If you often wear sportswear, you must notice that many fitness clothing is made of nylon and spandex, is nylon and spandex breathable? Below passage could give a hint.
What Is The Difference Between Nylon and Spandex
Nylon
Nylon is the Chinese name of synthetic fiber nylon, translation name is also called “nylon”, “nylon”, scientific name is polyamide fiber. It is strong, wear resistance, in all the first fiber. Its wear resistance is 10 times that of cotton fiber, 10 times that of dry viscose fiber and 140 times that of wet fiber. Therefore, its durability is excellent. Nylon fabric has excellent elasticity and elastic recovery, but it is easy to deform under small external force, so its fabric is easy to become wrinkled in the process of wearing.
Spandex
Spandex fabric is polyurethane fiber, because of its excellent elasticity, so it is also named elastic fiber, widely used in clothing fabrics. The elasticity of spandex is very high. The general products do not use 100% polyurethane, and the proportion of 5%~30% is mixed in the fabric.
The various spandex fabrics have 15%~45% comfortable elasticity. Spandex fabric is often made of composite yarn, that is, with spandex as the core and other fibers (such as nylon, polyester, etc.) as the cortex, made of cored yarn elastic fabric, which has good adaptability to the body and is suitable for tights without a sense of press.
Nylon vs Spandex Fabric
1, Nylon and spandex’s usage is different. Polyamide belongs to synthetic fiber, also known as “nylon”, is the world’s first synthetic fiber, this material can be used in medical products. Spandex is a man-made fiber, or polyurethane fiber. It is a kind of elastic fiber. This material is so elastic that it can be used to make all kinds of clothes.
2, Nylon is very wear-resistant, so in industry, can also be used to make conveyor belts, in the military national defense, this material is also used to make parachutes and other military fabrics.
3, Spandex can be used to make short sleeves and wrestling vests for cycling because of its good elasticity. Of course, spandex can also be used to make bandages, surgical protective clothing and so on.
4, Nylon is good at hygroscopicity, so the clothing made of nylon fabric is more comfortable than spandex. The fabric also has excellent wear resistance and has obvious advantages in man-made fibers.
5, Although nylon’s elasticity is better, but this material is easy to deformation under external force, not easy to recover, this point, nylon is not as good as spandex.
6, In addition, the air permeability of spandex is better than that of nylon. Wearing it can breathe freely, which is something that nylon can’t do.
Difference Between Nylon and Polyester Spandex
Advantages of Polyester:
1, High strength. Short fiber strength is 2.6 ~ 5.7cN/dtex, high strength fiber strength is 5.6 ~ 8.0cN/dtex. Because of its low hygroscopicity, its wet strength is basically the same as dry strength. The impact strength is 4 times higher than nylon and 20 times higher than viscose fiber.
2, Good elasticity. Elastic close to wool, when elongation 5 ~ 6%, almost full recovery. Wrinkle resistance over other fibers, that is, the fabric does not wrinkle, good dimensional stability. The elastic modulus is 22 ~ 141cN/dtex, 2 ~ 3 times higher than nylon.
- Good heat resistance.
- Polyester has smooth surface, close arrangement of internal molecules, and lack of hydrophilic structure between molecules, so its moisture regain is very small and hygroscopic performance is poor.
- Good wear resistance. Wear resistance next to the best wear resistance nylon, better than other natural fibers and synthetic fibers.
6, Good light resistance. Light fastness is second only to acrylic fiber.
7, Good corrosion resistance. Resistant to bleaching agents, oxidants, hydrocarbons, ketones, petroleum products and inorganic acids. Resistant to dilute alkali, not afraid of mildew, but hot alkali can make it decomposition.
However, its poor at dyeing.
Advantages of Nylon:
- Strong, wear resistance, in all the first fiber. Its wear resistance is 10 times that of cotton fiber, 10 times that of dry viscose fiber and 140 times that of wet fiber. Therefore, its durability is excellent.
- Excellent elasticity and elastic recovery, but it is easy to deform under small external force, so its fabric is easy to become wrinkled in the process of wearing. Poor ventilation, easy to produce static electricity.
- Better moisture absorption, so the clothing made of nylon is more comfortable to wear than polyester clothing. Good resistance to decay and corrosion.
- Good heat and light resistance, the ironing temperature should be controlled below 140℃. Attention must be paid to washing and maintenance conditions in the process of wearing and using, so as not to damage the fabric.
- Lightweight, only following polypropylene and acrylic fabric among synthetic fabrics, so it is suitable for mountaineering clothes and winter clothing.
Advantages of Spandex:
Best elasticity, good light resistance, acid resistance, alkali resistance, wear resistance.
Disadvantages: the worst strength, poor moisture absorption,
Usage: Spandex is widely used in underwear, women’s spandex underwear, casual wear, sportswear, socks, pantyhose, bandages and other textile and medical fields. Spandex is a kind of high elastic fiber which is necessary for high performance cloth which is dynamic and convenient. Spandex can extend 5-7 times more than its original shape, so it is comfortable to wear, soft to the touch, and wrinkle-free, and can always maintain the original shape.
Is Nylon and Spandex Breathable
The answer is definitely yes.
