These days, all you have to do to keep minor cuts and scrapes clean and dry when you hit the water at the beach or pool is put on a BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandage.
But this wasn’t an option until 1932, when Johnson & Johnson released the DryBak bandage, the first BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandage designed to guard against water.
DryBak bandages featured a new-for-its-time waterproof coating made of a strong adhesive that would not curl up or become soggy when it came in contact with H2O.
They also featured a unique new shape that was narrower in width than previous BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandages, so they fit well around fingers, and were less likely to fall off busy hands.
Listening to what people wanted was the genesis for a lot of our products. The company has a long history of identifying unmet needs and meeting them—and DryBak is a great example of that.
Company historian Margaret Gurowitz believes the product was inspired by feedback Johnson & Johnson received from consumers and medical professionals.
“Listening to what people wanted was the genesis for a lot of our products,” she explains. “The company has a long history of identifying unmet needs and meeting them—and DryBak is a great example of that.”
The “DryBak” name has since been retired, but the company sells waterproof BAND-AID® Brand adhesive bandages to this day. This year, the brand also introduced Skin-Flex™ adhesive bandages, made with innovative touch screen-friendly material that dries almost instantly.
