New Textile Materials - Far Infrared Fibers and An

Nowadays, clothing fabrics are no longer limited to cotton, linen, silk, etc. More and more new textile materials are appearing in front of consumers, especially far-infrared fibers and antibacterial fabrics, which are more common in the market. What are the advantages of these two types of new materials? Today, let's take a look together.

What is far-infrared fiber

Far-infrared fibers are formed by adding powders containing far-infrared functions (some functional metal or non-metallic oxides, crushed to nanometer or micro nanometer level powders) during the spinning process, mixing evenly, and then drawing. The far-infrared function achieved by this method has strong functionality and will not disappear with water washing.

In recent years, far-infrared fibers have received widespread attention and have been put into production. Most of them are made by adding far-infrared absorbers (ceramic powder) during the processing process, making them an efficient insulation material.

In the mid-1980s, Japan was the first to develop and launch far-infrared fabrics into the market. At present, the combination of far-infrared fibers and magnetic therapy is leading to the birth of composite healthcare fabrics.

What are the main applications of far-infrared fibers in clothing?

Far infrared fibers can be used to prepare household products such as imitation down floral covers, socks, and knitted underwear. These products not only meet basic applications, but also have certain health functions.

How does far-infrared fiber achieve warmth retention?

There are generally two views on the health principles of far-infrared fibers. One belief is that far infrared fibers absorb the energy of solar radiation, with 99% concentrated in wavelengths ranging from 0.2 to 3 μ Within the area of m, the infrared part (>0.761 μ m) 48.3% of the total are ceramic particles in far-infrared fibers, which enable the fibers to fully absorb the shortwave energy (far-infrared part of the energy) in sunlight and release it in the form of potential (far-infrared form), thereby achieving the function of warmth preservation and health care; The other thinks that because of the extremely low conductivity and high radiance of ceramics, far-infrared fibers can accumulate the heat emitted by the human body and release it in the form of far-infrared to increase the warmth retention of the fabric.

What is antibacterial fabric

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Antibacterial fabric is a type of special functional fabric that has undergone antibacterial finishing or contains antibacterial fibers, which can inhibit the growth, reproduction, or inactivation of bacteria and fungi on the fabric. Qualified antibacterial fabrics should ensure that there are no toxic or side effects on human health and should not affect the normal bacterial community of human skin while antibacterial.

Compared to microorganisms in nature, human skin is a good nutrient. In general, some resident bacteria on the skin play a role in protecting the skin from bacterial harm. However, once the microbial community in the microorganisms is dysregulated, a small amount of bacteria in them will multiply in large numbers and cause harm to the human body through the skin, respiratory tract, digestive tract, and reproductive tract mucosa. Textiles can produce sweat, sebum, and various other secretions during the wearing process of the human body. At the same time, the skin can also be contaminated by pollutants in the environment, becoming an important medium in the reproduction and transmission of bacteria. Therefore, antibacterial fabrics are needed to meet health needs.

How are antibacterial fabrics classified?

According to the difference in the activity status of fabrics against microorganisms, they can be divided into two categories: passive antibacterial fabrics and active antibacterial fabrics.

Passive antibacterial fabrics themselves do not contain antibacterial agents, but their surface structure has a "lotus leaf effect", that is, the anti adhesion effect of water, oil, and dirt repellency given by special finishing (such as plasma) can have a negative impact on the living conditions of microorganisms, thus playing a role in inhibiting the growth of harmful microorganisms.

Active antibacterial fabrics contain antibacterial agents, whose antibacterial activity can actively act on the internal or external cells of microorganisms, inhibiting or killing their growth.

What are the mainstream antibacterial treatment methods?

One type is traditional antibacterial fabric that uses post-processing technology, which involves adding antibacterial agents to the fabric through subsequent shaping processes. The post-processing process is relatively simple and controlled according to the specific requirements of customers, making it the most widely used one in the market. This type of fabric will have a significant decrease in antibacterial effect as the number of washes increases, to the point where it cannot achieve antibacterial effect.

Another type is the built-in silver ion antibacterial fabric, which uses spinning grade antibacterial technology to directly synthesize antibacterial agents into chemical fibers. This type of fabric has been tested by national authoritative departments and can meet the requirements of the national standard GB/T20944.3-2008 "Evaluation of Antibacterial Performance of Textiles". Its antibacterial, bactericidal, and antibacterial effects are long-lasting, safe and harmless to the human body, and have excellent antibacterial effects.

What are the testing standards for fabric antibacterial performance in China?

Antibacterial fabrics have a special quality inspection indicator, which is antibacterial performance. The standards involved in antibacterial performance testing include: GB/T 20944 "Evaluation of Antibacterial Performance of Textiles", FZ/T73023-2006 "Antibacterial Knitwear", GB/T 15979-2002 "Hygienic Standard for Disposable Sanitary Products" Appendix B, ISO20743-2013 "Determination of Antibacterial Activity of Textiles", JIS L 1902:2008 "Test Methods for Antibacterial Performance of Textiles" Antibacterial Effect ", etc. The first two standards are commonly used testing standards in China. Compared to other standards, these two standards provide detailed explanations in terms of testing strains, detergents, washing methods, blank control samples, and determination of antibacterial effects.

How is antibacterial fabric produced?