**3. Non-woven textiles in the indoor environment**

Needle-punched non-woven textiles can be found as backing of carpets and wall coverings, and also as low-quality blankets, hidden layers in furniture systems, and wadding/padding. Spunlaced/hydroentangled non-woven materials are used in furnishing and bedding, as coverings and sheets. Spunbonded non-wovens are applied as a backing layer for wallcover‐ ings, carpets, curtains, and furniture. They are also used as upholstery layers, filters, and tablecloths. Tablecloths are also made of wet-laid and spunlaced non-wovens. Chemically bonded non-woven textiles are applied as wadding and padding. The same is the application of the thermally bonded non-wovens, which are also applied in carpets underlying and furniture systems, including as upholstery textiles. The tufting technology is used for produc‐ tion of carpets for both built environment and car interiors.

Table 1 summarizes the main applications of different types of non-wovens in the indoor environment.

Several specific requirements have to be taken into account when designing non-wovens for application in the indoor environment. These requirements are related with both the product in question and its particular function: strength, dimensional stability, volume density, wear resistance, air-permeability, etc. There are other design considerations, however, related to the basic metrics of IEQ, which should be taken into account.

Non-wovens influence all basic metrics of IEQ. They may be used for sound control in residential and public buildings, or for glare reduction. As many textiles in public places, nonwovens are required to be flame-resistant. This additional treatment may be in a conflict with the demands for indoor air quality. The maintenance of the textiles surfaces is related to their ability to accumulate dust; therefore, the cleaning of the visible non-woven textiles in the indoor environment has to be easy. The last is also related with the products, as the cleaning agents themselves could frequently be sources of airborne pollutants.

Non-wovens have very good insulation abilities, used as floor coverings, wallcoverings, upholstery textiles (hidden layers or outer, visible layer), bedding, and they influence the indoor thermal quality. At the same time they can be a source of unpleasant odors, decreasing the indoor odor quality, especially in the case of floor coverings, including carpet backing. The


**Table 1.** Application of non-wovens in the indoor environment of buildings

sources of unpleasant odors could be either the non-woven item itself or the adhesive materials used for fixing the carpet to the floor.
