Highlights

Sharpness is likely the most important quality of a needle.

When engineering Kiwami Needles it was decided that those would have stronger walls as that allows for greater sharpness.

It goes without saying that our needles are subjected to rigorous quality control.

Penetration test is conducted in accordance with the procedure for DIN 13097 where the needle is penetrated into a 10 mm diameter polyurethane film (0.3 – 0.4 mm) at the speed of 100 mm/min to observe the resistance value.

When results have been directly compared to other brands of reputation in the piercing world it was confirmed that we have exceeded in being able to provide higher sharpness and less deviation in the results, thus affording you the same consistency in your work.

Kiwami needles are made of stainless steel, an alloy with the ability of naturally forming an oxide film on its surface when in presence of oxygen. In a way, this particular phenomenon is what gives stainless steel its unique resistance characteristic.

The protective film, made of chromium oxide, is merely 1 to 3 nm thick and protects the underlaying metal from corrosion; this oxide film is also called “passivation film”.

This film will repair itself by reacting with the surrounding oxygen even when it becomes partially damaged, making the alloy more resistant to rust. However, under a certain environment, its reformation fails, resulting in corrosion.

Our needles undergo an acid treatments during the final cleaning process in order to enhance passivation.

The corrosion evaluation method is conducted in accordance with ISO 9626 standard, where the stainless steel is soaked in 0.5 mol/L sodium chloride solution for 7 hours at 23℃±2℃; at the end of the process, the corrosion will be observed and evaluated with a magnifying glass or microscope.

Our needles are silicone coated.

Silicone is a polymer with a siloxane chain made of silicon and oxygen atoms (≡Si-O-Si≡) as its backbone and it has excellent properties in terms of thermal stability, weather resistance, electrical insulation and chemical stability.

We use Dow Corning Medical Grade MDX4-4159 silicone; which is widely utilized in many medical equipment and by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The lubricant is applied to the surface of the needles in order to create a low friction layer; thus minimizing the effects of skin penetration.

The coating process is executed in a cleanroom and it consists of three stages where needles are first immersion coated, then air blown and eventually dried.

After its application, the coating undergo a visual inspection, followed by the needles’ penetration test.

Manufacturing is made in a facility that also produces needles for the medical industry.

Even packaging is handled with a level of care above and beyond the rest.

Cleanliness is maintained with a strict set of protocols: before a person can enter the class 7 clean room where those are inspected and packed, they must change their shoes to dedicated sandals, thoroughly sanitize their hands, wear a clean lab coat, gloves, hair cap, face mask; then pass through an air shower room to remove any stray particles and eventually enter the clean room which is equipped with air filters and a particle counter.

Prior to packaging, all needles are inspected by both machines and expert quality control personnel.

At the end of their manufacturing process the needles are packaged in containers that are specially designed to maintain the high standard of cleanliness in which they were created. The same packaging is also intended to safely withstand long transportation.