Non-woven fabric is a type of textile that is made without weaving or knitting the fibers together. Instead, the fibers are bonded together through a variety of methods such as mechanical, chemical, or heat bonding. The development of non-woven fabric can be traced back to the early 20th century when the first patent for a non-woven fabric was filed in the United States in 1910.

The first commercially successful non-woven fabric was produced in the 1940s by DuPont, which used a process called "spunbonding" to create a web of continuous filaments that were then bonded together with heat. This process became the basis for many of the non-woven fabrics that are used today.

In the 1950s, the introduction of new synthetic fibers such as polyester and polypropylene allowed for the development of new non-woven fabrics with improved strength and durability. In the 1960s, the advent of airlaid technology allowed for the production of non-woven fabrics with a more diverse range of fiber types and properties.

Since then, there have been numerous advancements in the development of non-woven fabrics, including the use of nanotechnology to create fabrics with unique properties such as antibacterial or waterproof capabilities. Today, non-woven fabrics are used in a wide variety of applications including hygiene products, medical textiles, geotextiles, and automotive textiles, among others.