These holes form the solution into fibers, and these fibers are then heated within a nitrogen and solvent gas solution, which causes a chemical reaction that forms the liquid polymer into solid strands. Within this cell, the solution is pushed through a spinneret, which is a device that looks like a showerhead with lots of tiny holes. This cell spins to produce fibers and cure the elastane material. Giraffe Printed Cotton / Elastane Jersey Fabric Next, this solution is diluted with a solvent to make it thinner and easier to handle, and it is then placed inside a fiber production cell. When the dry spinning method is used, this prepolymer is then reacted with diamine acid in a process known as chain extension reaction. The volume ratio between these two substances is critical, and in most cases, a glycol to diisocyanate ratio of 1:2 is used. When the right conditions are applied, these two chemicals interact with each other to form a prepolymer. This step is accomplished by mixing macroglycol with a diisocyanate monomer within a special type of reaction vessel. The solution dry spinning process begins with the production of a prepolymer, which serves as the basis of elastane fabric. Most of these production processes have been discarded as inefficient or wasteful, and solution dry spinning is now used to produce approximately 95 percent of the world's spandex supply. How Is Elastane Fabric Made?įour different methods can be used to produce this elastic fabric: Reaction spinning, solution wet spinning, melt extrusion, and solution dry spinning. In addition, garments made with elastane fabric are not biodegradable. However, a variety of toxic chemicals are used in the production of elastane fabric, and if these chemicals are not disposed of properly, they could damage the environment. This fabric is formed from a variety of different fully synthetic components, and it isn't considered to have a significantly negative environmental impact. DuPont branded their elastane under the name "Lycra," and they immediately began putting it to use in apparel and industrial applications. Foam made from polyurethane remains a highly popular shock and heat insulator to this day, and this type of plastic is in wide use in a variety of other applications as well.Īt the time, IG Farben didn't intend to use polyurethane for apparel, but the DuPont Corporation essentially inherited the will of this legendary German company after World War II, and DuPont's pioneering research into the properties of polyurethane eventually led to the recognition that it could be used to make extraordinarily elastic fabrics.Įlastane's ability to withstand high temperatures was immediately noted by DuPont, and this substance's stretchiness made it an excellent addition to the various types of polyester that the corporation was currently developing. The Nazis used polyurethane for coatings on fighter planes, and it was also made into forms of specialty plastics called elastomers. The primary purpose of polyurethane was as a replacement for rubber, which was only available from certain types of trees and, therefore, was subject to unexpected price fluctuations and was sometimes hard to obtain. Polyurethane was originally invented by Otto Bayer and his associates at the IG Farben plant at Leverkusen, and this substance was almost immediately made into a variety of plastics. While elastane was invented in the late 1950s, the story of this material truly begins in 1937 in Nazi Germany. Elastane is an entirely synthetic fabric no organic materials are used to make this substance, and it does not exist anywhere in nature.
This textile is composed of a long chain polymer known as polyurethane, and it is known in technical circles as a polyether-polyurea copolymer. While Lycra, spandex, and elastane are all the same material, regional variants of the term "elastane" are most commonly used to refer to this type of fabric in continental Europe.
This type of fabric is also called spandex, and its primary attribute is its incredible elasticity.
ORANGE COTTON TENCEL ELASTANE NOVELTY What Is Elastane Fabric?Įlastane is the generic term used to describe branded textiles such as Lycra. Tights, socks, competitive athletic wear, cycling wear, leggings, shorts, yoga pants, motion capture suits, underwear, bras Biggest exporting/producing country today