Nonwoven material produced by hydroentanglement of a wet-laid or foam-formed fibre web. The material comprises a mixture of short plant fibres, in particular pulp fibres, and long hydrophilic plant fibres, where the major portion of the fibres presents a fibre length which is at least 10 mm, whereby the portion of long fibres is at least 1 wt.% of the fibre weight. The fibres were mixed with each other in the presence of a dispersing agent which allows a uniform fibre formation, in a wet-laid or foam-formed fibre web which has been hydroentangled with sufficient energy to form a compact absorbing material.