Polyester fabrics are prone to pilling, and pure cotton clothes tend to deform. So what fiber has the excellent characteristics of cotton and polyester to make up for the shortcomings? “
“That’s super imitation cotton”
What is super imitation cotton?
The main body of super imitation cotton is polyester, and the polyester content is greater than 85%. Differentiated functional polyester fiber, including filament cotton-like and short-fiber cotton-like. To put it more vividly, super-imitation cotton products look like cotton (visual), feel like cotton (tactile), wear like cotton (compatibility), and are more convenient to use than cotton (washability). There are imitation cotton products. The excellent characteristics of cotton-like and cotton-like imitation cotton are the product of the mutual integration and integration of multiple technologies such as polymerized modified spinning, spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing.
What is super imitation cotton?
1 Imitation of cotton fiber properties
①Imitation of wooly feel and bulkiness
Polyester filament has high bundleability and smooth surface. To make the surface form a cotton-like wooly feel, the fiber structure must be changed. At present, there are several ways to improve the wool feel and bulkiness of polyester: using the air network form to blow out the filaments and intertwining them to form irregular structures, and using different raw material combinations to form three-dimensional curled and bulky shapes, etc.
From the perspective of wool feel, the fineness of air network deformation imitation cotton silk is uneven, and the wool feel is greatly different. Different raw materials The combined imitation cotton filaments have uniform fineness, and the wool feel can be highlighted during post-finishing, which generally does not affect subsequent production processes.
②Imitate the hygroscopicity of cotton fiber
Currently improving the hygroscopicity of polyester The main methods include: using fine or ultra-fine denier filaments to increase the specific surface area of the fiber and increase the capillary wicking speed; modifying the fiber cross-section to add moisture absorption and moisture-conducting grooves to speed up the moisture absorption; and hydrophilic modification of the fiber. properties, adding hydrophilic groups to the fiber to enhance the fiber’s moisture absorption capacity.
③Imitate the luster of cotton fiber
To improve the gloss of polyester and achieve the effect of cotton fiber, it is necessary to form diffuse reflection on the fiber surface to weaken the reflection ability of light. Methods to weaken the gloss include: modifying the fiber surface to make the surface The reflection of light is reduced, or part of the light is absorbed to form a soft luster. Fine or ultra-fine denier fibers are used to improve the diffuse reflection ability and soften the light.
2 Make up for the defects of cotton fiber
Utilize the characteristics of polyester , to make up for the shortcomings of cotton fiber fabrics. For example, polyester has good weather resistance properties such as light resistance, heat resistance, and mold resistance, which can make up for the lack of durability of cotton fabrics; polyester has a large initial modulus, is stiff, and is not easy to deform, and has good shape retention, which can make up for the shortcomings in durability of cotton fabrics. Cotton fabrics are prone to wrinkles, deformation, and wear resistance.
They are also developed according to the different needs of users, different fields of use and the needs of some specific functions. Some even have superior performance and usability than pure cotton fabrics. By using different hydrophilic agents and different cross-sectional shapes to modify the fiber, the hygroscopicity of the super-cotton-like fiber can have different characteristics to meet the needs of people with different amounts of exercise.
Recycled beverage bottles, discarded coffee grounds, etc. are reused for the production of super-imitation cotton fiber, giving the super-imitation cotton fiber new green and environmentally friendly characteristics.
How to imitate super imitation cotton?
Weaving process
①Organizational structure
Super cotton imitation fiber The shape effect first depends on the organizational structure of the fabric. Because the fibers are thinner, the capillary phenomenon is stronger, and the special-shaped cross-section has better hygroscopicity. However, in the fabric structure, in order to enhance its hygroscopicity, the fabric weave must be designed according to the different application fields of the fabric. Sometimes the plain weave is better, and sometimes the twill weave is better.
②Longitude and weft density settings
Due to the special nature of super-imitation cotton fiber performance, taking into account the shrinkage characteristics of the fiber during finishing. The warp and weft density should be designed properly so that the fibers can fully reflect the thickness and fluffiness of the fabric after heat shrinkage.
Dyeing and finishing process
Cotton-like effect of super-imitation cotton fiber A large part of it is reflected through post-finishing. Due to the special properties of the raw materials, in order to enhance the cotton-shaped effect, it must be preformed, so that the fibers can fully shrink and the fluffiness will be more prominent.
General process flow:
Soft stenter finishing
Due to the large modulus of polyester, the fabric is relatively stiff, overcoming the shortcomings of pure cotton fabrics that are easy to deform and are not durable. But the stiffness is too strong and it will be uncomfortable to wear. To make the fabric have a moderately soft feel, the fabric needs to be softly finished. And during the process of thermal shrinkage of the fabric, tenter shaping is carried out taking into account that the fabric has fully shrunk.�To enhance the cotton feel of the fabric.
Feather finishing
After felt finishing, the fabric feel It is plumper and softer, further improving the simulation and wearing performance.
Applications of super-imitation cotton products
Super-imitation cotton products are not only It is close to cotton fabric in terms of fiber surface morphology and fabric style. More importantly, its performance and function are imitating cotton and super cotton, and it has excellent dynamic thermal and moisture comfort performance. Therefore, its fiber can be widely used in knitting, woven, sportswear, casual wear, shirts, underwear, outerwear, home textiles and other products. </p
