'Perforation innovation': Cape plant produces new type of Charmin rolls

The Procter & Gamble plant in Cape Girardeau was at the forefront in manufacturing a new kind of toilet paper.

"For the first time in over 100 years, we're redefining (toilet paper) as people know it," Gregg Weaver, a senior scientist at Procter & Gamble, told the Southeast Missourian.

The new "Smooth Tear" Charmin Ultra Soft design features wavy, scalloped edges. Weaver said this allows them to tear easier and without leaving fringes.

The new design was rolled onto the market nationwide the week of Oct. 1.

"This innovation took us well over five years to perfect," Weaver added. "We figured out the physics pretty quickly, it was really implementing it on our machines and our lines. Cape Girardeau is one of our paper plants, so we had to spend some time there getting these lines efficient to create the cuts and run at speeds."

Going forward, all Charmin Ultra Soft paper will feature this design. Other Charmin products will continue to use straight-edge perforations.

The paper is unchanged from its previous iteration aside from the shape of the cut.

"This was all a perforation innovation, but quite frankly that was enough to work on," Weaver said.

Every machine that makes Ultra Soft toilet paper nationwide had to be redesigned for the new product, including the ones at the Cape Girardeau plant. Even a tooth out of line can lead to tears when creating the product, something Weaver said he hoped to avoid.

In addition to Charmin toilet paper, the Cape Girardeau plant produces Bounty paper towels, Pampers diapers and Luvs diapers. The plant's website said it is one of the largest Procter & Gamble facilities in the United States.

Plant personnel were reached for additional comments but had not responded by presstime.