How Sanitary Pads Are Made: Process, Machines and Raw Materials

A sanitary pad is built from five parts that a machine stacks and seals in a fixed order: a soft top sheet, a layer that spreads liquid, an absorbent core of wood pulp mixed with gel-forming granules, a plastic back sheet that stops leaks, and an adhesive strip under release paper. The machine shreds the pulp, forms the core, wraps it, joins the layers with glue and heat or ultrasound, cuts the pad to shape and packs it. That is how pads are made, in a small workshop or a full factory line.

What differs between plants is how much a person still handles by hand. That choice decides how many pads you get per minute, how repeatable each pad is, and whether the pad can clear the quality tests needed to sell it in India. The sections below follow one pad through the machine, then help you pick a route.

How are pads made inside the machine, step by step?

A full line does these jobs in sequence. Smaller machines do the same jobs with more people in between, which is where variation creeps in.

1. Shred the pulp. Compressed pulp board is broken into loose fluff, the raw material of the core.
2. Form the core. The fluff is vacuum-laid into the pad shape with automatic weight control, and superabsorbent polymer (SAP) is mixed in so the core holds more liquid.
3. Press and wrap. The core is compressed to keep its shape and wrapped in tissue so fluff and SAP stay inside.
4. Add the top layers. A liquid-spreading layer and the nonwoven top sheet go on the skin side.
5. Close the back. Polyethylene film goes on the underside, bonded with hot-melt adhesive.
6. Seal the edges. Heat or ultrasonic vibration welds the layers so liquid cannot escape at the sides.
7. Cut and finish. The pad is cut to shape, then an adhesive strip and release paper go on the back.
8. Sterilise, fold and pack. Some machines add UV sterilisation before the pad is folded and counted into packs.

A 2008 research article from MANTRA, the Man Made Textiles Research Association in Surat, names SAP mixing, core weight and thickness, seal quality and wastage as the points to control. Those four are what a supplier trial should test.

What is inside a pad, and is any of it plastic?

Most disposable pads contain plastic in at least two layers: a polyethylene back sheet and, usually, a polypropylene nonwoven top sheet. The breakdown below follows the Textile Learner review of pad construction.

Every input is bought in, from nonwoven and other textile makers, film makers and pulp and SAP suppliers. A pad unit is mostly an assembly business, so margin depends on buying well and low wastage.

Hand-fed, semi-automatic or full line: which route fits a first plant?

Choose by how much you can sell in the first year, not by the line a supplier shows you.

For scale, a machine listed by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, offered in manual, semi-automatic and automatic versions, runs at 30 to 40 pads a minute. The MANTRA model assumed 350 a minute with manual packing, in 2008. Ask any supplier for a rated speed and a trial run on your own materials.

Start semi-automatic unless a bulk order is already in hand: an idle fast line still has to be paid for.

Which machines does a pad plant need?

Machine price follows rated speed, how much packing is manual and whether the machine is imported. Running cost follows wastage and the price of pulp, SAP, nonwoven and film.

Do you need a BIS licence to sell pads in India?

Under the Medical Textiles (Quality Control) Order, 2024, issued on 23 October 2024 and amended in 2025, disposable pads must carry the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Standard Mark under a licence. Pads made for export and pads made by self-help groups are outside it. Small and micro units were given later start dates than larger ones, and those dates have been revised since, so confirm today's position with BIS before buying machines.

The tests come from IS 5405. Its 2025 edition replaced the 2019 edition that the Order names, and the Order applies the latest version. Under the BIS product manual, the licensee tests each pad type for pH, strength under pressure after absorption, and bacterial and fungal count, including Staphylococcus aureus. The hygiene test repeats every quarter and whenever the raw material or supplier changes. A micro or small unit may use a recognised outside lab instead of building its own.

That is the real argument against a purely hand-fed line: records only help if every pad is made the same way.

Before you order a pad machine: five checks

1. Name your first buyer, and whether you will sell under the BIS Standard Mark or fall in an exempt category such as a self-help group or export.
2. Get a rated speed and a trial run on your own pulp, nonwoven and film from at least two machine suppliers.
3. Ask a recognised or accredited lab which tests your pad needs and how long the first round takes.
4. Collect three quotes each for pulp, SAP, nonwoven, film and release paper, and work out wastage from the trial run.
5. Put machine, material and testing costs into a feasibility study or detailed project report, which a lender will ask for. The MSME schemes page lists support open to small units.

If you are still choosing a product, the personal care manufacturing ideas page compares options, and the cosmetic manufacturing guide covers another packed personal-care product.

Frequently asked questions

Do sanitary pads contain plastic?

Yes, most disposable pads do. The back sheet is polyethylene film and the top sheet is usually polypropylene nonwoven. The core's gel-forming granules are also synthetic. The BIS standard has an optional compostability test, so some makers certify alternatives. Read the layer list on the pack rather than the front label.

Is a sanitary pad basically a diaper?

Not quite. Industry reviews group pads, baby diapers and adult incontinence products together as absorbent hygiene products. India tests and certifies them under separate standards, though: IS 5405 for pads and IS 17509 for baby diapers, both named in the same Order.

Which sanitary pads are 100% cotton?

Check the claim layer by layer. The BIS standard examines the cover, the core and the barrier sheet separately, so a 100% cotton claim has to hold for all three. In the usual construction the core is pulp with SAP and the back sheet is film, so ask the maker for a written list of what each layer is made of.

Can a pad be made by hand?

A cloth pad can be sewn by hand, and reusable pads have their own standard, IS 17514, in the same Order. A disposable pad needs sealing and cutting equipment, though manual and semi-automatic machines exist. Self-help groups are outside the Order's BIS requirement; other small sellers are not.