Rate of Acquisition in Incontinence Products

As you know, we're a little bit nerdy when it comes to incontinence products. We like to test everything so we can give customers a real, hands-on impression of how the product might work well (or not so well) for them.

So when a manufacturer came to us recently and said "Our new next generation brief (NGB) is amazing.", we said "Prove it."

And so right there in our boardroom, they pulled out equipment for an almost magical performance in front of us - the Rate of Acquisition test.

Rate of Acquisition tests are exactly what they sound like - a quantifiable analysis of how quickly an adult diaper will draw liquid into it's core. The importance is pretty obvious; if a product doesn't absorb quickly, it will leak at the legs and/or back as the wearer is urinating, and the user experiences a strong and unpleasant sense of wetness.

The common Rate of Acquisition test simulates as closely as possible real conditions for someone with a full release of bladder. 200mL of mock urine (i.e. water mixed with chemicals to have the same pH) is poured at a rate equivalent to a person's urine output, onto the core area of the brief. 

We honestly didn't believe the manufacturer's claim that their new NGB could beat the rate of acquisition of our bestselling overnight brief by at least half a minute. But the proof is in the 60 second video below: