Dry wipe

Abstract

A bulky fibrous fabric is provided, made by a process comprising obtaining an unbonded, consolidated batt of fibers wherein each fiber has a ribbon-shaped cross-section, and needling said batt to obtain the bulky fibrous fabric. The fabric has a surface area of at least 2 m 2 /g and a thickness/basis weight ratio of at least 0.005 mm/g/m 2 (7 mil/oz/yd 2 ) The fabric has utility particularly as a dry wipe for cleaning and dusting.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A bulky fibrous fabric comprising a batt of fibers each fiber having a ribbon-shaped cross-section, the batt having a surface area of at least 2 m2/g and a thickness/basis weight ratio of at least 0.005 mm/g/m 2  (7 mil/oz/yd 2 ).  
     
     
         2 . A bulky fibrous fabric made by a process comprising: 
 a) obtaining an unbonded, consolidated batt of fibers wherein each fiber has a ribbon-shaped cross-section; and    b) needling said batt to obtain the bulky fibrous fabric having a surface area of at least 2 m 2 /g and a thickness/basis weight ratio of at least 0.005 mm/g/m 2  (7 mil/oz/yd 2 ).    
     
     
         3 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 2  wherein the batt is made from flash-spun plexifilamentary film-fibril web.  
     
     
         4 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 2  or  claim 3  wherein the needling is performed by hydroentangling.  
     
     
         5 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 2  or  claim 3  wherein the needling is performed by needlepunching.  
     
     
         6 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 1  wherein the bulky fibrous fabric is a nonwoven fabric and the fibers are polyolefin.  
     
     
         7 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 1  wherein the bulky fibrous fabric is a nonwoven fabric and the fibers are polyethylene.  
     
     
         8 . The bulky fibrous fabric of  claim 6  wherein the surface area is between 2 and 30 m 2 /g and the thickness/basis weight ratio is between 0.005 and 0.0075 mm/g/m 2 .  
     
     
         9 . A bulky nonwoven fabric made by a process comprising: a) obtaining an unbonded, consolidated flash-spun batt; b) needlepunching said flash-spun batt to obtain the bulky nonwoven fabric having a surface area of at least 2 m 2 /g, a thickness/basis weight ratio of at least 0.005 mm/g/m 2 , a thickness of at least 0.20 mm and a basis weight of between 37 and 78 g/m 2 .  
     
     
         10 . A dry wipe useful for cleaning and dusting made from the bulky nonwoven fabric according to any of the preceding claims.