Patent ID: 7435694

Claim:
An uncoated nonwoven fibrous mat having excellent hiding power comprising chopped glass fibers having an average diameter in the range of about 10 to about 17 microns and a length in the range of about 0.25-3 inches, bound together throughout the entire mat with a binder derived from an aqueous, resin binder system, the improvement comprising that the mat has a B* value, as a measure of (L*a*b*) provided by the Hunter Colorimeter, of 24.9 or less, a mat density of no greater than about 1.55 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. per 24 mils of mat thickness, the loss on ignition of the mat being no greater than about 26.3 wt. percent of the mat and the binder containing about 5-20 wt. percent, based on the dry weight of the resin in the binder in the mat, of a paper coating material having a diameter of about 1 micron or less and selected from a group consisting of a clay, powdered limestone, conventional white pigments, hard polymer microspheres, glass microspheres and ceramic microspheres in the binder bonding the glass fibers together throughout the entire mat, the nonwoven fibrous mat having an air permeability of at least about 635 cubic feet per minute per square foot of mat.