Springing and padding

Looking for alternatives

1 May 2008



Fanafel is backing a fibre that can be used for ironer clothing and be compared to meta aramid in both features and price



he past year (2007 - 2008) has seen a worldwide shortage of meta aramid due to a strong demand for this material from the USA military. The shortage will probably continue for the future, so for several years now, Fanafel, the manufacturer of ironing clothing for the worldwide market, has been investigating the possibility of developing an alternative.

The company’s research covered around 50 available technical fibres and sought to find a material with similar performance characteristics to meta aramid and a comparable quality/price ratio measured over the material’s working life.

To be suitable for ironer needled felt, the fibre should provide excellent resistance to the combined effects of temperature and humidity (hydrolysis resistance). It should withstand the effects of continued friction against the ironer chest (abrasion resistance) and it should have excellent mechanical strength (low elongation).

The fibre must resist chemical agents (alkalis and acids). It should be resilient and have a high degree of permeability (for high suction).

The material must have an affordable and fair price.

Over the years, Fanafel has been conducting field trials of fibres to see how they compare with these criteria.

The results seem to indicate that that polytetrafluorethylene would be the best option.

However, this fibre had several negative characteristics. It is excessively slippery and has both low resilience and low permeability, and it is also very expensive.

These factors led Fanafel to choose polyphenylene sulfide as the realistic option for producing an ironer clothing material that had characteristics comparable to those of meta aramid and a similar price.




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