Types of Non Woven Fabrics
There are various types of non woven fabrics available in the market. Each has their own strengths and weakness and the choice will depend on your requirement and suitability.
Based Polymer of Non Woven Material
Although many other types of polymer are used as well too, such as nylon, polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PU) and Rayons; however the most common based polymer resins used for making non woven fabric material found in the general market are:
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polyester (PET)
Production Types of Non Woven Fabrics
In general, you can find the most common products based on these two production methods:
- Spunbond Non Woven Fabric
- Thermal Bond Non Woven Fabric
Spunbond Non Woven Fabrics
Spunbond Non Woven has greater strength when comparing against the nonwoven material made from the Thermal bond process. This method of production is produced by depositing extruded, spun filaments onto a collecting belt in a uniform random manner followed by bonding of the polymer fibres. The bonding process imparts strength and integrity to the nonwoven material via the applying of heated rolls or hot needles to partially melt the polymer thus fusing the fibres together.
Spunbond Nonwoven has the characteristics of good tensile, tear strength, burst strength, good elongation to break and can withstand good stress and strain. It has good planar isotropic properties due to the random lay-down of the fibres with good fray and crease resistance.
Spunbond nonwoven uses both PP as well as PET for their base polymer. However manufacturers do not usually produce spunbond material PP and PET in their factory line. Between the two base polymer, polyester nonwoven are more priced higher due to the polymer resin chip raw material are more expensive than the PP polymer chip.
In terms of technical specification, it also meant that PET spunbond is stronger and more durable when compared with PP spunbond. Polyester also has a higher melting point of about 260°C against PP which melts around 160°C.
Where there is a requirement of oven process of the final product such as carpet underlay, PET spunbond would be consider more suitable for use. However, in the case where lower specification is required, the polypropylene spunbond would be the better choice.
Thermal Bond Non Woven Fabrics
Thermal Bonding of nonwoven was first developed in the 1940s. The thermal bonding process has the ability to combine various polymers to create interesting blends. Though the most common base polymer material for thermal bonds are using the PP or polypropylene polymer.
Thermal bond nonwoven fabrics have very soft characteristics and are best used for skin contact application such as hygiene pads and diapers. They have very long elongation giving an additional softness to the material.
However there is a limit to the thickness that can be produced using this method. At the upper limit of thickness density is about 40 grams per square meter. Even then it is very difficult to produce and most manufacturers limit themselves to 35 grams per square meter density.
