Ferris PolyMem Silver Cloth Island Dressing — Nano-Crystalline Silver, Breathable Cloth Backing, Self-Adhesive, Single Size

The PolyMem Silver polymeric membrane — continuously cleanses, fills, absorbs, moistens, and delivers reactive nano-crystalline silver — in a self-contained island format with a breathable, adhesive-coated cloth backing. No tape. No secondary dressing. Exceptionally comfortable against the skin. The only PolyMem Silver format with a cloth backing — specifically suited for ecchymosis, skin tears caused by friction and shear, and any infected wound presentation where patient comfort at the dressing interface is a clinical priority. Ferris PolyMem Silver Cloth Island Dressing (1766) combines the full four-component PolyMem Silver polymeric membrane formula — mild surfactant cleanser, glycerin moisturizer, superabsorbent starch co-polymer, and reactive nano-crystalline silver — with a breathable, adhesive-coated cloth outer backing that holds the dressing securely in place against the surrounding skin without tape or secondary fixation. The cloth material is soft, flexible, and highly conformable — dramatically more comfortable against the skin surface than polyurethane film adhesive dressings, particularly at edges and over body contours where film adhesives create stiff ridges. The island construction presents a 3½"×3½" PolyMem Silver active pad centered within the 6"×6" cloth adhesive border — pad to wound, border to periwound skin — in a single sterile unit. Box of 15.

✔ PolyMem Silver Polymeric Membrane — Cleanse, Fill, Absorb, Moisten + Silver    ✔ Breathable Adhesive Cloth Backing — Soft, Flexible, Comfortable    ✔ Self-Adhesive Island — No Tape or Secondary Dressing Required    ✔ Nano-Crystalline Reactive Silver — Continuous Antimicrobial Reservoir    ✔ Ideal for Ecchymosis & Skin Tears from Friction and Shear    ✔ Virtually Pain-Free Removal — Glycerin Prevents Wound Adherence    ✔ 6"×6" Total / 3½"×3½" Active Pad — Box of 15

Product Details

Indicated For — Wound Types

• Ecchymosis — bruising, contusions, and soft tissue injury where antimicrobial protection alongside PolyMem's pain and inflammation modulation is desired
• Skin tears caused by friction and shear — the cloth backing's softness and flexibility prevent the stiff-edge trauma that film-backed dressings can cause on fragile skin
• Infected or high-bioburden wounds of moderate size where a self-contained adhesive island with silver is the appropriate format
• Pressure ulcers with infection or elevated infection risk — where wound size falls within the 3½"×3½" pad coverage area
• Diabetic foot ulcers with infection risk
• Venous leg ulcers with elevated bioburden
• Surgical wounds — post-operative incisions with infection concern
• Traumatic wounds with infection risk
• First and second degree burns with infection risk
• Painful infected wounds — glycerin-based pain relief and nociceptor inhibition apply regardless of silver content
• Wounds on patients or locations where comfort at the dressing edge is a clinical priority — elderly patients, patients with sensitive skin, wounds over joints or high-motion areas where film adhesive edges would catch and irritate

Contraindications: Do not use on patients with known silver sensitivity. Not for use as sole treatment for clinically infected wounds requiring systemic antibiotic therapy. Keep dressing dry during bathing — the cloth backing is breathable but not waterproof in the way polyurethane film is.

The Cloth Backing — Why It Matters and When It Makes a Difference

Most adhesive island wound dressings use a polyurethane film outer backing with adhesive coating — the same material family used in transparent film dressings and bordered foam dressings. Film adhesive dressings are waterproof, durable, and provide an excellent bacterial barrier, but the film material has specific characteristics that create comfort challenges in certain wound presentations:

Film is dimensionally rigid — it resists folding or deforming under body movement. At the dressing border edge, where the film transitions to the skin surface, this rigidity creates a stiff perimeter that can catch against clothing, bedding, or body movement — causing edge peeling and the irritation of a hard edge repeatedly contacting skin. On sensitive, fragile, or already-irritated periwound skin — the condition most commonly found around infected wounds, skin tears, ecchymosis, and wounds on elderly patients — this stiff edge contact is a meaningful source of patient discomfort between dressing changes.

PolyMem Silver Cloth Island replaces the film border with a breathable, adhesive-coated cloth material. Cloth is soft, drapes over body contours without rigidity, and moves with the patient rather than resisting movement. The cloth border edge lies smoothly against the skin surface rather than creating a stiff ridge — eliminating the edge-catch irritation that film borders cause. The cloth is also more breathable than film at the adhesive border zone — important for periwound skin that is already compromised by infection, eczema, or venous insufficiency changes and needs adequate vapor exchange to maintain skin barrier function. For ecchymosis specifically — where the surrounding soft tissue is bruised, swollen, and highly pain-sensitive — the cloth border's soft conformability reduces periwound discomfort in a way that a film-bordered dressing cannot.

• Breathable, adhesive-coated cloth border — soft, flexible, drapes over contours without rigidity
• No stiff edge — cloth conforms to body surface and moves with patient; no edge-catch against clothing or bedding
• More comfortable on sensitive and fragile periwound skin — elderly patients, ecchymosis, skin tears
• More breathable than film at the border zone — supports periwound skin health in compromised skin
• Conforms to joint and high-motion wound sites — cloth flexibility outperforms film at elbows, knees, and curved surfaces
• Self-adhesive island construction — one-step application, no tape, no secondary dressing required

Ecchymosis and Skin Tears — PolyMem's Specific Role

Ferris specifically identifies cloth-backed PolyMem dressings as ideal for ecchymosis and skin tears caused by friction and shear. The clinical rationale extends beyond the comfort of the cloth backing to the wound biology of these two presentations:

Ecchymosis: A bruise or contusion involves extravasation of blood into soft tissue — the blue-purple discoloration reflects hemoglobin breakdown in the tissue. The underlying tissue is painful, swollen, and inflamed. PolyMem's glycerin moisturizer soothes the traumatized tissue surface, the surfactant cleanser reduces inflammatory debris at the skin surface, and the nociceptor-inhibiting pain mechanism provides documented relief of both local and systemic pain signaling associated with the contusion. When infection risk is elevated — in immunocompromised patients, in contaminated wounds, or in ecchymosis with skin break — the nano-crystalline silver provides antimicrobial protection over the compromised tissue. The cloth backing ensures maximum comfort on the hypersensitive bruised skin surface.

Skin Tears from Friction and Shear: Skin tears are partial or full-thickness wounds that separate the epidermis from the dermis — or the dermis from underlying tissue — through mechanical shear force rather than incision. They are most common in elderly patients with parchment-thin skin, and in patients on long-term corticosteroids whose skin has lost mechanical strength. The torn skin flap, if present, is viable but fragile tissue that must be preserved and repositioned, not disrupted by dressing adhesive at removal. PolyMem Silver Cloth Island is specifically appropriate for this presentation: the glycerin prevents wound adherence so the dressing lifts without disturbing the fragile flap, the surfactant supports gentle autolytic debridement of any non-viable tissue without mechanical disruption, and the nano-crystalline silver addresses the elevated infection risk that skin tears carry due to the compromised skin barrier. The cloth border's softness prevents the edge-friction trauma that film-bordered dressings can cause when applied to the already-fragile skin around a tear.

PolyMem Silver Cloth Island vs. Other PolyMem Silver Configurations

All PolyMem Silver configurations share the same nano-crystalline silver polymeric membrane formula. The choice between them is entirely format and backing:

• PolyMem Silver Cloth Island — 1766 (this product): Self-adhesive island, cloth backing, 6"×6" total / 3½"×3½" pad. One size. Best for ecchymosis, skin tears, infected wounds where no-tape convenience and cloth comfort are priorities. Not waterproof at the border.
• PolyMem Silver Non-Adhesive — 1044, 1077, 1124: No backing adhesive — cut to size, secure with tape or fixation sheet. Standard membrane thickness. Three sizes including a 4"×12.5" roll. Best when wound geometry requires custom size or roll format, and tape fixation is acceptable.
• PolyMem Max Silver Non-Adhesive — 1045, 1088: 60% thicker membrane, high MVTR film. No adhesive — cut to size. Two sizes. Best for heavily draining infected wounds where maximum absorption is needed alongside silver.

Application Instructions

1. For the first application — prepare the wound according to wound management protocol; cleanse as indicated
2. For all subsequent dressing changes — do not clean the wound or flush with saline or water; PolyMem's continuous cleansing function maintains wound bed cleanliness between changes without mechanical disruption
3. Select a dressing so that the pink membrane pad extends ¼"–½" beyond the wound margin on all sides — the 3½"×3½" pad is appropriate for wounds up to approximately 2½"–3" at their widest dimension
4. Peel the release liner from the cloth adhesive border
5. Apply the dressing with the film side of the PolyMem pad facing outward (away from the wound) — the membrane side contacts the wound bed
6. Press the cloth border firmly against the surrounding periwound skin to secure
7. Keep the dressing dry when bathing — the cloth backing is breathable but not fully waterproof; cover with a waterproof protector during showering or bathing
8. Change when the pad is 75% saturated with exudate, or when wound fluid appears at any edge of the dressing — do not wait for the pad to reach 100% saturation before changing
9. A dramatic increase in wound fluid may be observed during the first few days of use — this is expected as the PolyMem cleanser activates and draws wound fluid, debris, and bacteria from the wound bed; do not interpret increased drainage as wound deterioration

Removal: Gently lift the cloth border edge and peel the dressing from the wound — glycerin maintains non-adherent wound interface throughout wear; virtually pain-free removal even on fragile skin tear tissue. If any edge adherence is present, apply a small amount of saline to the edge before lifting.

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Questions about PolyMem Silver Cloth Island or any of our antimicrobial wound dressings? Call 1-866-218-0902 — our team is ready to help.