Spacerpad is a reusable sanitary pad for menstruation, soon to hit the market, based on an untraditional type of absorption. This makes the pad both quick-drying and very easy to clean.
— These qualities are achieved by using a hydrophobic polyester textile together with a certain construction, shares co-founder Karin Högberg. The requirements for keeping liquid and at the same time being easy to clean and quick-drying are conflicting. So, to solve this is what required the skills and work of textile technology researcher Lena Berglin. Basically, the idea was that the sanitary pad should be easy to maintain, but not at the expense of function.
Easy handling is necessary for those without an infrastructure for sanitation, but also convenient for everyone, including users in richer countries.
— Along the course of development, the principle for our construction has turned out to also guarantee a very comfortable product. All in all, Spacerpad has become a product that meets very high demands: affordable, extreme durability over time, leak-proof, and with a high liquid holding capacity and permeability. As such, it is a competitive alternative to expensive and environmentally hazardous disposable products.
This year, the production of a prototype begins, with the finished product expected to be available next year.
— Our primary vision is to make Spacerpad accessible to women who are otherwise without sustainable solutions.
— Our primary vision is to make Spacerpad accessible to women who are otherwise without sustainable solutions. In fact, the issue of accessibility is a challenge of its own. The sanitary protection market is impregnated with development assistance efforts, which may sound good but in practice kills all market economic incentives for spreading products. It simply becomes difficult for local individuals to engage in entrepreneurship. At the same time, aid in the form of gifts has a very limited reach. Help for self-help would have been more effective but also more respectful — women should be given the power to choose their own sanitary protection, Högberg states. She adds:
— Another interesting aspect is the question of acceptance. Acceptance does not always have to do with the quality of the product, but what you think is the norm. Women in weaker economic segments want to consume as ”the richer”. So, in order to become an accepted alternative, it is important that even those who can afford and who act as role models are given the opportunity to access the same solution.
This is #13 on our list with 25 Innovations for better living from Scandinavian MIND Issue 2
1. Here’s the first furniture brand to publish their climate footprint
2. Unique Bio2 textile can make a change in our polluted world
3. Patented technology can turn the eyewear industry circular
4. Filtration technology saves you from hidden pollution at home
5. This Swedish collective launches line with skincare for objects
6. Powder to liquid wash can change personal care as we know it
7. This household product line cleans with all-natural sugar surfactants
8. Spinnova’s textile fibre might be the world’s most groundbreaking
9. Here’s how AI can be used to create your ultimate personal scent
10. Design brand Verk takes local production one — big — step further
11. CAKE is here to challenge the status quo for motorbikes
12. This solar cell can be powered by ordinary indoor light
14. A green version of the super-material graphene transforms the industry
15. Groundbreaking recyling app teams up with the world’s leading brands
