What is nonwoven fabric?

You see "nonwoven" on everything from face masks to tea bags. But you don't really know what it is, making it hard to choose the right material for your product.

Nonwoven fabric is a material made from fibers bonded together by heat, chemicals, or pressure. Unlike traditional textiles, the fibers are not woven or knitted, which makes nonwovens very versatile and efficient to produce for countless applications.

So, nonwovens are not woven or knitted. This simple fact is the key to understanding their unique properties and why they are used in so many different products. To really get it, you need to see how they stand apart from traditional fabrics. After that, we can explore the different ways they are made, because each method creates a fabric with very different uses.

What is the difference between woven and nonwoven fabric?

You're choosing a material and see "woven" and "nonwoven." They sound similar, but choosing the wrong one means your product could fail or cost way too much to produce.

The main difference is structure. Woven fabrics have a strong, grid-like pattern from interlaced yarns. Nonwoven fabrics are made of fibers bonded together randomly, which offers unique properties like filterability and absorbency at a lower cost and faster production speed.

I remember a client who manufactured clothing interlinings. They had always used a lightweight woven cotton fabric. It worked, but the cost was high and the supply was sometimes inconsistent. We introduced them to a nonwoven alternative. At first, they were skeptical. But when they saw our nonwoven provided the same structural support for collars and cuffs at a much lower cost and with perfect uniformity from roll to roll, they made the switch. Their production became more efficient, and their costs went down. This is a perfect example of how choosing the right structure is about performance and business sense.

Let's break down the core differences.

Feature	Woven Fabric	Nonwoven Fabric
Structure	Yarns are interlaced in a regular, crisscross pattern.	Fibers are arranged in a random web and bonded together.
Production	Slow, multi-step process: Fibers -> Yarn -> Weaving.	Fast, often single-step process: Fibers -> Web -> Bonding.
Strength	Very strong along the yarn direction (warp and weft).	Strength is more uniform in all directions.
Porosity	Pores are regular and fixed by the weave.	Pores are random and can be engineered for filtration.
Cost	Generally higher due to the longer production process.	Generally lower and more cost-effective to produce.

The best way to think about it is this: creating a woven fabric is like carefully weaving a basket. It’s methodical and strong. Creating a nonwoven fabric is like making a sheet of paper from pulp. It’s a fast, direct process from fiber to sheet, which is why it has opened up so many new possibiliies.

What are the five main types of nonwoven fabric?

You need a nonwoven fabric, but the list of types is confusing. Spunbond, meltblown, thermal bonded... choosing the wrong one means getting a material that doesn't work for you.

The five main types of nonwoven fabrics are Spunbond, Meltblown, Spunlace (Hydroentangled), Needle-punched, and Thermal Bonded. Each type is defined by its unique bonding method, which gives it very different properties like strength, softness, or filtration capability.

When I started Golden Lily in 2001, the world of nonwovens was already vast. My guiding philosophy has always been to master the fundamentals to help our customers succeed. Understanding these five basic production methods is the first step. Each process is like a different recipe. Even if you start with the same ingredients (fibers), the way you combine and cook them results in a completely different meal. Our job is to know the right recipe for what our customer wants to create, whether it's an ultra-fine filter or a strong, sealable packaging material.

Here’s a quick introduction to these five core "recipes."

• Spunbond: We create this by extruding continuous filaments of polymer, like making spaghetti. These filaments are laid onto a moving belt and then bonded together, usually with heat and pressure.
• Meltblown: This process uses high-velocity hot air to blow melted polymer into extremely fine fibers. These tiny fibers form a web that is excellent for filtration.
• Spunlace: This method uses no heat or chemicals. Instead, high-pressure water jets are fired at a web of loose fibers, tangling them together to create a soft, cloth-like fabric.
• Needle-punched: Think of this as industrial felting. We take a thick web of fibers and punch it repeatedly with thousands of barbed needles. The barbs catch the fibers and tangle them together.
• Thermal Bonded: This process uses heat to bond the fibers. Often, we use special bicomponent fibers that have a low-melt outer sheath and a high-melt inner core. The heat melts only the outside, gluing the fibers together.

What is the difference between these five types of nonwoven fabric?

You know the names of the five types, but they all just look like fabric. If you can't tell them apart, you can't choose the right one for your specific application.

The main difference is their performance. Spunbond is strong and durable. Meltblown is excellent for filtration. Spunlace is soft and absorbent. Needle-punched is thick and felt-like. Thermal bonded offers great sealing and uniformity.

Every day, we talk to customers from different industries. A honeycomb shade manufacturer needs a stiff, stable fabric. A maker of tea bags needs a porous, heat-sealable material. Someone in air filtration needs something else entirely. They all need nonwovens, but the specific type is critical. The reason we can serve such a diverse group is our deep understanding of how each manufacturing process creates a fabric with unique characteristics. Matching the right process to the right application is the real secret to success in this industry. It's about engineering the fabric to do a specific job perfectly.

This table shows how each type's properties make it ideal for certain products.

Nonwoven Type	Key Property	Common Applications
Spunbond	Strength, durability, light weight	Disposable gowns, shopping bags, geotextiles, hygiene product backing
Meltblown	Ultra-fine filtration, oil absorption	Critical filter layer in face masks (N95), oil spill cleanup wipes
Spunlace	Softness, absorbency, cloth-like feel	Wet wipes, cosmetic face masks, wound dressings, cleaning cloths
Needle-punched	Thickness, resilience, insulation	Automotive carpets, speaker felts, furniture padding, erosion control blankets
Thermal Bonded	Smoothness, sealability, uniformity	Tea bags, coffee pods, desiccant packs, interlinings, filter support layers

You can see there is no single "best" nonwoven. The best one is the one that best solves your problem.

Conclusion

Nonwoven fabric is a versatile material defined by how its fibers are bonded. Understanding the difference between types like spunbond and spunlace helps you choose the perfect material for your product.