A strong tissue can save money and increase comfort.
Having a strong tissue is important for several reasons. Stronger tissues can do a much better job at cleaning than thinner and tear-prone tissues. This will end up saving you money when you use fewer. Stronger tissues can also be more absorbent. A few simple tests may help guide you find the best facial tissue for you. Does this Spark an idea?
Number of Plies
The number of layer or plies in a tissue is one indicator of strength. A ply is an individual sheet of tissue multiplied to make the tissue thicker. The thicker the tissue, the stronger it is to resist tear. Tissue is sold as 1 to 4 ply but ply thickness is not uniform across all brands. "Consumer Reports" magazine states the strongest tissues tend to have two plies, however some single-ply brands were able to resist to tear as well as double or four-ply brands.
Spot Wet Tests
Another method of seeing which tissue is stronger would be to take several brands and wet spot test them for strength. Gather several brands and make sure you treat each in the same manner. For example, roll off five tissue squares or pieces of each. Then for each brand, use a water dropper to wet them in several spots. You can then test for different levels of strength by putting things such as paperclips and pennies on each until they tear.
Full Immersion Tests
Perhaps the toughest test for strength would be to see how strong and tear resistant a tissue is when fully wet. Gather your tissue brands and for each, fully immerse them in water for a few seconds and then squeeze them out. Open them up fully and place them on a table for testing. Here you can test for strength by adding weight, by pulling the edges to see how long each takes to rip or by poking your fingers through the center of the tissue.
Personal Use
Ultimately the best test is your own personal use. While many people have brand loyalty it is never a good idea to use a product simply because of the name or its marketing through commercials. If you blow your nose and the product rips easily, it doesn't matter what the TV version did, it didn't work for you. Be open to try different brands. Don't be afraid of store brand or so called no name options. As reported in "Consumer Reports," many of these have the potential to stand up to the test. Use your own experiences to guide you.
Tags: Consumer Reports, resist tear, several brands, strong tissue, Stronger tissues, test strength, test your