it to its original length in the compactor is that the fabric is free to neck down during stretching but it is restricted from returning to its original width when the fabric is shortened in the compactor these restrictive forces occur because the fabric is sandwiched between the cylinder and the blanket by this restriction of cd expansion he is actually locking in the cd fiber buckles while reference heretofore has been made to the supposition that spun bonded fabrics could not be compacted in the usual way since they were hydrophobic and would not absorb moisture it is not intended that this invention be limited to such hydrophobic materials it is contemplated that the process may be advantageously used with fabrics composed of other materials having filaments or fibers and wherein the filaments or fibers are bonded at their crossing points in any manner whatsoever it has been found that with certain types of nonwoven materials the addition of a small amount of moisture to the material prior to tensioning of the web results in a considerable increase in the amount of necking down which is accomplished in addition this moisture also permits the necking down of the material to be accomplished more easily i e less tensile force the types of material which were found to be beneficially treated with moisture are those which contain hydrophylic fibers and or binders the addition of moisture to these fabrics tends to create a more flexible and more deformable bond so that more elongation of the.