Hydrophilic articles of water-insoluble polymers

A hydrophilic shaped article in the form of a fiber, a filament, a film or a spongy product consisting essentially of (a) a water-insoluble polymer selected from the group consisting of regenerated cellulose, cellulose ether, cellulose ester, and polyalkylene and capable of forming fibers and films and (b) of from an amount effective to render said article hydrophilic up to 50% by weight of the total weight of the article, of amorphous particles of a size within the range of about 0.01 to 2 mm of an originally water-soluble cellulose ether selected from the group consisting of carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose and methylhydroxyethyl cellulose, prepared from natural cellulose and rendered by chemical modification with a cross-linking agent more than 50% by weight water-insoluble while remaining water-absorbent, said cross-linking agent being selected from the group consisting of dimethylolmethylene bisacrylamide, methylene-bis-acrylamide, tri- and tetra-chloropyrimidine, cyanuric chloride, epichlorohydrin, dichloracetic acid, a diepoxide and a di-.alpha.-halogenohydrin.