Viscose or polyester?

[eggandspoonrace]

Can someone tell me the difference of these fabrics? I don't own any
Polyester but find more and more my tops are viscose :-(

All I know is viscose is breathable and polyester isn't. so is more on a par with natural fabrics.

Viscose is made from plant fibres (eg bamboo). Polyester is a plastic.

Viscose shrinks and polyester doesn’t, personally I don’t really like either though

Polyester makes you feel sweaty as it's not breathable. Viscose doesn't.

Viscose is a devil to wash if you are not careful it shrivels and goes hard or shrinks to half it’s size, I have had this with viscose from WhiteStuff, Fatface, Next and M&S, none particularly cheap shops

I read a lot that viscose shrinks but I’ve never had that happen and I have a LOT of viscose things. As pp said it’s made from plant fibres so while it is man made its not like pokystester in the slightest. It’s good for warm temperature and isn’t sweaty

I've never found that viscose shrinks either. It does go hard after washing but softens up again as it dries.

Viscose creases like a bastard.

Maybe it’s just me then...

I found WhiteStuff the worse for shrinkage and on the reviews other people did as well,

I like viscose, it is soft, breathable and lightweight. It washes well and irons easily.

I only really like cotton but my next best option is viscose as it stays cool and keeps its shape. I cannot tolerate polyester in any shape or form. Dreadful stuff.

There's jersey viscose which is very like cotton jersey. And then there's viscose that's more like a sort of crepe or heavy georgette. That's the stuff that can seem to shrink. Ironing while very slightly damp can sort that.

Viscose is made from the cellulose in plant fibres. It's natural, therefore more breathable than polyester. Polyester is a synthetic fibre made from petrochemicals. It doesn't shrink in the wash. Both materials are colourfast.

Polyester, like most synthetics, will melt before it burns, sticking to the skin of the person unfortunate enough to be wearing the burning garment. Natural fibres will generally char, causing less damage to the wearer.

Good quality viscose can be very long-lasting and robust. I have occasionally had viscose garments that needed delicate washing, but generally they just go in with the rest of my wash. I've only ever had viscose jumpers (heavier knits than jersey t-shirts) shrink, never woven or lightweight knits.

I would look at the way a viscose garment is put together to judge the quality of the material: skimpy or puckered seams, for example, or no reinforcement across the yoke or shoulders, would imply poor quality material had been used that's more likely to fray in the wash.

Viscose does crease horribly in the wash, unlike polyester, but it irons very easily and ironed viscose has a lovely silky drape. Only woven viscose needs ironing, not jersey.

Viscose is made from pine wood pulp. . It is the overarching name for rayon, cupro, acetate and modal.It's not made from bamboo. It uses lots of horrid chemicals during its manufacture. One of these is acetone, hence the name acetate. Tencel and lyocell are also viscoses. It is breatheable like cotton, but it's full of chemicals which make you sweaty. It makes me itch so l can't wear it. It's much cheaper than cotton to produce, but is It's poor relation. It's weak and creases like mad. Viscous can be made in to any fabric such as jersey, georgette or whatever. It's drapes well, but is a crap substitute for cotton

Polyester is just plastic, sweaty and static. The itching/allergies from both viscous and polyester is the fact that the yarns are basically plastic. So they have sharp edges which can irritate skin.

Adrrgh! It's Not made from bamboo! Bamboo would be classified as similar to cotton as it is what is known as a vegetable fibre.

There are 3 main classifications of fibres. Natural (cotton silk etc) synthetic ( nylon, Polyester etc) and Regenerated ( viscose). Regenerated wit in between the 2 others, as they are a combination of natural and manmade.

I sew a lot so I knows my fabrics.....

Polyester is made from oil basically. It is 100% not breathable. As far as I’m concerned it’s a nasty fabric and I won’t touch it even if it’s blende with a natural fibre. Unfortunately as it is also cheap, more and ,ore companies are using it to blend with naturals to keep costs down. It is sweaty and nasty.

Viscose is a man made fibre derived from natural ingredients. It is therefore more breathable. It gives a lovely drape to garments. It comes in different qualities, lower quality viscose will create more and be lighter in weight, a more expensive one is usually quite sumptuous, Silky and quite luxurious.

Usually natural fibres are more forgiving and comfortable than synthetics. However you have to be a bit careful with viscose as the cheaper ones behave more like polyester and just aren’t nice to wear.

There are different forms of viscose, made using different processes and from different plants. Some forms are more robust than others. Rayon, for example, is quite a fragile fabric, whereas Tencel is rather more robust.

Viscose is made from many plants, including bamboo. The only plant source I have ever seen specified on the garment is bamboo, I don't know why. Bamboo viscose can feel very much like cotton.

I'm not sure of the truth in this, but manufacturers claim that viscose is more eco-friendly than cotton, as less ground is cleared to grow the source plants, fewer pesticides and fertilisers are used in their cultivation, and there is very little waste in the manufacturing process. This is partly because viscose is often made from the fibrous leftovers of plants grown for another purpose, such as sugarcane after the juice has been extracted to make sugar.

It depends on what sort of garment you want!

Polyester is much-maligned, and heavyweight polyester clothes tend to be unpleasantly sweaty. But polyester fabric is strong and durable, very easy to care for, and you can get lightweight airy weaves that are fairly breathable because of the fabric structure (even though the fibres themselves aren’t breathable). I have a few polyester blouses that have lasted years and years, which often go with me on work trips because I can throw them in a suitcase knowing they won’t be full of creases when I take them out.

Viscose is a regenerated fibre – although it does originate from plants, the cellulose fibres are dissolved using strong solvents and then reconstituted. The original material (wood pulp, cotton waste, bamboo) might seem natural/green/environmentally friendly but the process of turning it into usable fibre isn’t. Viscose is very cheap to make compared to natural fabrics (cotton, linen, etc), but the fibres are weak, especially when wet, and not very durable compared to natural or synthetic fibres. But the hand and drape are very good, you get a lovely soft comfortable fabric, that depending how it is processed can either look similar to cotton or have a silky sheen.

So far as environmental concerns go, unfortunately there are no really good answers with textiles. The best thing is to buy only what you need, second-hand if possible, and avoid unnecessary washing (especially at high temps), and either re-purpose or recycle garments once you’ve finished with them. And remember that blended fabrics are very difficult to recycle – even if you put them in a recycling bin they probably won’t be.

I noticed modal creeping in with cotton now. What's that.

I don't like viscose much.

Manufacturers just use cotton ffs

Modal is made from wood pulp, usually beech, if my memory serves me. It's used because it's absorbent and doesn't easily pill.

Thanks

The viscoses Trncel/Lyocell are the most environmentally friendly, because all the water and solvents used to make it, are reused as part of the manufacturing process.

Viscose every time! I have some vintage viscose Ghost clothes which shrink a bit after washing but resize as you iron them. Viscose also takes dye very well.
I also like the cotton/viscose fabric used in lots of Hampstead Bazaar and Moroccan clothes, which drape beautifully and retain their shape and colours for years.
I do sometimes get seduced by lovely jewel coloured clothes in polyester, but I end up not wearing them because they feel so bloody awful... I'm taking some to the charity shop this week.

'Viscose' covers a really broad range in terms of quality, desirability and raw ingredients. I think the bamboo confusion is because lots of fabric marketed as bamboo (e.g. Bamboos socks) will be bamboo viscose rather than fibres.