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Non-woven fabrics: manufacture and web formation sheet
10-mark answer frame

Describe the manufacture of non-woven fabrics and their uses.

How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.

  1. 1 · Open in two lines. Non-woven fabrics are made directly from fibres or filaments formed into a web and bonded, without spinning, weaving or knitting.
  2. 2 · Draw the flow chart. [Flow chart: fibres or polymer → web formation → bonding → finishing → non-woven fabric]
  3. 3 · Fibre preparation. Fibres are opened, cleaned and blended; for spun-laid and melt-blown webs, polymer is melted instead.
  4. 4 · Web formation.
    • Parallel-laid: strong lengthwise.
    • Cross-laid: better across.
    • Random-laid (air or wet): equal in all directions.
    • High-velocity sprayed: fine melt-blown or spun-laid webs.
  5. 5 · Bonding.
    • Mechanical: needle punching, water jets, stitch-bonding.
    • Chemical: adhesive binders.
    • Thermal: heat-melted fibres.
  6. 6 · Finishing. Calendering, printing, coating and cutting to size.
  7. 7 · Daily-life link. Masks, caps, gowns and wipes in hospitals and food units; tea bags and filters in the kitchen.
  8. 8 · Close in one line. Fast, cheap and versatile, non-wovens now serve everything from surgery to road building.

Scoring tip: Name all four web-formation methods from the syllabus by their exact names; they are the scoring core.