The key element to making fine clothing products is the fabric that gives garments identity, shape, texture, feel, comfort, and appearance. Polyester material is one of the best materials used for crafting high-quality apparel products that are known for various applications in the garment industry.
This blog is a polyester fabric guide to enlighten you regarding its definition, applications, characteristics, cost, alternatives, and significance.
What Is Polyester?
Is polyester a natural or synthetic material? This question is a very common wonderment. Polyester is a synthetic and purely man-made fabric that is derived from petroleum. It is formed by connecting chains of synthetic polymers to create a fiber.
Polyester is also known as PET (polyethylene terephthalate). It is one of the most popular fabrics around the world due to its industrial and consumer applications. For example, clothing, upholstery, and carpeting.
The history of polyester material dates back to the early 1900s. However, its popularity and usage in textiles became common in the 1950s.
How Is Polyester Fabric Made?
There are the following steps that take place in order to make polyester material:
Step 1: Creating a Monomer
The first step starts with reacting dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at a high temperature. This step creates a monomer as an outcome.
Step 2. Creating a Polymer
The monomer, created from the first step, is then reacted with dimethyl terephthalate to form a polymer.
Step 3. Extruding
The polymer is then extruded in the long strips from the reaction chamber. These strips are set to dry and cool down before breaking them apart into small pieces.
Step 4. Spinning
The extracted chips are melted to turn them into a honey-like material, which creates fibers after getting extruded through a spinneret.
Step 5. Finishing
The resulting material is filaments of polyester, which may require cutting or reaction with various chemicals to become a perfect material.
Different Types of Polyester Fabric
Polyester fabric has 4 common types. Let’s discuss them:
1- Superfine fiber
Superfine polyester is an outstanding material that features various properties. It makes materials waterproof, moisture-resistant, and windproof. It is lightweight, which makes it super comfortable to wear.
The moisture-wicking trait makes it ideal for sportswear since it absorbs sweat frequently. Superfine is always blended with polyester and nylon to make its characteristics more prominent and promising.
2- Polar Fleece
PET polyester is used to make polar fleece, which is formed using acrylic, virgin polyester, or nylon to enhance its durability. It is water-resistant but easily washable using machines and water. The best advantage of having polar fleece is its inexpensive cost, as it is very affordable.
3- Spun Polyester
Spun polyester is produced with fibers, which makes it soft and smooth. It is made with softened and stirred fabrics. This fabric is durable and is used to make clothes, curtains, bedsheets, and many other textile products.
4- Blended Polyester
Polyester yarn is woven or knitted to create a blended material. Different materials like hemp, rayon, cotton, or wool can be used to blend with polyester.
Polyester blends are usually water-resistant and have shape retention. They are perfectly ideal for sportswear and fitness apparel.
What is Polyester Fabric Used for?
Polyester fabric has several industrial applications:
- Garments: Polyester is frequently used in making regular garments like shirts, pants, underwear, suits, socks, and eveningwear.
- Sportswear: Polyester is one of the best materials to make sportswear products like jerseys, shirts, trousers, and other essential clothes.
- Home Essentials: Polyester is considered a fine choice for making home essential and decorative items like rugs, towels, blankets, bedsheets, chair cushionings, and pillow covers.
- Industrial Applications: Polyester material is used in making holographic films, bottles, traps, boats, and LCD display panels.
Polyester Fabric Characteristics or Pros of Polyester
Polyester is a highly popular material with marvelous characteristics.
- Durability: Polyester is a tough and durable material with high resistance to wear and tear.
- Moisture Resistance: Polyester wicks moisture quickly, making it perfectly suited for athleisure.
- Wrinkle Resistance: Polyester fabric doesn’t wrinkle, which is why it doesn’t require ironing.
- Flexibility: Unlike natural fibers, polyester doesn’t stretch easily.
- Color Retention: Polyester retains its colors. It dyes well and remains vibrant even after multiple washes.
Cons of Polyester
While polyester is popular for its characteristics or pros, it is also criticized for its cons.
- Not Eco-Friendly: Polyester fibers are not 100% eco-friendly since they are made from polyethylene terephthalate, which is plastic. You can recycle polyester. However, it is yet not entirely sustainable.
- Retains Heat: Polyester has a tendency to retain heat. Hence, it is not suitable for producing items that require facilitating airflow.
- Low Absorbency: Polyester lacks high absorbency, making it unreliable for producing products that need to soak up moisture.
- Prone to Static: Polyester is a synthetic material that doesn’t absorb moisture as well as natural fibers do, making it prone to pilling or static.
Polyester Fabric Cost
Polyester is an easily available and cost-effective fabric. Although its price can vary according to different factors, the cost per kg for generic industrial use is between $50 and $100 per kg.
Where to Get High-Quality Polyester?
Polyester is a very fine fabric that requires delicate handling to turn it into a garment. This material needs the specific cut and sew skills of experienced clothing manufacturers. If you want fully customized clothes made of polyester, manufacturing companies or production houses are your best options.
Usually, such companies are equipped with all kinds of materials, like spandex or lycra fabric, twill, lyocell, rayon, nylon, and many more that are crucial in making high-quality garments.
Conclusion
Polyester fabric is a synthetic material that is made of petroleum. It is usually used in sports but also has many other uses and industrial applications. It is durable, stretchy, water-resistant, and features many other properties. However, polyester has some disadvantages too.
For example, it retains heat, has low absorbency, is prone to static, and is not eco-friendly. Moreover, polyester material is not very expensive and easily available. In fact, you can get polyester fabric or polyester-made high-quality clothes from clothing suppliers.
FAQs
1- Where does polyester come from?
Polyester fabric is a man-made material derived from petroleum-based synthetic polymers, also known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
2- What is the main difference between polyester and cotton?
Polyester is a synthetic, moisture-resistant, and durable material, while cotton is an organic, biodegradable, and breathable fabric.
3- Is polyester sustainable?
Traditional polyester is not sustainable. However, recycled polyester (rPET) is an eco-friendly alternative.
