Microfiber Shirts

Definition: a microfiber is a fiber with less than 1 denier per filament. DUH!!!
And a denier is what?? A denier is a measure of linear density. Ok, and linear density is what?? Linear density according to a very techinical definition is the quantity of anything distributed along a line per unit length of line.

In ShirtGuy (not the smartest guy around) terms, this means how much the fiber weighs. How do you find the weight a tiny little fiber? ShirtGuy doesn’t know and ShirtGuy doesn’t care! I’ll leave that for the genius scientists and maybe the dude at the state fair who guesses everyone’s weight. But if you want to get really geeky, 9000 meters of a 1 denier fiber would weigh one gram. That’s pretty darn light in and of itself, and a microfiber weighs LESS than that.

I reckon a microfiber could be made of anything light weight enough and flexible enough to be manipulated on such a small level. But when you hear the term microfiber, it is often in meant to mean microfibers of polyester. Yes, just like those pants that have been in your closet since 1976! Another common microfiber material is polymide, or nylon. Call your girlfriends pantyhose and stockings, microfibers, and see what she says. I’m sure she’ll just look at you strangely like how chicks usually look at me when I tell them my name is ShirtGuy. Back to microfibers. Microfibers such as those commonly used in household cleaning products can be a combination of polyester and polymide.

People first started making ultra fine fibers back in the 1950’s, though they really didn’t know how to use them. In the 1970’s, along came Ultrasuede, or Alcantara. The 90’s saw the introduction of microfibers in clothing across the pond in Europe which has filtered to the rest of the world. More recently, microfibers have caused an uproar in the cleaning product community!

Jumping back to microfibers used in clothing, just on a personal note, I love this stuff! As by design, it wicks away sweat, whatever the hell that means. All I know is that microfiber shirts feel great. I wear them while running and other cardio , sweat creating, physical exercise and I have noticed that the shirts don’t get soaking wet like when I wear a normal, cotton or cotton blend shirt. I assume I don’t sweat less when I wear these shirts, the shirts just somehow seem to make the sweat go somewhere magical. Whatever!

Now one of the cool things about microfibers that people really enjoy is that they don’t leave lint or dust behind. This is great for hospitals and places that must be really clean. They use microfiber cloths, rags, mops and dust mops to cut down on the dust when they have bodies opened up in the operating room. This is one reason microfiber products have been branded a “green”, “eco-friendly” reputation. These same products are also perfect for car freaks who just spend thousands on a paint job for their stupid looking car that makes them feel good about themselves.

Another cool thing, is that microfiber cloths and rags pick up oils and fats better than typical rags. This is great for in the kitchen, bathroom or when your changing the oil in that stupid looking car! But be careful, microfiber products are often flammable lol, and since they are polyester and nylon (petrochemicals), they emit toxic chemicals when on fire. But hey, so does that cancer stick you’re puffing on.

Welp, that’s about all the information I have gathered on microfibers stuff, time to go watch some King of the Hill!

ShirtGuy

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