Chemistry's in Fashion
Article originally from American Chemistry magazine.
With the popularity of magazines like Vogue and books and movies like The Devil Wears Prada, many people associate innovation in the fashion industry with savvy, cutting-edge designers in New York and Los Angeles. Yet, the true fashion revolutionaries may be the innovators of the chemical industry.
Without chemistry’s development of specialty fibers and other components, the creative world of fashion could not be nearly as dynamic as it is today. In fact, chemistry contributes 28 percent of the value of material input in clothing.
Synthetic fibers—including nylon, polyester, rayon, and acetate—provide versatile, low-cost, and wrinkle-resistant clothing in a wide variety of colors and styles. These fibers are all made from petroleum products.
The chemical acetates used in the fabric creation process are designed to dry quickly and resist shrinking, providing a simulated ‘silky’ look of luxury, without the hassles of traditional fabrics.
The following are a few examples of how chemistry has become essential to today’s textiles.
Acrylics
Many textile fibers are made with synthetic polymers derived from acrylic acid. These fibers are all referred to generically as ‘acrylics.’
Acrylics can be highly beneficial when used to produce garments. For example, wool-like acrylics enable ‘no muss, no fuss’ outfits, serving as non-allergenic, durable, and washable fabrics for today’s clothing.
Nylon
During the 1940s, nylon became an essential component in women’s clothing when it was knitted into hosiery. Then, during the Second World War, nylon left the home front to become a staple of military textiles, making its mark in combat uniforms, flak jackets, and parachutes. As the synthetic fiber became a special priority for the military, it was soon unavailable to the public, a situation that lasted for the duration of the war.
For hosiery, nylon—made from caprolactum—is spun into thin, silk-like fibers. Nylon pantyhose are a more durable and far less expensive alternative to silk stockings.
Pantyhose and socks also stay up and last longer due to additional strength and elasticity from polyurethane fibers. And dyes—both organic and inorganic—are used to transform opaque nylon fibers into a broad array of colors and designs to complement different outfits.
In total, chemistry contributes 46 percent of the value of material input used to make and package women’s hosiery.
Polyester
The innovation of polyester led to many revolutionary uses, but in some cases to its detriment, as this fiber received dubious notoriety during the leisure suit craze of the 1970s.
Today, however, polyester is blended with cotton in many stylish outfits, providing the desirable durability of permanent-press traits for modern fashion staples.
Indeed, permanent press is also the result of chemistry. In the 1950s, Ruth Rogan Benerito, a researcher at the Cotton Chemical Reactions Laboratory, discovered certain chemicals could make cellulose fibers wrinkle-resistant. Other scientists fine-tuned her formula and soon, permanent-press fabrics were born.
Spandex
The material of choice for many fitness gurus, spandex originated from polyurethane chemistry. In 1959, DuPont introduced the material with Fiber K—later renamed Lycra®—and initially marketed it as a replacement for heavy-duty rubber in girdles, which had proven heavy, unwieldy, and prone to overstretching.
Polyurethane in elastics gives waistbands room for expansion, helps socks stay up, and puts the ‘stretch’ into exercise clothing.
Spandex’s popularity increased further when it was blended with other fibers—such as cotton, wool, and polyester—for use in elasticwaist pants, including blue jeans. These days, it is virtually impossible not to see spandex in motion, as it is used in everything from bras and swimsuits to sock tops and support hose.
Treatments
Chemicals are also used to treat textiles. Cotton fibers used in bathrobes, for example, are cleaned and processed with chemicals to make the resulting garments more breathable, absorbent, and attractively textured.
For outdoor use, there are now textiles that provide ultraviolet (UV) protection. This feature is provided by a garment manufacturing process that includes titanium dioxide particles.
Coats and jackets use water-resistant coatings of fluoropolymers to prevent rain, sleet, and snow from penetrating to their inner layers. As a result, they stay cleaner and look newer.
Dyes are also integral to today’s clothing. They can use either organic or inorganic chemicals to create vibrant colors. Chemistry can also be used to create a lack of color. Cotton fibers are bleached with chlorine to produce bright white cotton fabrics.
Products like Carus Chemicals’ CAIROX® potassium permanganate are used to selectively color or fade blue jeans, providing a wider variety of styles for consumers. Serving a double purpose, CAIROX also reportedly removes metals from water to prevent staining of clothing in washing machines.
Tomorrow’s textiles
Textile innovations continue to this day. For example, women’s swimsuits are being made more durable with chlorine-resistant fibers, which are designed to help them retain elasticity after long use in swimming pools.
Lycra® has led to Xtra Life Lycra, which reportedly lasts five to 10 times longer. And lastol, a generic product that has spawned proprietary brands like Dow’s XLA fiber, is said to endure up to 1,000 hours in a swimming pool, which is more than five times the durability of a typical swimsuit.
Dow is also working with textile manufacturers to produce non-slip socks. Silicone rubber is being used as an alternative to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other materials, with the purpose of preventing socks from slipping off babies’ and children’s feet. It is also now providing coatings for gym and yoga socks for adults.
The possibilities are endless. With chemistry, there is the potential for socks that moisturize, athletic clothing that deodorizes, shirts that repel mosquitoes, scarves with aromatherapeutic properties, and protective garments that kill bacteria and decompose harmful toxins. Having already made great strides in stain resistance and wrinkle reduction, chemists and engineers are setting their sights on a new era of high performance fabrics that will provide these and many other benefits.
With files from Fabrics.net.
