What is Non-Woven?

Non-Woven fabrics are flat, flexible, porous sheet structures that are produced by interlocking layers or networks of fibers, filaments, or film-like filamentary structures. They generally fall into two categories depending on end use: disposable or durable-and provides the basis for a wide variety of consumer, industrial, and healthcare products used around the world.

Disposable end uses of Non-Woven account for around 60% of total Non-Woven fabric consumption in the US and Japan (around 50% in Europe), and durable the remainder. Disposable uses include all those in which the Non-Woven product is disposed of after limited use, such as diaper fabric, medical fabric, wet wipes and face masks. Durable uses are, as the name implies, those in which the fabric has a longer lifespan, such as roofing textiles, automotive fabrics and clothing interlinings.

The Non-Woven industry has its roots in wartime Europe, where rudimentary Non-Woven technologies such as needle punching, stitch bonding and wet laying were used to manufacture apparel, medical supplies and blankets cheaply and quickly. In the 1970s, the introduction of polypropylene and polyester fibers to the Non-Woven industry allowed producers to manufacture fabric without the need for expensive chemical binders and to find major new markets for such dry laid, thermally-bonded Non-Woven.

Definition of a Non-Woven

Types of Textile Non-Woven manufacturing