Fibrous material and method of making the same

A method of producing a high loft, low density, nonwoven fibrous material having thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers in at least one region of said material parallel to or including its median plane which comprises:

• bringing together a first layer of irregularly arranged, intersecting, overlapping, mechanically interengaged, loosely assembled fibers defining interstices therebetween, said fibers including fibers other than thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers, said layer of fibers having free fiber ends extending outwardly from at least one boundary surface of the layer, with a second layer of similarly disposed fibers, said second layer including at least thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers and optionally, other fibers, said thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers located at least in surface portions of said layer immediately adjacent said one boundary surface of the first layer and having free fiber ends extending outwardly therefrom, to bring at least some of the fiber segments of thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers of said second layer into contact with said first layer of fibers of inserting free fiber ends from at least one of said layers into interstices between fibers in the other of said layers, thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers that are mechanically interengaged with other fibers in the second layer being present at the boundary surface of said layer adjacent said first layer in a quantity sufficient to occupy at least about 10 percent of the area occupied by exposed fiber segments contained in the second layer at its said boundary surface, at least some of the interstices between fibers of said first layer being of a width at least twice as large as the mean diameter of said thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers in said second layer, at least some of the interstices between fibers of said second layer being of a width at least twice as large as the mean diameter of the fibers in said first layer, said thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers in the second layer having a melting point lower than the melting point or degradation temperature of every other type of fibers contained in said two layers;
• and
• applying heat in the absence of pressure at least to the portions of said two fibrous layers in which thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers of said second layer that are in contact with fibers of said first layer are located, to fuse and bond at least some of said contacting thermoplastic synthetic wood pulp fibers to fibers of said first layer and thereby produce a fibrous material of good stability and mechanical integrity, which displays excellent resistance to delamination as well as good hand and softness.