Nonwoven abrasive material

Abstract

An abrasive material comprises an integral mass of discrete lengths, not bonded to each other, of abrasive-coated non-woven synthetic fibres. In particular, the entanglement force between the said lengths is great enough to maintain a wad of the material when in use but small enough to allow the product to be shaped in the hand of a user.

1 . An abrasive material comprising an integral mass of discrete lengths, substantially held together solely by entanglement forces, of abrasive-coated nonwoven synthetic fibres.  
   
   
       2 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the lengths are each of individual fibres, a number of fibres bound together or strips of nonwoven fleeces, wherein each strip has a width of between 2 and 10 mm.  
   
   
       3 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the entanglement force between the said lengths is great enough to maintain a wad of the material when in use but small enough to allow the product to be shaped in the hand of a user.  
   
   
       4 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , which is deformable, and which able to maintain its shape when deformed.  
   
   
       5 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , having a strength sufficiently low enough to allow separation into user-defined quantities.  
   
   
       6 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , which has substantially the same tear strength in all directions.  
   
   
       7 . The abrasive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the abrasive is in the form of grains which are held in or on the fibers by a binder.  
   
   
       8 . A method of abrading a surface, which comprises contacting the surface with a wad of an abrasive material comprising an integral mass of discrete lengths, substantially held together solely by entanglement forces, of abrasive-coated non-woven synthetic fibres, wherein the wad is obtainable from a larger mass of the material having a sufficiently low strength to allow it to be separated into the wad, of a desired quantity, and a sufficiently high strength to maintain the wad of material when in use.  
   
   
       9 . A method of manufacturing an abrasive material, comprising the steps of: 
 (i) spraying a nonwoven synthetic fibre fleece with resin and binder;    (ii) spreading the sprayed fleece with absrasive;    (iii) curing the binder; and    (iv) shredding the resultant material to produce thin strips of material.    
   
   
       10 . An abrasive material obtainable by a method comprising the steps of: 
 (i) spraying a nonwoven synthetic fibre fleece with resin and binder;    (ii) spreading the sprayed fleece with abrasive;    (iii) curing the binder; and    (iv) shredding the resultant material to produce thin strips of material.