Neoprene Sportswear
One Stop Shop
125. We are a one stop shop for sportswear production, from design, to sample, to production.
What Is Neoprene ?
Neoprene is a trade name for Polychloroprene. It was invented in 1930 by Wallace Carruthers, working for the DuPont company. Natural rubber had become very expensive due to its great demand. Neoprene was invented as a substitute for natural rubber, and became the first synthetic rubber to be commercially successful.
Sponge Neoprene can be either closed or open cell foam. The open cell version tends to be sturdier, while the closed cell is softer.
The first version of this fabric was called Duprene. While it had many uses, its one drawback was its awful smell. After further development, DuPont were able to get rid of the smell and reduce the cost of manufacture. So, in 1937 they changed the name to Neoprene.
In recent years, Neoprene has been used for more fashion based garments, such as skirts, trousers and coats. And for general fitness wear and compression wear.
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Qualities Of Neoprene.
Neoprene is a comparatively cheap material with a very wide range of uses. Some people may however, be allergic to some of the chemicals used to produce it. And it can degrade if used in highly chlorinated water. While Neoprene is not breathable, it does have many other properties :-
- Vibration Dampening
- Tear Resistance
- Weather Resistance
- Heat Resistance
- Waterproof
- Insulation
- Chemical Resistance
- Buoyancy
- Durability
- Flame Resistance
- Flexibility
- Stretchability
- Abrasion Resistance
- UV Resistance
Wetsuits.
The first wetsuit was the Mark V suit, used by the US Navy from 1916. The fabric used for this suit was a waterproofed canvas material. But this was far from ideal.
Neoprene has been the main material for wetsuit manufacture since its invention. It provides excellent insulation against cold. The Neoprene wetsuit was invented by Hugh Bradner, a Physicist working on thermal insulation for the US Navy at the University of California. These early wetsuits were made by sandwiching Neoprene between two layers of Nylon.
Wetsuits Are Not Waterproof.
Wetsuits are not waterproof. The wetsuit traps a small amount of water between the fabric and the wearer`s skin. This helps maintain the body`s core temperature, keeping the body warm and preventing hypothermia.
Zip Free Wetsuit.
Early wetsuits were not easy to put on. In the 1970`s Body Glove invented the first zip free wetsuit. But today there are a number of different closure options available.
Why Are Wetsuits Black ?
While early wetsuits were in a milky white colour, most wetsuits have subsequently been predominantly black. Although this is more for practical reasons than aesthetic ones, black tends to be the colour of choice in any case. And colour becomes irrelevant at depth as it disappears.
Wetsuits come in a range of colours, but black is the optimal colour for a range of reasons. Black provides the best UV resistance
coloured Neoprene is more expensive to produce than black.
The formula for producing Neoprene included a carbon black filler to toughen up
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