CARE ASSISTANT
PTTabs and frontal tape: close, readjust
On a brief with tabs, the tabs make the hold. Their type, their surface and the frontal tape they fasten to decide comfort and the ability to readjust.
Hooks, adhesive: both, depending on the protection
There are two main families of tabs: hook tabs, often called velcro, which fasten onto a looped frontal tape and reopen as many times as needed, and polyethylene adhesive tabs, which stick onto a smooth frontal tape. Mixed tabs combine a hook area and an adhesive area.
We use both, depending on several parameters. On a heavy protection, with high absorbency, in the large sizes, we lean toward a security solution: frontal tape and adhesive tab, tighter, more resistant, less likely to come undone. For an intermediate solution, the cloth-like back and its hooks give easy readjustment. For a more economical solution, the adhesive tab remains the reference.
A point often forgotten: the real contact area, in square centimetres or square inches, of the hook or adhesive part. For the same material, a tab that offers more contact area holds better.
The frontal tape
The frontal tape runs across the full width of the front panel. In looped polypropylene it receives hooks; in smooth polyethylene it receives adhesive. Its height leaves room to adjust up and down, to angle the lower tabs upward and the upper tabs downward, as our tutorial shows.
Stretch and softness
A stretch tab follows movement and reduces marks at the waist. Its edges are rounded and its outer surface soft, so as not to irritate the belly or the carer's hands.
Hook tabs or adhesive tabs depending on the weight of the protection, the size and the price level, frontal tape across the full width, rounded edges, real contact area sized for the hold.
- Two families of tabs, both used depending on the protection.
- Heavy protection: frontal tape and adhesive for security; intermediate: readjustable hooks; economical: adhesive.
- Look at the real contact area, in cm² or in².
These pages describe materials and test methods in general terms. The exact characteristics of each product are on its technical sheet; they evolve with our laboratory work.