Teijin Frontier, the Teijin Group’s fibre and products converting company, has developed a new polyester material that is said to achieve the look, texture, aesthetic appeal and comfort of hybrid silk wool for a wide range of medium-thickness apparel applications, including jackets and bottoms, as a new product for Solotex family.

“Silk wool, a hybrid of silk and wool that came into use during the 1950s, is a high-function material noted for swelling, smoothness, softness, melange and dense colourings, a combination of properties not possible with synthetic materials until now,” the company explains. “The new Solotex material offers silk wool-like high-quality appearance, softness and smoothness, elegant gloss, and dense colouring.”

To achieve the luxurious look and feel of natural silk wool, Teijin Frontier uses a multi-thickness structure to process straight polyester filament yarn, employing a proprietary higher-order thread-processing technology. The yarn is then blended with Solotex and finally undergoes post-dyeing processing. The new Solotex material realises colourings with dense spots that are close to those of natural materials. It also eliminates the dry, rough touch of conventional wool-like materials and replicates the smoothness and high resiliency of wool, according to the manufacturer.

Thanks to Solotex’s form stability and cushioning, the new Solotex material is said to achieve easy-care property, including washability and crease resistance, and other functions, such as water-repelling and antifouling properties, that cannot be associated with natural silk wool, can be easily added.

Teijin Frontier will begin selling the new Solotex material within the current fiscal year, targeting annual sales of 100,000 metres by the fiscal year ending in March 2020.

www.teijin.com