A brief discussion on outdoor jacket fabrics
A brief discussion on outdoor jacket fabrics
Abstract: This article briefly introduces the fabrics of jackets from three aspects: jacket fabric types, testing standards and waterproof and moisture-permeable mechanisms, and points out the shortcomings and areas for improvement in the current domestic jacket clothing field.
Keywords: fabric; testing standards; waterproof and breathable mechanism
With the development of social economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, outdoor sports are becoming more and more popular, which is accompanied by the rise of the functional protective textile market. So, what are outdoor sports? Outdoor sports are a group of adventurous or experiential sports that take place in the natural environment. According to the Technical Committee for Standardization of Sporting Goods, sportswear industry clothing products can be mainly divided into outdoor sports jackets, outdoor sports fleece clothing, outdoor sports close-fitting clothing, outdoor sports ski clothing, and down clothing. Let’s discuss the outdoor sports jacket fabrics below:
In order to obtain waterproof, windproof, breathable and other properties for a jacket, there are many different materials to choose from, which can generally be divided into three types: one is high-density fabrics with water-repellent finishing, especially high-density fabrics with microfibers; It is light, thin, durable, has good moisture permeability, good drape, soft, and windproof. It is widely used in sports and outdoor activity clothing. The main disadvantage is poor waterproofness. Due to the high density of the fabric, the tearing performance of the fabric is poor. The spinning must be specially processed. The fiber processing technology is difficult and the cost is high. The second is laminated fabrics, such as Gore-tex and
A waterproof and breathable film represented by Sympatex and OMNI-TECH. The microporous film contains a large number of micropores. The size of these micropores is far smaller than the size of raindrops, but they can allow water vapor molecules to pass through, thereby achieving Waterproof and breathable purpose. The third is coated fabrics. Currently, most waterproof and breathable fabric manufacturers on the market develop microporous breathable coatings based on polyurethane. The breathability varies with the thickness of the coating film.
1. Common jacket fabrics
1.1 High-density fabric
The iconic product of high-density fabric is Ventile fabric, which was designed by the British Shirley Research Institute in the 1940s. It uses high-count, low-twist pure cotton yarn of Egyptian long-staple cotton to create a high-density, heavy-weight flat weave fabric. Cold and submersion-resistant clothing used by British Air Force pilots during World War II. When the fabric is dry, the gaps between the warp and weft yarns are larger, about 10 microns, which can provide a highly moisture-permeable structure; when rain or water hits the fabric, the cotton yarns expand, reducing the gaps between the yarns to 3 to 4 microns. This closed-cell mechanism is combined with a special water-repellent finish to ensure that the fabric is not further penetrated by rainwater. It is a tight fabric of 100% cotton that can prevent water penetration for up to 20 minutes. High-density fabrics have made great progress with the development of ultra-fine fibers. The gaps between ultra-fine fibers in the dry state are much smaller than ordinary fibers, so dense fabrics made of ultra-fine fibers have the function of wet expansion. Today’s high-density waterproof and moisture-permeable fabrics are mostly ultra-fine polyester or nylon fiber fabrics. The fibers and yarns can withstand 9.8-14.7kPa water pressure. Combined with super water-repellent finishing technology, they can make waterproof, moisture-permeable and wearable. Comfort has been greatly improved. The development of microfiber is accompanied by the development of the fabric market. Today, the jacket fabric market covers:
Polyester pongee: Fabric woven with low-elastic polyester yarn in warp and weft. The fabric structure is plain weave.
Nylon: Also known as nylon, the warp and weft threads are woven with nylon yarn.
Taslon: Fabric woven from nylon filament and nylon air-textured yarn.
Suede: A fabric made of island silk as long as there is one direction in the warp and weft direction.
Peach skin: The warp is made of polyester yarn, the weft is made of fine denier polyester yarn and has been sanded and finished. The silk surface has a distinct velvet feel.
Washed velvet: A fabric with a velvet feel made of polyester yarns with different shrinkage rates for the warp and weft threads.
Chiffon: woven from strong-twisted low-elastic polyester yarn.
Huayao: The warp is generally made of polyester FDY75D, the weft is generally made of polyester DTY150D, and the fabric is generally twisted in the weft direction.
Oxford cloth: a fabric woven with raw materials of nylon and polyester, plain weave and twill weave, single and double yarns.
Cationic: Fabric woven using cationic silk.
Satin: As long as the raw material in one direction in the warp and weft direction is light triangular shaped yarn, it can be called satin.
In order to further enhance the waterproof effect of the fabric, appropriate water-repellent finishing is also necessary. High density is characterized by good moisture permeability, softness and drape, but low water pressure resistance (generally less than 1 meter), high defective rate, difficulty in dyeing and finishing, and poor folding and abrasion resistance. Due to technical and cost constraints, it is not suitable for the market to rely solely on high-density fabrics to achieve waterproof and breathable jackets. Instead, it relies on the combination of several technologies to create a high-performance product.
1.2.Laminated fabric
When it comes to laminated fabrics, we have to mention GORE-TEX fabric, which is the only fabric with three major properties: waterproof, breathable and windproof. Its appearance integrates the two seemingly contradictory characteristics of waterproofing and breathability, achieving waterproofing effect through sealing, and achieving breathable effect through chemical replacement reaction.Problems such as excessive amounts of formaldehyde, decomposable aromatic amines and other harmful substances in clothing coatings or dyes cannot be ignored. Regulatory authorities should increase inspection and supervision of such products. At the same time, quality management standards are still imperfect and there are omissions. my country has not put forward specific standard requirements for the labeling of functional textile products such as jackets, and there is also a lack of functional description standards for jackets, which has brought a lot of inconvenience to the quality supervision of the jacket market and the protection of consumer rights. Therefore, our country should issue corresponding technical standards and specifications as soon as possible in terms of functional labels for jackets, to guide and standardize the functional labels for outdoor products in the market, and to provide necessary technical support for law enforcement agencies. TnypZ4X
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