Insulation product having directional facing layer thereon and method of making the same

A method of forming a reduced width insulation product from a master insulation product for installation in a structure, comprising the steps of:

• providing a master insulation product comprising:
• an insulation mat comprising randomly oriented fibers, said mat having first and second major surfaces and a pair of side portions;
• and
• a non-woven facing layer comprising a cellulosic material bonded to said insulation mat with a vapor retardant adhesive, said facing layer having a fiber orientation such that the facing layer has a ratio of machine direction tensile strength to cross machine direction tensile strength which permits the facing layer to be separated by hand along a substantially straight line selected in the machine direction,
• wherein said insulation mat includes a plurality of separable segments, said segments being coupled to each other along at least one plane oriented in said machine direction;
• and
• separating said facing layer in said machine direction substantially along a plane from said at least one plane to remove at least one of said separable segments from said master insulation product, thereby providing a reduced width insulation product.

A method of manufacturing an insulation product, comprising the following steps:

• conveying a fibrous insulation blanket in a conveying direction, the blanket having a length along the conveying direction, a width and a thickness, the blanket having a first major surface and a second major surface which each extend for the length and the width of the fibrous insulation blanket, the fibrous insulation blanket including a plurality of longitudinal segments being separable along one or more longitudinally extending interfaces, spaced inward from lateral edges of the blanket and spaced apart from each other across the width of the fibrous insulation blanket, into a plurality of blanket segments of lesser width than the width of the fibrous insulation blanket;
• and
• adhering a vapor retardant facing layer to at least one of the major surfaces of the blanket as it is being conveyed, said facing layer comprising a paper layer having a fiber orientation arranged such that said facing layer has a ratio of machine direction tensile strength to cross machine direction tensile strength which permits said facing layer to be separated by hand along a substantially straight line selected in said machine direction, wherein the machine direction corresponds to the conveying direction, wherein the paper layer is imperforated in the machine direction in areas thereof overlying the longitudinally extending interfaces.