Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Midori Okazaki

Naoki Fujiwara

Nozomu Sugo

Takuya Tsujimoto

A nonwoven fabric composed of ultra-fine continuous fibers having a mean fineness of not more than 0.5 dtex is prepared. The nonwoven fabric comprises a water-soluble thermoplastic resin in a proportion of not more than 5% by weight relative to the nonwoven fabric, has an absorbing height of not less than 30 mm as determined at 20&#xb0; C. after 10 minutes based on Byreck method when the nonwoven fabric immersion-treated for 60 minutes in a water of 80&#xb0; C. is used, and satisfies the following formula: (B)/(A)&#x2267;0.25, wherein the symbol (B) represents a tensile strength [N/5 cm] in the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the nonwoven fabric and the symbol (A) represents a fabric weight [g/m] of the nonwoven fabric. In the nonwoven fabric, not less than 30% of the surface may be coated with the water-soluble thermoplastic resin. The water-soluble thermoplastic resin may be a water-soluble thermoplastic polyvinyl alcohol, e.g., a modified polyvinyl alcohol containing an ethylene unit in a proportion of 3 to 20 mol %. The present invention provides a nonwoven fabric composed of ultra-fine continuous fibers, having a high flexibility or softness, and having a high mechanical strength even when the fiber diameter is small, and having an excellent water absorbency, as well as a production process and an application thereof.

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Kurashiki, Japan

Midori Okazaki