6 types of elastic fibers

6 types of elastic fibers

Date: 2025/01/18   By: Zoe Zhu

Elastic fiber is an important material widely used in the textile and clothing industry. Its unique stretchability and recovery make it irreplaceable in many fields, especially in improving wearing comfort and shaping effects. Fabrics without elastic fibers are usually suitable for loose styles, because the lack of elasticity may limit the freedom of movement.

According to the definition of elastic fiber by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), elastic fiber is a fiber material that can be repeatedly stretched to more than twice its original length at room temperature and can quickly recover to its original length after the external force is removed.

The following six fibers are all classified as elastic fibers:

1. Diene elastic fiber (rubber yarn)

Diene elastic fiber, commonly known as rubber yarn or elastic yarn, is mainly composed of vulcanized polyisoprene. Its elongation is generally between 100% and 300%, and it has excellent elastic recovery ability. The fiber has excellent chemical and physical properties such as high temperature resistance, acid and alkali resistance, and wear resistance, so it is widely used in knitted products such as socks and ribbed cuffs.

Since its production process is mainly used for the manufacture of coarse yarns, its application range in fabric production is relatively limited. With the continuous advancement of textile technology, other types of elastic fibers have gradually replaced the application of rubber yarn in high-performance clothing and fine fabrics.

Nevertheless, rubber yarn still maintains its unique application value in some special fields, especially in products that require higher elasticity and recovery.

1. Diene elastic fiber (rubber yarn)

2. Polyurethane Fiber (Spandex)

Polyurethane Elastic Fiber has different names in different regions and brands: in China, it is usually referred to as Spandex, and in the United States, the original trade name was Spandex, which was later renamed Lycra; in Europe, it is called Elastane, in Japan, it is called Neolon, and in Germany, it is called Dorlastan.

The excellent elasticity of polyurethane elastic fiber comes from its unique molecular structure. The structure is composed of alternating “soft” segments and “hard” segments, forming a network structure of block copolymers.
The hard segments in its molecular structure provide the strength and durability of the fiber, while the soft segments give the fiber excellent elastic recovery ability.

This makes polyurethane elastic fiber widely used in various clothing and functional fabrics, especially in areas that require high stretchability and shape recovery, such as sportswear, underwear and tights.

2. Polyurethane Fiber (Spandex)

3. Polyether Ester Elastic Fiber

Polyether Ester Elastic Fiber was first produced by Teijin Co., Ltd. in Japan in 1990.

Polyether ester elastic fiber not only has high strength, but also has excellent elasticity. When stretched by 50%, its elastic performance is equivalent to that of spandex. The melting point of this fiber is relatively high, usually between 120℃ and 130℃.

Polyether ester elastic fiber has excellent light resistance, chlorine bleaching resistance and acid and alkali resistance, and its performance is better than that of ordinary spandex. Especially in terms of acid and alkali resistance, polyether ester elastic fiber can be combined with polyester to form a fabric and undergo alkali reduction processing, thereby improving the drape and overall quality of the fabric.

3. Polyether Ester Elastic Fiber

4. Polyolefin elastic fiber

Polyolefin elastic fiber is an elastic fiber made from polyolefin thermoplastic elastomer through melt spinning process.

Polyolefin elastic fiber has excellent elasticity and can withstand up to 500% elongation at break. It has good high temperature resistance and can withstand high temperature of 220℃; at the same time, it has excellent resistance to chlorine bleaching and strong acid and alkali treatment. In addition, the fiber also has significant resistance to UV degradation and can maintain good performance under long-term exposure to sunlight.

The production process of polyolefin elastic fiber is relatively simple, the raw material cost is lower than that of spandex, and there is almost no pollution in the production process, which is easy to recycle. This makes it have significant advantages in environmental protection and economy. Because polyolefin elastic fiber has many excellent properties, its application field has gradually expanded in recent years, especially in high-performance clothing, sports equipment and other functional fabrics.

4. Polyolefin elastic fiber

5. Composite elastic fiber

CONTEX, commonly known as T400 elastic fiber in the market, has a natural permanent spiral curl structure and exhibits excellent bulkiness, elasticity, elastic recovery rate, color fastness and a particularly soft feel.

T400 fiber can be woven alone or interwoven with cotton, viscose, polyester, nylon and other fibers to form a variety of fabrics in different styles. Compared with traditional spandex fiber, T400 fiber overcomes the shortcomings of spandex in dyeability, excess elasticity, weaving complexity, fabric dimensional stability and easy aging during use.

In addition, T400 fiber can be woven directly on air-jet, water-jet and quiver looms, without the need for covering yarn treatment before weaving like spandex.

This feature not only reduces the production cost of yarn, but also improves the quality uniformity and stability of fabric products.

5. Composite elastic fiber

6. Hard elastic fibers

The above elastic fibers are all soft elastic fibers, which can deform and recover significantly under low stress conditions.

However, under certain processing conditions, some fibers (such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), etc.) are not easy to deform under low stress (due to their high modulus), but still show good elasticity under higher stress and lower temperature. These fibers are called hard elastic fibers.

Although hard elastic fibers are not widely used in textiles at present, they have significant differences in elastic characteristics from soft elastic fibers. Hard elastic fibers have the potential to develop special textiles, especially for application scenarios that require different elastic behaviors and structural stability.

6. Hard elastic fibers

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