Instant success, total failure and stupendous return -polyester completes the cycle and comes out of oblivion to hit the market once again
POLYESTER is back again. And this time it
looks much better. After an initial roaring success in the '70s, when this petrochemical based fibre made a stunning
impact (and later became embarrassing
to wear) on the dressing style, polyester
became a cliche, a way to say an archaic
dressing sense' or 'sleazy'. But textile
engineers did not loose hope. They kept
on experimenting with it. New uses
emerged. And finally it has become
fashionable all over again.
There are several reasons for the resurrection of polyester fabric. Technological developments have turned it
into a versatile product that can feel like
silk, cotton, fleece or suede, and that
insulates as well as breathes. At the same
time, hosts of designers and consumers
who had earlier thought it to be a dead
fibre have rediscovered their love for it.
Polyester has a history that spans little over half-a-century and during the course of its lifetime, it has passed
through many hands. It was invented by
two chemists in a printing company in
Great Britain, acquired and developed
by Imperial Chemical Industries in
1941, and then purchased by DuPont
Company, which built the first polyester
manufacturing plant in Kinston, US, in
1953. But it was not until the '70s when
people began appreciating and accepting their desire for double-knits. Says
Jeff McGuire, who heads the marketing
unit for polyester microfilament at
DuPont, "In its heydays, it emerged as
one of the most economical fabrics ever
created."
But the polyester of the '70s was a
thick, unsupple five dpf fibre (dpf
stands for denier per foot and is a unit
for the measurement of fibres). But
today, textile engineers have been able
to develop polyester whose filaments are
0.07dpf thick - even fineithan silk.
This improved fabric can-be napped
into a high pile, and then sheared off
into a fleece like texture. It can also be
lightly sanded to give it a texture similar
to suede or chamois, explains McGuire.
Polyester is a combination of two
key compounds - ethylene glycol (also
used as an anti-freeze) and polyethylene
tetrathalate. These compounds, when
subjected to high heat and pressure in
presence of a catalyst, produce a polymer that flows like honey at room tem
perature and pressure. It is then
pumped through very small holes and
cooled, the resultant being extremely
thin and fine fibres. Manufacturers can
pump holes into the fibre to produce
insulation and breathability, says Don
Lehman, president of North American
Polyester Textile Fibres Association.
Textile engineers say the polyester
molecule has memory. This means that
the pleats and creases that are manufactured into garments, stay put. "Its naturally permanent pressed, lightweight
and also has some really fantastic properties," argues Lehman. It is recyclable
- some outdoor clothe-makers sell
fleece jackets made from polyester recycled from soda bottles combined with
virgin polyester. It is also being used
increasingly for making carpets,
draperies, upholstery and pillows.
"We can meet any challenge today
- whether it is trying to make a hi-tech'
product for NASA or intimate apparel,"
says Jim Casey, president of the fibres
division of us-based Wellman Inc Yarn
and fabric are now made on high-speed,
hi-tech equipments using air jets to
stretch out yarns and to carry threads
back and forth.
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