Spunlaid names the forming route: filaments are extruded, cooled, drawn by air and laid on a moving belt, then bonded by calender, needles or water jets in the same line. European standards and statistics prefer spunlaid for the whole family, while North American plants say spunbond for the same webs. Insiders use spunlaid when they want to name the forming step apart from the bonding, as in a spunlaid needlepunched roofing mat.
Spunlaid web for the roofing mat goes straight to the needle loom, there's no calender on that line.
Also heard as
- spun-laid
- polymer-laid
Do not mix it up with
- Spunbond: Spunbond is the everyday name for the finished fabric, usually calender bonded; spunlaid names the forming route whatever the bonding.
Related terms
Spunbond
Nonwoven of continuous filaments extruded, air-drawn and laid on a belt, then usually bonded by a hot calender.
Meltblown
Web of very fine fibers made by blasting molten polymer from a row of tiny die holes with hot, high-speed air.
Spunmelt
Collective term for spunbond and meltblown processes and the composite fabrics made by combining them.
Filament
A fiber of effectively unlimited length, extruded and laid down without cutting, as in spunbond webs.