«Cotton Wool»

The development of «Bruns’s cotton wool» around 1865 was a milestone in dry wound treatment. The German surgeon Viktor von Bruns succeeded in degreasing and bleaching cotton fibers to make them more absorbent. Industrial-scale production of this hygienic and antiseptic dressing began in 1971 in Schaffhausen at the «Internationale Verbandstoff-Fabrik Schaffhausen (IVF)» company founded by Heinrich Theophil Bäschlin, the first factory of its kind in the world. In the following years, a comprehensive range of adhesive bandages and feminine hygiene products were added to the assortment. Today, every medicine cabinet and first-aid kit contains absorbent cotton wool products for wound care and personal hygiene.