Cotton pad
Cotton pads are pads made of cotton which are used for medical or cosmetic purposes.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> For medical purposes, cotton pads are used to stop or prevent bleeding from minor punctures such as injections or venipuncture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They may be secured in place with tape. Cotton pads are also used in the application and the removal of makeup.<ref name=":0" /> Cotton pads are soft enough that they can be used to clean babies.<ref name=":0" /> Cotton balls have much of the same applications as cotton pads, and can be used interchangeably Template:Fact.
HistoryEdit
Use of cotton for sanitary purposes likely dates back to its domestication. There is evidence that toilet paper, made in part of cotton and/or other plant fibers such as hemp,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was used at least as early as 589 AD in China.<ref>Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1, Paper and Printing. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.</ref>Template:Efn Cotton balls have been used for applying gold leaf since at least as far back as 1801. An artists' manual from that year recommends using a "squirrel's tail, or cotton ball" to press the gold leaf into place.<ref>The Artist's Assistant, Swinnery & Hawkins, Birmingham, 1801; page 260.</ref> There is some evidence that they were being mass produced as far back as 1816, namely an advertisement taken out of the New York Evening Post by Palmer, Nichols & Co. for many different kinds of fabric and products made of cotton which lists "Cotton Balls" as an item for sale.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1891 The Laredo Times ran a story about women who put cotton balls in their cheeks to make themselves appear less thin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An 1898 patent by Jerome B. Dillon for a new type of umbilical bandage used an "antiseptic, absorbent cotton pad" to carry out its function.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
In 1937, Joseph A. Voss invented a machine which unraveled rolls of cotton and cut them at a fixed interval into cotton pads,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> starting the widespread consumption of cotton balls and pads. Companies producing cotton balls took out ads in newspapers as early as 1948 to promote their uses to the public.<ref name=":0" /> In 1965, the Opelousas Daily World reported that the sanitary cotton industry in the United States was worth US$60 million (US$460.4 million in 2016 CPI-adjusted dollars).<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> Around this time, there was industry concern that sanitary products using nylon, labeled as cotton balls, were going to crowd out cotton balls actually containing cotton, harming cotton-exporting regions.<ref name=":1" /> In 1986, Johnson & Johnson, a manufacturer of cotton balls, published advertisements stating that "doctors advise" cotton balls over "synthetic puffs".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2015, Template:Ill, a supermarket and chain store trade magazine, estimated that combined sales of cotton balls and pads in the United States were US$177.7 million for the year 2014,<ref name=":4">Template:Cite journal</ref> down from US$343.1 million in 1999.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite journal</ref> The change could be due to increases of sales of cheaper store brands: in 1999, only 50.1% of sold cotton balls were store branded,<ref name=":5" /> versus 83.7% in 2016.<ref name=":4" /> The top three cotton ball brands in the United States in 2016 were Swisspers (manufactured by U.S. Cotton), Swiss Beauty (U.S. Cotton),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Cotton Cloud (Wabbit, Inc.).<ref name=":4" />