SWIMMING

FABRICS OF SPORTS-IDM
JURY ASSIGNMENT
NAME:-SHWETA CHAUDHRI
BFT/19/244
NIFT MUMBAI

A swimsuit is an article of clothing used for swimming and sunbathing. For women, the
swimsuit is either a two-piece bra and panty ensemble or a one-piece maillot style.
Men's swimsuits are either a bikini-style brief or the longer and fuller swim trunk. There
have been many developments in swimwear fabrics today. Selecting the best swimsuit
material for training or competition can be tricky. With all the quality brands on the
market today the choices can be somewhat overwhelming: Kiefer, Speedo, TYR, Arena,
and Dolfin. The choices vary between what style, color or pattern, and fabric. The
selection of swimsuit fabric is very important and should reflect your goals as a swimmer:
are you looking for the best fit, durability, stretch – or all of the above? Your choice of
swimwear is vital to meeting your expectations.

ONE-PIECE
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 A one-piece swimsuit most commonly
refers to swimwear worn by women and
girls when swimming in the sea or in a
swimming pool, playing water polo, or
for any activity in the sun, such as sun
bathing. Today, the one-piece swimsuit is
usually a skin-tight garment that covers
the torso, except maybe the back or
upper chest.

FABRICS USED IN ONE-PIECE SWIMSUITS:

 Polyester: strong, resilient, wrinkle resistance and washes easily.

Best when used in blends with cotton
Example: Kiefer Aqualast Female Flyback
 Polybutylene Terephthalate: a polyester variant, giving superior
recovering properties
Example: Kiefer Team Accent PBT Flyback
 Nylon: strong, abrasion-resistance and lightweight.
Example: Kiefer Lycra® Solid Female Flyback
 Elastane: Blend of nylon, polyester or cotton gives stretch and
resilience
 Spandex: soft and light spandex ups the swimsuit's stretchiness; the
more spandex in the suit, the more shape-hugging it is.

FINISHES USED:

 Resistant to shrinkage
 Water Repellent
 Abrasion/pilling resistant
 Quick drying ~2~
 Chlorine Resistant
 UV Protection
 Exceptional breathability
 Properties:

 Strong resilient fibers

 Soft and comfortable
fit
 Durable
 Holds its shape
 Exceptional
breathability
 Excellent elasticity
 Launders easily

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 BIKINI

two-piece swimsuit featuring two
triangles of fabric on top that cover the
woman's breasts, similar to a bra, and
two triangles of fabric on the bottom:
the front covering the pelvis but
exposing the navel, and the back
covering the buttocks. The bra of a bikini
or two-piece woman's swimsuit may
have metal or plastic fasteners

Read more: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-

FABRICS USED IN ONE-PIECE SWIMSUITS:

 Polyester: strong, resilient, wrinkle resistance and washes easily.

Best when used in blends with cotton
 Cotton
 Polybutylene Terephthalate: a polyester variant, giving superior
FINISHESproperties
recovering USED: PROPERTIES:
 Durable
  Nylon: strong,
Breathable, abrasion-resistance and lightweight.
quick dry  Excellent elasticity
  Elastane:
4-way stretch Blend of nylon, polyester or cotton gives stretch and
 Exceptional
 Snagresilience
resistant breathability
  Spandex:
Reduce drag against light spandex ups theswimsuit's
soft andwater Holds its stretchiness;
shape the
 more
Water  Laundersiteasily
spandex in the suit, the more shape-hugging
repellence is.
 Chlorine resistant  Soft and comfortable fit
 Strong resilient fibers
 UV protection
 Resistant to shrinkage

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 RACING SUITS

Swimsuits made of technologically advanced fabrics designed with a surface

that mimics the rough shark denticles to reduce drag along key areas of the
body. The characteristics of the fabric improve shape retention and increase
muscle compression to reduce vibration and retain muscle shape to reduce
fatigue and power loss. Available in a variety of cuts such as body skin, leg
skin, high cut swim briefs and knee skin.
SWIM BRIEFS

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 A swim brief or racing brief is any briefs-style male swimsuit such as those
worn in competitive swimming, diving and water polo.
 Like underwear briefs, swim briefs feature a V-shape front and a solid back
 TRUNKS

Swim trunks are brief shorts, loose-fitting or tight, worn for sports, especially

boxing, swimming, and track. When worn as a swimsuit, trunks are often referred
to as swimming trunks or bathing trunks and are normally shorter than board
shorts, which extend to the knees. They vary in style and design, though most are
made of nylon with a mesh lining for quick drying.

FINISHES USED: PROPERTIES:

 Durable
 Breathable, quick dry  Excellent elasticity
 4-way stretch  Exceptional
 Snag resistant breathability
 Reduce drag against water  Holds its shape
 Water repellence  Launders easily
 Chlorine resistant  Soft and comfortable
fit
 UV protection
 Strong resilient fibers
 Resistant to shrinkage

SWIMMING
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 A swimming cap, swim cap or bathing cap, is a tightly fitted, skin-tight
garment,
 Commonly made from silicone, latex or Lycra, worn on the head by
recreational and competitive swimmers.
 Swim caps are sometimes worn in an attempt to keep hair relatively dry or
protect from chlorinated water, to keep the sun off the hair, and when a cap
is worn with earplugs, to keep water out of the ears.
 They are also used to reduce drag while swimming.

FINISHES USED: PROPERTIES:

 Durable
 Breathable, quick dry  Excellent elasticity
 4-way stretch  Exceptional
 Reduce drag against water breathability
 Water repellence  Holds its shape
 Chlorine resistant  Launders easily

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 COMMON FABRICS USED IN SWIMWEAR

POLYESTER

Polyester fabric has dominated the competitive swimwear industry for several
years. Polyester 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.

The qualities of polyester that are most relevant to swimsuit fabrics are:

 Durability: Polyester is a highly durable fiber. It holds its shape well in and

out of the water. It resists pilling (the little balls of fuzz that can appear in
the crotch and armpit areas). This is a common issue in surf swimwear,
where the suit is in constant contact with the board
 Colorfastness: Polyester holds color very well in both dyes and prints.
 Cost: Polyester is one of the more reasonably-priced swimwear fabrics
available
 Look/Feel: Polyester gets a bad name for its perceived “roughness” as far as
hand feels goes. That notion is a bit outdated, however. Modern poly fabrics
have improved dramatically and become quite soft, though not quite as
much so as nylon.
 Digital Print: Polyester can be digitally printed using sublimation. Colors will
be bright, saturated, clear & permanent. Sublimation dyes and machines are
specifically designed to performNYLON
on polyester.

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The nylon spandex swimsuit fabrics are probably the most popular. This is mostly
due to its super soft feel and its ability to have a glossy or satin sheen.

The qualities of nylon that are most relevant to swimsuit fabrics are:

 Durability: Nylon is a strong fiber in terms of tensile strength, so it is well

strong enough for use as a swimsuit fabric. However, it degrades more
easily under UV (sunlight) and pills much more easily than polyester.
 Colorfastness: Nylon does not hold color quite as well as poly.
 Cost: Prices of Nylon can range widely, but is generally just a bit more than
poly.
 Look/Feel: Nylon has a great, soft hand feel and that is the primary reason
for its popularity, in addition to its wider variety of sheens available.
 NOT Printable at Low Volume: Many printers will print artwork to nylon
fabrics, but it is NOT INTENDED for sublimation printing. It can be done, but
it is not colorfast, washes out fairly quickly and has poor definition with
vector artwork. Definitely not recommended for a quality product.

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 FIBER AND YARN

 Generally, textured filament with modified into stretch yarn on false twist
are more appropriate for use in swimwear than spurn yarn (natural fiber).
 For spun yarn, worsted system yarn is preferred over woolen system for
swim wear, with high twist factor (finer and stronger yarn for knitting)

FABRIC STRUCTURE

 Among all knitted fabrics which are not made from the stretch yarns and do
not have rubber heads, the most elastic rib structure is 1*1 rib structure>
 Rib structure is better for swimwear (instead of plain) because rib structure
tends to be more opaque (without adding lining) and more dense
 Rib structure is more elastic than single jersey (single jersey can add
elastic yarn to overcome it)
 Common Rib structure for swimwear
o Interlock
o Swiss pique
 GSM Range: 150-300 g/m square
 Yarn Count Range: 10/1, 16/1, 20/1, 22/1, 26/1, 30/1, 32/1, 36/1, 40/1, 42/1
Ne

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 BASIC FABRIC CHARACTERSTICS

 Opacity i.e. not able to see through when wet

 Recoverable stretch or elasticity swimwear fit the figure tightly, and must be
stable to elongation when wet.
 Higher order to resistance to abrasion
 Higher fabric bursting strength
 Color fastness to light
 Color fastness to pool and sea water

FAMOUS SWIMWEAR BRANDS

 Kiefer
 TYR
 Speedo
 Dolfin
 Arena
 Finis
 Aqua Sphere
 Declathon

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SWIMWEAR TRENDS

SUN PROTECTION
People have become more careful
about sun protection for
themselves. For both the
Women’s and the Bumby
collections, designers designed
rash guards and an assortment of
beach hats to protect against sun
damage.

SUSTAINABLE SWIMWEAR
At last sustainable swimwear is no
longer a token part of collections and
that’s down to customer demand.
More and more customers are now
seeking eco- friendly brands like Mara
Hoffman and Vitamin A. It’s just not
luxury labels stepping up; the high
street has come through last year with
a range of swimwear made of recycled
bottles, fishing nets and plastic

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There have been many developments in swimwear fabrics today.
 Sun Select fabric from Triump allows tanning through the swimsuit; it
has been designed to block harmful UV rays to penetrate to the skin.
 Speedo’s Scubasuit is made in a dense fabric which has a sun
protection factor (SPF) of over 30, dry or wet to help the wearer
practice “safe sun”.
 Triump has developed a material which is quick drying, handy for
swimming holidays. It is a mixture of nylon and Lycra with a layer of
Teflon, meaning water rolls off the surface of the suit.
 Arena and Speedo, two major swimsuits manufacturers, produced
swimsuits for Montreal Olympia, worn by American, British, Russian
teams. The major advantage was that the body was completely
compressed by suit. The embarrassment caused by the suit’s
transparency was reduced by the use of highly colored patterns.
 New Development DuPont Sorona
Sorona® polymers have a unique combination of characteristics that
help create softer fibers with superior comfort-stretch and recovery.
Unlike nylon or polyester, the Sorona® dyeing process makes it
possible to create a single fabric with many different colors in it at
atmospheric temperatures.


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