Mens Underwear Fabric Glossary

In an effort to make you a more informed shopper, we would like to provide you with a list of terms and terminology.

Mens underwear fabric glossary:

Acetate

A manufactured fiber refined from cotton filaments and/or wood pulp, and acetic acid that has been extruded through a spinneret and then hardened.

Antron®

A type of nylon made by DuPont®

Blend

A term applied to a yarn or a fabric that is made up of more than one fiber. In blended yarns, two or more different types of staple fibers are twisted or spun together to form the yarn. Polyester/cotton is an example of a typical blended yarn or fabric.

Charmeuse

A lightweight silk or silk-like fabric.

Chenille

A soft fuzzy fabric developed in France. The name means caterpillar in French.

Chiffon

An extremely sheer, lightweight, soft fabric made of silk, polyester, rayon or other fibers. It is made of highly twisted filament yarns.

Combed Cotton

Cotton in which a combing process removes the short fibers and any debris that may be with the fiber when it was in the field. This results in a cleaner, more uniform and lustrous yarn.

Coolmax

A polyester fiber designed to move moisture away from the body and out onto the surface of the garment for quick absorption. This leaves the wearer feeling cooler and dryer. Coolmax is also fat drying, resists fading, and doesn’t wrinkle or shrink. Because of the movement of moisture, wearing Coolmax indoors without airflow to properly evaporate can cause puddling, since Coolmax does not absorb. Coolmax works best outdoors where there is airflow to evaporate body moisture.

Cotton

A natural fiber that grows in the seedpod of the cotton plant. Fibers are typically 1/2 inch to 2 inches long. The longest staple fibers-- longer than 1 1/2 inch, including the Pima and Egyptian varieties-- produce the highest quality cotton fabrics.

Cotton Lisle

A hard-spun two ply cotton yarn made from long staple fibers and treated to remove all short fuzzy ends for a smooth finish. Lisle is a popular choice for fine men's knitwear, including tops and socks.

Denier

A system of measuring the weight of a continuous filament fiber, this measurement is used to number all manufactured fibers (both filament and staple), and silk, but excluding glass fiber. The lower the number, the finer the fiber and lighter the fabric; the higher the number, the heavier the fiber and thicker the fabric. Numerically, a denier is the equivalent to the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of continuous filament fiber.

Double Knit

A knit fabric in which two layers of loops are formed that cannot be separated. A double knit machine, which has two complete sets of needles, is required for this construction.

Ecosil polyester

Ecosil means the polyester fibers are spun very compactly to give the fabric a clean appearance, and a resistance to pilling and abrasion.

Egyptian cotton

All cotton grown in Egypt is "Egyptian" but it is not all extra-long staple (ELS) cotton – the most desirable and softest. The description "Egyptian cotton" conjures in the mind of many consumers the image of the very finest and longest cottons in the world. Egypt does produce and sell some of the best ELS cotton in the world, but it amounts to less than 15% of annual global ELS cotton exports, and is approximately 40% of Egyptian cotton exports.

Elastane

Elastane is just another name for an old fiber -spandex. Designers prefer this to spandex, and elastane has been used instead of spandex in Europe for some time.

Embossing

A process that produces a raised design or pattern on fabrics by passing the cloth between hot, engraved rollers that press the design in.

Embroidery

An embellishment of a fabric or garment in which colored threads are sewn on to the fabric to create a design. Embroidery may be done either by hand or machine.

Eyelet

A type of fabric with patterned cut-out designs, around which stitching or embroidery is applied in order to prevent the fabric from raveling.

Faille

A glossy, soft, finely-ribbed silk-like woven fabric made from cotton, silk, or manufactured fibers. fiberfill Specially engineered manufactured fibers, which are used as filler material.

Fiberfill

Lightweight, synthetic fiber that can be used to line bra cups.

Interlock

A rib stitch variation, interlock resembles two separate 1 x 1 ribbed fabrics that are interknitted. Interlock stitch fabrics are thicker, heavier, and more stable than single knit constructions.

Italian Nylon

A very high quality knit fabric with 4-way stretch that comes from Italy. Italian nylon includes some lycra to give great stretch and recovery, good strength and abrasion resistance and long germ resistance to body acids.

Jacquard

Any fabric that has a pattern woven into the fabric rather than printed on it. The name comes from Joseph Marie Jacquard who designed a loom attachment capable of weaving patterns into fabric. This attachment provides versatility in designs and permits individual control of each of the warp yarns. Thus, fabrics of almost any type or complexity can be made. Brocade and damask are types of jacquard woven fabrics.

Jacquard Knit

A double knit fabric in which a Jacquard type of mechanism is used. This device individually controls needles or small groups of needles, and allows very complex and highly patterned knits to be created.

Lamé

A woven fabric using flat silver or gold metal threads to create either the design or the background in the fabric.

Latex

Latex is made with rubber and thus has rubber-like qualities. Used in some elastics to provide greater elasticity. Breaks down easily when exposed to sun and body moisture. Many are allergic to direct contact of latex on their body. For these people, spandex is an alternative.

Linen

A fabric made from linen fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. Linen fabrics are very cool and absorbent, but wrinkle very easily, unless blended with manufactured fibers. Linen is one of the world's oldest textile fibers.

Lining

The name given to material sewn into the inside of a garment to make it more opaque or more comfortable against the skin. Frequently lining is used in a bra to add structure or provide a pretty background to sheer and/or lacy fabrics.

Lycra

A trademark of DuPont, Lycra is the spandex fiber produced by DuPont. It is lightweight and soft, but stronger and more durable than rubber. Lycra can be stretched over 500% without breaking, and can be stretched repeatedly and still recover its original length. It provides lightweight freedom of movement in foundation garments.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is being used more an more in bras. The same foam you see in the mattress commercial where the girl is jumping but the water glass is not moving, when used in a bra cup this foam will shape more to your body, then return to its original shape once taken off. This advantage means that your bra cups will not develop creases that are hard or impossible to remove. Storage of memory foam bras is not as important because the shape will pop back if crushed.

Mercerized Cotton

Cotton in which a wet finishing process which swells the yarns of the fabric to give it a round smooth surface. This process results in a stronger and more lustrous yarn that is more easily dyed, producing brighter, deeper colors.

Merino Wool

Merino wool means the wool fiber is long and fine. The result is a fabric that is thin, soft and luxurious.

Mesh

An open-weave knitted or woven fabric that produces a net or sheer-like effect.

Micro Modal

Modal® Micro is a trademarked microfiber from an Austrian textile company, Lenzing. Micro Modal is a fabric made from spun beechwood cellulose. The fabric is delicate and light. The smooth surface of Micro Modal prevents deposits of lime and detergents. Even after numerous washings, fabrics made from Micro Modal remain soft and silky, the colors bright and shiny. Micro Modal is 50% more absorbent than cotton thus allowing the skin to breathe and provides incredible comfort.

Microfiber

Fabric made with microfiber means that the fabric’s filaments are extremely fine – much finer than silk. microfiber fabrics are thus light-weight, and look and feel luxurious. Because microfiber filaments can be packed so closely, they can prevent moisture from passing though, yet allow air flow.

modal

Modal is essentially a variety of rayon. It is made from beech trees and is about 50% more water-absorbent than cotton. Modal is a registered trademark of Lenzing AG. Modal fabric will not pill, liek cotton, and is resistant to shrinkage and fading. It is extremely smooth and soft. Modal can be ironed.

Nylon

Nylon was the first commercially successful synthetic fiber to be made entirely from ingredients: coal, water and air. Nylon is strong, elastic, resistant to abrasion and chemicals, low moisture absorbency, and able to be permanently set by heat.

Opaque

When used in the lingerie industry, opaque means the body can not be seen through the garment.

 

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