Abstract: Processes are described for making highly absorbent tissues and towels by wet-laying pulps comprising particular polycarboxylate polymer-modified fibrous pulps such as mildly hydrolyzed methyl acrylate-grafted softwood kraft pulps; these pulps have distinct protonated and alkali-metal-cation-exchanged states. The wet-laying processes are adapted to exploit the very different behavior of the polymer-modified fibrous pulps in function of the two states. The preferred wet-laying processes described herein are continuous processes embodying one or more on-line chemical treatment steps which chemically switch state of the polymer-modified fibrous pulp component in a wet web on the papermaking machine to improve the processing thereof by averting or minimizing tendencies to mechanically or thermally degrade.