Important Cotton Facts
Cotton lycra fabric, as the name says, is a blend of the two materials – cotton and lycra. Where cotton is a natural fiber, lycra is a polyurethane-based synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. Also known as spandex or elastane, the synthetic fiber is generally used to make sportswear and daily outfits that are designed to offer maximum comfort while moving around.
Benefits of Cotton Lycra
Cotton lycra fabric is made by wrapping cotton fibers with the small synthetic filaments of lycra. Essentially, lycra is around 80% polyester and around 20% spandex. When coupled with cotton, it can offer the utmost comfort to the wearer by having great breathability and suppleness at the same time. This can be a great option for athletes who want the comfort of cotton but with more flexibility and elasticity.
The blended fabric is easy to maintain as well, and does not carry the drawbacks of 100% cotton clothes, such as wrinkling. They do not get damaged that easily either and would have an increased life. However, the longevity of the fabric would depend upon its appearance and pilling.
Usually, cotton lycra fabric is free of pilling when compared to other fabric materials. As the presence of cotton is more in the fabric and spandex content is less, it makes sure that no annoying little balls of tangled fiber appear on its surface. What’s more, the fabric is resistant to sunlight, does not let mildew form on it easily, and ages gracefully as well. All that can be great attributes for daily wear clothes.
As said, cotton lycra fabric is easy to maintain. You can simply follow the below-given washing and maintenance instructions or those recommended by your fabric manufacturer to ensure its enhanced life.
- Do not wash the blended fabric in hot water. Doing so could damage the clothes because spandex is sensitive to heat. A hot water wash can even cause distortion and uneven rolling of the garment.
- Use appropriate means of washing cotton lycra clothes, such as dry cleaning or hand washing, as instructed by the fabric manufacturer.
- Avoid using chlorine bleach or cleaning agents that contain harsh chemicals to wash cotton lycra clothes. These compounds can damage the garment and reduce its durability.
- Never iron cotton lycra clothes because the spandex content in it would not be able to hold up to the heat transferred to the garment by a hot iron. Generally, the fabric would remain wrinkle-free and would not require any ironing.
