Non-woven material containing fully stabilized filament assemblies

A method of producing a nonwoven textile structure comprises the steps of: (a) stretching a plurality of substantially parallel continuous tow filaments 1, such as cellulose acetate or solvent spun rayon, to provide a partially stabilized filament bundle 5 and (b) folding or corrugating the stretched bundle in a stuffer box process (at 6) which includes air or steam injection (at 7) so as to increase its bulk and loft. The resulting material is consolidated so as to maintain substantially uninterrupted capillarity along the entire length of the resulting filament bundle. This may be accomplished by a controlled light hydroentanglement process (at 8) employing either widely spaced water injection manifolds or low water pressure. Alternatively it may be accomplished by light tacking using thermal spot calendaring or ultrasonic means. Either technique provides sufficient strength and integrity to the tow assemblies to facilitate handling during further processing, such as bonding to a carrier layer to provide a bandage or incorporation between outer layers, whether pre-cut or not, to provide smaller dressings or elongate bandages.