Tactel:
The versatility of the Tactel yarn range enables a range of exciting and innovative fabrics to be created for Active Sports.
Fabrics can be engineered to meet the specific market requirements in terms of look, feel and performance for woven, weft and warp knit fabrics and knitwear.
Major Active Wear End Uses for Tactel:
- adventure / travel wear
- mountain / trekking
- aerobics / fitness
- cycling
- racquet sports
- beach / swimwear
- functional underwear
- street wear
- ski wear / carving
- snowboarding
In Active Wear Tactel gives the following benefits:
Inner Layers:
- moisture transportation
- quick drying
- softness
- breathability
- lightness
- easy care
Outer Layers:
- weather protection
- breathability
- abrasion resistance
- robustness
- lightweight
- Easy care.
‘Tactel ideally meets the performance and 'leading edge' aesthetic requirements of contemporary Active and Streetwear.’
Micro-encapsulated fabrics
Micro-encapsulation is a technique where tiny capsules are filled with different substances such as fragrances or medicines. The microcapsules can be added to materials such as fabric, paper and even metal. Each capsule can be as small as half a micron across (one micron is one thousandth of a millimetre) and not visible to the naked eye. A micro-encapsulated textile would have a strong coating because it has to stand up to washing, wear and tear.
This process is used when a product is too volatile to be put directly onto a fabric or paper. Perfumes would soon evaporate if they were sprayed directly onto fabrics, and they would be removed during washing. When a garment is worn, or an item such as a sheet is touched, the capsule ruptures by rubbing the surface and this releases the contents.
Micro-encapsulation can be used in many ways.
Fragrant fabrics – perfume is released when the fabric is rubbed and the micro-capsule ruptures. Bed linen and nightwear can be encapsulated with fragrances that can relax and soothe like aromatherapy oils.
Cosmetic oils and vitamins can be encapsulated and added to face-cleaning tissues, tights and underwear. Through slow release of moisture in tights, dry skin could be helped.
Mosquito repellents and moth repellents can be encapsulated to help prevent the insects from biting and from destroying fabrics. In the future trainers could be encapsulated with an odour-repellent to prevent them from smelling.
Reflective Textiles
Properties:
- Reflects light
- Makes the wearer visible in the dark
Uses:
- Emergency services uniforms
- Sports clothing and accessories
- Clubwear
- Automotive textiles
Traditionally used in the rescue services, these textiles have now been adopted by sportswear and fashion companies. Minute glass balls are embedded in the fabric of yarn and reflect light back to the iris of the viewer’s eye. This creates a brilliant reflection in a vehicles headlight, which alerts the driver to pedestrians or cyclists. Light can be reflected up to a distance of 100m, and the effect also works under water for diving clothing and equipment. High performance reflective properties can be applied to a textile in various ways, each containing a glass element.
Reflective Yarns: Glass beads can be incorporated into polyester yarns. These can be woven into textiles with other fibres. The reflective quality is not evident in daylight, but the fabric comes to life under bright light. A new multi-layered fibre called Morphex replicates the structure of a butterfly’s wing in reflecting the light and is currently being trialled in automotive research.
Reflective Inks: Reflective inks can be screen printed onto the surface of a fabric. The inks also contain minute glass balls, which reflect light back to the viewer. Reflective prints combine protective and safety qualities with traditional decorative purposes.
Reflective Finishes: The reflective function can also be performed by coating on a fabric’s surface. One example is a white reflective material, produced by the company 3M, which reflects ultra bright white. 3M also produce Prismatic, a material that both glitters and reflects. Scotchlite, Retroglo and Reflec are the names of other ranges of high visibility reflective fabrics and films, available in a variety of different colours and formats. The finish is made from microscopic glass beads, up to 50,000 to the square inch, with a reflective backing which returns light to its original source.
Smart Colours
Kettles that change colour and signs that glow-in-the-dark are two recent examples of products becoming ‘smarter’ as a result of new materials. Colour-changing thermochromic pigments are now routinely made as inks for paper and fabrics – and incorporated into injection moulded plastics. A new type of phosphorescent pigment, capable of emitting light for up to 10 hours, has opened up entirely new design opportunities for instrumentation and low-level lighting systems.
Thermochromic materials change colour at specific temperatures. Typically, they are incorporated into a special ink and printed onto plastic films to create thermometers or temperature indicators. The battery test strip is a good example of this. If the battery is in good condition, current flows through a printed resistor under the thermochromic film and heats it to cause a colour change.
Most thermochromic materials are based on liquid crystal technology. At specific temperatures the liquid crystals re-orientate to produce an apparent change of colour. Billions of microscopic spherical capsules are mixed with a suitable base to make thermochromic printing in, for example, with plastics destined for injection moulding.
Summary:
As fashion design continues to modernise, new and improved fabrics are becoming readily available for public and private use. Fabrics now have more to offer than what they previously had and this will continue to become apparent as technology extends further and further in to the future. Application of these new fabrics and fibres has proved extremely useful in many ways, especially to the emergency services. Materials in general have developed and modernised very rapidly within the last century and they will continue to do so as they carry on influencing design and fashion of the future.