Kitchen paper towels can be used to dry hands in the kitchen or bathroom, to mop up spills, or to clean anything from windows to floors. Due to their absorbency, strength, and convenience, towels are most commonly used in the kitchen and are placed by the kitchen sink in most homes and offices across the country for drying dishes, drying hands, and drying kitchen spills. In addition to their convenience, they are also hygienic because they are disposable and made to be used only once, preventing the spread of germs that can occur with shared towels. Everyone who has used a towel in their life knows that kitchen paper towels are disposable and convenient, but why are they so absorbent?
Paper towels can absorb more liquid than a napkin or tissue, and if you’ve ever tried to clean up a spill with a napkin or tissue, you certainly know this! The reason kitchen paper towels can absorb so much liquid is because, unlike a napkin or tissue paper, the paper that makes up a paper towel is loosely woven, allowing water to soak through. move between the paper fibers of the towel. This is done through 2 important manufacturing processes: creping and embossing. These 2 manufacturing processes modify the physical characteristics of the paper, making it more absorbent than paper, a tissue or a napkin. Creping gives the paper towel flexibility and elasticity and creates more open areas for water to enter. During the creping process, the mechanical action of a blade breaks the fiber-to-fiber bonds in the paper and forms a micro-pleat structure within the paper sheet. Embossing means that the surface of the towel changes from a flat surface to a shaped surface, so that there are areas that protrude from the flat bottom. The embossing process creates an empty space between the paper, allowing the paper towel to retain more water.
Although important, creping and embossing are not the only variables that can affect the absorbency of paper towels. The creping and embossing processes leave behind finely divided cellulose fibers, which is the main structural chemical in cotton, wood, and most other plants. The small molecules that make up the cellulose in paper towels are sugar molecules, and water is highly soluble in the cellulose fibers. This is because cellulose, like sugar, strongly adheres to water molecules.
The last factor in the absorbency of paper is the number of layers or stacks of paper. Kitchen paper towels also come in 1-ply and 2-ply, which means they are 1-2 ply thick. When it comes to absorbency, 2-ply kitchen towels are stronger and more absorbent than 1-ply kitchen towels, as they have 2 layers of absorbent paper towels per sheet. But 1-ply towels can get the job done, too.
When you shop for kitchen paper towels at membership bulk-buying stores, at the grocery store, or online, you may see that there are many types of kitchen towels. All of these towels have different levels of absorbency depending on the ply, cellulose, creping, and embossing. Now that you understand why these different brands have different absorbencies, you can be a more informed consumer.