Cotton swab used for cosmetic or medical purposes or for body care

Abstract

A cotton swab used for cosmetic or medical purposes or for body care, comprises a stick, at least one end of which is provided with a fiber material forming a cotton head, the fiber material comprising microstaple fibers that are at least 7 mm long.

1 - 18 . (canceled)  
   
   
       19 . A cotton swab for cosmetic or medical purposes or for body care, the swab comprising: 
 a stick; and    a fiber material forming a cotton head at at least one end of the stick, the fiber material comprising micro staple fibers of at least 7 mm in length.    
   
   
       20 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein the micro staple fibers are polyester (PES) or viscose fibers.  
   
   
       21 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein a portion of micro staple fibers compared to a mass of said fiber material is 3 to 50 weight %.  
   
   
       22 . The cotton swab of  claim 21 , wherein a portion of micro staple fibers compared to a mass of said fiber material is 5 to 30 weight %.  
   
   
       23 . The cotton swab of  claim 22 , wherein a portion of micro staple fibers compared to a mass of said fiber material is 5 to 20 weight %.  
   
   
       24 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein said fiber material additionally comprises up to 97 weight % of cotton fibers.  
   
   
       25 . The cotton swab of  claim 24 , wherein said fiber material additionally comprises up to 60 to 97 weight % of cotton fibers.  
   
   
       26 . The cotton swab of  claim 25 , wherein said fiber material additionally comprises up to 70 to 95 weight % of cotton fibers.  
   
   
       27 . The cotton swab of  claim 24 , wherein said cotton fibers are cotton noils.  
   
   
       28 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein said fiber material comprises thermally meltable binding fibers.  
   
   
       29 . The cotton swab of  claim 28 , wherein a portion of said thermally meltable binding fibers compared to a mass of said fiber material is 5 to 20 weight %.  
   
   
       30 . The cotton swab of  claim 29 , wherein a portion of said thermally meltable binding fibers compared to a mass of said fiber material is 5 to 15 weight %.  
   
   
       31 . The cotton swab of  claim 28 , wherein said thermally meltable binding fibers are multi-component fibers or bi-component fibers.  
   
   
       32 . The cotton swab of  claim 31 , wherein said multi-component fibers have a fiber thickness of 1.3 to 10 dtex.  
   
   
       33 . The cotton swab of  claim 32 , wherein said multi-component fibers have a fiber thickness of 1.3 to 3 dtex.  
   
   
       34 . The cotton swab of  claim 31 , wherein said multi-component fibers have a fiber length of 3 to 60 mm.  
   
   
       35 . The cotton swab of  claim 28 , wherein said binding fibers are copoly ester (CO-PES)/polyester (PES) bi-component fibers.  
   
   
       36 . The cotton swab of  claim 31 , wherein a melting point of said thermally meltable binding fibers or of a low melting component of said multi-component fibers is lower than a melting point of said micro staple fibers.  
   
   
       37 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein a removal resistance of said fiber material from said end of said stick is larger than 30N.  
   
   
       38 . The cotton swab of  claim 37 , wherein a removal resistance of said fiber material from said end of said stick is larger than 40N.  
   
   
       39 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein a sinking duration of said fiber material in an aqueous solution is at least 3 seconds.  
   
   
       40 . The cotton swab of  claim 39 , wherein a sinking duration of said fiber material in an aqueous solution is at least 3.4 seconds.  
   
   
       41 . The cotton swab of  claim 40 , wherein a sinking duration of said fiber material in an aqueous solution is at least 4 seconds.  
   
   
       42 . The cotton swab of  claim 40 , wherein a sinking duration of said fiber material in an aqueous solution is at least 4.5 seconds.  
   
   
       43 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein a water retaining capacity of said fiber material is at least 21 g/g (g liquid per g fiber material).  
   
   
       44 . The cotton swab of  claim 43 , wherein a water retaining capacity of said fiber material is at least 23 g/g (9 liquid per g fiber material).  
   
   
       45 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein said fiber material contains a softener.  
   
   
       46 . The cotton swab of  claim 19 , wherein said fiber material forming said cotton head is produced from a fiber fleece or a fiber fleece strip having a specific weight of 0.5 to 8 g/m.  
   
   
       47 . The cotton swab of  claim 46 , wherein said fiber material forming said cotton head is produced from a fiber fleece or a fiber fleece strip having a specific weight of 1 to 2 g/m.  
   
   
       47 . The cotton swab of  claim 46 , wherein said fiber fleece or the fiber fleece strip is a card fleece which is oriented in a machine direction.