**3.2. Material and structure**

Nonwoven used for padding is developed either via needle-punching or thermal-bonding process. Needle-punched technology is where the entanglement of fibres is achieved via mechanical punching using needle beds. In thermal-bonding process, heat is used for the bonding of fibrous web. The fibres used for nonwoven padding is either single-component fibres (polyester, polypropylene, viscose, or cotton) or blend of fibres (polyester/viscose, polyolefin/viscose or polyester/cotton) in the structure [29]. In addition to nonwoven structure, the foam materials are also used as padding. The material used for foam padding is polyur‐ ethane and the common structure is open cell foam. Polyurethane foam materials have the advantage of not adhering to the wound or surrounding skin, which makes them attractive when treating fragile skin often found in the elderly [34]. Also these polyurethane materials absorb wound drainage four times more than hydrocolloid dressings of similar sizes. Foam dressings are usually supplied as square pads of different sizes with steep edges. Hybrid structure can also be used as padding [30]. Laminating foams on the woven or knitted structure are being commercially used. Also, the combination of nonwoven and open cell elastic foam is also found where the foam is laminated on the filament-reinforced nonwoven.
