Plastic-Free and Binder-Free Wet Wipe

Abstract

A wet wipe includes a sheet formed from materials without plastics and without chemical or thermoplastic binders. The sheet has a weight of between 40-90 grams per square meter. The sheet has a blend of wood pulp fluff fiber between 50% - 80% by weight, fine denier lyocell or viscose of fiber length 5 to 12 millimeters between 10% - 30% by weight, and crosslinked curly pulp fibers between 3% - 15% by weight. The wet wipe is bonded with entangling water jets such that the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 200 grams per linear inch in the cross direction, and a wet thickness between 0.4 and 1.5 millimeters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wet wipe comprising:
 a sheet formed from materials without plastics and without chemical or thermoplastic binders, the sheet having a weight of between 40 -90 grams per square meter, said sheet comprising:
 a blend of wood pulp fluff fiber between 50% -80% by weight, fine denier lyocell or viscose of fiber length 5 to 12 millimeters between 10% -30% by weight, and shaped cellulosic bulking fibers between 3% -15% by weight; 
 wherein the blend of wood pulp fluff fiber, fine denier lyocell or viscose, and shaped cellulosic bulking fibers is bonded using entangling water jets, such that the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 200 grams per linear inch in the cross direction, and a wet thickness between 0.4-1.5 millimeters. 
   
     
     
         2 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the sheet comprises a blend of wood pulp fluff fiber between 60% -80% by weight, fine denier lyocell or viscose of fiber length 5 to 12 millimeters between 15% -25% by weight, and shaped cellulosic bulking fibers between 5% -10% by weight. 
     
     
         3 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the shaped cellulosic bulking fibers include cellulosic staple fibers that have a trilobal cross-sectional shape. 
     
     
         4 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the shaped cellulosic bulking fibers include cellulosic staple fibers have a flat cross-sectional shape. 
     
     
         5 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 400 grams per linear inch in the cross direction. 
     
     
         6 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 500 grams per linear inch in the cross direction. 
     
     
         7 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the wet wipe has wet strength of at least 800 grams per linear inch in the machine direction. 
     
     
         8 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the wet wipe has wet strength of at least 1000 grams per linear inch in the machine direction. 
     
     
         9 . The wet wipe of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the sheet, after converting, is at least 0.45 mm. 
     
     
         10 . A wet wipe comprising:
 a sheet formed from materials without plastics or binders, the sheet having a weight of between 40 -90 grams per square meter, said sheet comprising:
 a blend of wood pulp fluff fiber between 50% -80% by weight, fine denier lyocell or viscose of fiber length 5 to 12 millimeters between 10% -30% by weight, and crosslinked curly pulp fibers between 3% -15% by weight; 
 wherein the blend of wood pulp fluff fiber, fine denier lyocell or viscose, and crosslinked curly pulp fibers is bonded using entangling water jets, such that the wet wipe would have an effective wet strength of at least 200 grams per linear inch in the cross direction, and a wet thickness between 0.4 and 1.5 millimeters. 
   
     
     
         11 . The wet wipe of  claim 10 , wherein the sheet comprises a blend of wood pulp fluff fiber between 60% -80% by weight, fine denier lyocell or viscose of fiber length 5 to 12 millimeters between 15% -25% by weight, and crosslinked curly pulp fibers between 5% -10% by weight. 
     
     
         12 . The wet wipe of  claim 10 , wherein the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 400 grams per linear inch in the cross direction. 
     
     
         13 . The wet wipe of  claim 10 , wherein the wet wipe has a wet strength of at least 500 grams per linear inch in the cross direction. 
     
     
         14 . The wet wipe of  claim 10 , wherein the wet wipe has wet strength of at least 800 grams per linear inch in the machine direction. 
     
     
         15 . The wet wipe of  claim 10 , wherein the wet wipe has wet strength of at least 1000 grams per linear inch in the machine direction. 
     
     
         16 . A method of manufacturing wet wipes, the method comprising the steps of:
 (i) opening and blending of wood pulp with fine denier lyocell or viscose and shaped cellulosic bulking fibers;   (ii) airlaying this fiber blend into a homogeneous web and compacting and transferring this onto a hydroentangling belt;   (iii) hydroentangling the formed web with high pressure water jets to bond the product;   (iv) embossing the formed web to provide patterns; and   (v) drying the web in through air bonding ovens.