Advantages of microfiber over other materials

The most remarkable characteristic of microfiber is that its monofilament density is much lower than that of conventional ordinary fiber, among which the finest can reach 0.0001 dtex. Due to this remarkable feature, microfibers have many different properties from ordinary fibers, which are mainly listed as follows:

(1) Feel soft and delicate with good flexibility

The cross section diameter and fineness of microfiber are smaller than those of natural fiber, so the crimping modulus of microfiber is lower. Its monofilament has low flexural rigidity, so its fabric has good drape property. Compared with ordinary fibers, the crystallinity and orientation of microfibers are higher, which improves the relative strength of fibers. Therefore, the bending strength and repeated bending strength of fibers are improved, making them flexible, smooth and soft. However, these properties are also related to the fabric structure, mixed fiber composition, mixed fiber ratio, and so on. At the same time, for the deformable yarn, the decrease of monofilament fineness will lead to the decrease of its fluffiness.

(2) Good wrinkle resistance and wear resistance

The decrease of microfiber fineness makes its absolute strength decrease, but for the same yarn size, the number of fiber roots in the yarn section is more than that of conventional yarn, so the yarn strength is still relatively high. At the same time, it is helpful to sand wash or pile up the fabric, so as to prepare velvet, suede and peach velvet and other high grade fabrics, and has better wrinkle resistance and wear resistance.

(3) Good fluffy and soft luster

Microfiber has small fineness and high fiber density, which increases the specific surface area and capillary effect of the fiber. While improving the covering and fluffiness of the fabric, the reflection of light is more dispersed, so that the reflected light inside the fiber is more delicate, so that the luster is soft and it has a silk luster.

(4) High density fabric structure and high cleaning ability

The fiber of microfiber is fine, and the warp and weft fibers are easy to adhere to each other and extrude and deform in weaving, so it is easy to form high-density fabric, whose warp and weft density is several times that of ordinary fabric. After finishing, waterproof fabric can be prepared even without any coating and other processing, which can be applied to raincoat, windcoat, casual wear, sports wear, dust-free clothing, fashion and shoe fabric. Similarly, due to its small monofilaments density, when the woven fabric is used to wipe the object, the fine fiber is like a sharp scraper, so it is easy to scrape the dirt. Meanwhile, the microfiber has a larger contact surface with the dirt, so it is easier to stick, and has a strong capillary core suction effect, so it is easy to suck the attached dirt into the fabric. Avoid the re-pollution of objects due to the loss of dirt, so it has high cleaning ability, is the ideal wiping cloth and clean cloth of choice.

(5) Good heat preservation

Microfiber is a good material to keep warm because of its small fineness and the presence of more still air in the fiber collection. If some coarse fibers are mixed into the fiber collection body as a scaffold, its compression elasticity and fluffiness can be greatly increased.

(6) High water absorption and oil absorption

The fineness of microfibers becomes finer and the specific surface area becomes larger, thus forming smaller scale and more capillaries, which not only greatly improves the hygroscopicity of the fabric, but also greatly improves its capillary core absorption capacity, so that it can absorb and store more liquid (oil or water). Therefore, microfiber can be applied to the development of high absorbent products, such as high absorbent pen refill, high absorbent towel and other products. These pores can absorb a lot of water, so microfibers are very absorbent, and most of the water adsorbed can be stored in the pores and dried quickly, effectively preventing the growth of bacteria.

(7) A good carrier for enzyme and ion exchange

Because microfibers have a large surface area. Therefore, it is a good carrier of active agents such as biological enzymes and ion exchangers, which can improve its activity efficiency, and can also be applied to permeable membranes, biomedicine (such as artificial skin, artificial blood vessels) and other fields.

In addition, microfibers are also resistant to microbial adhesion and corrosion of shellfish and seaweed. However, there are some problems in the processing and application of microfiber. For example, the friction coefficient is large, the strength of the monofilament is low, and the bending stiffness is decreased, so that the rigidity and fluffiness of the prepared fabric are reduced. The large specific surface area makes it difficult to desizing, much pulping, large amount of dye, uneven dyeing and other problems during processing. Therefore, dyeing and finishing equipment and related technological conditions need to be properly adjusted during processing and preparation.