The drylaid web-forming technologies utilized in the making of nonwovens, include carding and garnetting to convert staple fibers into a web. Drylaid web forming originated in the textile industry for making pressed felt as early as Medieval times. In drylaid web formation fibers are manipulated in the dry state and then bonded by mechanical, chemical or thermal bonding methods.
Virtually any fiber that can be carded can be used in nonwovens, this includes organic and inorganic fibers. 
Man-made fibers account for the majority of raw materials used in the nonwovens industry with polyester being the most widely used in the carding sector. Polypropylene is widely used in the manufacture of floorcoverings and geosynthetics and lightweight thermal bonded fabrics for the manufacture of hygiene disposables.
Drylaid fabrics are the largest segment of the nonwovens industry principally because of the flexibility in the carding process as reflected in the many diverse fiber types utilized for many applications, and its comparatively low cost.
Needle-punched nonwovens (drylaid) are made by a method which involves the entaglement of fibers to hold them together. The process for making this material consists of passing a contiuous web of fibers through a needle machine. The essential parts of the machine are a multitude of barbed needle punch hooks,
which sometimes resembles a fish hook barb, mounted on a grid which vibrates up and down. As the web of fibers passes the vibrating grid, the needles pierce through the web and entangle the fibers as they withdraw. When this occurs continuously, the fibers form an entagled mass of material.