Polishing cloth and method for producing same

A method for producing a polishing cloth comprising at least the following steps (1) through (5) in combination, wherein the number of islands-in-sea type composite fibers convertible into ultrafine fibers, which can be brought in by needle punching of the following step (2), is 3 to 6 fibers/1 barb:

• (1) producing islands-in-sea type composite fibers convertible into ultrafine fibers with an average single fiber diameter of 0.05 to 2.0 μm;
• (2) laminating fiber webs by a card and a crosslapper using said islands-in-sea type composite fibers, and obtaining a nonwoven fabric by needle punching;
• (3) giving a polymeric elastic material to said nonwoven fabric by 10 to 200 mass % based on the mass of the ultrafine fibers obtained by converting the composite fibers;
• (4) buffing at least one surface;
• and
• (5) converting said islands-in-sea type composite fibers into ultrafine fibers.