PURPOSE: To produce a bulky nonwoven fabric excellent in strength and drape even at a low weight by laminating short-fiber webs containing a sterically crimping synthetic fiber on one side or both sides of a long-fiber nonwoven fabric and subsequently integrating under entanglement by a high-pressure water-flow treatment.

CONSTITUTION: At first, a short-fiber web containing a crimping synthetic fiber in an amount of ≥50% is formed. The crimping synthetic fiber is composed of a conjugate fiber having an eccentric sheath-core structure in which the sheath consists of the first component of an ethylene-propylene random copolymer and the core consists of the second component of a polypropylene or a structure of the both components placed side by side, or a conjugate fiber in which two kinds of polyester polymers having different shrinkages are placed in an eccentric sheath-core structure or a side- by-side structure. Further, the crimping synthetic fiber has a shrinkage of ≥14% and is capable of exhibiting 10-20 steric crimps for every one inch. Subsequently, the obtained short-fiber web is laminated on one side or both sides of a spunbonded nonwoven fabric and the laminate is treated by a high-pressure water-flow treatment to integrate under entanglement. Thus, the objective bulky nonwoven fabric having a specific volume of ≥17cm3/g at a load of 3g/m2 is obtained.