2.2. The Development of Microfibres
- The development of Microfibres has provided
opportunities to produce new generations of fibres and blends of
potentially novel characteristics which have not previously been possible
from conventional fibres.
- As an example, consider the recent development of
towels made from polyester Microfibres which are claimed to be more
absorbent than cotton towels, despite the fact that conventional polyester
is hydrophobic.
- This novel characteristic is due to the increased
internal surface area of Microfibres, which in turn presents processing
issues / difficulties including dye selection and choice of dyeing method.
- Fabrics have been produced with a very wide range of
high density materials which demand specialized processing.
- Fabric constructions based on microfilament synthetic
yarns are commonly referred to as :
o
MICROFIBRES
(Europe & USA)
o
SHIN GOSEN
(Japan).
- Fabrics from these sources use a combination of :
- conventional, fine and / or superfine filaments.
- filaments of widely differing shrinkage
characteristics.
- very high and low twist yarns.
- textured, air textured and flat filament yarns.
- variations in cross-sectional shape.
- Effect fabrics available include :
- imitation silks
- peach skins
- suedes (light to heavy)
- air and moisture permeable waterproofs
- staple blends and yarn mixtures with viscose rayon,
cotton and wool.
- apparel
- sportswear
- leisurewear
- furnishings
- upholstery
- lens wipes
- and (more recently) a new generation of towels.
2.3. Definition of a Microfibre
- an outline description of the term Microfibre.
- a comparison of Microfibres with natural fibre counts.
- typical decitex per filament ranges of :
- conventional polyesters
- weight reduced polyesters
- polyester microfibre
- polyester supermicrofibre.
- Precisely how fine a synthetic yarn is can be described
in terms of decitex or denier.
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