FAQ
What is the difference between the Japanese and Western diapers?
Most of the Western diapers do not compare in quality to the ones produced in Japan. Much more expensive and qualitative materials are used in manufacturing of the Japanese diapers, while the control of the manufacturing process of the diapers is performed by the governmental institutions.
Japanese diapers are made only of ecologically pure materials. They do not contain optic bleach, formaldehyde, phthalate, chlorine compounds, synthetic aromas, petroleum lotions and toxins – materials, the use of which in the production of the Western diapers is not strictly limited.
The absorbing layer stretches through the entire length and width of a diaper, therefore the chance of leakage is significantly lower. If you clench a Japanese diaper in your fist it feels like a thicker flannel strip instead of a piece of paper. Due to this softness, no hard edges are formed in the folding areas, which would otherwise rub against a baby’s legs.
What are ecological products according to the Japanese?
For the Japanese ecology is first of all a relationship with nature, and their view of it is rather complex.
In order for a product to be considered to be ecological, it must comply with three criteria:
1) be safe for humans;
2) effect on nature during its production must be minimal;
3) its decomposition after use (utilization) must have a minimal effect on the environment.
In other words, it is not sufficient for a product to meet only one of the criteria: if a product is safe for humans, but during its manufacture nature is being harmed, it will not be considered to be ecological.
Therefore, only highest quality and ecologically pure materials are used to manufacture the Japanese diapers. They try to use a minimum amount of raw materials and resort to the nature-friendly technologies (for example, the Japanese rejected the use of chlorine as bleach in the manufacturing of the diapers already in 1998).
Do the manufacturers of the Japanese diapers have an ecological diaper certification?
Although the European Union has the ecological product labeling system – EU Ecolabel (http://ec.europa.eu/…/eco…/products-groups-and-criteria.html), the labelling rules have not been yet approved. However, in the absence of them, the manufacturing process of the Japanese diapers MOONY, MERRIES and GOO.N is certified by the international standardization organization ISO (quality management certificate ISO 9001 and environmental management certificate ISO 14001). This means that high quality standards and environmental standards were complied with at all stages of production of these diapers.
Moreover, MOONY diapers are labelled with an ECO CHARMING mark – this is a mark used by the UNICHARM corporation to label products meeting the highest quality and environmental safety requirements.
How fast do Japanese diapers decompose?
MOONY manufacturer UNICHARM states that their new generation diapers decompose 30% faster than the previous model of these diapers. They base this statement on the fact that less materials are used for production of these diapers. There are no standard methods or indicators, which would allow to evaluate the speed of decomposition of a commercial product, which highly depends on the environmental factors: air temperature, precipitation, bacteria. In our opinion, any statements about “faster” decomposition are rather advertising ticks than objective statements based on the facts.
What materials are used in production of the Japanese diapers?
Top layer is made of felt gentle microfiber textile.
Inner absorbing layer is made of palm wood fibers whitened by the use of bleachless technology and polymeric superabsorbent granules.
Outer layer is made of air permeable impregnated non-woven textile and/or polyolephine film.
Stickers and the adhesive tape is also made of air permeable/perforated polyolephine, for the elastics – synthetic or natural rubber is used.
Every manufacturer has its own technological secrets, however the common unique feature of MOONY, MERRIES and GOO.N diapers is the quality and ecological purity of the materials. In order to avoid allergic reactions, coloring agents are used in moderation only in a top layer, and they contain no fragrances or lotions altogether (only GOO.N inner layer is enriched with vitamin E).
