Fabric Knowledge: What is Rayon Fabric?

You may have probably seen on garment tags in the store or your closet these words including cotton, wool, polyester, rayon, viscose, modal or lyocell. But what is rayon fabric? Is it a plant fiber, an animal fiber, or something synthetic like polyester or elastane?

20211116 what is rayon fabric

Shaoxing Starke Textiles company specializes in production of Rayon fabrics including Rayon Jersey, Rayon French Terry, Rayon Softshell fabric, and Rayon Rib fabric.

Rayon fabric is a material made from wood pulp. So Rayon fiber is actually a kind of cellulose firbe. It has all these characterics of cellulose fabrics like cotton or hemp, including soft to touch, moisture absorbing and friendly to skin.

Since its invention, rayon fabric is widely used in textile industry. From athletic wear to summer bed sheets, rayon is a versatile, breathable fabric.

What Is Rayon Fabric?
Rayon fabric is a semi-synthetic fabric usually made out of the chemically treated wood pulp. It’s synthetic because of the chemical processing even though the raw materials are plant matter, called cellulose.

Rayon fabric is quite much cheaper than natural fabric like cotton or wool fabric. Many manufacturers use rayon fabrics for inexpensive clothing because it is cheap to produce and shares many of the qualities that natural fibers have.

what Is Rayon Made of?
The Wood pulp used to produce Rayon comes from a variety of trees including Spruce, hemlock, beechwood, and bamboo.
Agricultural by-products, like wood chips, tree bark, and other plant matter, are also a frequent source of rayon cellulose. The ready availability of these by-products helps keep rayon affordable.

Types of Rayon Fabric
There are three common types of rayon: viscose, lyocell, and modal. The primary differences between them are the raw material they come from and which chemicals the manufacturer uses to break down and reshape the cellulose.

Viscose is the weakest type of rayon, especially when wet. It loses shape and elasticity faster than other rayon fabrics, so it’s often a dry-clean-only fabric.

Lyocell is the result of a newer rayon-production method. The lyocell process is more environmentally friendly than the viscose process. But it’s less common than viscose because it is more expensive than viscose processing.

Modal is the third type of rayon. What makes modal stand out is that it uses exclusively beech trees for cellulose. Beech trees don’t need as much water as other trees, so using them for pulp is more sustainable than some other sources.
So do you know now the basis knowledge about Rayon fabric?

Shaoxing Starke Textiles company produce many kinds of Rayon fabric like Rayon Jersey, Rayon Rib, Rayon Spandex Jersey, Rayon French Terry. It is suitable for making T-Shirt, Blouse, or skirts or pajamas.


Post time: Nov-16-2021