What Does Polyester Feel Like? (Is Polyester Soft and Shiny)
To some, it is all in the touch. Not only when it comes to romance over casual dating but also in what fabrics they wear and when they wear them. The soft cozy feeling at night helps one relax and release stress. Some fabrics just have that touch that makes life feel better.
What does polyester feel like? Polyester can be made to be soft and shiny, it is a man-made fabric that can change its shape when melted. Usually, most people seem to think that polyester feels artificial next to their skin with a somewhat plastic-like quality.
To learn more about how polyester feels just continue to read our article. It has the answers to your questions as well as the information you need to know about. Take a few minutes and read all about how polyester feels.
Polyester Feel 101
How Does Polyester Feel
If you are talking about how it feels when it touches your4 skin, you may feel that the fabric is a little bit soft and flexible. Or you may feel like other people do when they put polyester clothing on and get that artificial feel.
For the most part, polyester can feel like you are wearing plastic as it is made from plastic products. While the fabric is durable, easy to take care of, and can look good in different colors, polyester may also feel warm or hot.
That is because polyester can’t breathe as well as natural fibers can. When sitting and moving in the polyester clothing, you may feel that the material is rigid and uncomfortable. That is the way polyester is as it is not made from real soft ingredients like silk.
Your experience may say something different and that is okay, not everyone will get the same feeling about polyester.
What Does 100 Polyester Feel Like?
When you remove the cotton, silk, linen, or wool natural fibers, you may feel plastic or artificial texture to polyester. There is a good reason for that as polyester is made from plastic resins which do not contain many aspects of softness.
There are other concerns as polyester may make one feel cheap as the look on of the fabric can be cheaper looking than say clothing made from natural fabrics. Then there is the concern of safety.
One may not feel safe in polyester as it is extremely flammable. You do not want to go near an open flame wearing polyester. That aspect provides an uncomfortable feel when wearing the material.
The good aspects do not outweigh the bad aspects of polyester and even though it may be less expensive to buy, it is not always a great fiber to have next to your skin.
Brushed Polyester Feel
There are different techniques used to help create a certain feel for polyester materials. One of those techniques is brushing the fabric or fibers so that they create a very soft feel to the touch.
The double brushed polyester can be incredibly soft and very comfortable to wear. Plus, it drapes well without clinging to your body and doe snot seem to lose its color nor its texture when washed several times.
On top of that, double-brushed polyester doesn't need ironing so you may feel better when doing the laundry. The 4 way stretch in some brushed polyester fabrics adds to your comfort levels.
But do not expect to get an increase in breathability. Polyester whether brushed or not doe snot breathe very well. Yet, in the end, double brushed polyester is intended to feel like suede feels like.
Microfiber Polyester Feel
This fiber is woven to be lightweight and very comfortable to the touch. While the feel of microfiber polyester is not as soft as natural fibers, it does come in a very close second. Being man-made different techniques can be applied to create any feel you want to have next to your skin.
Hat microfiber does is provide a more flexible nature than normal polyester fabrics can provide. They are not as rigid so they feel a lot better when they are used on couches, for bed sheets, and other applications.
Also, microfiber resists wrinkles and shrinking, making you feel better about the money you invested in them. That is a good feeling given the nature of the economy these days. You may also feel drier as some microfiber weaves wick away moisture better than other ones do.
Recycled Polyester Feel
To understand recycled polyester you have to understand that when this material is woven into polyester clothing and other household fabrics, no new polyester material is used. Its content comes from 100% recycled plastics.
That can be old soda bottles, water bottles, and other plastics that made it back to the recycling plant. But when they are turned into clothing and bedding items, the recycled material can feel strong and it can be processed to feel soft and comfortable.
There may be a problem with recycled polyester as that material has ultra-small fibers that when washed break away from the clothing. When this happens they are so small that they slip through filters and get into the environment.
For those worried about the environment, this fact may cause you to switch to all-natural fabrics and leave the petroleum polyester alone.
Is Polyester Soft?
The key factor about polyester is that its fiber can be made into anything the manufacturer wants it to feel like. Polyester is that pliable and easily manipulated. So the answer to the question is, yes it can be soft.
Polyester manufacturers have many techniques at their disposal that help them create very soft man-made polyester fibers. When those are ready, they are then woven in such a way to keep the material nice and soft.
However, the softness you feel will depend on the quality of those fibers, how soft they were made to feel, and many other factors. There is soft polyester on sale right now but there is also an equal amount of polyester clothing that doe snot come close to being soft.
That feel may be due to the suggestion factor where knowing about the ingredients of polyester changes how the mind perceives the feel of the fabric.
Does Polyester Feel Cheap?
To a lot of people, especially back in the 70s when this material really became popular, it did and does have a cheap feel to it. The older generations were introduced to badly made polyester and that original feeling has not left them even though the processing has been upgraded to produce a better feel to the fabric.
For some other people, some qualities of polyester feel more like plastic than they do fabric. And plastic has never had a quality feel about it, no matter what form it has been made into. So in their minds, yes, polyester feels cheap.
When you compare polyester to natural fibers like silk, linen, and wool, etc., you can feel the difference, and you may come away with the thought that polyester does feel cheap no matter how soft it is. How this material feels to you is up to you and your attitude about polyester.
Is Polyester Clingy?
Yes and no. There are some polyester materials, like double-brushed, that do not cling to your body when you walk or run. The material does not build up a static electric charge so the material drapes and flows as it should.
On the other hand, some other polyester fabrics do build up a static electric charge and can cause the fibers to cling to your body at some of the more embarrassing moments of your life.
Along with this ability to cling, you need to be careful about wearing polyester when you have sensitive skin. The chemicals used in creating the fibers can react with that skin type and cause you some health problems.
To avoid static build-up, you can dry your polyester clothing with dryer balls, dryer sheets, or use a fabric softener in the wash. Or hang dry some polyester clothing as friction can create static electricity as well.
Does Polyester Feel Like Leather?
There is one version of polyester that does mimic the way leather reacts to the touch and feels. But it may not be true polyester either. The material is given a PU or polyurethane backing that makes the material act like leather in many ways like feel.
But that backing can be applied to other fabrics as well and create the same product. It is then treated to look like leather and it comes the closest to real leather than any other version of fake leather can do.
But there are some drawbacks to this style of polyester. While it may feel like leather, it does not stretch, breathe, or wear as real leather does. In other words, it only feels and looks like leather but cannot match any of the other positive characteristics leather has. It is durable though but vulnerable to punctures and tears.
Does Polyester Feel Like Nylon?
When you do a side by side touch comparison, you will see that the polyester fabric is rougher than the nylon material. The latter fabric was created to mimic and replace silk which itself has a very smooth texture and feel to it.
This is one reason why polyester has been relegated more to being an outerwear type fabric than an innerwear type. Nylon is just smoother and feels better than polyester does next to your skin. There may be some competitors to the nylon position here but generally, nylon is better to the touch than polyester is.
Manufacturing techniques have been upgraded over the years and some polyester fabrics may have closed the gap between the two materials’ feel. So which one is softer and more comfortable is now left up to your experience and how you view both fabrics. Some newer polyesters may be as soft as cotton.
Polyester Texture
This will depend a lot on how polyester was spun and then woven. When the material is spun, it is a flatter design that comes close to silk in its overall texture. Some of the rougher forms of this material can have an artificial texture or a plastic-like one.
The quality of the fabric will play a role in the kind of texture polyester clothing will have. That plastic-like or artificial texture does not disappear when the polyester fiber is blended with natural fibers. You may feel the difference.
Just compare 100% natural clothing items with a poly natural fiber blend and a 100% polyester outfit. You should be able to see the difference between all three fabrics. Polyester is not natural so it is going to have a different texture than the natural fibers will have.
Is Polyester Shiny?
It can be. Some people say that when blended with natural fibers, polyester tends to be shinier than its fabric partners. Again, the go-to answer is it depends on how the polyester was made. Some styles are not shiny and other styles are.
Also, as polyester ages and it gets worn out, some of this fabric’s options do get shiny. The problem with that us that the shine cannot be removed. It is in there permanently and there is nothing you can do about it.
Then when you iron polyester, if you use a heat level that is too hot for the fabric, then you can put the shiny texture in the material yourself. Then because of its manufacturing process, it is a shiny material anyways.
Is Polyester Like Cotton?
No. If you want the longer answer just continue to read this section. The two fabrics are probably complete opposites even with the advancements in manufacturing techniques. Cotton is breathable, absorbent, and natural while polyester is none of those characteristics.
Polyester may be more durable but it does not come with that natural feel you like next to your skin, or when you touch your loved ones. Also, polyester is more wrinkle-resistant as well as being more durable and stronger than cotton.
On top of that, polyester resists stains better than cotton does so again, no polyester is not like cotton. The real question would be ‘is polyester better than cotton’ and the answer to that would be up to you, your preferences, and your lifestyle.
How To Make Polyester Feel Like Cotton
There are two answers to that question. The first answer would be to blend polyester fibers with cotton fibers so you cannot tell the difference between the two. Of course, the cotton fibers would have to be the dominant member of the blend or you may feel that plastic-like texture polyester is known for.
The second answer would be to have the polyester fibers made in a way, like brushed polyester is, so that it is as soft and has the same texture cotton has. The latter part of that process would be next to impossible because plastic never feels natural.
The best you can do is get polyester material to feel close to like cotton does but it is hard to match the natural feel using unnatural processes and ingredients.
Can Polyester Feel Like Silk?
There is a possibility here. Textured polyester feels closer to cotton that it would silk but flat polyester is designed to feel more like silk than cotton. But that is just in the initial feel category.
In other categories like breathing, polyester feels nothing like silk as it doesn't breathe like that natural fabric. It also traps heat, so you will feel hotter wearing polyester than silk.
Then you have the problem of moisture which polyester doe snot do a good job in wicking away. While flat polyester will come close to feeling like silk when you put your hand on it, other factors let you know you are not wearing silk.
What Does Polyester Feel Like on Furniture?
It can and the reason for that answer is that there are so many different types of polyester that one of those types can be a great match when you want soft furniture to sit on.
When you consider polyesters toughness, durability, and the ability to resist fading, then the fabric will feel good on your furniture. It lasts longer so you do not have to spend a lot of money on it.
Some Final Words
What does polyester feel like? It feels like anything you want it top. Because it is a man-made material, it can be manipulated to feel like just about any other natural or synthetic fabric out there.
The many varieties of polyester on the market today prove that statement true. It may have that artificial and plastic-like feel on most occasions but it is still a strong and durable fabric to consider having on your furniture and clothing.
