Commerical nonwoven fabric manufacture began shortly after World War II when the Kendall Company began calendering webs of cotton and thermoplastic fibers that bonded the cotton to form a sheet for use in the manufcture of tea bags. Chicopee printed adhesives onto cotton batts, which were then saturated or dried to make filters, dental towels, and diaper top sheets. Originally, analysts believed that nonwoven fabrics would fill the gap between inexpensive paper products and more expensive textile fabrics in a variety of niche markets. Differences in fiber distribution between woven fabrics and nonwoven fabrics allowed companies to manufacture fabrics with more suitable properties at reduced costs. The first product for which this advantage became commercially significant was gauze. Woven gauze contains tight bundles of fibers between which large open spaces exist. Nonwoven gauze contains individual fibers with very small spaces in between the fibers, which represents a superior product manufactured at lower costs.