Nylon Yarn vs Polyester Yarn | Yarn Properties

Nowadays, most elastic fabrics use nylon or polyester fabrics. So, what is the difference between them?

To figure it out, let's first talk about the properties of polyester yarn and nylon yarn.  

1. Polyester Yarn Properties:  

Polyester yarn is a common kind of chemical fiber yarn used as raw material in the textile industry. Its biggest advantage is that it has good wrinkle resistance and shape retention, so it is suitable for outerwear. Generally, fabrics woven with polyester yarn have the following properties:

#1 Strength & Elasticity: 

Polyester fabric has high strength and elastic recovery ability. Therefore, it is durable, anti-wrinkle, and ironing-free. 

#2 Hygroscopicity: 

Polyester fabric has poor hygroscopicity, which causes a sense of stuffiness to the wearer. At the same time, it is easy to be charged with static electricity and easy to get dust, which affects its appearance and comfort. However, it is very easy to dry after washing, and the wet strength hardly drops. Meanwhile, it does not deform, having a good wash and wear property. 

#3 Heat Resistance: 

Polyester is the best heat-resistant fabric among synthetic fabrics. It is thermoplastic and can be made into pleated skirts with long-lasting pleats. However, polyester fabrics have poor melting resistance and are prone to forming holes in the presence of soot and sparks. Therefore, try to avoid contact with cigarette butts, sparks, etc. when wearing garment made of polyester. 

#4 Light Fastness: 

The light Fastness of polyester fabric is pretty good. Except that it is worse than acrylic fiber, its light fastness is better than natural fiber fabric. Especially the light fastness behind the glass is very good, almost on par with acrylic fabric. 

#5 Chemical Stability:

Polyester fabric has good resistance to various chemicals. It's acid-resistant but not alkali resistant, while anti-mold and anti-insect.

#6 Appearance & Feel:

The appearance of polyester yarn fabric is darker than nylon yarn, and the hand feel is rougher than nylon, and there are obvious marks after nails are scraped.

#7 Price:

The average price of polyester DTY in the past 10 years has been around 9,000 yuan/ton.

2. Nylon yarn Properties:

Nylon yarn is known for its excellent wear resistance. It is not only the best choice for down jackets and mountaineering clothes, but also is often blended or interwoven with other fibers to improve the strength and fastness of the fabric. The fabric woven with nylon yarn has the following characteristics:

#1 Strength & Elasticity: 

Nylon yarn has high strength, good impact resistance. The fabric mainly made of nylon yarn is light and good elasticity. High strength and abrasion resistance are the biggest advantages of nylon yarn. 

#2 Hygroscopicity: 

Nylon yarn has general hygroscopicity. However, compared with polyester yarn, nylon yarn has better hygroscopicity than polyester yarn and has antistatic properties, which makes it meet the requirements of mines and their mechanical applications.

#3 Heat Resistance: 

Nylon has a low melting point, so its heat resistance is not very good. It is mostly used in knitting and silk industries to blend or interweave with other fibers. When using nylon fabric, need to pay attention to the temperature. 

#4 Light Fastness: 

The biggest disadvantage of nylon is that it has poor sunlight resistance. It will turn yellow after prolonged exposure to sunlight and decrease its strength. Therefore, when using nylon fabrics, light is generally one of the most important factors to consider.

#5 Chemical Stability: 

Nylon has good chemical stability, alkali resistance but not acid resistance. Meanwhile, it has excellent fatigue resistance and deformation resistance.

#6 Appearance & Feel: 

Nylon yarn feels very silky, and the traces of nails are not obvious after scratching.

#7 Price: 

The average price of nylon DTY in the past 10 years has been around 19,000 yuan/ton.

3. The difference between polyester yarn and nylon yarn: