Coming in vogue since the late 1800s, viscose has emerged as the third most widely used textile material. But, what is viscose? Popularly also called rayon, it is a semi-synthetic material that is soft, lightweight, and a staple of many homes.
Here, we unravel everything you need to know about viscose fabric.
What is Viscose?
The viscose fabric is one of the three types of rayon, the other two being modal and lyocell. Each fiber has different properties owing to its various manufacturing processes.
Viscose is a manufactured fiber crafted from natural materials. Despite this, it does not count among environment-friendly fabrics as its manufacturing entails the use of plenty of chemicals, including harsh ones.
Viscose is often called cheap silk or artificial silk, as it mimics the look, smoothness, and drape of silk but feels like cotton when worn. Many also refer to viscose rayon as a sustainable alternative to polyester and cotton.
The answer to ‘what is viscose made of?’ lies in its name. The term ‘viscose’ explicitly means a viscous organic liquid cellulose. It is transformed into viscose fibers and then the fabric.
Brief History of Viscose
The production of viscose traces back to European history. It was first invented in 1883 by the French scientist and industrialist Hilaire de Chardonnet as a cheaper alternative to silk. However, its highly flammable quality took it out of the market soon.
Later, its safer version was crafted by the German Bemberg Company. Its production process was first created in 1892 by the British scientists Edward John Bevan, Charles Frederick Cross, and Clayton Beadle. But it was only in 1905 that the world’s first commercial viscose was manufactured.
Trees and Plants from Which Viscose Rayon is Derived
Few common trees from which the organic liquid of cellulose, the primary constituent of plant cell walls, is derived are:
- Spruce
- Beech
- Hemlock
- Eucalyptus
- Pine
- Sugarcane
- Bamboo
- Soy
Characteristics of Viscose
The viscose fabric is coveted for its luxurious vibe at a throwaway price point compared to silk. It has several characteristics that contribute to its popularity.
Lightweight
Viscose is super light, thanks to its super airy characteristic.
Absorbent
Viscose fabric absorbs water and sweat well thanks to its moisture-wicking property and high absorbency like cotton.
Breathability
Its airy and absorbent characteristic is attributed to the fabric's breathability. Moreover, despite being artificial, it is not a hundred percent synthetic fabric and is breathable.
Soft and Lustrous
As viscose was invented to mimic the silk fabric, it has a similar lustrous vibe and is super soft to touch and feel. Its softness rivals that of the cotton fibers.
Drapes Well Without Losing Shape
The fabric has a rich weight to it, due to which it drapes well and does not lose its shape.
Excellent Color Retention
This ability of viscose helps dye the fabric in a myriad of colors. Moreover, the colors do not fade even after repeated washes and long-term use.
Versatility
Viscose is highly versatile because of its ability to blend well with other non-synthetic and synthetic fibers like polyester, spandex, etc.
Process of Viscose Production
We now know that the viscose fabric is manufactured from the wood pulp or wood cellulose collected from several trees. Post collection, the pulp goes through several steps to yield the semi-synthetic fiber, the viscose.
The breakdown of the viscose production process is as follows.
- The plant is first chipped to get wood chips. The chips are then dissolved in chemicals like sodium hydroxide to yield a brownish wood pulp solution containing cellulose.
- Then the solution is dissolved in caustic soda to remove all impurities and yield an alkali solution. After washing, cleaning, and bleaching, the obtained solution serves as a clean raw material for manufacturing viscose.
- The alkali solution is pressed between rollers to eliminate excess liquid to get the pressed sheets.
- The pressed sheets are now shredded into crumbs.
- The crumbs are first treated with carbon disulfide and then dissolved in chemicals like sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide to obtain the viscous solution. It is from this step that this material gets its name, viscose.
- The viscous solution is first filtered to eliminate all undissolved elements and then degassed to remove all trapped air bubbles. If not removed, they would cause weak spots in the resultant fiber.
- The purified viscose solution is now forced through a spinneret machine to obtain slender thread-like filaments of regenerated cellulose.
- Finally, the regenerated cellulose fibers are spun into yarn and then woven or knit into the viscose rayon fabric.
Is Viscose Environment-Friendly?
The raw material for viscose manufacturing is renewable and sustainable, making it eco-friendly. However, it is not so because of three prime leading factors.
- The raw material for viscose, the wood cellulose, entails chopping trees which implies deforestation. You can address it by sourcing the wood cellulose from sustainably-grown forests.
- Harmful chemicals like hydrogen sulfide used during viscose manufacturing pollute the air by emissions. You can tackle it by following the lyocell process to yield lyocell rayon, one of the popular cooling bedding materials.
- The viscose manufacturing process needs plenty of water, depleting a natural resource.
Hence, while viscose fiber is better than synthetic fiber, it falls short compared to wholly natural fibers and is not entirely eco-friendly.
Viscose Fabric: Pros & Cons
Like any other, viscose fabric has its pros and cons. Let’s explore that for this versatile fabric.
Pros:
- A breathable fabric, ideal for summers.
- Super-absorbent, moisture-wicking, and no-heat trapping feature makes viscose ideal for activewear.
- Excellent color retention and non-fading property.
- Free-flowing, silk-like feel with superb draping.
- Light, airy, soft, and comfortable to wear.
- It is versatile as it blends well with other fibers like spandex, polyester, etc., to enhance its properties.
- Strong and robust.
- Affordable alternative to silk.
- Hypoallergenic due to its low permeability.
- No static build-up.
Cons:
- Viscose fibers are delicate and can easily break if washed in a washing machine. Hence viscose fabrics are often non-washable in machines.
- The threads often weaken when wet.
- The fabric often shrinks with every wash.
- The quality of the fabric tends to deteriorate with exposure to light.
- The material is susceptible to mildew.
- The fabric tends to stain, which gets difficult to remove. Hence, spot cleaning is highly recommended.
Uses of Viscose Rayon
Because of its versatility and coveted characteristics, viscose rayon has many uses. A few of them are:
Clothes
Because of its silk-like luxurious vibe and feel, it is used to make classy and luxurious-looking dresses at a much lower price than silk. It is also used to make synthetic velvet, an inexpensive alternative to genuine velvet.
Its moisture-wicking and airy features make it ideal for summer and as activewear.
Mattress Protectors
All forms of rayon have super-absorbent properties. Because of this, they are often blended with polyester and cotton to manufacture mattress protectors.
Mattress Flame Retardants
When blended with silica, viscose makes excellent mattress flame retardants. While there was an initial concern about direct exposure of the skin to silica as it might cause breathing problems and skin irritation. The problem is taken care of by infusing silica into viscose first. This mixture is then placed inside the mattress cover.
The problem arises because cellulose is flammable. However, when silica is integrated into viscose, it forms bead-like structures under high temperatures. These structures are flame-resistant. Moreover, this infusion proves to be a better choice than the usual toxic chemicals used as flame retardants.
Bed Sheets
Another widespread usage of viscose is as bedding materials, specifically cooling sheets. It is manufactured by using the lyocell process on bamboo and eucalyptus cellulose. They are treated with N-Methyl Morphine N-oxide to get the cooling sheets types of fabric.
With many manufacturers following the eco-friendlier lyocell process, viscose and lyocell are increasingly blurred as a single type of rayon.
The other viscose characteristics further enhance the cooling properties and are sublime for people with natural heat build-up issues.
Window Drapes
Because of its luxurious silk feel and vibe, viscose is a popular choice for window drapes. It effortlessly adds to the aesthetic of any room.
Cellophane
Generally, all food items are packaged with a transparent sheet, crafted using regenerated cellulose. Hence, viscose becomes an ideal choice. Its added advantage is its low permeability to air, water, and contamination like bacteria.
Other Types of Rayon
As stated, modal fibers and lyocell are other types of rayon apart from viscose. They use the same raw material but differ in processing or manufacturing methods.
The modal rayon fibers are more breathable and eco-friendlier than viscose. It is also more durable and flexible, has better shape retention capacity, and with higher fiber strength when wet.
Lyocell is the most eco-friendly fiber among the three. It has a higher absorbency and better drape ability than viscose. Given that, viscose is more widely used in the apparel industry, while lyocell is preferred for everyday clothing wear like denim, chinos, etc., upholstery, medical dressings, specialty papers, and conveyor belts, etc.
Let’s check out how the viscose fabric compares to other popular fabrics like silk, cotton, and polyester. The comparison tables prove self-explanatory.
Viscose Rayon vs. Silk
Even though viscose rayon imitates silk, there are certain differences between them.
| Features | Viscose Rayon | Silk |
|---|---|---|
| Texture | Soft, smooth & silky | Soft & smooth |
| Luster | Has a glossy sheen. | Shinier as it refracts more light at an angle. |
| Breathability | Highly airy and breathable. | Breathable but less comparatively. |
| Eco-friendliness | Less eco-friendly than silk due to its manufacturing process. | More eco-friendly as it is a natural fiber. |
| Affordability | Very cheap compared to silk. | Highly expensive compared to viscose |
| Fabric Care | Handwashing and drying in the shade without any direct sunlight is best. | Dry-cleaning and air-drying with no exposure to sunlight. |
Viscose Rayon vs. Cotton
The viscose rayon might give a silk-like ooze, but it feels like cotton. Hence, they are used rampantly in the clothing and bedding industries. Let’s check out how they compare to one another.
| Features | Viscose Rayon | Cotton |
|---|---|---|
| Texture | Soft, smooth & silky. | Smooth & crisp. Gets softer with every wash. |
| Origin | Manufactured from wood cellulose after chemical treatment. | All-natural cotton fibers are used to make the fabric. |
| Availability | Less available comparatively | Highly available |
| Breathability | Cool and breathable with a moisture-wicking property. | Cool and breathable but has no moisture-wicking property. |
| Versatility | Highly versatile; blends well with other fabrics. | On the same par as viscose. |
| Fabric Care | Handwashing and drying in the shade without any direct sunlight is best. | Easily machine washable, unless specifically labeled. Can be dried in the sun, but the color can fade. |
Viscose Rayon vs. Polyester
Viscose rayon and polyester are both artificial fabrics and have long fibers, but both use different sources. Let's see how they compare to each other.
| Features | Viscose Rayon | Polyester |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Derived from petroleum oil and its chemical treatment. | Derived from natural wood cellulose and its chemical treatment. |
| Type of Fabric | Semi-synthetic fiber. | Synthetic fiber. |
| Moisture Wicking | Highly absorbent but less moisture-wicking than polyester. | Not so absorbent but has comparatively more moisture-wicking properties. |
| Wrinkling | More prone to wrinkling comparatively | Less prone to wrinkling comparatively |
| Strength & Shrinkage | Less strong comparatively and more prone to shrinkage. | Stronger and less prone to shrinkage. |
| Resistance to Pilling | Can pill more than polyester. | Comparatively less likely to pill. |
Viscose Rayon vs. Modal Rayon
Finally, we compare viscose rayon and modal. Originating from the same raw materials but undergoing a different manufacturing process, let’s understand their similarities and differences.
| Features | Viscose Rayon | Modal Rayon |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Manufactured from wood cellulose. | Manufactured from wood cellulose. |
| Eco-friendliness | Not too eco-friendly | More eco-friendly comparatively due to the use of a lower concentration of sodium hydroxide in its manufacturing process. |
| Breathability | Less breathable and lighter comparatively | More breathable and lighter comparatively |
| Durability | Less durable comparatively | More durable comparatively |
| Strength of fibers | Tends to break when wet and lose its shape. | Does not break when wet and retains its shape. |
How To Care for Viscose Rayon?
The best way to take care of the viscose rayon fabrics is as follows:
- The viscose material should preferably be dry-cleaned. It should be hand-washed in cold water and with gentle detergent if washing at home.
- The fabric should not be squeezed hard or exposed to direct sunlight to dry. It deteriorates the fabric.
- The fabric becomes weak when wet and even loses its shape due to stretching. Hence, it should be delicately handled without any wringing or squeezing and preferably laid flat on a clean surface to dry.
- The fabric is highly vulnerable to staining. Hence, its spot treatment must be done but such that it leaves no permanent stains behind
Conclusion
The multi-faceted viscose fabric is an amazing alternative to expensive silk. With an excellent look, feel, and texture, viscose offers a plethora of advantages. However, its adverse environmental impact cannot be ignored. But with many manufacturers treading the eco-friendly procedures, viscose is the fabric to embrace with open arms.
