Abstract: In a storage battery comprising a housing, a plurality of plates within said housing, an electrolyte within said housing about said plates, and a non-woven fabric separator between adjacent plates, the improvement which comprises employing as said separator a compressed web of synthetic fibers deposited in random arrangement and having an essentially dumbbell-shaped profile. Preferably the fibers comprise polystyrene, polyolefin or polycarbonate and have a maximum diameter of about 1 to 10 .mu.m, and the web has a thickness of about 0.05 to 0.3 mm, a weight of about 20 to 100 g/m.sup.2, a pore volume of about 50 to 90% and an average pore size from about 0.5 to 15 .mu.m.