Investigation of the Influence of Washing on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Polymer Materials for Bandages

An elastic bandage or tensor bandage is widely known as a flexible medical device made of polymer materials. It is usually made of cotton and reinforced with elastic yarns. Depending on the therapy and clinical picture, elastic bandages are used for compression treatment and as support bandages. The aim of this work was to carry out a washing process and investigate its influence on the physical-mechanical properties of elastic bandages. The washing process was carried out at 40 °C with 25, 50, 60, and 70 wash cycles using Autowash 311L. The elastic bandages were subjected to a tensile load. The tensile strength, elongation, elasticity, and structural properties of the elastic bandages were determined. The results of the elongation show that the values increase with the wash cycles (in standard soap) and decrease after 70 cycles (in standard soap without phosphate). The tensile strength values are highest after 25 wash cycles. The results of the cyclic elasticity measurements show that the elastic bandages do not lose their elongation properties after the first cycle. After the second to fifth cycle, the samples do not return to their original or almost original dimensions when the tensile load is stopped. In addition, an analysis of the data from the 3D leg scanning and an approximation of the compression of the bandages was performed. The circularity and compression values after 60 washes remain within the limits in which the compression bandage can fulfill the compression function.