Wipe Away Confusion! New Ratings Simplify Wiper Selection

Ask anyone who’s purchased workplace wipes and they’ll tell you the selection process can be difficult. So many different brands and performance features! So many strange terms! And marketing hype can make it even more confusing.

Choosing the best wipe for a cleaning application may not be as difficult as buying a computer, but it can be confusing, too. As with computers, you encounter many different brands and performance features, plus a host of special terms: cellulose, polypropylene, binders, double re-creped cellulose, airlaid and hydroentangled. And wipe marketing sometimes overcomplicates matters with fancy names and labels. Even if you know what features you want from a wipe (durability, low lint, solvent resistance, specific packaging, etc.), you’ll often find that seemingly similar wipes can offer very different and hydroentangled. And wipe marketing sometimes overcomplicates matters with fancy names and labels. Even if you know what features you want from a wipe (durability, low lint, solvent resistance, specific packaging, etc.), you’ll often find that seemingly similar wipes can offer very different performance results.

A unified approach to performance rating

In the mid 1990s, New Pig began expanding its wipe offering to present a full line to customers. We came to realise that it can be difficult to compare wipes or know which one to choose for a particular application. Some leading wipe suppliers have a rating system for comparing their own brands of wipes, but this doesn’t help compare competing brands.

To make comparison-shopping simpler and more effective, New Pig developed a unified system for rating various brands of wipes based on performance characteristics. Within this new Performance Rating System, it’s easy to compare wipes and brands, because you don’t need to understand the technical terms of the wipe language, and because it covers all of the general-purpose wipes that New Pig offers. You can now simply choose the best wipe for your needs based on the level of performance you expect. And if you are interested in testing competing brands, you now know which ones offer similar performance.

Performance ratings

The performance ratings range from 10 to 100 based on the wipe’s strength and absorbency. Simply put, the higher the Performance Rating (PR) number, the higher the wipe’s performance. To make things even easier, we’ve placed these numbers into three basic wipe application descriptions:

1.     Heavy-Duty: Low-lint, strong and unaffected by solvents

PR100 = Provide the highest levels of abrasion and solvent resistance

PR80 = Thick, heavy-duty wipes that withstand heavy-duty jobs

PR70 = Durable wipes that are great for cleaning up oil, grime and solvents

PR60 = Economical wipes with heavy-duty cleaning power

2.     Medium-Duty: The most popular grouping – useful for a wide range of cleaning tasks

PR40 = Versatile wipes that are soft, thick and strong for most all-purpose tasks

PR35 = Ideal wipes for everyday oil, grease and water cleanup

PR30 = Economical choice for daily cleanup

3.     Light-Duty: Inexpensive for “wipe & toss” applications

PR20 = Wipes ideal for cleaning glass and tools

Choosing your wipes

You may be looking for a particular wipe by brand name. New Pig offers a wide selection of popular wipes from the Kimberly-Clark® brand, as well as DuPont™ Sontara EC® Wipes, and a variety of our own PIG brand wipes. All have been given a Performance Rating for easy cross-comparisons.

Once you zero in on a wipe that works for your application, you may also use the performance ratings in another way. Often, a wipe with a rating one step below what you currently use can be a cost-saving option that is at least worth a try. Or you may find that another brand rated the same as your current wipe (or one rating below) offers alternate packaging choices that better suit your application. On the other hand, you may have an additional operation that requires a higher-performance wipe, perhaps one that is a bit stronger or more absorbent. You can always step up a rating or two fo

Once you zero in on a wipe that works for your application, you may also use the performance ratings in another way. Often, a wipe with a rating one step below what you currently use can be a cost-saving option that is at least worth a try. Or you may find that another brand rated the same as your current wipe (or one rating below) offers alternate packaging choices that better suit your application. On the other hand, you may have an additional operation that requires a higher-performance wipe, perhaps one that is a bit stronger or more absorbent. You can always step up a rating or two for that particular need.

And, hey! Once you’ve found your favourite wipe, maybe you can use it to wipe the dust off that computer that was so hard to choose!

Find out more

New Pig provide a comprehensive range of Wipes from our online shop. Or why not give us a call on 0800 919 900.