A base material for cushioning consisting of a nonwoven fiber mass in which fibers containing wet-heat bondable fibers are entangled, wherein bonded joints of fibers formed by the fusion of the wet-heat bondable fibers are distributed nearly uniformly. The base material may further contain a conjugate fiber having a phase-separated structure composed of plural resins different in heat shrinkage factor and the conjugate fiber may be entangled in a state crimped nearly uniformly to an average radius of curvature of 20 to 200 µm. The base material can be produced by a process comprising the step of forming fibers containing the wet-heat bondable fibers into a web and the step of subjecting the web to wet-heat treatment with high-temperature steam to bond fibers to each other through fusion. The base material exhibits high air permeability and is excellent in cushioning properties and softness.
