A process for producing a microfiber product stream is provided comprising: (A) contacting short cut multicomponent fibers having a length of less than 25 millimeters with a treated aqueous stream in a fiber slurry zone to produce a short cut multicomponent fiber slurry; (B) contacting the short cut multicomponent fiber slurry and a heated aqueous stream in a fiber opening zone to remove a portion of the water dispersible sulfopolyester to produce an opened microfiber slurry; and (C) routing the opened microfiber slurry to a primary solid liquid separation zone to produce the microfiber product stream and a first mother liquor stream.