Textile Materials
Textile Materials tests whether you can select a material for a stated end use and justify it - fibre, blend, GSM, finish and trims - and whether you know the trade names and technical-textile categories.
Trade names to recognise
- Elastane is sold as Lycra; lyocell as Tencel; polyester as Dacron; polyamide as nylon; viscose as rayon.
- Blends: PC (polyester-cotton) for durability and easy care; PV (polyester-viscose) for drape and cost; cotton-elastane for stretch comfort.
- Blends are made for cost, strength, comfort, spinning performance and dyeing behaviour, not decoration.
Trims and support materials
Sewing thread (corespun for strength), fusible interfacing, lining, zips (size 3 for dresses, 5 for trousers), buttons, elastic, shoulder pads, brand and care labels. Blend ratio must appear on the care label.
Technical textile categories
The standard twelve include agrotech, medtech, geotech, protech, buildtech, clothtech, hometech, mobiltech, indutech, oekotech, packtech and sporttech.
Worked example
Select a material for a reusable hospital gown. Requirement: liquid barrier, launderability at 71 C or above, strength after 50 washes. Choice: polyester-cotton 50:50, 130-150 g/m2, with a fluorocarbon repellent finish, or an SMS nonwoven (35-45 g/m2) for single use. Reasoning: state the performance requirement first, then the fibre and finish that delivers it, then the cost or reuse consequence. A cotton-only answer fails on drying time and barrier.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling viscose a synthetic fibre; it is regenerated cellulosic.
- Quoting a fibre without GSM and finish, which makes the choice unverifiable.
- Using dress-weight fabric for upholstery.
- Omitting blend percentage on the specification.
- Listing technical textile categories with no product example.