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Dyeable polypropylene fibre

Application of contemporary fibres in apparels

Polypropylene fibres possess a number of attractive properties when compared to other fibres used in apparel. Despite of desirable properties, polypropylene fibres traditionally have suffered from a major drawback that has limited its usage in textile apparel applications and the main reason behind this was dyeing. Polypropylene can now easily be dyed with disperse dyes in aqueous media in a standard industry process

yeable polypropylene fibre is a revolutionary new fibre for the apparel market created by FibreVisions, one of the worlds largest producers of polyolefin staple fibres. CoolVisions is the industrys premier disperse-dyeable polypropylene fibre, created to address the needs of the manufacturer and the desires of the consumer. Dyeable polypropylene fibres offer a vast array of inherent benefits and properties of traditional polypropylene fibres: Lightweight and comfortable, with moisture management, durability, thermal insulation and stain resistance. Unlike traditional polypropylene fibre, this new fibre is dyeable with disperse dyes, and its unique design results in a soft hand.

new colour concept to the final fabric or garment can be long. Ideally, it should have a dyeing profile similar to or compatible with large-volume fibres such as polyester, nylon or cotton, so that it is compatible with the dyeing and related processes that are already well-established. Furthermore, it should not change the essential benefits of polypropylene fibres presented in Table 1 especially its low density and its low surface energy. There have been several attempts to make dyeable polypropylene fibres, but they have not been successful because the resulting product did not meet these criteria.

diminished, resulting in good colourfastness. As with polyester fibres, high-energy disperse dyes should be used to obtain optimum colourfastness. The approach of encapsulating the additive within the polypropylene fibre has many benefits. The surface of the fibre is essentially unchanged, resulting in excellent aqueous stain resistance and low water absorption. The polypropylene fibre also serves to protect the dyes from chemicals such as chlorine, resulting in excellent bleach fastness. Since the ability to dye the polypropylene fibre is imparted by the incorporation of an additive, the level of the additive affects the depth of shade. This has a couple of benefits; the additive level can be controlled quite well, resulting in reduced shade sensitivity to processing conditions. In addition, the level can be intentionally changed to produce fibres that dye to different depths, thereby offering an additional styling tool.

Conventional polypropylene fibre


In contrast to other fibres, conventional polypropylene fibres cannot be dyed. Instead, the colour has to be imparted at the fibre extrusion step through mass colouration or solution dyeing. The process involves adding a relatively thermally stable pigment colour during the melt spinning of the fibre. The pigments used are not usually miscible with polypropylene. Thus, the pigments are present as discrete particles in the fibre, and the colour imparted becomes permanent in the fibre. While this has the benefit of very good colourfastness, there are two significant disadvantages. The first is that introducing new colours involves a relatively complex colour-matching step. The second is the absence of greige goods to be dyed. This means that relatively large lots of fibre are made for every new colour, and the time required going from a
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Technology of dyeable polypropylene fibre


FiberVisions has developed a revolutionary new polypropylene fibre, dyeable polypropylene fibre, which meets the needs of facile dyeing and polypropylene fibre characteristics by incorporating an additive within the polypropylene fibre. The fibre can be dyed using conventional disperse dyes in a manner similar to that used for polyester fibres. As discussed, dyeable polypropylene fibres contain an additive that acts as a dye receptor. The additive is present in the fibres as small domains into which the disperse dyes dissolve during the dyeing process. At dyeing temperatures greater than the boiling point of water, the disperse dyes diffuse readily through the polypropylene fibre into the encapsulated domains of the additive. Under actual garment use conditions which include much lower temperatures - the diffusion of the disperse dyes back out of the fibre is greatly

Dyeable polypropylene fibre characteristics


Currently, dyeable polypropylene fibres are available in form of staple fibre for ring spinning. The yarn spinning, knitting and weaving procedures for dyeable polypropylene can be done in a similar manner to current pigmented polypropylene products. The dyeing procedure mirrors the same steps used for disperse dyeing polyester. Lower temperatures can be used for dyeing and are required for the finishing process. Dyeable polypropylene fibres can easily be blended with wool, cotton, cellulosic or man-made fibres.

Comparison of polypropylene fibre with other fibres


Lightweight and comfortable Polypropylene fibres are among the lightest in weight of all available commercial fibres. The increased number of polypropylene fibres per kilogram of fabric offers added value as compared to many other fibres, resulting in improved coverage for the same weight range or equal coverage in lighter-weight fabrics for comfortable garments. In addition, dyeable polypropylene fibres are inherently softer than traditional polypropylene fibres, resulting in greater comfort. This combination of attributes makes garments made from these new fibres inherently easy care, easy wear.
2 1.6 1.2 0.8 0.4 0
Ac ryl ic n l Po lya mi de Po lye ste r Sil k e oo len tto lyp ro Co py

Thermal insulation Dyeable polypropylene fibres provide better insulation than most other fibres. Insulation power is the ability to insulate against heat conduction through the fibre, relative to the insulation power of air. In cold weather, the greater the insulation power, the greater warmth wearer will feel in the fabrics.
0.2

Insulation power (Air = 1)


0.15

0.1

Caring for dyeable polypropylene fibre


Dyeable polypropylene fibre dries very quickly. The garment made with dyeable polypropylene can be machine wash in cold water. These fabrics need to lay flat to dry or tumble dry on low permanent press cycle. Cool iron can be used, if needed. Dry cleaning is not required for the garment made by dyeable polypropylene fibre.

0.05

Density (g/cm 3)
0
Polypropylene Polyester Polyamide Acrylic Cotton Wool Silk

Stain resistance Stain resistance is one of the superior advantages of dyeable polypropylene fibres. Polypropylene fibre is inherently resistant to water-based stains.
Stain resistance
W

Environmental benefits of dyeable polypropylene fibre


Polypropylene is enjoying a revival in the apparel market with todays increased interest in green products and the advent of dyeability. Polypropylene has a strong sustainability platform. To begin, polypropylene has the best carbon footprint in the category of synthetics. As compared to all other the major synthetic fibres, polyolefins are the only ones which begin as a coproduct, meaning lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy use than other fibre resins. The fibre manufacturing process of polypropylene has a low impact on the environment as there is no toxic waste, low emissions, and no fluorocarbons, or halogens. The environmental impact is also seen at the consumer level, with reduced energy use for drying of garments and high potential for recycling.

Moisture management Dyeable polypropylene fibres out perform all other dyeable fibres in low-moisture-absorption tests. In addition, garments made from polypropylene tend to have a high moisture-vapour-transmission providing the industrys fastest drying garments. This is important in comfort, especially when one wants the skin to stay cool and dry. The mechanical properties of polypropylene fibres are not affected when the fabric is wet an inherent advantage compared to fibres like rayon, which can lose strength substantially. As with traditional polypropylene, dyeable polypropylene offers excellent chemical resistance and aqueous stain resistance. Bleach and other household cleaning chemicals do not affect the fibres, which also are not attacked by microbial organisms such as mold, mildew and bacteria.
15

Po

Polypropylene Polyester

Polyamide

Acrylic

Cotton

Wool

Silk

Chlorine bleach resistance Bleach and other household cleaning chemicals do not affect dyeable polypropylene fibres.
Excellent

Chlorine bleach resistance

Good

Good

Good

Good Fair Fair

Conclusion
Fashion designers and textile manufacturers are facing increasing demands for style, sophistication and above all, performance. They are trying delivering everything from the simplest everyday garments to the most glamorous fashions, and they also have an ambition to create more value-added products through innovation and stronger branding. The challenge now is to go beyond the basics and respond quickly to market needs. Invention of dyeable polypropylene fibre provides brilliant colour shades to meet fast-moving market trends by providing new styling options for apparel. Dyeable polypropylene fibre is well-suited for any lifestyle as it is easy care, easy wear. Further, dyeable polypropylene fibres also offers immense production possibilities where manufacturers benefit from increasing their operational effectiveness, reducing the inventory of coloured yarns, streamlining the production process and obvious better margins. Retailers are also getting benefited because of product differentiation, speed to market and most importantly consumer satisfaction
By Vasant R Kothari, Assistant Professor, NIFT, Bangalore (Author can be contacted @ www.vasantkothari.com)

Moisture Regain percentage

Polypropylene Polyester

Polyamide

Acrylic

Cotton

Wool

Silk

10

Advantages of dyeable polypropylene fibre


The fibres feature a wide array of inherent benefits and properties including:
Polypropylene Polyester Polyamide Acrylic Cotton Wool Silk

Durable Dyeable polypropylene fibres have excellent toughness and abrasion resistance resulting in durable products that wear longer than most other fibres.
Excellent Excellent

Durability

Light weight and comfort Cottony softness Easy care, easy wears Moisture management Durability Breathability Thermal insulation Stain resistance

Perspiration escapes as water vapor through microscopic pores. These pores are too small for water droplets to penetrate.

Brands using dyeable polypropylene fibre for their products


Good Fair Fair Fair Fair

Polypropylene Polyester

Polyamide

Acrylic

Cotton

Wool

Silk

Today global brands such as Terramar and The North Face are using dyeable polypropylene fibres in their products. The North Face flannel Tekware shirts for men and women were introduced at outdoor retailer winter market last year itself. The North Face garments are blends of dyeable polypropylene fibres and cotton.

APPAREL VIEWS / DECEMBER 2011

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