Short for decitex, a tenth of the tex unit, it is the fineness measure used across Europe, in standards and on most fiber spec sheets. One dtex equals about 0.9 denier, so a 1.7 dtex fiber is roughly 1.5 denier. Fibers finer than 1 dtex are classed as microfibers, the target size for splittable bicomponent fibers.
Heard on the job
Spec says 1.7 dtex by 40 millimeter PET, so don't let purchasing swap in the 2.2.
Also heard as
- decitex
Related terms
Denier
Unit of fiber fineness equal to the mass in grams of 9,000 meters of fiber or filament.
Staple fiber
Fibers cut to a fixed, finite length, as opposed to continuous filament, used in carded, airlaid and wetlaid webs.
Splittable fiber
Bicomponent fiber built to split into much finer microfibers after it has been laid into a web.