In the most general sense, “metallic yarn”, commonly known as “sparkle yarn” in Turkish, refers to “yarn made of metal”. In the literature, it is defined as “continuous filament” produced by the combination of a metallic component and a plastic component for the protection of the metallic component.
Contrary to popular belief, metallic yarns are not products that emerged as the outcome of the modern-day fashion sense. In history, metal has been used to make yarn by beating soft metals such as silver, copper and bronze, into thin sheets to achieve a glittering appearance for decorative purposes.
As it is not suitable to be used as a textile fiber, in the beginning metallic yarn has not been widely used. The high production cost, the lack of structural flexibility and hence the impracticability to knit and weave as well as low resistance against abrasion caused limited usage area for metallic yarn.
Its harsh touch due to its flat ribbon-like shape with sharp edges makes it disadvantageous. Besides, yarns made of metals other than gold, tarnish and lose their luster over time.
However, all these difficulties have been greatly overcome with the development of modern techniques. The production of appealing metallic yarns with gold, silver, copper and bronze effects that can be used with textile fibers have begun by using lower cost materials. Today, metallic yarn can be used in a wide range of areas from carpet to curtain from upholstery fabric, to women's clothing, shoes, and bags. With each passing day, new trends emerge in knitting, weaving, knitwear, trimming and embroidery applications.
The modern and low cost metallic yarn is a composite structure that consists of filaments of aluminum covered with plastics. These yarns are obtained by cutting into straight strips the aluminum foil or the aluminum coated plastic film vaporized by vacuum technic. Using various metals and plastics makes it possible to produce an infinite variety of metallic yarns. Besides aluminum and polyester films being the most popular choices; the most widely used methods are:
- To cut a continuous flat monofilament composed of aluminum foil laminated on both sides with cellulose acetate butyrate film.
- To cut a continuous flat monofilament composed of aluminum foil laminated on both sides with cellophane film.
- To cut a continuous flat monofilament composed of aluminum foil laminated on both sides with polyester film.
- To cut a continuous flat monofilament composed of aluminum metallized polyester laminated on its metallized surface or on both surfaces with polyester film.
- To cut a continuous flat monofilament composed of aluminum metallized polyester protected on its metallized surface.
Metallic yarns are described by 3 properties: width, gauge and generic type.
The width: The fraction of an inch to which the yarn has been cut; 1/ 32”, 1/69”, 1/ 85”, 1/100”, 1/127” and so on.
The gauge: The sum of thickness of the plastic film and metallic component in one hundred-thousands of an inch.
Generic type: The generic name of the plastic film and the metal.
Example: A Polyester/Aluminum Foil Yarn, 1/69” wide, 150/100.000” thick
Hirasim produces metallic yarns by cutting a continuous flat monofilament composed of “transparent polyester film”, “rainbow polyester film” or “aluminum metallized plastic (polyester or nylon) film” protected on its metallized surface. Our product portfolio consists of uncovered M type bobbins and covered MX type bobbins.