What's the best swimwear fabrics

The best swimsuit fabric is a topic of hot debate in the fashion world. Swimwear fabrics typically must be quick-drying, colorfast, and have a certain amount of stretch. Let’s discuss some of the different options for swim fabrics and their various characteristics. Selecting the right swimsuit material for your needs will be easy after this!

Most swimsuit fabric is meant to stretch to fit all those gorgeous curves and to allow for a comfortable and safe swim. The fabric also needs to be able to both hold its shape when wet and to dry easily and quickly. For this reason, almost every type of swimwear fabric contains elastane fibers.

Elastane is a synthetic fiber with elastic qualities that revolutionized the fashion industry when it was developed in the 1960s. Elastane is the generic name for Lycra or Spandex. Lycra, Spandex, and elastane are all basically the same thing, so don’t get hung up on the branding.

Elastane is blended with other synthetic fibers to provide a comfortable stretch. The blend varies based on the manufacturer and the desired qualities of the fabric, but generally it is made with around 10%-20% elastane to 80%-90% other fiber(s).

There are two major fabric options:

1. The nylon spandex swimsuit fabrics are some of the most popular. This is mostly due to its super soft feel and its ability to have a glossy or satin sheen. Many of the solid color swimwear you see in the market is nylon. Nylon is more difficult to print, so solid colors tend to be popular with smaller brands. 

Nylon blends are what you will come across most in the female swimwear fashion world.

2.Polyester swimwear fabrics, 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.

3.Natural fibers such as cotton and wool easily lose their shape when wet. They dry slowly and often hold a great deal of water. This makes them heavier and less practical than synthetic options. Definitely not a great option for swimming suit fabric. Unless you’re planning to just hang out and look great on a sun chair!

 

 

 

The best swimsuit fabric is the one that makes the most sense for your needs. For practicality, we like the easy printing capability and durability of polyester.