Lycra Finished Products
Lycra is not fabric; it is the brand name of spandex fibers produced by the American company DuPont. The Lycra trademark is exclusively owned by DuPont, and any counterfeiting or illegal use will be subject to legal action. DuPont only provides Lycra to fabric manufacturers that meet high-quality standards. The fabric must comply with DuPont's strict quality requirements and trademark guidelines in order to display the Lycra tag or sew on a Lycra label. Therefore, when purchasing related fabrics, we must pay attention to the Lycra label or tag to avoid being deceived.
Lycra? (Lycra?) was successfully developed and commercially produced by DuPont in 1959, becoming a pioneer in the fashion revolution of the 1990s. Lycra? fibers can stretch up to 4-7 times their original length and immediately return to their original length upon release of external force. Lycra's elasticity is stronger and more durable than rubber, with rebound elasticity 2-3 times greater, one-third lighter weight, and is also tougher, resistant to sunlight, water-washable, and retains its shape well.
Lycra? comes in three forms: matte white, semi-transparent, and transparent. The amount and type of Lycra? used depend on the type of fabric and the intended use of the finished product to ensure optimal performance and aesthetic characteristics. A small content of just 2% is sufficient to improve fabric quality, providing vitality, drape, and shape retention. However, in swimwear and underwear requiring high elongation, the Lycra? content can reach 14-40%. Lycra? elastic fibers can be blended or interwoven with cotton, silk, wool, nylon, and other fibers.
1. Wool + Lycra (Lycra)
Lycra was developed through extensive research by DuPont and the International Wool Bureau. Lycra improves the quality of wool and wool garments, making them more comfortable to wear while increasing flexibility and elasticity. Wool + Lycra brings new vitality to wool products, filling them with a modern feel that suits the active pace of contemporary life. Wool + Lycra sweaters can be designed with the following features:
Appearance Shape Retention: Keeps the fabric looking consistent, even during intense movement, without needing to be form-fitting. These garments are soft but have a mild elasticity and drape.
Pattern Structure Change: Using the contraction properties of Lycra? (Lycra?), interesting three-dimensional effects can be created for casual wear sweaters, especially emphasizing the surface texture of the fabric.
2. Lycra + Cotton
With the rapid development of modern technology, cotton's position as the preferred material for underwear has begun to waver. Although cotton is comfortable, breathable, and natural, its tendency to lose shape easily, degrade, and yellow has made it less acceptable to women who consider it their "second skin." Lycra? + cotton not only retains all the advantages of cotton fibers but also combines the elasticity and shape-retaining properties that cotton lacks, making the fabric more form-fitting and comfortable, and able to withstand machine washing. Lycra? (Lycra?) + cotton has gained widespread application prospects.
Fashionability: Innovative fabrics develop in tandem with trends. The world's best lingerie brands have adopted Lycra? materials, and renowned designers have incorporated Lycra?'s characteristics, cleverly reinterpreting intimate wear.
Comfort: Lycra?'s excellent stretch and recovery functions maintain the shape of underwear, keeping it snug against the skin at all times and revealing perfect curves. Even after multiple washes or wear, the garment does not loosen, lose shape, or wrinkle.
Comfort: Lycra? gives the fabric a comfortable touch, gently caressing the body without any feeling of tightness. Whether stretching, bending over, or walking, people will feel free and easy.
Softness: Lycra?'s superior quality enhances the elegance of underwear materials such as cotton and silk, making wearers feel softer and more refined. It symbolizes dignity and allure, significantly enhancing the value of clothing.
3. Lycra? (Lycra?) + Silk
Silk has excellent moisture absorption, fast drying, breathability, comfort, and luster. However, silk fabrics lack elasticity, wrinkle easily, do not adhere closely to the body, and have poor durability, greatly limiting their widespread use. Combining Lycra? + silk leverages the advantages of both, adding value to silk fabrics. Lycra? + silk production can involve either exposed filament weaving or covering. Fabrics produced using this covered silk method, whether woven or knitted, combine the comfort and luxury of silk with the high elasticity and recovery of Lycra? fibers, offering superior performance compared to ordinary silk fabrics.
Lycra? (Lycra?) injects new vitality into wool, making wool products modern and suitable for today's active lifestyle. Lycra? + cotton offers various advantages and has made significant breakthroughs in the underwear industry, starting a trend in undergarments. Lycra? + silk fabrics not only possess the appearance, feel, and comfort of silk but also create a bridge between future fashion and classic styles, as seen on runways in past seasons. It is believed that it will gain more popularity among consumers in the coming years.
How to Differentiate Between Panne Velvet and Wool Polyester Blends
1. Fiber Appearance Identification: Pull out a thread from the fabric, untwist it into individual fibers, and observe carefully under bright light. If the fibers are uniform in thickness and length, evenly crimped, and have a transparent appearance, it is panne velvet. If the fibers vary in thickness and length, and the luster is inconsistent, it is wool polyester blend.
2. Burning Identification: Pull out a thread from the fabric and burn it. Wool polyester fibers burn into foamy ash, black and brittle, crumbling at a touch, with a burnt hair smell. Panne velvet fibers burn with thick black smoke and a yellow flame. During burning, the fibers expand rapidly. After burning, the ash forms a gray-black lump, which can also be crushed but is harder and coarser than wool polyester, with a slight acidic smell.
Shrinkage Rates of Various Fabrics
Fabric Shrinkage Rate (%): Real silk crepe, real silk chiffon 8%, plain white cloth 8-10%, man-made silk real silk twill 5%, wool gabardine 5-7%, youth twill, rich autumn twill 8-10%, lining fabric (light silk) 6-7%, floral printed cloth 3-4%, synthetic fiber lining 0-0.5%, corduroy 4%, velvet 8%, labor cloth 10%, rayon cotton 8-10%, coolmax 0.5%.
How to Identify the Right and Wrong Side of Fabric
For clothing fabrics, except for printed fabrics, plain fabrics generally do not distinguish between right and wrong sides. For jacquard fabrics, the more tightly woven side is the right side, and the side with long threads is the wrong side. For twill fabrics, check the slant of the weave. For example, in twill satin, the right side runs from top left to bottom right, while in gabardine, the right side runs from top left to bottom right, resembling the strokes of Chinese characters “piě” and “nà.” For double-layered wool or synthetic fabrics, the folded-in side is the right side.
How to Determine if a Fabric is Sturdy
When selecting fabrics, people often want to know if the fabric is sturdy. A sturdy fabric means it is durable and lasts longer when worn. While trendy clothing may challenge traditional views, determining whether a fabric is sturdy remains an important criterion when selecting textiles.
The sturdiness of a fabric depends on several factors, including raw materials, yarn count, weave structure, dyeing agents, and manufacturing processes. To evaluate the sturdiness of a fabric, consider the following aspects:
1. Raw Materials: Synthetic fiber fabrics are more durable than natural fiber fabrics. Among natural fibers, wool fabrics are more durable than cotton, silk, or linen. In wet conditions, linen is the most durable, while viscose (rayon) is the least durable.
2. Yarn Count: Fine yarn fabrics are more durable than coarse yarn fabrics. Fully-threaded fabrics (where both warp and weft are made of thread) are the most durable.
3. Density: High warp and weft density fabrics are dense and strong, while low-density fabrics are thin and less sturdy. Fabrics with higher warp density than weft density are suitable for wear and more durable, whereas those with higher weft density than warp density are generally less sturdy.
4. Weave Structure: Plain weave fabrics are more durable than other structures (such as twill or satin). This is because the exposure of warp and weft threads on the surface is balanced in plain weave, making the fabric more robust. If twill weave fabrics are considered durable, it is due to improvements in yarn count and density.
5. Dyes: Generally, colored fabrics do not affect the sturdiness of the fabric. However, sulfur black, bleached black, and dyed yellow fabrics may weaken in strength and become brittle if improperly processed or exposed to sunlight.
6. Fabric Defects: Excessive defects like skipped stitches, missed patterns, or "big belly yarn" will reduce the quality and make the fabric less sturdy. Clean fabrics with few or no defects are more durable and wear-resistant.
Therefore, when selecting fabrics, you should visually inspect and tactilely examine them, analyzing the above aspects comprehensively. Relying solely on one aspect to determine sturdiness is inaccurate. Additionally, you can seek advice from salespeople to select ideal, sturdy fabrics.
Fabric Defects Not to Be Overlooked
Many people buy clothes based on style alone, only to find they quickly unravel or tear, leading to disappointment and regret for not understanding fabric knowledge.
When buying clothes, pay attention to fabric defects and dyeing defects. When checking silk defects, follow the same methods as other fabrics, focusing on the following issues:
1. Broken Threads, Holes: Broken threads occur when silk warp or weft breaks. Sometimes the broken ends are visible, sometimes hidden, but there are noticeable gaps in the weave. When multiple warp or weft threads break, holes appear in the fabric, affecting both aesthetics and usability.
2. Double Threads: Two warp or weft threads woven together create a coarse appearance, which generally does not affect usage.
3. Skipped Threads: Warp or weft threads not conforming to their structural pattern result in long floating threads, known as skipped threads. Fewer skipped threads lead to broken threads, affecting usage.
4. Spider Web: Both warp and weft threads float excessively, creating a spider-web-like effect. This defect affects both appearance and usability.
5. Torn Edges: Partial tearing of the fabric edges occurs due to pulling, lowering the grade but not significantly affecting garment-making.
6. Uneven Warp and Weft Density: Irregular spacing of warp and weft threads creates an uneven surface or tilted weave, affecting garment construction but usable for other accessories.
7. Impurities or Stains: Silk surfaces may have insects, debris, mold spots, water marks, oil stains, etc. Insects and mold spots severely impact silk quality, while others can be used depending on specific circumstances, especially those occurring during printing and dyeing, which primarily affect appearance rather than physical properties.
How to Differentiate Between Synthetic Fibers Imitating Wool and Pure Wool Fabrics?
Imitation wool fabrics are mostly made from chemical fibers mimicking wool, with viscose fibers being the most common, such as polyester/viscose mid-length wool materials, followed by polyester, acrylic, and other imitation wool products.
First, differences in luster. Pure wool fabrics tend to have a gentle, natural sheen with fewer colors, while synthetic fibers imitating wool have vibrant, vivid colors. Under sunlight, they often exhibit flashy, glaring spots. This distinction might be challenging for fabrics that closely resemble wool.
Second, differences in hand feel and elasticity. Pure wool fabrics feel soft and slightly fuzzy, smooth and supple, with a firm body. When squeezed or shaken, they have a lively feel, forming slight wrinkles without stiffness and rebounding softly. Polyester/viscose imitation wool, although similar in appearance to wool, feels soft and slippery, lacks body, forms many wrinkles, and rebounds slowly.
Third, burning a pulled thread. After unraveling a pure wool fabric, you can see wool fibers of varying thickness and irregularity with natural curls. Viscose imitation wool fibers are uniform in length and thickness. When burned, they ignite slowly, continue burning away from the flame, accompanied by a burnt hair odor. The ash is abundant, black, and brittle, crumbling into powder when touched—indicating pure wool. In contrast, polyester/viscose ignites readily, burns quickly with a yellow flame, emits a paper-burning smell, and leaves ash that flies off easily, leaving a hard lump that cannot be crushed.
In the market, there are also blended fabrics of wool and synthetic fibers, with components ranging from two to multiple blends, such as wool/viscose, wool/polyester, wool/acrylic, wool/nylon, wool/viscose/nylon/chlor纶etc. This requires not only a solid grasp of the morphology and characteristics of various fibers but also the application of multiple fiber identification methods, from visual inspection, burning tests to verification (fiber identification methods were previously introduced).
How to Differentiate Between Beautiful Silk and Nylon Silk?
Beautiful silk and nylon silk are often used as lining materials. You can differentiate the material composition using the following methods:
1. Differences in luster brightness: Bright and dazzling luster belongs to beautiful silk, while a wax-like appearance indicates nylon silk.
2. Hold and squeeze the corners of two fabric samples, then release. If there are many dead wrinkles that do not flatten easily, it is beautiful silk. On the other hand, if the fabric feels stiff, wrinkled, and slowly recovers its shape, it is nylon silk.
3. Pull a few threads from the edge of the fabric. If they break easily when wet, it is beautiful silk (viscose filament), whereas if they resist breaking both dry and wet, it is nylon silk.
4. Burn a few threads. If they shrink and melt near the flame, burning slowly with white smoke and droplets, leaving a light brown hard lump that cannot be easily crushed, it is nylon silk. If none of these phenomena occur, it is beautiful silk.
5. If possible without damaging the fabric, immerse the entire piece in water, rub it, and spin it dry. If the fabric shrinks noticeably, it is beautiful silk.
How to Differentiate Between Genuine Hemp and Viscose Imitation Hemp Fabrics?
Since imitation hemp fabrics are designed to resemble genuine hemp in appearance and style, such as being coarse or stiff, simply relying on visual inspection or touch may not suffice to differentiate them.
Can burning help? Since viscose fibers and hemp both belong to the cellulose fiber category, it is difficult to distinguish them by their burning characteristics.
The most direct method is to pull a single thread from each fabric sample, stretch it, then moisten it with your tongue and stretch it again, comparing the tensile strength before and after moistening. If the wet tensile strength is greater than the dry tensile strength, and the dry tensile strength is relatively high with minimal elongation, it is genuine hemp.
To verify your judgment, you can consult an expert to examine the fiber morphology under a microscope or place a small amount of fiber or thread in a test tube to observe solubility. Alternatively, you can use a chemical reagent method (35% concentrated hydrochloric acid) for testing.
Clothing Labels
1. Style Labels
Internationally, a unified set of symbols is commonly used to indicate clothing styles. When shopping for clothing, if you see such symbols on the label, you should understand their meanings:
H indicates that the clothing style you purchased is horizontally curved, giving no obvious straight-line feel when worn, visually highlighting a relaxed, stretchy, non-form-fitting look. If you choose clothing with this label, don't expect it to accentuate your beautiful figure.
V indicates that the clothing style is jacket-type or denim-style. When worn, it can make your body appear visually wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, exuding a spirited and elegant demeanor.
X indicates that although the fashion garment has shoulders, it is waist-hugging with a flared hem, fully showcasing your slim figure, making you appear spirited and mature.
O indicates that the clothing belongs to a more avant-garde and fashionable "puff" style, exaggerating the chosen garment's silhouette and highlighting a rounded, flared hem feel.
2. Material Labels
With the development of the clothing industry, various types of fabric-based fashions have emerged. You may feel overwhelmed by the variety and unsure about what the fabric is made of and how to wash, iron, and care for it. Understanding the meaning of labels on fashion garments is crucial in such cases.
If you purchase internationally branded clothing, it often includes English material labels:
Pure wool - 100% wool, silk - 100% silk, cotton - 100% cotton, linen fabric - linen, polyester-cotton blended fabric - PC, polyester - polyester, nylon - nylon, vinylon - vinylon.
3. Ironing Labels
Iron with an X: Indicates that the item cannot be ironed.
Plain iron: Indicates that the item can be ironed. An iron without a dot inside signifies that your clothing must be ironed at a low temperature.
Iron with one small dot: Indicates that the item can be ironed. One small dot inside the iron signifies that you can use an ironing temperature of around 110-120 degrees Celsius.
Iron with two small dots: Indicates that the item can be ironed. Two small dots inside the iron signify that you can use an ironing temperature of around 130-150 degrees Celsius.
Iron with three small dots: Indicates that the item can be ironed. Three small dots signify that high-temperature ironing is possible, but the maximum temperature you can use is around 171-220 degrees Celsius. An iron marked with the word "high": Can be ironed at high temperatures, but a pressing cloth must be used.
An iron marked with the word "low": Can be ironed at low temperatures, but a pressing cloth must be used.
4. Dry Cleaning Labels
A circle: Indicates that the item can be dry-cleaned at a laundry shop.
A circle with an X: Indicates that your garment cannot be dry-cleaned and must be washed with water.
A circle with the letter P: Indicates that the item can be dry-cleaned. The P inside the circle signifies that any dry-cleaning agent can be used.
A circle with the letter A: Indicates that the item can be dry-cleaned. The letter inside the circle represents the type of dry-cleaning agent that can be used.
A circle with the letter F: Indicates that the item can be dry-cleaned but only with petroleum-based dry-cleaning agents.
A circle with the letter P: The P inside the circle signifies that any dry-cleaning agent can be used.
A circle with a line underneath: Indicates that the item can be dry-cleaned, but the line underneath the circle indicates that special care is required after cleaning.
A square block with an X outside the circle: Your clothing cannot be washed in a drum-type dry-cleaning machine.
5. Washing Labels
A hand inside a washing basin: Indicates that the garment can only be hand-washed and not machine-washed. A washing basin with an X: Cannot be washed with water.
Washing basin with water ripples and numbers: Indicates that the garment can be washed