dec _ non-wovens in apparel

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Since the 40's nonwovens are

part of the fabric market, but it

has only been recently that the

volume in the garment and apparel

business has become somewhat sig-

nificant. Primarily, cost and the

strength of nonwovens, were at the

same time a barrier to its develop-

ment into the business of fashion.

Secondarily the technology of both

fiber and machinery limited its

growth. With recent developments,companies like Freudenberg and PGI

(Polymer Group Inc) have changed

the game establishing products like

Evolon® and Miratec® respectively.

Nonwoven interlinings

The generic term 'nonwoven

interlinings' defines materials based

on nonwovens that are incorporated

into articles of clothing during pro-

duction to satisfy various functions.

The processing methods used can be

divided into sewn and bonded inter-

linings (fusible interlinings). Sewninterlinings are incorporated between

the shell and the lining material dur-

ing the sewing process. Bonded inter-

linings are fused to the shell, lining or

another inlay material by a bonding

process (heat sealing process). The

ratio of sewn to bonded interlinings is

currently approximately 20:80.

History of nonwoven interlinings

The use of nonwovens as interlin-

ings goes back to the year 1940's.

While the first sewable nonwoven

interlinings were available in sheet

form in 1947, in 1948 production

began of yard goods, the form com-

monly used today. These were fibrous

nonwovens bonded by means of an

aqueous binder. Nonwoven interlin-

ings are therefore one of the oldest

successful applications of nonwovens.

Even by 1960, they were dominant

on the nonwovens market in

Germany, with a share of over 60%.

In the mid to late 1950s, the winning

streak of fusible nonwoven interlin-

ings began, which today, as we have

seen, have a share of around 80% of

the total market. The first fusible

products were nonwovens bonded

with binders until at the start of the

1960's, the first binder-free nonwo-

ven interlinings were developed.They were bonded with thermoplastic

fibers by full-width calendering and

had a stiff, rather brittle hand.

Spunlaid nonwovens, which appeared

in the mid-1960's, gained importance

in the interlinings sector as 'adhesive

nonwovens'. They were made from

spun melted filaments and served as

a processing aid for bonding textile

fabrics. At the start of the 1970 s, the

first binder-free nonwoven interlin-

ings came onto the market that was

bonded by the thermal bonding prin-

ciple. Unlike the previous flat calen-

dered products, they had a soft hand.

In 1973, the development of the spot

calender bonded nonwoven enabled

interlinings to break through to other

end-use sectors. With this technolo-

gy, it was possible to expand the pos-

sible variations in the construction of

nonwovens, giving nonwoven inter-

linings a previously impossible soft,

plump, textile hand. Spunlaced non-

wovens developed around the same

time had similar aims. These are con-

ventionally laid card webs that are

bonded without binders by means of

water jets. The first wet-laid nonwo-

vens for use in the interlinings sector

also go back to 1973. Here, the fibres

are deposited from an aqueous sus-

pension onto a screen fabric in a sim-ilar way to paper manufacture and

then bonded like a dry-laid nonwoven

using binders. In 1988 came the

breakthrough to warp-knitted inter-

linings produced by knitting a pillar

stitch construction into a nonwoven.

Here, a heat bonded nonwoven is

normally fed into a warp knitting

machine and stabilized in the longitu-

dinal direction. Practically the whole

range of possible and required non-

woven interlinings is now produced

using the two main technologies for

this purpose, full-width bonding using

binders and binder-free spot bonding.

Functions of nonwoven interlin-

ings

Every nonwoven interlining has a

range of functions to fulfill, related to

its end- use, that should satisfy both

the processor (garment manufactur-

er) and the purchaser of the garment

Technical Textile & Nonwoven ExcellenceOctober-December 2011 41

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Nilesh I Yadav

Textile [email protected]

NONWOVENS FOR APPAREL



(consumer). Due to the complexity of

the factors affecting the production

and use of garments, a universal

nonwoven interlining is inconceiv-

able. This means that it is necessary

for the manufacturer to establish therequired properties of the made-up

article by close communication with

the shell manufacturers and garment

manufacturers and by monitoring the

consumer market, and from this to

determine the specification of the

nonwoven interlining. By using the

resulting specification, a suitable

nonwoven interlining can be devel-

oped and constructed for almost any

end-use. In general, the functions of

a nonwoven interlining can be divid-

ed into three main groups:

Interlining fabric for shaping and

support

Shaping and support are the tra-

ditional tasks of an interlining fabric.

It forms the internal frame of gar-

ments (for example jackets and

coats) and helps to absorb and bear

the static and dynamic stresses to

which the garment is subjected in

use. The shape given to the clothing

for anatomical or fashion reasons

should be maintained permanentlyby the interlining without changing

the textile properties of the shell. A

nonwoven interlining (front fusing

interlining) of this type is primarily

used over a large area.

Nonwoven interlining for stabiliz-

ing &/or stiffening

The task of a nonwoven interlining

used for stabilizing is to reinforce or

stiffen certain parts of a garment in

the desired way. Moreover, these

areas, often the most visible on a

garment (for example collars & cuffs

on shirts and blouses), should look

good & should not lose their appear-

ance after the care cycle. In terms of

their application, these nonwoven

interlinings are primarily for use over

small areas and aid rationalization as

punched and narrow fabrics.

Nonwoven interlinings for pro-

viding bulk

So-called quilting nonwovens can

fulfill two different tasks in garments.The first, as a backing for quilting or

embroidery to create a decorative

look is determined by fashion. These

are normally used over a small area.

The second task of providing heat

insulation conforms to the rules of

clothing physiology. With an entrap-

ment of air of over 90%, these non-

wovens make ideal heat insulators

and stand out from other textile fab-

rics in this respect. In this case, the

filling material is used over a large or

the whole area. The boundaries

between the two tasks can be fluid.

Functional elements of nonwoven

interlinings

By using the basic elements of a

nonwoven interlining, that is the raw

materials (fibers, binders, finishes,


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Fig.1. Shaping & Support with

Nonwoven Interlinings

Fig.2. Nonwoven to aid

Rationalization (Punched &

Narrow Fabrics)




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hot melt adhesives), by combining

them together and using the different

manufacturing possibilities, such as

web formation, finishing, application

and formulation of the hot melt adhe-

sive, it is possible to design the indi-

vidual properties and therefore to ful-

fill any function. These basic ele-

ments are therefore functional ele-

ments for the nonwoven interlining.

The relationship between the func-

tional elements and the properties

can be represented in a matrix.

The aim of such a matrix is: (See

table 1)

To supply data on which function-

al elements are relevant for aproperty

To provide the basis for specifica-

tions for stages carried out by

external manufacturers

To provide the stimulus for new or

improved technical equipment

Nonwovens for protective cloth-

ing

Protective and safety textiles of

the most diverse kinds are classed as

technical textiles with a high-tech

character. They have a growing mar-

ket importance. Protective clothing

occupies first place among technical

textiles in Europe. It is used to pro-

tect people and/or property. For pro-

tection at work, protective textiles

are used mainly in personal protec-

tive equipment (PPE) in the following.

Protective clothing (body protec-tion)

Protective gloves

Protective headgear

Protective footwear

Protection against falling

Protection against drowning

Textiles for protecting objects

serve purposes in property protection

such as fire-proofing and flame

proofing, protection against vandal-ism (protection against cutting),

moisture protection and protection

for equipment/structural elements,

clean-room textiles as well as protec-

tion against electrostatic and electro-

magnetic fields.

Heat protective clothing

The latest developments are non-

wovens made from temperature and

flame-resistant fibrous materials with

a high protective function against the

effects of heat and flames. They pro-

tect people and property against

thermal risks and are being used

increasingly in firefighters clothing,

welders protective clothing, com-

bined fire and chemical protective

clothing, on public transport, for

example planes, trains, in seating

and beds as well as in the public and

private sector. An increasing number

of inherently flame-resistant fibrous

materials are available for producing

such nonwovens. An important crite-

ria is the LOI value (Limited Oxygen

Index), see Table 2 on the character-ization of flammability. By blending

appropriate fibers, the different

requirements of the respective end-

use sector can be met. Chemical

methods are not suitable for reinforc-

ing nonwovens as they reduce the

LOI value. Such webs are usually

reinforced mechanically. The compa-

ny Freudenberg in Weinheim has

developed the Vilene Fire Blocker

product range, based on water-jet

reinforcement, consisting of an opti-

mal blend of melamine fibers, meta-

aramid (Nomex) and para-aramid

fibers (Twaron). They are heat and

flame-resistant, non-melting or drip-

ping, dimensionally stable, air per-

meable, soft, with a good drape as

well as abrasion resistant. They are

used for lightweight single or multi-

layer insulation linings and as sub-

strates for water-proof barriers

(SYMPATEX® & GORETEX®).

Table 1. Relationship matrix for Nonwoven interlinings

Fig.3. Nonwoven interlinings for providing bulk & heat insulation



Nonwoven support materials for

footwear

Coated textile support materials -

summed up under the term 'artificial

leathers' - compete with genuine

leather in most diverse applications,

e.g. as shoe upper and upholstery

cover materials. The structures of

leather and traditional artificial

leather differ from each other funda-

mentally. While leather consists of a

collagen fibre tissue, the density of

which increases continuously towards

the grain side, artificial leathers are

layered materials composed of textile

supports and - mostly several - poly-

meric layers. Natural leather prevails

in application, in spite of multiple and

diverse efforts made in the last

decades in order to use plane materi-

als produced from high- grade syn-

thetic products, e.g. for footwear

manufacture (shoe upper materials

and linings). Its dominance does not

only result from promotion of "gen-

uine leather", but also from the ben-

eficial hygienic properties in wear,which are expressed by high values

of water vapour permeability and

water vapour absorption as well as by

the expansion behavior.

Latest Developments, from late

90's to today

PGI marketed its newly developed

Miratec® to be produced in Benson,

North Carolina. At that point the

process was described as: extraordi-

narily high-pressure water to manip-

ulate fibrous web bringing them

directly to a finished product with no

labor between, being the non-fraying

characteristic of Miratec fabric the

only visual difference from woven or

knitted fabrics. Expected end-uses

were: Home furnishings, automotive

fabrics, commercial uniforms, protec-

tive garments, children's wear,

durable medical products and window

treatments. Also in 1998 Xymid LLC,

Delaware, was formed and is made

up or growing business that had been

started by DuPont Co. The majority

ownership and management of the

company is by an individual who had

been responsible for the business

(and others) when with Dupont.Xymid® is based on proprietary tech-

nologies not found in traditional

wovens, knits or nonwovens. Some

of the products are based on process-

es and products that were developed

by DuPont's fibers, nonwovens and

composite groups. The versatility of

the techniques enables the inclusion

of many different fibers into one fab-

ric. Xymid wearforce™ fabrics com-

bine bulkable yarn such as Lycra®

with polyester for comfort and nylon

for durability. Wearforce "G" fabrics

are combined with high wear per-

formance laminate to provide good

griping surface and high wear resist-

ance. The composite fabrics are resin

impregnated for high abrasion resist-

ance and moldability. LANX fabric

systems produce chemical and bio-

logical protective fabrics and apparel

for military and emergency response

applications. Zyflex LLC Thermal

Sportgear® consists of a line of gar-


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Table 2: LOI Value of Fibrous

Material

Fibre LOI Value

Meta Aramid 28-32

Para Aramid 29-32

Preox Fibre 56-58

Melamine fibre 32

Phenolic fibre 31-33

Modacrylic fibre 28-30

Viscose FR 28

PBI 40

Polyamide imide 32

Polyimide 38

Fig.4. Work from Lincoln ResearchCenter in New Zealand Footwearaccessories

Fig.5. Evolon Microfilament Technology

dec _ non-wovens in apparel

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