An average person is unlikely to be familiar with the term Nonwovens and a few decades back there were no experts in this field. When the consumer hears the term Nonwovens it makes him think of something, which is not like traditional woven fabrics, something modern, advanced, hygienic, but he is not aware of any specific types of materials among those which carry the same name. But now the precise meaning of the term is somewhat clearer to the experts. According to the experts, Nonwovens is a class of textiles/sheet products, unique in industry, which is defined in the negative; that is, they are defined in what they are not. Nonwovens fabrics are different than the conventional textile fabrics and paper. Nonwovens are not based on yarns and (with frequent exceptions) do not contain yarns. They are based on webs of individual fibers. Nonwovens are different than paper in that nonwovens usually consist entirely or at least contain a sizeable proportion of long fibers and/or they are bonded intermittently along the length of the fibers. Although paper consists of fiber webs, the fibers are bonded to each other so completely that the entire sheet comprises one unit. In nonwovens we have webs of fibers where fibers are not as rigidly bonded and to a large degree act as individuals.

The definitions of the nonwovens most commonly used nowadays are those by the Association of the Nonwovens Fabrics Industry (INDA) and the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA).

INDA definition:

Nonwovens are a sheet, web, or bat of natural and/or man-made fibers or filaments, excluding paper, that have not been converted into yarns, and that are bonded to each other by any of several means.

The various methods for bonding are:

a) Adding an adhesive

b) Thermally fusing the fibers or filaments to each other or to the other meltable fibers or powders.

c) Fusing fibers by first dissolving, and then resolidifying their surfaces.

d) Creating physical tangles or tuft among the fibers.

e) Stitching the fibers or filaments in place.

EDANA definition:

Nonwovens are a manufactured sheet, web or bat of directionally or randomly oriented fibers, bonded by friction, and/or cohesion and/or adhesion, excluding paper or products which are woven, knitted, tufted stitch bonded incorporating binding yarns or filaments, or felted by wet milling, whether or not additionally needled. The fibers may be of natural or man-made origin. They may be staple or continuous or be formed in situ.