Patent ID: 7981226

Claim:
A method of producing a nonwoven fabric in the form of a web suitable for use in forming a nonwoven article, comprising: spinning a set of bicomponent fibers comprising an external fiber component and an internal fiber component, wherein said external fiber component enwraps said internal fiber component and the cross-section of the internal fiber component is round or multi-lobal, and wherein both the external fiber component and the internal fiber component are insoluble in water, said spinning being carried out such that the internal fiber component crystallizes and solidifies prior to the external fiber component solidifying; positioning said set of bicomponent fibers onto a web; fibrillating the bicomponent fibers positioned on the web, the fibrillating step causing the external fiber component to separate from and expose the internal fiber component such that the internal fiber component, after fibrillation, is in the from of entangled micro-denier fibers and the external fiber component is provided as micro-denier fiber elements that are intertwined with the micro-denier fibers; and collecting the web of entangled, internal component fibers and intertwined, external component fiber elements, such external component fiber elements enhancing the strength of the web.