Staple fibers and filament yarns formed from cellulose esters, such as cellulose acetate, are described herein, along with methods of making the fibers and their use in nonwoven fabrics and articles. The filament yarns and fibers described herein may be coated with at least one finish and, in some cases, may be coated with two or more finishes selected to enhance the properties of the fibers. Staple fibers as described herein may be used to produce nonwoven webs that are strong, soft, absorbent, and biodegradable, and may be used in wet or dry nonwoven articles for a variety personal care, medical, industrial, and commercial applications.

Various embodiments disclosed relate to an abrasive article. The abrasive article includes a nonwoven web. The nonwoven web includes a first irregular major surface and an opposite second irregular major surface. The nonwoven web further includes a fiber component comprising staple fibers having a linear density ranging from about 50 denier to about 2000 denier and a crimp index value ranging from about 15% to about 60%. The nonwoven web further includes a binder dispensed on the fiber component and abrasive particles dispersed throughout the nonwoven web.

A spunbond nonwoven laminate has a plurality of stacked spunbond nonwoven layers, namely at least two and at most four spunbond nonwoven layers that have crimped continuous filaments or consist of crimped continuous filaments. The degree of crimping of the filaments is different in each of these spunbond nonwoven layers, and each of the crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers has a crimp with at least two, preferably at least three, and more preferably with at least four loops per centimeter of length. The crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers are multicomponent filaments, particularly bicomponent filaments, with a first plastic component and a second plastic component present in the respective filament in a proportion of at least 10 wt %.

Provided is batting that includes a bonded nonwoven web made from a fiber mixture containing: (a) 20 to 55 wt % of siliconized fibers having a denier of 1.5 to 10.0 and a length of 51 mm to 84 mm; (b) 10 to 45 wt % of hollow conjugate fibers having a spiral crimp, and having a denier of 1.5 to 10.0 and a length of 51 to 84 mm; (c) 10 to 45 wt % of a first population of binder fibers which are elastomeric co-polyester binder fibers having a denier of 1.5 to 8.0, a length of 51 mm to 84 mm, and a bonding temperature of 110? C. to 180? C.; and (d) 1 to 20 wt % of a second population of binder fibers, which have a denier of 1.5 to 6.0, a length of 51 mm to 84 mm, and a bonding temperature of 80? C. to 135? C.

A needle punched carpet for use in a car is disclosed. The needle punched carpet comprises at least a needle punched facing layer defining a top layer and made of staple fibers. The staple fibers comprise hollow fibers having a hollow fiber content that is at least more than 45 weight % of the total staple fibers.

An apparatus for making a spunbond nonwoven laminate having a plurality of spunbond nonwoven layers has a row extending in a travel direction of two, three, or four spinning beams each emitting a multiplicity of multicomponent crimped continuous filaments with the filaments of each beam having a degree of crimp different from that of the filaments of each of the other beams. Respective extruders supply each beam with the components of the respective filaments and respective supply units feed each of the extruders with the respective components. The rate at which the components are supplied to the extruders is adjusted for varying the proportions of the components in each filament. A conveyor extends in the direction below the beams and receives the filaments as respective layers from the respective beams.

A wound product and a method of manufacturing the wound product is provided. The wound product comprises a first layer comprising a plurality of splittable fibres. At least some of the plurality of splittable fibres are split longitudinally along at least part of their length, and at least some of the plurality of splittable fibres are entangled.

Air-cured batting includes a nonwoven web. The batting contains 75 to 97.5 wt % of fiber mixture, and 2.5 to 25 wt % of resin comprising a cross-linked copolymer of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate, wherein the resin is present on a first surface of the batting, and on a second surface of the batting, the second surface being parallel to the first surface, and wherein the resin is adhered to fibers of the fiber mixture, thereby forming a bonded structure, such that, by virtue of the resin, the air-cured batting has structural integrity that imparts handleability of the batting in sheet form. Articles comprising the air-cured batting and methods of making the air-cured batting are also provided.

A disposable absorbent article is described. The disposable absorbent article has a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. A carded staple fiber nonwoven having a basis weight of between about 50 grams per square meter (gsm) and about 100 gsm, includes a blend of absorbing fibers, stiffening fibers and filler fibers. The carded staple fiber nonwoven has a pore volume radius mode of between about 60 m and about 120 m.

A spunbond nonwoven laminate has a stack of at least two and at most four spunbond nonwoven layers each formed by or consisting of crimped continuous filaments. A degree of crimping of the filaments in each of the spunbond nonwoven layers is different from a degree of crimping in each of the other spunbond nonwoven layers and each of the crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers has a crimp with at least two loops per centimeter of length. The crimped filaments of the spunbond nonwoven layers are multicomponent filaments each having at least one first plastic component and at least one second plastic component with each of the plastic components being present in the respective filament in a proportion of at least 10 wt %.