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Polypropylene Fabric vs. Polyester Fabric by Perkal

Whether you're a promotional products pro or an advertising amateur, you've probably run across some terminology in the imprinting world that leaves you scratching your head. Maybe you've compared two seemingly identical products and wondered why one costs so much more than the other. And what's the difference between polypropylene and polyester? If you're curious about the difference between polypropylene, nylon, and polyester, this lesson will provide valuable industry insight. Plus, we'll clarify some of the terminology often associated with these popular materials.

What's with the "D"?

Whether you're talking about a 600D polyester tote bag or a 210D nylon lunch cooler, the D stands for denier which is a unit of measurement describing the linear mass density of the material, calculated by the mass in grams of a single 9,000 meter strand (reference: one denier is the mass of one 9,000 meter strand of silk).

Denier is a good measure of strength and durability when you're comparing two deniers of the same material. For example, a 400D nylon bag is not as strong as a 600D nylon bag. However, when you're comparing between different materials, such as nylon and polyester, all deniers are not equal. Since nylon is a stronger material than polyester, 420D nylon is actually stronger than 600D polyester.

What about the "T"?

Let's say you have a 190T nylon travel pouch or a 210T polyester drawstring backpack in front of you. The T refers to thread count, or the number of warp and fill (or picks and ends) threads in a square inch. Warp and fill refer to the threads in woven materials that are interlaced at right angles to create the cloth. The number of these within one square inch determines thread count. Similar to denier, it's a good measure of the thickness (and usually, strength) of an item when comparing within the same material.

Oh wait, and the "GSM"?

Now let's say you're inspecting a 80 GSM nonwoven polypropylene tote or a 75 GSM padded laptop sleeve; GSM stands for grams per square meter or "grammage." Like denier and thread count, this is a measure of density, but this refers to the weight in square meters. Like thread count and denier, this roughly correlates with strength in that a material with a higher GSM is generally more resistant to tears and damage, all other things (e.g., materials) equal.

What's the difference between woven and nonwoven materials?

Woven fabric consists of yarns placed at rights angles to each other. The warp runs the length of the fabric while the fill (or weft) is perpendicular. The cloth gets its strength from weaving the threads over and under each other. Nonwoven fabric is composed of yarns combined in a different way, such as melting or gluing them together.

Woven materials are stronger and higher quality than nonwoven materials due to the layers created by the threads woven over and under one another. However, nonwoven materials are generally more affordable, because they are cheaper and faster to manufacture.

What are the differences between polypropylene, polyester, and nylon?

The Breakdown!

Polyporpylene Polyester Nylon
Does not absorb water Absorbs some water Absorbs the most water
Dries faster Dries slower Dries quickly
266°F / 130°C* Variable but likely around 500°F / 260°C* 490°F / 254°C*
Less UV resistant More UV resistant Somewhat UV resistant
Moderately resistant to stretching and shrinking Resistant to stretching and shrinking, resists pilling Greater stretchability, shrink resistant
Mildew resistant Mildew resistant Mildew resistant
Floats Does not float Does not float

This article was published on Friday 05 January, 2018.

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