A disposable, cloth-like towel of superior wet strength and absorbency comprises a scrim at least one face of which is coated with a superabsorbent material and a nonwoven cellulosic web which is bonded to the coated scrim. The superabsorbent coating preferably is formed by wetting the scrim with water or an aqueous adhesive, applying a solid hydrophilic polymer to the scrim, then applying a nonwoven absorbent cellulosic web to the coated scrim and drying the resulting composite web. Bonding of the scrim to the cellulosic web can be achieved by applying an adhesive to the side of the cellulosic web which is brought into contact with the coated scrim. Alternatively, both the hydrophilic coating and bonding can be effected by sandwiching the scrim, coated with an unreacted mixture of hydrophilic polymer and crosslinking compound, between two cellulosic layers and then subjecting the multi-ply sheet to crosslinking reaction conditions to form the superabsorbent on the scrim as well as to cause adhesion of the cellulosic webs thereto.