The best swimsuit fabric is a topic of hot debate in the fashion world. But the truth is that there really aren’t a ton of options. Swimwear fabrics typically must be quick-drying, colorfast, and have a certain amount of stretch. Let’s discuss some of the different options for swim fabrics and their various characteristics. Selecting the right swimsuit material for your needs will be easy after this!
Most swimsuit fabric is meant to stretch to fit all those gorgeous curves and to allow for a comfortable and safe swim. The fabric also needs to be able to both hold its shape when wet and to dry easily and quickly. For this reason, almost every type of swimwear fabric contains elastane fibers.
Elastane is a synthetic fiber with elastic qualities that revolutionized the fashion industry when it was developed in the 1960s. Elastane is the generic name for Lycra or Spandex. Lycra, Spandex, and elastane are all basically the same thing, so don’t get hung up on the branding.
Elastane is blended with other synthetic fibers to provide a comfortable stretch. The blend varies based on the manufacturer and the desired qualities of the fabric, but generally it is made with around 10%-20% elastane to 80%-90% other fiber(s).
Please keep in mind as we discuss swimwear fabrics that we are coming from a designer and manufacturer's perspective, so if you're buying fabrics for a DIY swimsuit, you might have a bit of a different perspective on things like cost and printing.
If you have any questions or feedback for us, please don't hesitate to let us know in the comments!
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Natural fibers such as cotton and wool easily lose their shape when wet. They dry slowly and often hold a great deal of water. This makes them heavier and less practical than synthetic options. Definitely not a great option for swimming suit fabric. Unless you’re planning to just hang out and look great on a sun chair!
Fabrics like knits and terrys made from bamboo and cotton are often used for retro-style swimwear. They give a distinctly 1950s-1960s or even earlier vibe. Why? Because, as we learned, elastane was developed in the 1960s, so anything before that wasn’t able to achieve the stretchy quality that came later.
In general, natural fibers are not a great option for swimwear that is meant to be used for swimming. If your particular swimsuit design calls for natural fibers, feel free to reach out to us with any questions.
Polyester swimwear fabrics, blended with Lycra (or spandex), have the greatest level of durability. Stretch polyester, however, is a very general category. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different blends from various fabric mills. With each type, the blend percentage of poly to spandex will vary to some degree.
The density of the knit and the softness will vary as well. Much of the difference in quality has to do with the quality of the filament used in the textile mill to create the fabric. For that reason, you’ll find a wide range of differences in the way polyesters look and feel. A thick filament (similar to thread) will usually result in a coarser feeling fabric. A thin, smooth filament will result in a smoother, silky feel. It’s important to feel the fabric and stretch for yourself before making a final selection.
When looking at swimwear blends, you’ll often see the terms “Lycra”, “Spandex” and “Elastane”. So, what’s the difference between Lycra and spandex? Easy. Lycra is a brand name, a trademark of the DuPont company. The others are generic terms. They all mean the same thing. Functionally, you won’t notice any difference between swimwear made with any of these 3 or any of the other brand name elastane fibers you might find. An exception to this, however, is with eco-friendly elastane options that are beginning to come on the market, as you’ll read below.
The qualities of polyester that are most relevant to swimsuit fabrics are:
Polyester is easily recycled and comes from a variety of sources. “Post-consumer” means polyester that comes from a recycled source, such as plastic bottles, carpet, and other plastic sources. So, if a fabric claims to be “100% post-consumer” recycled, that means that all of the material used in the production of the fabric filaments has come from waste material. That’s the most eco-friendly option.
Some sustainable swimwear fabrics are 100% post-consumer recycled and some are blended. Check with your supplier so you know for sure exactly what you’re paying for.
That’s a tricky question. It depends what we’re comparing against. As I’ve mentioned above, natural fibers do not perform the same way when wet as synthetic fibers. So we can’t fairly compare polyester to anything natural.
Strictly speaking, there are no 100% “sustainable” or environmentally friendly synthetic fibers. All create microplastics, all pollute our water supplies. Bummer, right!? Sadly, that’s just the truth of the situation. Sustainable swimwear fabrics just don’t have the level of sustainability that we wish they had. However, by using recycled polyesters, you’re certainly making a superior choice to virgin polyester.
For a great resource on the subject, take a look at this wrap-up from Common Objective about sustainable stretch fabrics.
The nylon spandex swimsuit fabrics are some of the most popular. This is mostly due to its super soft feel and its ability to have a glossy or satin sheen. Many of the solid color swimwear you see in the market is nylon. Nylon is more difficult to print, so solid colors tend to be popular with smaller brands.
Nylon is most typically recycled using “pre-consumer” material, which is somewhat less eco-friendly than post-consumer. This means that the materials are coming from a stream of waste that has not yet been used by the consumer. Being upstream of the consumer means that this material has not yet been used by the consumer, which means that it’s closer to “raw” than post-consumer material. The source of this material can sometimes be a bit suspicious, making it easier to “green-wash” this recycled product.
However, Econyl, a recycled nylon swimwear fabric has gotten enormous press for its use of fishing industry waste in its recycled nylon filament. Other companies have begun producing recycled polyester fabric products as well. While there is some debate about the environmental impact of the recycling process itself, there can be no doubt that upcycling plastic waste into the fashion industry is a good thing.
For a great resource on the subject, take a look at our article on sustainable swimwear fabrics.
The best swimsuit fabric is the one that makes the most sense for your needs. For practicality, we like the easy printing capability and durability of polyester. I also believe that the environmental impact of polyester can be better managed than nylon.
However, the feel and finish of nylon is still unmatched by polyester. Polyesters are coming closer and closer every year, but still have a little way to go to match the look and feel of nylon.
If you can find a polyester that you love the look and feel of, then you’ll have the best of both worlds!
Here at Prototype, we offer a wide variety of swimsuit fabrics, as well as the ability to use anything that you are able to source. Contact us now and tell us about your business and your needs. We’ll be happy to help you from there!
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Whether you are looking for a fabric for your swimwear line or next purchase it’s good to know what the options are. This post will cover the common materials, and their uses & characteristics. We also dig into weights, compositions, textures and the sustainability of swimwear fabrics.
Do note that no fabric is better than another, but that the fabrics have different attributes making them more suitable for different uses. On top of this, of course, the quality of your supplier makes a difference.
Nylon blends are what you will come across most in the female swimwear fashion world.
It is soft and comfortable. It gives a good stretch, and it hugs your body really well.
A typical blend is around 80% nylon and 20% of the stretchy bit. That bit is called LYCRA® if it’s by The LYCRA Company but can also be called spandex (SP) or elastane (EA), depending on where in the world you are and if it’s branded or not. Same thing. The purpose of this 20% is to provide great elasticity for your bikinis and swimsuits.
Nylon can also go under other names, such as Polyamide (PA) which is essentially the same. Nylon is the group name of some particular Polyamides.
Nylons are not to be printed on, the result is blurry and the print will bleed.
Feel: Very soft
Stretch: Very Good
Durability: Good
Dry: Quick
Printable: No
UV resistance: Sometimes
Chlorine resistance: Rare
Repels water: Yes
Care: Hand-Wash, Hang to Dry
You’ll find polyester blends mostly amongst competitive swimwear.
It is soft yet very strong, and it is chlorine and UV resistant.
Polyester blends also have the benefit of being able to absorb dye. This means that you can dye and print it with rich and crisp results.
Feel: Soft
Stretch: Good
Durability: Very Good
Dry: Quicker
Printable: Yes
UV resistance: Yes
Chlorine resistance: Yes
Repels water: Yes
Care: Hand-Wash, Hang to Dry
Most fashion swimwear fabrics range in about 180-200 g/m².
A fabric as light as 150 g/m², such as Gemma from Carvico will feel and look more like a lingerie or underwear. Heavier fabrics at 200-220g/m²+ are often more suited for competition or fall into the category of textured & other fabrics – we’ll get into those fabrics later.
When it comes to composition, it will help that you know the properties of the ‘ingredients’. For example, the Spandex/Elastane/LYCRA® gives most of the stretch.
So therefore – 80% Nylon and 20% Spandex will be more stretchy than 85% Nylon and 15% Spandex – but note that this largely applies to fabric that comes from the same source/manufacturer; so if you’re going to switch between sources, don’t go by numbers alone. Therefore it’s always a good idea to get swatches or feel the fabric yourself if possible. You can also ask the supplier for more details, as the content description might not give you the full story.
Traditionally swimwear has used fabrics that are heavy on environment. However as consumer awareness and demand has evolved – fabric options have with them.
One of the best is ECONYL® – it is regenerated nylon from pre and post-consumer products.
ECONYL® publicizes their process in 4 steps:
1. Rescue – Finding waste like fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring and industrial plastic from landfills and oceans around the world.
2. Regenerate – Regeneration and purification process. Recycled back to original purity, exactly like virgin, or new, nylon.
3. Remake – The nylon is processed into the swimwear yarn
4. Reimagine – The regenerated yarn is used in new swimwear products, until they are no longer useful and can go back into step one: Rescue.
You can read more about them here.
There are other examples of recycled swimwear fabrics, such as REPREVE®, who make theirs from recycled plastic bottles.
Further shifts in consumer demands will put further pressure not only the fabrics suppliers but also manufacturers in their methods. As a manufacturer, this is something that we take seriously.
Related page: Swimwear Manufacturing
As the swimwear industry further matures and evolves – trends come with it. This results in waves of new types of fabrics being tried and tested on swimwear.
A few years back there was a trend of brands working with neoprene. This followed off the back of the success of brands such as N.L.P. and Triangl. But if you have a peek today (2018) at Triangl for example, they have shifted to using a lot of velvet. However neoprene bonding is still used; at least to us this speaks to their identity whilst giving them the room to work with other textured or newer fabrics.
At the time of this blog post, we see a large demand for textured fabrics – especially ribbed and velvet.
Neoprene is a synthetic rubber that exhibits good stability, remains flexible over varied temperatures and is great for insulation. The benefit of insulation is why it’s commonly used for scuba diving suits. The fabric is thicker and methods of stitching different than a ‘regular’ swimwear fabric. If you seek to use this fabric for your brand or products you might benefit from finding a manufacturer who are already producing scuba/wet suits.
Ribbed textures can be made out of a variety of knitted fabrics. You make a ribbed texture by alternating knit and purl stitches – this creates the ridges. The fabric will lie flat but also stretches more in one direction. The ribbed used for swimwear is frequently nylon, and can be made very compact and tight with less stretch. Different compositions give different looks. For example JL Bristol fabric has a 92%/8% blend and has a more sporty look being so tight. A blend closer to 80/20 will have a more standard fashion look.
Velvet fabrics are super soft. Hence the use in loungewear and robes. The fabric has cut, evenly distributed threads, and this is what gives it a pile and a distinctive velvet/fur-like feel. A good blend of this can work very well for swimwear, giving it a very luxurious look.
Other examples of fabric suitable for swimwear are mesh, corduroy and some even use cotton blends. However when it comes to cotton blends you need to be wary of its durability. Harsh swim environments (sun, salt, sea, chlorine) can have tough effects on it.
That’s a wrap! We have covered the essential things that you need to think about when it comes to choosing swimwear materials. Fabric options, their properties, their characteristics and a good few reasons on why one may be better than the other – for you and your purpose. We hope that it’s been helpful, and assists you in making good choices for your ideal bikinis and swimsuits.
If you have any additional questions about the fabrics mentioned or if you would like to develop your own swimwear line – please feel free to contact us by downloading the catalog below. You’ll have our most important information and FAQ’s in hand, and we will be notified to contact you from there.