Modacrylic Fibers: Why You Should Be Using Them

When it comes to flame-resistant (FR) clothing, durability, comfort, and protection are all crucial aspects to consider. Modacrylic fibers are known for checking all these boxes. This synthetic fiber is soft, strong, and resilient, making it an extremely suitable choice for protective clothing and technical FR fabrics. Below, you will understand why you should consider Modacrylic fibers in your PPE.

Threading the Way with Modacrylic Fibers

In addition to modacrylics’ high flame retardant threshold and high flame protection, they also have a low density, making them ideal for comfortable protective garments.

Modacrylic fibers can be used in high proportions, offering increased strength to products of a wide variety of uses due to their excellent solvent and chemical resistance. In addition, the fibers are highly dispersible and are thus suitable for being used in a variety of products. Their application can thus stretch to outdoor activities and even home furnishings due to their comfortable and lightweight structure.

How Do Modacrylic Fibers Check All the Boxes?

Modacrylic fibers are inherently flame-resistant, meaning they have intrinsic FR properties. They are commonly used in blends with other FR fibers like lyocell, aramid, or polyamide-imide fibers, resulting in a durable fabric that offers increased comfort without compromising FR protection.

Durability and Resilience

Besides the flame-resistant properties, modacrylic fiber’s abrasion resistance and tenacity are low, resulting in high durability similar to wool. Also, they offer a lower level of heat conduction and ventilation. The fabrics are thus soft, warm, and resilient.

Adding to this, modacrylics also offer the following benefits:

• Dimensionally stable
• Strong and resilient
• Can be dyed
• Have good press and shape retention
• They dry quickly

Modacrylic fibers are also non-allergenic, resistant to chemicals and solvents, and are not susceptible to moths or mildew.

High Stability and Elastic Recovery

Modacrylic-based fabrics are soft, resilient, and highly durable. Unlike pure cotton garments, modacrylic fibers are not prone to wrinkling. As well as being dimensionally stable, these fibers have a high elastic recovery, helping garments retain their shape.

When it comes to appearance retention, modacrylics excel. They retain their strength in concentrated alkaline and acidic environments, making modacrylics appropriate for use in industrial filtration systems.

The Perfect Blend

Known for their comfort, modacrylic fibers exhibit a better wear feel than most cotton-blended FR garments due to the lower microclimate humidity. The increased comfort is born primarily from the lightweight composition of the fiber and the fact that they have a lower moisture absorption rate than natural fibers.

Increased comfort is a valuable benefit of blended FR fabrics, but it does not minimize the importance of the protective benefits that blended fabrics offer.

In blended fabrics, non-FR fibers like cotton are protected by the intrinsic flame-resistant properties of the modacrylic fiber. This protection of other fibers is what makes modacrylic such a valuable choice when it comes to garment selection.

Thanks to the durability and optimal protection of blended fabrics, workers no longer have to sacrifice safety for comfort. Garments containing modacrylic fibers provide a harmonized blend of comfort and flame-resistant performance.

When considering the versatility and durability, it’s easy to see why blended fabrics are a popular choice for workers in a range of industries - from oil and gas to manufacturing and utilities.

Get the Quick Reference Guide to FR Fibers and Fabrics

We created a quick guide to cut through the confusion on flame-resistant fibers and fabrics. Our one-page reference guide covers some of the most common fabrics and fibers used in flame-resistant PPE garments.

Why Should You Be Using Modacrylic Fabrics?

The lightweight durability, intrinsic flame-resistant nature, and blended FR fabric possibilities of modacrylic fibers make them an affordable consideration in PPE garment selection.

So, when you shop for your next comfortable, flame-resistant PPE, make sure to give fabrics made with modacrylic fibers the necessary consideration. Find out more about options available to you today by speaking with our FR-fabric experts.