Hydroentanglement is a bonding process for wet or dry fibrous webs made by either

carding Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving su ...

, airlaying or wet-laying, the resulting bonded fabric being a

nonwoven Nonwoven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing industry to denote fabri ...

. It uses fine, high pressure jets of water which penetrate the web, hit the conveyor belt (or "wire" as in

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

conveyor) and bounce back causing the fibres to entangle. Hydroentanglement is sometimes known as spunlacing, this term arising because the early nonwovens were entangled on conveyors with a patterned weave which gave the nonwovens a lacy appearance. It can also be regarded as a two-dimensional equivalent of

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

fibres into yarns prior to

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

. The water pressure has a direct bearing on the gsm, and strength of the web, and very high pressures not only entangle but can also split fibres into micro- and nano-fibres which give the resulting hydroentangled nonwoven a leatherlike or even silky texture. This type of nonwoven can be as strong and tough as woven fabrics made from the same fibres.

Composition

Different types of

staple length A staple fiber is a textile fiber of discrete length. The opposite is a filament fiber, which comes in continuous lengths. Staple length is a characteristic fiber length of a sample of staple fibers. It is an essential criterion in yarn spinning ...

fibers Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

and blends can be used in hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics.

Polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

and cellulosic (regenerated cellulosic fibers such as viscose)

blend A blend is a mixture of two or more different things or substances; e.g., a product of a mixer or blender. Blend Blend may also refer to: * Blend word, a word formed from parts of other words * ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans * Bl ...

is most commonly used in these fabrics.

Characteristics

The spun-lace fabrics have variable thickness and properties since they are produced by varying processing parameters such as waterjet pressure, delivery speed, web mass and web composition. Primarily these fabrics are water absorbent and holds many other properties like water retention, water vapor permeability and capillary. They are lightweight , soft, flexible and silky texture. They are disposable and affordable than peers.

Use

They are suitable for many types of

wet wipes A wet wipe, also known as a wet towel or a moist towelette, disposable wipe, disinfecting wipe, or a baby wipe (in specific circumstances) is a small to medium-sized moistened piece of plastic or cloth that either comes folded and individually ...

, kitchen wipes and aprons. By altering physical properties with lamination, coating, etc. these fabrics offer variety of products suitable in use of hygiene care and

medical textiles Medical textiles are various fiber-based materials intended for medical purposes. Medical textile is a sector of technical textiles that focuses on fiber-based products used in health care applications such as prevention, care, and hygiene. The s ...

for instance sanitary napkins,

baby wipes An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

, face masks and range of medical gowns used as a part of PPE.

References

Bibliography

* *{{Cite book, title = Handbook of Technical Textiles, last1 = Horrocks, first1 = Richard A., last2 = Annex, first2 = Brian H., publisher = Elsevier, year = 2000, isbn = 9781855738966 , pages = 150–151 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBGkAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 Textiles Textile techniques Nonwoven fabrics