abstract |
Disclosed herein is a lofty fibrous nonwoven web which is particularly well-suited for use as a surge layer in personal care absorbent articles including, but not limited to, diapers, training pants, incontinence garments, sanitary napkins, bandages and the like. The fibrous nonwoven web is made from a plurality of fibers heat bonded to one another to form a lofty nonwoven web having a basis weight of at least 20 grams per square meter, a void volume of between about 80 and about 117 centimeters per gram of web while under a pressure of 689 dynes per square centimeter, a permeability of about 8,000 to about 15,000 darcy, a porosity of about 98.6 percent to about 99.4 percent and a surface area per void of about 10 to about 25 square centimeters per cubic centimeter. The fibrous nonwoven web will have a saturation capacity of between about 55 and about 80 grams of 0.9 percent saline solution per gram of web and a compression resilience in both the wet and dry state of at least about 60 percent. |