Nonwoven Fabrics Used as Adhesive Webs to Laminate Woven and Knit Fabrics, 1991 Nonwovens Conference Proceedings

A series of nonwoven fabrics, consisting of randomly connected filaments of slightly foamed, melt-blown thermoplastic polymers, were found to be uniquely suitable as adhesive webs for laminating woven and knit fabrics. This series of nonwoven adhesive webs provide a range of capability which is very broad, since the webs are available in weights from 0.4 to 2.0 oz./sq.yd. and in composition including polyurethane, polyamide, polyolefin, and polyester. This wide range of adhesive webs permits a choice of adhesive to give either a soft hand or some degree of stiffness. Other lamination attributes found attainable are (1) porosity and

breathability, (2) high peel resistance, (3) launderability, and (4) dry cleaning durability. These adhesives are very friendly--environmentally speaking. They emit no solvent or other volatile organic fumes, and they do not contain any water which would consume large amounts of energy in drying. Laminations of woven fabrics with these adhesive nets showed adhesive bond strength and stiffness both increased while air permeability decreased with increases in either adhesive weight or nip pressure. The dominant factor in determining stiffness of a lamination was found to be the fabric basis weight.