Do You Know the Rayon Fabric Production Process?

Rayon fabric is widely used in our daily life.When we go on a holiday,we may see people wear rayon fabric dress in hawaiian style.Some people with special taste would like to apply the rayon fabric for upholstery.But do you know how is the rayon fabric produced,what about its production progress.Today let's let's find out through the biggest rayon fabric manufacturer-Shazhou Textile.

Firstly,click to see the rayon fabric production process video.

While there are many variations in the manufacturing process that exploit the versatility of the fiber, the following is a description of the procedure that is used in making regular or viscose rayon.

Processing purified cellulose

1.Sheets of purified cellulose are steeped in sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which produces sheets of alkali cellulose. These sheets are dried, shredded into crumbs, and then aged in metal containers for 2 to 3 days. The temperature and humidity in the metal containers are carefully controlled.

2. After ageing, the crumbs are combined and churned with liquid carbon disulfide, which turns the mix into orange-colored crumbs known as sodium cellulose xanthate. The cellulose xanthate is bathed in caustic soda, resulting in a viscose solution that looks and feels much like honey. Any dyes or delusterants in the design are then added. The syrupy solution is filtered for impurities and stored in vats to age, this time between 4 and 5 days.

Producing filaments

3. The viscose solution is next turned into strings of fibers. This is done by forcing the liquid through a spinneret, which works like a shower-head, into an acid bath. If staple fiber is to be produced, a large spinneret with large holes is used. If filament fiber is being produced, then a spinneret with smaller holes is used. In the acid bath, the acid coagulates and solidifies the filaments, now known as regenerated cellulose filaments.

Spinning

4. After being bathed in acid, the filaments are ready to be spun into yarn. Depending on the type of yarn desired, several spinning methods can be used, including Pot Spinning, Spool Spinning, and Continuous Spinning. In Pot Spinning, the filaments are first stretched under controlled tension onto a series of offsetting rollers called godet wheels. This stretching reduces the diameter of the filaments and makes them more uniform in size, and it also gives the filaments more strength. The filaments are then put into a rapidly spinning cylinder called a Topham Box, resulting in a cake-like strings that stick to the sides of the Topham Box. The strings are then washed, bleached, rinsed, dried, and wound on cones or spools.

Spool Spinning is very similar to Pot Spinning. The filaments are passed through rollers and wound on spools, where they are washed, bleached, rinsed, dried, and wound again on spools or cones.

In Continuous Spinning, the filaments are washed, bleached, dried, twisted, and wound at the same time that they are stretched over godet wheels.

5. Once the fibers are sufficiently cured, they are ready for post-treatment chemicals and the various weaving processes necessary to produce the fabric. The resulting fabric can then be given any of a number of finishing treatments. These include calendaring, to control smoothness; fire resistance; pre-shrinking; water resistance; and wrinkle resistance.

Quality Control

As with most chemically oriented processes, quality control is crucial to the successful manufacture of rayon. Chemical make-up, timing and temperature are essential factors that must be monitored and controlled in order to produce the desired result.

The percentages of the various fibers used in a blended fabric must be controlled to stay within in the legal bounds of the Textile Fiber Identification Act. This act legally defines seventeen groups of man-made fibers. Six of these seventeen groups are made from natural material. They include rayon, acetate, glass fiber, metallics, rubber, and azion. The remaining eleven fabrics are synthesized solely from chemical compounds. They are nylon, polyester, acrylic, modacrylic, olefin, spandex, anidex, saran, vinal, vinyon, and nytril.

Within each generic group there are brand names for fibers which are produced by different manufacturers. Private companies often seek patents on unique features and, as could be expected, attempt to maintain legal control over their competition.

The Future

The future of rayon is bright. Not only is there a growing demand for rayon worldwide, but there are many new technologies that promise to make rayon even better and cheaper.