US Patent 7807022 Tissue sheets having good strength and bulk

A method of making soft, strong, high bulk tissue is disclosed. The method includes pre-conditioning a wet web by straining the wet web in the cross-machine direction prior to transferring the wet web to a through drying fabric. The pre-conditioned web provides improved sheet softness and conforms more readily to the surface contour of the through drying fabric, thereby creating greater caliper (bulk) in the resulting dried sheet. The bulk is maintained during a subsequent creping step by maintaining the dried sheet in registration with the through drying fabric when the dried sheet is applied to the surface of the creping cylinder.