.
[0010] The term micro staple fibers used above means synthetic
fibers having a fiber thickness of .ltoreq.1 dtex. The term micro
staple fibers means that microfibers of a certain length or in a
certain length range which are previously formed in a separate
production method and are subsequently used for the production of
the non-woven fiber material layer of the cotton pad. It has turned
out that synthetic micro staple fibers can make the cotton pad
softer and therefore provide excellent haptic effect for the user.
Surprisingly, this is not associated with reduced cleaning or
make-up removing effect. On the contrary, the inventive cotton pads
having or consisting essentially of synthetic micro staple fibers
of a length of at least 7 mm have superior cleaning and make-up
removing properties. This may be due to the large surface area
produced by the fine structure of the micro staple fibers which can
come into contact with the skin surface to be cleaned. This large
surface area therefore also defines a large number of micro gaps
and openings which may receive impurities, skin particles or
make-up.
[0011] The fiber length of the micro staple fibers which can be
used is preferably 10-38 mm, in particular 15-32 mm.
[0012] In a further design of the invention, the micro staple
fibers may be polyester (PES) or viscose fibers. The surface of the
micro staple fibers is preferably hydrophiliated. One of the
surfaces of the cotton pad may have an imprinted pattern. In this
case, the imprinted pattern can be generated in a conventional
manner, e.g. through calender imprint or through water jet needling
as disclosed in EP-1106723-A2 or WO-99/25318-A1. Generation of the
imprinted pattern can be accompanied by solidification of the
non-woven material. The non-woven material can be solidified by
adding thermally melting binding fibers or through the addition of
chemical binders, such as e.g. aqueous polymer dispersions, e.g.
polyacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohols, latices or
binders on the basis of solvents or polyurethanes or powder
adhesives/fusion adhesive powder e.g. of polyamide, polyethylene,
ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane or polyester.
[0013] The weight per unit area of the inventive cosmetic pad is
preferably between 40 and 300 g/m.sup.2, in particular 60 to 250
g/m.sup.2, preferably 120-250 g/m.sup.2, and particularly preferred
150 to 250 g/m.sup.2.
[0014] For applications in which the cosmetic cotton pad is
designed to absorb liquid, i.e. if it should be suitable to receive
a skin-cleaning solution or for removing make-up using a make-up
removing means having a high liquid portion, the cotton pad
advantageously also includes up to 72 weight % of cotton fibers, in
particular 15 to 65 weight % and also in particular 50 to 65 weight
% of cotton fibers. Cotton noils are preferably used. The cotton
pad may comprise cotton fibers which are treated with a softener of
at least 0.2 weight %. This softener may comprise a fatty acid
condensation product and/or functional polydimethyl siloxanes
and/or polyethylenes.
[0015] In order to obtain a high internal stability for the
inventive cotton pad, it is also particularly preferred to
additionally include thermally melting binding fibers, preferably
in an amount of 10-20 weight %, and to thermally solidify the
cotton pad with these binding fibers. The portion of thermally
melting binding fibers relative to the mass of the cotton pad is,
in particular, 12-18 weight % and more preferred 12-15 weight
%.
[0016] In a further design of the invention, the binding fibers may
be multi-component fibers, in particular, bicomponent fibers having
a carrier component which melts at higher temperatures and a
component which melts at lower temperatures.
[0017] The multi-component fibers, in particular bi-component
fibers preferably have a fiber thickness of 1.3-10 dtex, in
particular 1.3-3 dtex and a fiber length of 3 to 60 mm. Core/jacket
fibers or side-to-side fibers are preferably used.
[0018] The use of bicomponent fibers having a copolyester (CO-PES)
as the low melting component and polyester (PES) as the component
with the higher melting temperature has proven to be
advantageous.
[0019] The melting point of the thermally melting binding fibers or
of the low melting component (e.g. CO-PES) of the multi-component
fibers is lower than the melting point of the micro staple fibers,
as is of particular importance in a further design of the
invention. Micro staple fibers from a polyester material could e.g.
be used having a melting point of approximately 256.degree. C. and
CO-PES/PES bicomponent fibers with a melting point for the low
melting component CO-PES of 110.degree. C. and for the higher
melting component PES of 255.degree. C. In this case, thermal
solidification of the non-woven fiber material could be carried out
without thermally changing the higher melting component of the
bicomponent fibers and the micro staple fibers.
[0020] In a further development of the invention, one side of the
cotton pad has a rough surface effected by applying an abrasive in
the form of a coating. This produces a cotton pad having one side
which is experienced as being very soft and has a very high
cleaning effect as explained above, and one rough side which is
used for "peeling", i.e. for removing dead skin particles while
also providing a pleasant massaging effect.
[0021] The abrasive may preferably be formed from a thermoplastic
fusion adhesive powder. The fusion adhesive powder may be disposed
as a powdery component, e.g. using a precision distributor via a
vibrating screen, onto one side of the cotton pad and be thermally
fixed at that location. Thermal fixation is preferably effected by
sintering in an oven. The fusion adhesive powder does not thereby
melt, rather the particles are connected to the cotton pad by the
sintering process while maintaining their particle shape to form
the rough surface structure. The fusion adhesive preferably used in
this case comprises polyethylene and/or polyamide and/or polyester.
It has a grain size of 1-500 .mu.m, in particular 1-100 .mu.m,
preferably 1-65 .mu.m. It has proven to be useful and advantageous
when the abrasive is applied with a weight per unit area of 5-50
g/m.sup.2, in particular 10-40 m.sup.2 and preferably 15-30
g/m.sup.2.
[0022] In a further development of the invention, the cotton pad
may be wetted during manufacture and packaged in a damp state in a
substantially moisture-proof manner to be sold to the end user in
this form. The invention also concerns damp cloths, i.e. damp
non-woven materials of the above-described inventive non-woven
fiber material. Damp and dry cotton swabs can also be produced
therefrom.
[0023] Damp cotton pads or damp cloths also preferably comprise
cotton fibers which are or can be treated with a softener of at
least 0.2 weight %, in particular of the above-described type. Damp
pads are preferably wetted with an oil-in-water cleaning emulsion
having a viscosity of <2000 mPas, preferably <800 mPas. The
oil-in-water emulsion may comprise a portion of 0.2 to 0.5 weight %
of a preservative, e.g. parabene or benzyl alcohols. 2-5 weight %
of plant extracts and 0.2 to 0.5 weight % of perfume oil portion
may also be contained in the oil-in-water emulsion.
[0024] The, in particular, damp cotton pads or damp cloths
preferably have a low optical permeability of less than 0.9%,
preferably less than 0.75%, particularly preferred less than 0.70%,
and particularly preferred of less than 0.6%. The optical
permeability is measured at a wavelength of 600 nm with a
Perkin-Elmer Lambda 2 UV/VIS spectrophotometer on specimens of 30
mm.times.40 mm in size.
[0025] The optical impermeability is an indication for the packed
density of the fiber material and therefore a measure of the fiber
surface available for cleaning.
[0026] In accordance with the invention, the cleaning effect of a
cotton pad or damp cloth, in particular a damp cotton pad, can be
determined through measurement of its optical permeability thereby
permitting a comparison of the cleaning effect of different cotton
pads or damp cloths. Independent patent protection is therefore
claimed, in particular, for a damp cotton fiber pad or damp fiber
cloth having a low optical permeability of less than 0.9%,
preferably less than 0.75%, particularly preferred of less than
0.70% m, particularly preferred of less than 0.6%, in dependence on
the type of fibers used and of the fiber composition.
[0027] Damp cloths which are commercially available have optical
permeabilities of 1.76% (Nivea Visage, Erfrischende
Reinigungstucher fur normale Haut und Mischhaut, Beiersdorf AG),
2.26% (Bebe Young Care Quick'n Clean fur alle Hauttypen, Johnson
& Johnson), 2.57% (Diadermine, Pflegende Reinigungstucher fur
Gesicht und Augen, fur alle Hauttypen, Schwarzkopf und Henkel
Laboratories Diadermine), 0.96% (Demak'up Reinigungstucher, 100%
Baurnwolle, fur normale und Mischhaut, Georgia Pacific).
[0028] In a preferred embodiment of the inventive damp cloths, the
cloths are provided with an emulsion and have an optical
permeability of 0.55% (damp cloth 1) or 0.48% (damp cloth 2). The
composition of the damp cloths is given below.
[0029] Damp cloth 1: 37% PES microfibers with a fiber thickness of
0.9 dtex and a fiber length of 18 mm, 23% cotton noils, 40% viscose
fibers with a fiber thickness of 1.7 dtex and a fiber length of 40
mm. The weight per unit area of the dry non-woven fiber material
was 63 g/m.sup.2. The thickness of the dry non-woven fiber material
was 0.66 mm, measured at a pressure of 0.5 kPa with a test surface
of 25 cm.sup.2.
[0030] Damp cloth 2: 49% PES microfibers with a fiber thickness of
0.9 dtex and a fiber length of 18 mm and 51% cotton noils. The
weight per unit area of the dry non-woven fiber material was 78
g/m.sup.2. The thickness of the dry non-woven fiber material was
0.80 mm, measured at a pressure of 0.5 kPa with a test surface of
25 cm.sup.2.
[0031] The damp cloths 1 and 2 were impregnated with Emulgade CM
(Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, PIT-emulsion), which is an
oil in water emulsion consisting of water, cetearyl isononanoat,
ceteareth 20, cetearyl alcohol, phenoxy ethanol, parabene,
potassium sorbate, glycerin, perfume, citric acid, cetyl palmitate
and ceteareth 12 (INCI declaration). The emulsion concentration was
7.5%. The amount of emulsion was 300% referred to the dry weight of
the non-woven fiber material (i.e. 300 g of thinned emulsion to 100
g non-woven material).
[0032] To produce the inventive cotton pads, the synthetic micro
staple fibers which are produced in a separate process are disposed
in a conventional non-woven material forming method to form a
non-woven material. If different fiber types are used, these are
advantageously previously mixed in an air flow and then disposed.
If thermally melting binding fibers are present, thermal fixing of
the non-woven material can be performed in an "air-through-method"
with a gas temperature which can be accurately adjusted, preferably
without thereby thermally influencing or impairing the synthetic
micro staple fibers and their structure. In an alternative or also
additional manner, water jet needling of the non-woven fiber
material web may be provided before or after thermal fixing.
Irrespective thereof, imprint calendering on one or two sides may
be used to provide the cotton pad with a surface pattern.
[0033] The inventive cotton pad is preferably compacted such that
it has a longitudinal stability or maximum tensile strength in a
longitudinal direction (machine direction) of 5-30 N/25 mm, in
particular 10-25 N/25 mm and preferably >15 N/25 mm and a
maximum tensile strength in a transverse direction (transverse to
the machine direction) of 5-30 N/25 mm, in particular 8-20 N/25 m
and preferably >10 N/25 mm. In the embodiment of a damp cloth,
in particular the longitudinal stability or maximum tensile
strength in a longitudinal direction of the damp cloth (machine
direction) is advantageously 5-70 N/25 mm, preferably 10-60 N/25
mm, and with particular preference 30-50 N/25 mm and the maximum
tensile strength in a transverse direction (transverse to the
machine direction) is advantageously 5-60 N/25 mm, in particular
10-50 N/25 mm and preferably 20-40 N/25 mm. This maximum tensile
strength may be determined using a standardized tensile testing
machine in accordance with DIN 5122 using the following testing
method: Samples having a clamping width of 25 mm and a clamping
length of 30 mm are taken from the cotton pad to be examined, i.e.
from a central region. The samples are clamped vertically in the
clamping receptacles of the standardized tensile testing machine
which are moved apart with a testing speed of 100 mm/min at the
plane of their extension to thereby measure the tensile force
acting in this direction. The maximum tensile force is the force at
which the cotton pad is torn. If previously higher force peaks were
measured during expansion, these represent the maximum tensile
force in the sense of this procedure. For measurements in the
longitudinal and transverse directions which corresponds to the
machine direction or a direction transverse thereto, different, in
particular five individual measurements can be taken and their
average value can be calculated.
[0034] The inventive cotton pad preferably has a thickness of
preferably 0.5 to 4.5 mm which is determined at a specific
measuring pressure of 0.5 kPa on a 25 cm.sup.2 surface of a
specimen sample. The testing method corresponds to DIN EN ISO
9073-2 (testing method for non-woven materials, determination of
the thickness).
[0035] The absorptive capacity of inventive cotton pads can also be
determined. Corresponding to PH. EUR. 1997, Monografie Verbandwatte
aus Baurnwolle, a test of the absorptive capacity is determined by
measuring the sinking time in a liquid of a wire basket filled with
specimens to be tested. The wire basket which can be used in this
case is a cylindrical basket of copper wire with a wire diameter of
0.4 mm. The height is 80 mm, the diameter 50 mm, the mesh width
15-20 mm and the mass 2.7+/-0.3 g. Moreover, a beaker of a diameter
of 11-12 cm is used.
[0036] The cotton pads to be tested are put into the wire basket
until a testing amount of 5 g is obtained. The basket is previously
weighed with an accuracy of 0.01 g (M1). The 5 g of specimen
material constitute a mass M2. The beaker is filled with
demineralized water to a level of approximately 100 mm and the
filled basket is dropped onto the water from a height of 10 mm. The
time needed to sink below the surface is measured with a stop
watch. Directly after determination of the sinking time, the basket
is lifted out of the water and is horizontally held along its
longitudinal axis for 30 s of dripping time. After lapse of the
dripping time, the basket is put into a counterbalanced beaker (M3)
and weighed with an accuracy of 0.01 g (M4).
[0037] The water retaining capacity is given by: 1 g / g = M4 - (
M2 + M3 ) M2 - M1
[0038] The sinking time and the water retaining capacity are given
as an average value of three measurements. The sinking time of
preferred cotton pads is maximally 15 sec and the water retaining
capacity is at least 10 g/g. This can be adjusted through the
portion of absorbing fibers and/or through the addition of
hydrophiliation agents.
[0039] Further features, details and advantages of the invention
can be extracted from the following claims and the figure and the
following description of one preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0040] FIGS. 1-8 show the result of an experiment for determining
the cleaning or make-up removing effect of cotton pads;
[0041] FIGS. 9, 10 show two surface patterns of cotton pads;
[0042] FIG. 11 shows the surface pattern of FIG. 10 in detail.
[0043] Two preferred compositions of the inventive cotton pads are
shown below: They are indicated with PH and PH*.
1 Fiber type PH PH* Micro staple fibers PES 25 weight % 47 weight %
Cotton noils 62 weight % 40 weight % Bicomponent fibers 13 weight %
13 weight % CO-PES/PES
[0044] The cotton pads PH and PH* were obtained by mixing
previously produced micro staple fibers having a fiber thickness of
0.9 dtex and a fiber length of approximately 18 mm with cotton
noils and the bicomponent fibers in an air flow in the respective
weight percentage compositions. The micro staple fibers are
polyester fibers with a melting point of 256.degree. C. The
bicomponent fibers are core jacket fibers with a polyester core
component having a higher melting point of 255.degree. C. and a
jacket of a copolyester (CO-PES) with a melting point of
110.degree. C. The length of these bicomponent fibers is 51 mm and
their thickness is 1.35 dtex.
[0045] These cotton pads were compared with comparable products,
wherein the following examination of the cleaning and make-up
removing effect was carried out: Make-up was disposed on a
substrate to determine, under standardized conditions, how the
respective cotton pads remove make-up from that substrate. Towards
this end, a tensile testing machine (DIN 51221, class 1) was used.
The substrate was "smooth beige goat leather for the production of
shoes". 0.1 g of a protecting cream make-up (Nivea Beaut Teint
Natur Intensive) was uniformly deposited onto a piece of this
smooth goat leather having a size of 30.times.100 mm and left to
dry for 2 to 21/2 hours.
[0046] To carry out the examination, circular blotting paper
(Schleicher & Schull, Nr. 860) having a diameter of 57 mm (the
same size as the cotton pad to be tested which also has a diameter
of 57 mm) was punched out and soaked with 0.85-0.9 g demineralized
water. The round cotton pad (specimen) (diameter 57 mm, 25.5
cm.sup.2) is disposed on the soaked blotting paper and loaded for
10 s with 1 kg. The cotton pad thereby absorbs some liquid. The
cotton pad with moistened surface is then disposed on the goat
leather in front of the location with "make-up". A cylindrical
weight of 300 g, a diameter of 57 mm, and having a lug is connected
to the tensile device of the tensile testing machine using a
string. The connected weight is fixed using two-sided sticky tape
so that it exactly covers the cotton pad. The cotton pad and the
weight are then drawn over the "make-up" surface at a speed of 200
mm/min. At least five make-up removing tests are carried out and
the amount of make-up remaining on the goat leather is judged
visually or using a color measuring device (chromameter). The
above-described cotton pads PH and PH* and a cotton pad which
consists of 100 weight % cotton, PH 100% cotton are used as
specimens, wherein the latter is available under the trademark
"Labell" and is solidified through water jets. Moreover, a cotton
pad of the available trademark "Demak'up Duo" and of the trademark
"Demak'up Supersoft" were examined which also consist of 100%
cotton and is solidified through water jets. Cotton pads of the
trademarks "Nivea" and "Jean Carol" each consist of 100% cotton and
are also water-jet solidified. A cotton pad imprinted on both sides
(trademark "Hydra") was also tested.
[0047] FIGS. 1 through 8 each show visual reproductions of two
make-up removing tests, e.g. the image which results if a cotton
pad was drawn once over the "make-up" surface in the manner
described above. The cotton pad used in this case was turned and
positioned on the substrate at the initial position of the make-up
removing test and a visual reproduction was recorded.
[0048] One can see that the products PH and PH* achieved a much
more effective cleaning action or make-up removing effect compared
to the comparable products.
[0049] A comparison of the inventive products PH and PH* shows that
the increase in the microfiber portion improves the make-up
removing effect.
[0050] FIGS. 9 and 10 show two plan views of an inventive cotton
pad 2 with different imprinted patterns 4 generated through imprint
calendering of the disposed cotton pad. The depth of the grooves of
the imprint pattern 4 is at least 0.4 mm. FIG. 11 shows details of
the imprint pattern. It comprises a honeycomb or waffle-like
structure which is interrupted by a second imprint pattern 6 in the
form of letters 8. The separations between the honeycomb lines 10
are between 2.0 and 5 mm, in particular between 2.5 and 4.0 mm. The
second imprint pattern 6 has an area of up to 15.times.10 mm
(dimensions c.times.d). The separation between the regions
receiving the respectively second imprint pattern 6 is 3-10 mm
(dimension b-d), in particular 4-6 mm in one direction or 5-15 mm
(dimension a-c), in particular 8-12 mm in the other direction.
[0051] The imprint lines 10 forming the honeycombs and the imprint
pattern 4 are wavy having a half wavelength g of 2-8 mm, in
particular 3-5 mm and a wavelength height h of 0.5-2 mm, in
particular 0.8-1.2 mm.
* * * * *