Nothing says home like cozy living spaces. This kind of ambiance is a result of the type of furnishing and home improvement products. Different décor needs call for different types of polyester staple fiber.
That means fiber material that delivers quality, price, comfort, practicality, and versatility.
The creation of polyester brought a revolution to the fabric industry. As a crease-resistant and durable material, polyester is the go-to fiber. It is perfect because of its inherent benefits. Among them being cheap, resilient, hypoallergenic, and low shrinkage. New technology has brought innovative ways of manipulating polyester. In essence making combinations suitable for garments, house interiors, and geotextile use.
The second-largest use of polyester staple in the world is home furnishing. Second to fabric manufacture is its application in items for furnishing homes. These uses in modern homes range from wadding, upholstery, bedding to stuffing.
So what do you look for when choosing the PSF for your home furnishing needs? The key lies in the properties and specifications each fiber carries after processing. Some of these properties are:
Tenacity and Shrink Ratio.
We know that polyester fiber is shrinks and wrinkle resistant. This is possible because it undergoes pre-shrinking during drawing and crimping production processes. More number of draws lowers the shrinkage in final fabrics. Low shrink increases the tenacity of fibers hence great for wadding and upholstery. A high number of crimps guarantee good elasticity and bulkiness.
Cross Section Features
The shape of the fiber cross-section will also affect the quality of products. Innovation in polyester manufacturing has brought to play more features. Cross-section shape affects the luster of fibers as these surfaces reflect light. Apart from the traditional round cross-section, there are oval, trilobed, multilobed, triangular shapes. Circular fibers give a strong glimmer because they reflect light in an even manner. Products from round fiber will appear shiny; those from irregular will give a dull sheen. Moreover round cross-section is popular due to the cost-effectiveness of extruding round filament. Features include the hollow, single hole, or multi-hole. The cross-sectional features will affect the hand feel and fiber performance. For instance, hollow fibers have high elasticity and bounce.
Spin Finish Treatments
Another reason for polyester fiber preference is the ease of manipulation. The manufacturer changes the final look through chemical treatments for its end-use. Finishing treatments that exist include antibacterial, siliconization, conjugation, flame retardant. With respect, these treatments also affect fiber selection for your home. Antibacterial fibers are suitable in undergarments and sportswear. Flame retardant are safe for curtains used in general areas like the kitchen and living room.
Length to Breadth Ratio
Length and diameter determine the performance and how fine the material feels. It will decide the suitability for spinning into yarn for fabric or non-woven. Large diameter fibers are crisp, rough, and stiff. Small diameters are soft, pliable, and great for making fabrics that drape with ease. Chemical fiber companies show fineness in denier and dtex. That is weight in grams of 9000 meters or 1000 meters. Fibers for textiles range between 1 to 7 denier and for carpet fiber denier ranges from 15 to 24.
Thermal Bonding Aka Mixing Regular Fiber with Low Melt Fiber
When PSF blends with low melt fiber, it makes thermally-bonded sheets for insulation. The insulation property of this fiber makes it specific for quilts, comforters, mattresses. The thermal sheets come in different GSMs of 100, 200, and 300.
Here are quick takeaways:
Insulation and Warmth
Hollow fibers trap air inside them acting as insulation. This makes them the best choice when going for warmth.
Comfort and Fluffiness
Create a comfy living room with hollow conjugated siliconized fiber. Silicon spraying gives a smooth finish adding a silky, soft feel. It is suitable for infusing comfort in your living and sleeping areas. Non-siliconized fiber has a rough finish. Less than 1D fiber also has a superfine and fluffy surface that adds comfort.
Strength and Resilience
Choosing fibers with low shrinkage works best for high traffic areas. These may be home interiors that need strong fabrics like couches and carpets.
Practicality
Practical furnishing needs like filling and fabric choices tend to be also specific. Hollow fiber is a realistic option for filling because of its high recovery rate. But, solid fiber is easy to spin for making fabrics. Choosing the best fiber for home furnishing is about product knowledge. Customers have to make good and practical choices. That is by considering thickness, cross-sectional shape, tenacity, and finishes (treatment). These factors will determine the fiber performance in products like carpets, comforters, etc.
