MARKETING
Fast Growth Looms for Spandex Fibers New manmade elastic fibers are poised for soaring sales as they win market acceptance and capacity rises
In its new lines of women's foundation garments, on display this week in New York, Warner Brothers Co. has completely replaced conventional rubber elastic with Du Pont's Lycra spandex fiber. Warner's move has twin significance. It spotlights the extent of Lyera's market acceptance. It indicates that Warner figures Du Pont's capacity to make Lycra is—or soon will be—adequate to fill market needs. Bolstering this confidence in adequate capacity, Du Pont's Canadian affiliate, Du Pont of Canada, just last month started building a Lycra unit at its Maitland, Out., plant. The Maitland unit, when completed early next 34
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year, will have more capacity than is needed to supply the Canadian market. Therefore, it will export the fiber until demand builds up in Canada. In this country, meanwhile, Du Pont is building its first commercial spandex fiber unit at Waynesboro, Va. Originally slated for completion in mid1961, the Waynesboro plant now is expected to be on stream this spring. When it is operating, Du Pont's capacity will be 10 times greater than it is now. Du Pont is not alone in building spandex capacity. U.S. Rubber has expanded capacity for its Vyrene spandex twice within the past year at Gas-
tonia, N.C. Also in the running is International Latex, which already is selling its Stretchever, made for it by Carr Fulflex, Inc., at Bristol, R.I. None of the producers will say how much they can make, although International Latex claims it has all the spandex it needs for its own use. Also moving into the field—with as yet unnamed fibers—are Firestone Tire, Globe Mfg. Co., and United Elastic's Easthampton Rubber Thread Co. Goodrich Chemical says that a number of its customers are evaluating its Estane polyurethane as a fiber. But Celanese Fibers Co., which about a year ago reportedly had a spandex fiber—Fiber 32—ready for development, now says that it has only a research program under way for exploring stretch fibers, along with other manmade fibers. Although not a spandex, Eastman Chemical's new T-1700 polyester elastic fiber also is part of the picture. It has a higher modulus of elasticity than either the spandex or rubber elastic fibers, Eastman says. It is a
LOTS OF PROMOTION. Spandex fiber producers have stepped up advertising in battle to win acceptance of their products by garment makers and the public. Du Pont has had its retail advertising campaign for Lycra under way for almost two years. U.S. Rubber began its campaign for Vyrene late last year
monofilament that can be dyed to fast colors with dispersed dyes. Eastman is about to start pilot plant production of T-1700 at Kingsport, Term., but has no plans yet for commercial production. Pilot plant output is slated for use in foundation garments and swimsuits, the same types of garments in which the spandex fibers have found their major initial outlet. Growth Ahead. Increased acceptance of spandex fibers by the garment industry, plus rising capacity, points to a fast growing market. Products containing spandex fibers have been sold nationally for only about a year. Yet an estimated 800,000 pounds of the fiber was sold in 1961. The industry expects sales to rise to about 5 million pounds this year and to between 10 and 12 million pounds in 1963. Some industry sources forecast sales hitting a high of about 30 million pounds by 1965, then leveling off. The $800 million foundation garment business alone takes from 6 to 10 million pounds of elastic fiber a
year. It is a highly competitive field, where brand loyalty is strongly promoted and changes are made cautiously. Thus Warner's step points up the coming of age of the spandex fibers. One reason why spandex has been able to make inroads on rubber fibers is that fabric makers need make only minor modifications in equipment to handle them. What It Is. Spandex, as designated by the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, includes elastomeric fibers in which the fiber-forming substance is a long-chain polymer consisting of at least 85% segmented polyurethane. The polymer is made up of hard and soft segments in proportions determined by the mix of the starting materials. These proportions, in turn, determine the amount of stretch and can be adjusted to fit end use needs. The hard and soft segments of the polymer chain occur randomly. The soft segments provide the give. The hard segments tie the chains together. They also inhibit excessive flow of
polymer (stress decay) under tension, allowing the fiber to snap back when released. Producers have not disclosed the exact composition of their fibers. In addition to polyurethane, however, the fibers may contain delustering and heat resistant agents, ultraviolet light inhibitors, lubricants, whiteners, and dye receptors. The fibers can be made by dry spinning, solvent (wet) spinning, or extruding. Which process any single producer uses is a closely guarded secret because both the art and complex chemistry of making spandex have been difficult and expensive to develop. Du Pont, for example, says it has been working on Lycra for 15 years and has plowed more than $10 million into research and development. U.S. Rubber puts its expenses over a 10-year period at close to $5 million. Companies making the fibers claim they are superior to fibers made with rubber in dyeability, strength, uniformity, elasticity, flex life, and resistance to ultraviolet light, weatherJAN.
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ing, chemicals, and oils. However, they are attacked by gaseous combustion products, temperatures above 300° F., and chlorine bleaches (International Latex says its Stretchever is not attacked by chlorine bleaches). Garments containing spandex can be dry cleaned with conventional solvents. Spandex fibers are used to replace other elastic components in garments such as swimsuits, girdles, and bras; they are not used alone. The amount of spandex in a garment is determined by the amount of holding power needed and the garment's use. Hitting the Market. Du Pont's marketing approach probably is typical for spandex makers. It has encouraged use of Lycra in garments and fabrics that use it to full advantage. Because Lycra has a soft hand and is supple, the foundation garment field seemed a likely outlet. But Du Pont ran into some unexpected resistance. Women, whether store buyers or customers, did not believe that lightweight garments made from Lycra could do the same job as the heavier products they had been familiar with. (One pound of spandex provides about the same holding power as 1.8 pounds of fiber made
with rubber, and if the fiber is used without a cover the weight difference is even greater.) Here is where Warner's knowledge of the market proved invaluable. Free samples of garments were given to buyers and retail clerks so that they would be convinced that claims for the garments were true. And Warner suggested that salesgirls give a measuring tape with each girdle so that customers, too, could assure themselves about the product's holding quality. Both Warner and Du Pont emphasized lightness in ads and other promotional campaigns. Spandex makers also started at the top of the fashion world by initially aiming their fibers for highpriced lines. Du Pont, for example, had Christian Dior design a line of foundation garments using Lycra. They figured acceptance will then spread to less costly garments. Scarcity of the fibers was another reason for starting with the expensive end of the scale. With garment makers clamoring for more fiber than can be supplied so far, output has been allocated. Meanwhile, shortages have slowed development work for garments other than foundation garments and swimsuits.
LYCRA ENLARGED. This photomicrograph (500 x ) shows the multifilament structure of Du Pont's Lycra fiber. Lycra consists of several filaments combined into one fiber, with bridging between filaments but without twist. Filaments are not easily separable 36
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New Thinking. Du Pont first made spandex in small amounts in 1947. Seeing a potential market for the fiber, then known as Fiber K, in elasticized garments, it sent samples to Warner, which used them in experimental foundation garments. But the fiber, although promising, had serious shortcomings. It was taken back to the laboratory and, after more work, developed into the material now called Lycra. Warner started work with the new Lycra in 1954, soon realized that it had some significant advantages over rubber. But it required some new thinking, also. Rubber yarns are used covered with two layers of hard fabric each wrapped around the elastic core in a different direction. During the wrapping, the elastic yarn is stretched slightly. The fabric yarn, then, serves to limit elongation because the cover yarns jam when the total yarn structure is stretched. The fabric cover, by taking the stress beyond this point, helps prevent rupture of the elastomer. When the elastomer contracts, on the other hand, the fiber cover jams to fix the length of the yarn at rest. The covering operation also is essential because the rubber itself cannot be dyed. Lycra, however, can be used bare because it is stronger, denier for denier, than rubber. In addition it accepts dyes used on finished fabrics (although color tones are not quite the same as the other fiber used in the garment). To Cover or Not. Although both Du Pont and U.S. Rubber think of their fibers in terms of both covered and uncovered yarns, Du Pont leans heavily toward using Lycra bare and U.S. Rubber toward using Vyrene covered. Use of uncovered yarns eliminates the problem of grin-through—the visibility of an undyed elastomer core through a dyed cover. Du Pont also says that uncovered yams yield finer fabrics, capable of doing the same job, than is possible with covered yarns. In addition, it says, uncovered yarn costs less because covering yarns is slow and expensive. U.S. Rubber counters by saying that grin-through can be prevented by controlling the cover. It contends that finer elastomer can be used because of the extra strength imparted by cover yarns. And, it adds, covering machinery is widely available and the
LYCRA KNITTING. Du Pont worked closely with Warner Brothers In developing ways to use its Lycra fiber, shown here on a flat bed knitting machine at Warner's Ashaway, R.I., plant. Warner now has replaced rubber elastic with Lycra on its new lines of foundation garments
cost differential becomes insignificant when a thinner elastomer core is used. U.S. Rubber also points out that covered elastomers are still necessary for certain knitted and woven fabrics. Du Pont, on the other hand, says woven elastic fabrics account for only 2 5 % of the total elastic fabric market. Du Pont is working on new techniques—perhaps even a new spandex fiber—to permit use of bare fiber wherever spandex fibers are needed. Halfway between is U.S. Rubber's new single cover Vyrene spandex yarn. The company says that this yarn is as effective as double cover yarns but is lighter, more resilient, and more economical to use for knitted and woven garments. It adds that the new yarn may be used to weave satins, batistes, and broadcloths having sheerness, lightness, and hand unattainable with double cover yarns. But trade sources say U.S. Rubber has been unable to use the new fiber successfully so far, although it has been experimenting with it for about three years. Du Pont and U.S. Rubber also have squared off on monofilaments vs. mul-
VYRENE TO MARKET. At U.S. Rubber's plant in Gastonia, N.C., Vyrene fiber gets a final check before shipment. Twice in the past year, the company has had to expand its capacity in order to keep up with growing demand for the fiber from garment makers
tifilaments. Vyrene is a monofilament. Lycra, although classed as a multifilament, is not quite that. Rather, it is several filaments combined into one fiber, without twist but with positive bridging between the filaments. Even where, at the end of the fiber, the bridges can be broken and the filament separated with difficulty, the separation cannot be continued along the length of the fiber. Because Lycra is in this form, Du Pont claims that fiber breakage from sewing machine needles is small, since the needles tend to go between the tiny filaments. Thus, more sewing can be used for decoration and design on garments made with multifilaments than with monofilaments. U.S. Rubber, on the other hand, says that breakage is no problem because bluntnosed needles, already in use for handling rubber fibers, push the filaments aside to sew without tearing. Du Pont and U.S. Rubber also tangle on size designation. Du Pont sells Lycra by denier—from 70 to 560—the same ways it sells other fibers. U.S. Rubber sells Vyrene by ends or core
size—from 75 to 200—the same way it sells its rubber fibers. The term "ends" derives from the fact that rubber fibers are sliced from a sheet of rubber, yielding so many fibers or ends per inch. Vyrene ranges in price from $4.50 per pound to $10.50 per pound, depending upon core size and covering material (rayon or nylon). Lycra started out with a price range of $9.80 per pound for 70-denier to $4.75 per pound for 560-denier fiber. Two price increases since late 1959 have -brought the price to $13 per pound for 70-denier and $5.85 per pound for 560-denier fiber. Du Pont, although anxious to push the fiber fast into the foundation garment and swimsuit field, made these price increases after garment makers had established their seasonal lines and committed themselves to buyers. Twice squeezed, the garment makers could not pass along the increase. Marketing conditions in the trade require that the garments be sold within certain price brackets. The companies thus had to absorb the increases. JAN.
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