more than 40 automotive parts are |
Nonwovens are helping the building and construction sector answer today’s many challenges |
Nonwovens Are EverywhereAlthough they’re often hiding in plain sight, nonwovens really are everywhere. From hygiene products to clothingand even automobiles, nonwovens play an essential part in many everyday items. Here we highlight some of the many ways we all use nonwovens each and every day. |
Nonwovens are in Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP)
Personal care and hygiene products manufactured from nonwovens are the gold standards in terms of health, safety, and quality of life. That’s because nonwovens provide:
• Excellent absorption, strength, and uniformity
• The softness, smoothness, breathability, and stretchability needed for a more comfortable fit
• Stability and tear resistance
• The ability to add lotions for specific uses
• Double fluid barrier to help prevent leakage
• Cost-effectiveness
• The opacity needed to hide stains
Nonwovens in Baby Diapers
Thanks to nonwovens, today’s baby diapers are lighter, more compact, and easier to use than ever. Despite the use of soft, light, and highly breathable materials, these diapers offer exceptional absorption and prevent leaks. As a result, they are better at containing fecal matter and can help reduce the transmission of infectious diseases.
For the babies and toddlers who use them, this all adds up to drier skin and increased comfort.
Nonwovens in Feminine Care Products
Thanks in part to nonwovens, internal and external feminine care products are more comfortable than ever. Nonwovens also enable a wider range of sizes and product options, all of which allow women to be active and independent all the time.
Nonwovens in Adult Incontinence Products
When it comes to adult incontinence products, nonwovens bring benefits to both care providers and users. As to the former, thanks to their excellent absorption, tear resistance, and ease-of-use, nonwovens products last longer.
This means caregivers spend less time and resources changing products and cleaning soiled clothes and bed linens and have more time to attend to other essential tasks. Because nonwovens prevent wetness and leakage, they also play an important role in mitigating the risk of infections and bed sores.
For the end-user, nonwovens adult incontinence products mean maintaining a sense of dignity. Their absorption strength and breathability give users confidence knowing they are protected against leakage and odors. Instead of worrying about hygiene, cleanliness, and health, they can go about their daily life with a sense of independence.
Nonwovens are on the Farm and in the Garden
The agriculture and horticulture sectors use nonwovens applications to optimise the productivity of their crops, gardens, and greenhouses. Nonwovens also help save time and money. For example, thanks to their protective nature, nonwovens reduce the need for harmful pesticides and keep manual labour to a minimum.
Another example, many greenhouses depend on capillary mats made of nonwovens, a soil-less method for growing healthy flowers and vegetables. These mats are engineered to not only optimise water absorption, distribution, and storage, but also the distribution of fertilisers to each individual plant.
Crop covers, the very light, flexible sheets that are laid over seed beds, are also made of nonwovens. By creating a controlled microclimate and offering protection against adverse weather and pests, these covers accelerate growth, increase yields, and improve crop quality.
Nonwovens are in your Car
From trunk liners to carpets and air and fuel filters, nonwovens are found throughout a car. Today, over 40 automotive parts are made with nonwovens. That’s because nonwovens offer vehicle manufacturers both performance and safety benefits:
- Nonwovens help reduce a vehicle’s weight and enhance comfort and aesthetics
- They provide advanced insulation, fire retardancy, and resistance to water, fuels, extreme temperatures, and abrasion
By helping make cars safer, sustainable, more attractive, longer-lasting, and cost-effective, nonwovens are quickly becoming the material of choice for vehicle manufacturers everywhere, including BMW. In fact, special nonwovens are at the heart of the BMW i Series. For example, the vehicle’s carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) body uses lightweight nonwovens made from carbon fibers. This is because unlike woven fabrics, nonwovens’ bonding methods do not kink in the fibers and detract from their special properties. This alignment of the fibers in the fabric is crucial to achieving optimal quality in the CFRP component.
You can read more here.
Nonwovens are in Clothing and Footwear
When it comes to fashion, nonwovens stand out as the material of choice. For decades, designers have depended on nonwovens’ malleability, strength, and lightweightness for such ‘hidden’ functions as the interlinings and components of shoes and bags. For example, the shape of a suit is often conditioned by the use of a nonwovens interlining.
Now, thanks to a new generation of designers, nonwovens are getting their shot at the runway. Recognised for their versatility, style, and elegance, today’s designers see nonwovens as a versatile new material.
Nonwovens are also an essential material in modern footwear, especially in sports and training shoes. In fact, without the flexibility and strength of nonwovens, the cellulose-based insoles that our feet take for granted wouldn’t exist.
You can read more here.
Nonwovens in the Home and Office
Facing increasing oil prices, more stringent CO2 regulations, and stricter fire codes, the construction and building industry demands a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective solution.
That solution is nonwovens.
Thanks to such characteristics as high moisture and vapour permeability, superior tear strength, excellent durability, and thermal insulation - to name only a few - nonwovens are helping the building and construction sector answer today’s many challenges. For example, by using non-perforated nonwovens polymeric house wrap to decrease air infiltration, designers can improve energy efficiency and maximise moisture control. Because this material is easy to install and enjoys a long lifespan, builders and homeowners alike save money.
Roofers are also leveraging the versatility of nonwovens. For instance, to make pitched roofs more energy efficient and weather-resistant, roofers are using breathable, impervious underlays and bituminous membranes – both of which are composed of nonwovens.
As buildings around the world install green roofs, they’re doing it with nonwovens. The Empire State Building and Milan’s Bosco Verticale are two prime examples. To help these trees and plants grow, architects use nonwovens as carriers for bituminous membranes, drainage and storage layers as filter media, and even as a nutrient substrate.
You can read more here.
Nonwovens are in Filtration Systems
To meet today’s stringent regulatory requirements, modern air and liquid filtration systems depend on nonwovens. That’s because nonwovens can be precisely engineered to meet the most specific of needs – including the ability to withstand extremely high temperatures. They are also a sustainable solution, offering increased efficiency, reduced energy costs, and a longer service life.
Building engineers also use filters made of nonwovens to help ensure the air you breathe at home and in the office is clean. Likewise, the filtration of liquids is also an important aspect in nonwovens used for filtration.
You can read more here.
Nonwovens are in the Geotextiles used for Civil Engineering
If it’s a civil engineering project, nonwovens are probably nearby. From motorways to airfields, railways, sport fields, drainage trenches, dams, and dykes – all these projects use nonwovens.
Nonwovens can be found in the geotextiles used for separation, reinforcement, and filtration. That’s because nonwovens have the benefit of being strong, tear-and puncture-resistant, lightweight, and easy-to-use. They’re also able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures.
For example, treating geosynthetics with eco-friendly additives enhances their ability to repel water and resist natural degradation. This durability makes them the ideal solution for soil reinforcement projects, such as controlling erosion along a riverbank. Their unique flexibility also makes nonwovens well-suited for securing landfills during construction.
Nonwovens at the Hospital
A nonwoven a day keeps the doctor away! Well, maybe not exactly, but nonwovens do play an essential – even life-saving – role in medicine. Used in everything from advanced wound care products to protective gowns, drapes, and sterilisation packs, nonwovens help stop the spread of infections and diseases. In the operating room, surgeons depend on nonwovens for cell integration and tissue regeneration procedures, as well as for the controlled delivery of drugs and other substances. A new blood-filtering technology even uses nonwovens to remove antibodies from donated blood - a potential game-changer for blood transfusions worldwide.
You can read more here.
Nonwovens are in Protective Clothing
From healthcare to hazmat, many sectors use protective clothing and equipment to keep people safe from dangerous liquid, biological, and chemical agents. In fact, much of the personal protective equipment (PPE) used to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the Ebola virus depend on nonwovens’ crack and puncture resistance, breathability, excellent barrier properties, and ability to protect against airborne pathogens. Nonwovens can also be found in clean rooms, laboratories, and in the electronics industry, where they are used to protect materials, goods, and components from human contamination.