What Is Nonwoven Fabric? How It's Made, What It's Made Of, and Where It's Used

Nonwoven fabric is a sheet made directly from fibers that are bonded together mechanically, thermally or chemically, instead of being woven or knitted from yarn. The ISO 9092 definition, which the nonwovens association EDANA follows, describes an engineered, mainly flat fibrous assembly held together by physical or chemical bonding, and it leaves out weaving, knitting and papermaking. Because both the fiber and the bonding route can be chosen, one family of materials covers soft face towels, low-lint wipers, filter media and fluid barriers.

This guide is written for brand owners, importers, distributors and institutional buyers who need to read a nonwoven spec sheet. It explains what nonwoven fabric is made of, how it is made, where it is used, where it falls short, and which spec lines matter, using Graminton products as worked examples. For a side-by-side comparison of spunlace, spunbond and meltblown, see the fabric types guide.

Woven fabric interlaces two sets of yarn, the warp and the weft, at right angles. Knitted fabric pulls one yarn through itself in rows of interlocking loops. Nonwoven fabric skips yarn altogether: the sheet is built straight from loose fibers or continuous filaments and then bonded, so the building block is the fiber itself rather than a spun thread.

For a buyer, the practical difference is how each fabric is specified. A woven or knitted fabric is chosen by yarn and weave, while a nonwoven is chosen by fiber blend, web construction and basis weight. Two nonwovens that look alike can behave very differently: one is made to wipe a machine part clean, another to hold a liquid barrier under a bib. That is why nonwoven product pages list fiber, construction and weight rather than a thread count.

Two materials sit near the boundary. Paper is also a sheet of fibers, but the ISO definition leaves papermaking out, and the difference shows once the sheet gets wet (see the paper question in the FAQ). Felt is closer: needle-punched felt is bonded the same way many nonwovens are, which is why most industry usage counts it as a nonwoven (also covered in the FAQ).

Nonwoven fabric is made of staple fibers, which are cut to short lengths, or of continuous filaments that are extruded and laid down without cutting. The fibers come from three sources: synthetic polymers such as polypropylene and polyester, regenerated cellulose such as viscose (rayon) and lyocell, and natural fibers such as wood pulp and cotton. Many finished products blend two or more, so one fiber absorbs while another adds strength.

Neither natural nor synthetic fibers are better across the board; the right choice depends on the job. Most products blend them. In NK9101 face towels and BU8109 tissues, the cellulose fiber absorbs while polyester keeps the sheet intact when wet. The fiber also explains how polypropylene oil absorbent pads work: PP takes up oil and sheds water, so oil-only pads pick up oil and leave water behind.

A product name describes the feel, not always the fiber. BU8109 Premium Cotton-Soft Tissues are named for a cotton-soft touch, but the fibers are rayon and polyester. The fiber line on the spec sheet or the pack is the one to go by.

Nonwoven fabric is made in two steps: first a loose web of fibers is formed, then the web is bonded into a sheet, and many products get a finishing step afterward. The nonwovens association EDANA explains how nonwovens are made in more detail; the short version is:

How fine the fibers are and how the web is bonded decide how the sheet feels, how strong it is, how much it sheds, and how well it blocks or filters. The sections below follow the constructions behind the products named in this guide.

Spunlace (hydroentangled)

Spunlace starts with a web of staple fibers. Rows of fine, high-pressure water jets drive the fibers around each other until they lock together, with no binder. The result is soft and cloth-like, absorbs quickly when it contains cellulose, and stays low-lint because the fibers are tightly entangled; what low-lint means on a wipe label is covered in a separate guide.

Graminton spunlace products include NK9101 face towels, BU8109 cotton-soft tissues, MB9201 / MB8206 and MB8201 baby dry wipes, LGK3 / LGK5 cleanroom wipes (their product pages list low lint among the SGS items), L7209 cleaning cloths and NK8206 towels. For fibers, patterns and specs, see how spunlace is made and specified.

Airlaid

Airlaid uses very short fibers, mostly wood pulp, that an air stream lays onto a moving belt. The web is then bonded with a binder or with heat-fusible fibers. Airlaid sheets are lofty and thick, hold a lot of liquid, and feel softer than paper of the same weight. Graminton airlaid products blend plant fibers with polyester: wood pulp in the L7101 / L9150 multi-task cleaning cloths, NK8201 thick long face towels and MB8202 ultra-thick baby dry wipes, and viscose in the NK8202 soft long face towels. The NK8201 thick long face towels show the typical bulk.

Spunbond

Spunbond is made from polymer rather than cut fibers. Molten polymer is extruded into continuous filaments, drawn, laid down as a web and usually bonded by heated calender rolls, which leave a visible dot pattern. Spunbond is light, strong for its weight and breathable. NK7301 crosscut bed sheets and NK8301 face rest covers are polyester spunbond, and their product pages describe them as a sanitary barrier. LF025 / LF035 / LF050 filter paper is also polyester spunbond, used to filter solid particles from the liquid or gas in metal and non-metal processing, with a temperature resistance of about 80 °C.

Meltblown

Meltblown also starts from molten polymer, but high-speed hot air stretches it through fine nozzles into much finer fibers, which bond to each other as they land. The web is dense, with small pores and a large fiber surface, so it suits filtration, barrier layers and absorbing oil and ink. It is weaker, which is why it is often sandwiched between spunbond layers. In one sentence: spunbond’s continuous filaments give strength, and meltblown’s ultra-fine fibers give filtration.

GhealthCare medical masks use a melt-blown middle layer, and their product pages list verification to CNS 14774, Taiwan’s national standard for medical face masks, with a bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of at least 95%. L7207 / L8138 power cleaning cloths are polyester meltblown and low-lint; they resist acids and bases and can be used with solvents and alcohol on machine parts, engine assembly and repair, LCD panel assembly, printing and glass. For the mechanics, see how spunbond and meltblown layers differ.

SMS and film laminates

SMS stands for spunbond-meltblown-spunbond: the outer spunbond layers carry the strength and the meltblown core provides the barrier. SMMS and SMMMS add more meltblown layers. The GhealthCare SMS Drape is listed in SMS, SMMS and SMMMS constructions, 100 to 320 cm wide, in blue or white, and is supplied non-sterile; see SMS, aperture and towel drapes for how drapes are specified. Film laminates reach a barrier another way. HC8401 dental bibs are wood pulp fibers with a PE film, and the NK8306 Soft Waterproof Bed Sheet is spunlace with a PE film: the top layer absorbs, and the film underneath stops liquid.

Needle-punched, thermal-bonded and wetlaid webs

Needle-punching drives barbed needles through a thick web again and again until the fibers lock, giving a dense, felt-like fabric used for geotextiles, padding and dust-collection felts. Thermal-bonded staple webs, bonded with hot air or heated rolls, are light and soft. Wetlaid webs are formed from a dilute slurry of fibers on a screen, much like paper. The fabric types guide linked above compares these routes side by side.

Nonwoven fabric is used in face masks, sheet mask substrates, cotton pads, wet and dry wipes, diapers, industrial wipers, surgical gowns and drapes, and filter media. Buyers usually work backward from the finished product, because the job the fabric has to do decides the construction. The table maps common jobs to constructions; for nonwoven supplies organized by industry, start from the solutions pages.

Medical and clinical supplies

In clinics and hospitals, nonwovens mostly do barrier and filtration work: the meltblown middle layer of a medical mask, SMS in surgical drapes, and PE film laminates in dental bibs, which absorb on top and stop seepage underneath. Each is a construction choice more than a fiber choice. For layer-by-layer detail, see what medical masks are made of. Medical products are regulated differently from market to market, so check the rules that apply to you.

Salons, spas and treatment rooms

Treatment rooms use light spunbond for crosscut bed sheets and face rest covers, spunlace and airlaid for face towels, and NK8207 spa towels in viscose/rayon and polyester for hair and body. The choice usually comes down to roll or single-sheet format, weight, and whether a film-backed layer is needed. See disposable bed sheets and face rest covers for formats and how to choose disposable face towels for towels.

Baby and personal care

Baby and personal care products lean on cellulose blends for softness and absorbency. G Bear baby dry wipes come in spunlace (MB9201 / MB8206 and MB8201) and airlaid (MB8202) versions; the BU8110 Premium Cotton Pad is cotton and rayon, and BU8109 cotton-soft tissues are rayon and polyester. For formats, counts and pack choices, see sourcing baby dry wipes.

Industrial, food and cleanroom wiping

Wiping in factories, food service and cleanrooms covers the widest range of constructions. LICK wipers include L7209 cleaning cloths (wood pulp and polyester spunlace), L7101 multi-task cloths (airlaid) and L7207 / L8138 power cleaning cloths (meltblown); LGK cleanroom wipes are low-lint spunlace; LD oil absorbents are polypropylene; and LF filter paper is spunbond. The right wiper depends on what is being wiped and with which solvent; see disposable industrial wipers by industry.

Nonwovens are chosen for what they can be engineered to do, and they have real limits. Both sides matter when you match a fabric to a product.

Advantages

Limitations

A nonwoven product spec sheet lists the lines that decide how the product performs and what it costs per use. These are the lines to compare, with examples from Graminton product pages:

Basis weight is the mass of one square meter of fabric, written as g/m² or gsm. The same 80 × 180 cm crosscut bed sheet, 50 sheets per roll, comes in 25, 30 or 40 gsm, and two products that look alike often differ in price because of weight, not only fiber. For typical ranges and how it is measured, see how to choose a basis weight. Numbers only compare when they come from the same test method.

Documents that typically support these lines include the material declaration, the product spec sheet with tolerances, and third-party reports for restricted substances. Graminton product pages list the SGS test items for the SKUs that carry them, and the report for a specific SKU is available on request.

Buyers searching for a nonwoven manufacturer usually need one of two things: bulk fabric in rolls, for factories that cut, laminate and assemble their own products, or finished products such as masks, wipers, towels and dry wipes, for importers, distributors and brands. The two needs call for different supplier checks; this guide to sourcing finished nonwoven products from Taiwan walks through both.

Graminton’s work is the integrated application of nonwovens: matching fiber, process and construction to each finished product, and documenting every SKU with its material, specification and test items. The products named in this guide sit across LICK industrial wiping, GhealthCare medical supplies, NIKITA salon disposables, and G Bear and Gbuuty baby and facial care, and they are made in Taiwan. Browse Graminton’s full nonwoven product range by brand.

Nonwoven, non-woven, or non woven: which spelling is correct?

All three refer to the same material. Nonwoven (one word) is the industry-standard spelling used by trade associations and technical literature, and it is the form Merriam-Webster lists; non-woven with a hyphen is common in British usage and product catalogs; the spaced form non woven appears mostly in casual search. The plural, nonwovens or non wovens, names the whole material class. Whichever spelling you use, the definition of non woven fabric is the same: a fabric made by bonding fibers directly, without weaving or knitting, into sheets or webs.

Is nonwoven fabric plastic?

It depends on the fiber. Polypropylene and polyester are synthetic polymers, while viscose/rayon, lyocell, wood pulp and cotton are cellulose-based, and many products blend both. LD oil absorbent pads are polypropylene, BU8109 tissues are rayon and polyester, L7101 cloths are wood pulp and polyester, and the BU8110 cotton pad is cotton and rayon. Claims about how a product breaks down after disposal belong to a tested finished product, not to the word nonwoven; requirements vary by market, so check the rules that apply to you.

Is nonwoven fabric waterproof?

Not by default: most nonwovens are porous and breathable. Water resistance comes from three routes: water-repellent fibers such as polypropylene, which is why LD pads take up oil and not water; a meltblown barrier layer, as in SMS; or a laminated PE film, as in HC8401 dental bibs and HC7301 medical table paper (wood pulp fibers with PE film). A plain fabric stays breathable, and adding film trades that breathability for a liquid barrier.

Can nonwoven fabric be washed and reused?

Some can. The L9151 general cleaning cloth product page describes it as reusable and washable, and L7212 is listed as washable for repeated use. Many hygiene and medical items are designed for one use instead: GhealthCare medical masks are labeled for one-time use and not recommended for washing or reuse. The features and precautions on the product page tell you which kind you have; the word nonwoven does not.

Is nonwoven fabric the same as paper?

No. The ISO 9092 definition of nonwovens leaves papermaking out. Paper holds together mainly through hydrogen bonds between fibers, which weaken when the sheet is rewetted, while nonwovens are bonded mechanically, thermally or chemically and hold together better when wet. Graminton’s own range shows the difference: LICK L7280 / L7282 paper towel rolls are wood pulp paper, while L7209 is a wood pulp and polyester spunlace nonwoven roll. For choosing between them, see when a paper wiper roll is enough.

Is felt a nonwoven fabric?

In most usage, yes. Felt is neither woven nor knitted, and needle-punched felt is made by locking fibers together with barbed needles, a standard nonwoven bonding method. Traditional pressed wool felt, which relies on heat, moisture and friction to mat the wool, is often classed separately in standards. The Graminton products named in this guide are spunlace, airlaid, spunbond, meltblown or SMS, not felt.