Made by dissolving wood pulp and spinning the cellulose back into fiber, viscose absorbs water readily, feels soft and biodegrades much like cotton. It is blended with polyester in spunlace wipes, where the polyester adds strength and the viscose adds absorbency and softness. Lyocell, made by a solvent-spun route, competes for the same uses with higher wet strength.
Customer wants the wipe at 70 percent viscose, so the dryer is going to have to work harder.
Also heard as
- rayon
- viscose rayon
- CV
Related terms
Spunlace
Fabric bonded by hydroentangling, and the usual trade name for the whole process family.
Absorbency
How much liquid a nonwoven takes up and how fast, usually reported as grams per gram and absorption time.
Staple fiber
Fibers cut to a fixed, finite length, as opposed to continuous filament, used in carded, airlaid and wetlaid webs.