Exfoliation and Deep Cleaning

These thermoformed plastic surfaces are used to clean, exfoliate and exercise cutaneous tissues while exercising subcutaneous tissues to improve body shape and appearance.

The surface are formed with warm-to-touch soft grippy plastic and are shaped to provide: 

• a matrix of raised springy rubbing pads each with a surrounding scraping edge for exfoliating dead flakes of keratin from the skin during rubbing and
• an labyrinth that runs beneath the rubbing pads into which exfoliation debris is collected and stored away from the cleaned surface, and simultaneously during sliding,
• each rubbing pad provides a stretch/squeeze action that sequentially stretches pores open and forces cleaning fluid into tiny helical sweat ducts and hair follicles on the skin, followed by a squeezing action that squeezes the fluid back out together with released dirt and sebum as the tool slides over the skin - as illustrated below:

   The cross section view in the top left schematic diagram shows cleaning fluid stored and dispensed through a porous plastic rubbing face. The skin pores are notionally shown 0.5mm deep and spaced 1mm apart.

  Upon pressing and sliding in the direction of the arrow, the pores under the pads are stretched open and pressurised cleaning fluid is forced into each pore. As sliding progresses the pores between the pads are squeezed to force out softened dirt.

The last diagram compares the skin before and during rubbing/sliding, showing a wave like action that moves across the skin.

In the schematic diagram above the protrusions are shown facing downwards whereas in the photograph below of an actual surface the rubbing pads are facing upwards.

Although this surface may feel slightly scratchy in use, the scrapping edge is not hard enough to cut the skin, rather it is of an ideal stiffness to vigorously scrape off the flakes of dead keratin thereby speeding up exfoliation. Note how the sunken labyrinth surrounds each rubbing pad to facilitate collection of scraped off keratin flakes and expelled dirt, keeping it removed from the cleaned skin surface. After use the labyrinth is cleaned by flushing with clean warm water. The surface may be sterilized by wiping with an alcohol hand hygiene gel.

The pad surface illustrated above is similar to the surface used for our cellulite treatment tools. However the sliding conditions differ because for cleaning we use a surfactant (soapy) cleaning lotion that acts as a lubricant and gives smooth sliding, whereas for cellulite treatment only clean warm water is used and the water acts in the reverse of a lubricant and causes a pronounced stick-slip action that generates shock waves by first gripping and storing energy then slipping and releasing energy, the released energy driving pressure waves through the skin to stress and dislodge adipose material under the skin.

Click here for more information on cellulite treatment

for more information email: info8@tribtech.com

The TribTech name derives from  "tribos" - Greek for 'rubbing'. 'TribTech' is a trade name used by Ball Burnishing Machine Tools Ltd. Registered Office 12 Brookmans Av. Hatfield, Herts. AL9 7QJ. United Kingdom;  Company Reg. No. 1408807, VAT Reg. No. 421 6210 04; a knowledge based company that develops, patents and licenses technology based on aspects of  tribology, the science of surfaces. All rights reserved by Ball Burnishing Machine Tools Ltd. Last modified:  31-Oct-2011 copyright © 1999/2011. The information and data provided herein should be considered generally representative for the tools and technologies described. In all cases users should carefully evaluate the tools and technologies to determine their suitability for a particular purpose.