Properties of major Textile Fibers and Fabrics

Properties
Natural Manmade Cellulosic Manmade Non-Cellulosic
Cotton Flax Wool Silk Acetate
Viscose/
Rayon Acrylic Nylon Polyester Spandex
Abrasion
Resistance
Good Fair Fair Fair Poor Fair Fair Exce-
llent
Good Good
Absorbancy 8.5% 12% 13.5% 11% 6.5% 11% 1.5% 2.8%-
4.8%
0.4% 15%
Flexibility Fair Poor Good Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Good Good Good Fair Good
Elasticity @70F, 65% R.H.
% Elongation at
Break
3.0-10 3 20-40 20 25-45 15-30 35-45 16-75 19-55 400-
700
% Recovery 75 65 99 90 48-65 95 92 82-100 81 99
Environment
Mildew Resistance Poor Fair Good Good Exce-
llent
Fair Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Renovation
(Wash/DryClean)
W/DC W/DC DC W/DC DC W/DC W/DC W/DC W/DC W/DC
sAFE iRONING
lIMIT (r;F)
400 450 300 300 325 350 300 350 325 300
Sunlight Resistance Fair Good Good Poor Good Fair Exce-
llent
Poor Good Fair
Handfeel Good Fair Fair-
Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Good Good Fair Fair Poor
Pilling Resitance Good Good Fair Good Good Good Fair Poor Very
Poor
Exce-
llent
Resiliency Poor Poor Good Fair Fair Poor Good Good Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Specific Gravity 1.54 1.52 1.32 1.3 1.32 1.48-1.54 1.14-
1.19
1.14 1.38 1.21
Static Resistance Good Good Fair Fair Fair Good Poor Poor Vary
Poor
Exce-
llent
Dry Strength 3.0-5.0 3.5-6.0 0.8-2.0 2.4-5.1 1.2-1.5 1.2-3.0 2.0-3.5 2.5-7.3 3.0-6.0 0.07-
1.0
Good Exce-
llent
Poor Good Poor Poor-
Good
Fair Exce-
llent
Exce-
llent
Very
Poor
Strength Loss when
Wet
+10% +10% 20% 15% 30% 30%-
50%
20% 10% 0 0
Thermoplastic No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
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