Please click on the initial letter of the topic you want. Then scroll through the glossary.

In the Product Information Glossary you can review the most vital aspects and find out about Trevira trademarks and their significance

Advantages of Trevira for industry
• Outstanding running properties in spinning and twisting
• Very good processability, high yarn uniformity and tenacity for weaving, circular and warp knitting
• Excellent dyeability using a variety of methods, environmentally friendly finish processes giving crease-resistant fabrics with good shape retention.

Advantages of Trevira for the consumer
• great range of fashionable articles
• good hard-wearing properties
• easy-care
• outstanding light fastness
• permanent flame retardance with Trevira CS

Bleaches
With clear and pastel shades it may perhaps be necessary to bleach prior to dyeing. For special white finishes with hydrogen peroxide we recommend you contact our finish techniques department (ausrüstungstechnische Abteilung) at the Bobingen site.

Comfort properties
Used in drapes, curtains, cover and bed fabrics Trevira CS meets every demand in terms of comfort. Their pleasant feel and elegant drape enhance the comfort of every room and the hydropilic surface draws off humidity well, making sitting and sleeping the more comfortable. They need to be suitably designed to do these things, with a sub-structure of great air permeability. Filament yarn materials have in addition anti-allergy properties as they produce very little fluff for bacteria to breed in.

Dry-cleaning fastness, abrasion resistance
There is no discernible difference between comparable dyes on flame-retardant and normal Trevira spinning fibres and/or filament yarns, as long as our recommendations are adhered to.

Disinfection
Trevira CS fabrics may be disinfected using any of the usual methods as listed in the Federal Health Act ("Bundesgesundheitsblatt") – para. 10 of the Federal Legislation on Disease ("Bundesseuchengesetz"). This a great advantage over textiles given a finish with flame-retardant agents as the finish is damaged by the disinfection treatment.

Ease of dyeing
Dispersion dyes take on flame-retardants somewhat faster than the corresponding normal polyester types. Due to this light shades can be dyed at boiling temperature without adding carrier. Medium to dep shades are dyed without carrier at a maximum temperature of 120°C. You can obtain basic dye formulations from Technical Information A 520 and our Technical Service will be pleased to deal with any special queries.

Environment and health
The manufacture of Trevira Safety fibres produces no dangerous waste products or emissions. And only small amounts of energy are consumed in production thanks to modern technology. Trevira Safety fibres are by virtue of their structure inherently and permanently flame-retardant. This renders unnecessary the addition of flame-retardant agents, which damage the environment. As Trevira Safety fibres contain no other toxic substances of any kind, the European Eco-Tex Test Institute has awarded them the Certificate Eco-Tex Standard 100.

Trevira meets the stringent criteria of the Eco-Tex Test Institute, whose findings indicate that Trevira Safety fibres reveal their qualities above all in use. They showed that Safety fibres produce no irritation in contact with the skin and a Japanese study provides further evidence that Trevira Safety fibres feel pleasant to the skin. Fabrics from Trevira Safety fibres are environmentally friendly when washed as well. Little water is required, as they absorb water in small quantities. Less water means less detergents. Less energy is consumed due to the low washing temperature. The non-iron qualities of Trevira Safety fibres bring savings in time and energy.

Easy care
Trevira CS has outstanding wash and care properties, the commercial exploitation of which confers clear financial benefits: rapid cleaning, short drying times, longevity and very good hard-wearing characteristics. As the fibres take up very small amounts of water, relatively little of this is used in washing, with commensurately less use of energy and detergents. Compared with natural fibres drying can again be achieved so quicky that there are cost savings here as well.

Fastness to ironing, dry heat treatment and pleating
With flame-retardant types in deep shades the fastness properties reduce by ½ degrees as compared to dyes on normal types.

Fields of application
Trevira fibres, including flame-retardants, are used for all purposes in the home fabric and textile groups, this thanks to their outstanding combinations of properties. (Further information on fields of application is available here.)

Finishes
In the glossary you will find details of some of the most important finishing processes for Trevira CS articles. Formulations for the former have to be agreed and we offer technical assistance if required.

Finish, antimicrobial
An antimicrobial or fungicide finish is possible for example with ®Dodigen (the Clariant company) or ®Afrotin LC (the Schill & Seilacher company), whilst maintaining the relevant fire category.

Finish, coating
Trevira CS materials may be coated with PVC or polyurethane to make black-out curtains Formulations need to be agreed dependent on the particular article.

Finish, stiffening
By adding special fire-retardant agents a stiffening finish is possible in making vertical or roller blinds. It is simpler actually to use Trevira NSK yarns which stiffen when heated due to their melt fibre constituent: they remain washable.

Finish, softening
The usual softeners like ®Leomin NI ( the Clariant company) may be added in quantities of 1 to 5 g/l with no negative effects on burning behaviour.

Fibres
The wide spectrum of spinning yarns shows that Trevira Safety fibres can be used for practically all kinds of fabric types. Trevira fibres and filament yarns get their technical qualities, including tenacity, elasticity and stretchability from fibre band stretch.

Filament yarns
The principal applications for flat yarns are in curtains and decorative fabrics, irrespective of whether these are false twist, Jet-Tex, Jet-Tweed, multicolour or chenille yarns. In raw white for piece dyeing or as mulicoloured yarns, flame-retardant textiles can be made in all the desired qualities. An even wider range of design perspectives is opened up by combining filament and fibre yarns. Employing fancy yarns, such as knit-deknit types, produces striking designs. Jet-Tex and Tweed types are mainly used as upholstery and decorative material and as wall coverings.

Fumes, development in fires
Toxic fumes in many cases are responsible for more deaths than the fire itself. Investigations into fumes is gaining in importance, with the lead taken by the aircraft industry in this field. Airbus Standard ABD0031 is applicable throughout the world. Comparative figures in the Standard (see table) indicate Trevira CS’ outstanding performance here.

Flame-retardant home textiles
There was a time originally when such materials could only be produced by employing a chemical finish. However this can often cause problems, in terms of the durability of the process and its impact on the environment. Strict controls are required to achieve consistency and problems arise likewise with the final look of the material. Even where the flame-retardant quality is guaranteed over a certain number of washes, there can be no certainty of the effectiveness of the procedure, as it is practically impossible to monitor the number of washes in practice.

All such difficulties are avoided by the use of permanently modified chemical fibres. The latter are presented in the table below with the most important properties. Flame-retardant performance was evaluated on the basis of success across a variety of tests. For certain burning tests the melt behaviour of textiles is taken as a disadvantage, as for instance the test for eating in England (BS5852). This can be remedied however by the appropriate seat construction.

Hard wear and abrasion resistance
Trevira fabrics are noted for their hard-wearing properties. In comparative trials carried out by the Fabric Care Asssociation, London sheets from Trevira CS lasted 3.3 times longer than those made from cotton. With the right construction cover fabrics in Trevira CS reach Martindale abrasion figures in excess of 40,000 revolutions.

Health
Trevira CS has been tested to German, American and Japanese health standards and been adjudged non-toxic, not allergenic or mutagenic and non-irritant. The Eco-Tex 100 test confirms that Trevira CS is free from harmful substances. If required you can obtain the Eco-Tex certificate and a Safety Leaflet ("Sicherheitsdatenblatt").

In the event of fire the kind of gases given off depend largely on the general fire conditions, so that no general statements are possible. But they are mostly CO, CO₂ and steam accompanied by small amounts of organic compounds containing aldehyde and ketonic groups. In no case were gases like hydraulic and hydroorganic acids, dioxines, nitrous gases and sulphuric acids found. (See also under "Environment and Health").

Light fastness
Light fastness when employing ®Dianix dye-stuffs is in most cases as good as the same process on unmodified Trevira fibres. It is sensible to conduct preliminary trials with light and critical shades. For the more critical sectors like the automotive only ®Samaron-A dye-stuffs recommended by us should be used.

Moisture absorption
Specific moisture absorption of Trevira is around 0.4% at 20°C and 65% rLF. It can however be made considerably higher by the hydrophilic surface of the material and the capillary effect between the fibres. Moisture penetration is very high, thus releasing humidity, something very important for instance for sitting comfortably.

Molecular structure of Trevira CS
Trevira CS are polyester fibres rendered permanently flame-retardant by the inclusion of a small proportion of a phosphorous-organic component. The illustration below shows a section of the modified polyester molecular chain.

Properties of Trevira
Trevira belong to the polyester group of fibres. The flame-retardant qualities of Trevira CS is further improved by including a modification in their processing. They display all the typical properties of polyester fibres and offer industry and consumer considerable advantages.

Pigment printing
We do not recommend pigment printing on Trevira CS fabrics since the used binder and thickeners influence the flame retardant properties negatively.

Pilling Behaviour
Flame-retardant Trevira types 270 and 271 are not low-pill types. To combat pilling we recommened the following measures:
• coarse titres or titre blends
• long fibre staple
• higher yarn (ply) twist
• use of ply-yarn
• closed construction
• short floats in the weave
• brush and close crop of material, sometimes singeing

A further possibility involves use of texturised filament yarns, where a very wool-like character can be achieved with specially air-textured types for furniture fabrics.

Processing information
• TI A520 Flame-Retardant Trevira Polyester Fibres and Filament Yarns
• TI C101 Information on Manufacturing Trevira CS Pile Fabrics
• TI E420 Information on Care of Trevira CS Bedding
• TI E432 Trevira CS Curtains, Decorative Fabrics and Care Recommendations for Hotels, Public Houses, Large Users and Hospitals
• TI E470 Coating Trevira CS Textiles

Spinning processes
Flame-retardant Trevira spinning yarns can be used in any spinning process, resulting in outstanding qualities with ring spinning, OE-rotor and Airjet spinning, as well as with carded yarns and worsteds. A variety of effects is possible, for which the product range includes dull, semi-dull and bright types. Extremely fine three cylinder yarns are used in delicate fabrics, decorative materials and bedlinens.

OE-rotor yarns witha flat, soft structure form the basis for decorative fabrics, vertical blinds and mattress materials. The current demand for soft, transparent and bright yarns is particularly met by filament yarns of the high-capillary type for drapes and decorative fabrics. Degrees of fineness range from 50 dtex with delicate goods through to 3000 dtex for cover fabrics with high wear and light fastness properties. With false twist yarns one can achieve light but bulky weaves.

Trademark procedure with Trevira CS
1. Advise Trevira of your interest in the Trevira brand.
2. We will send you a trademark agreement and a registration form.
3. Complete and sign the agreement and send it to Trevira, along with the registration form and fabric sample
4. Trevira tests the sample made from 100% Trevira flame-retardant fibres or filament yarns.
5. The material passes the test.
6. With maintenance of the trademark standards Trevira grants use of the mark world-wide to the material tested.
7. You are permitted to call your fabric "Trevira CS"
8. You may avail yourself of all Trevira’s services, such as the general certificates in various European countries.

Thermal stability
Whilst being processed Trevira CS fabrics can be exposed for brief periods to temperatures above 210°C. Where they are exposed to temperatures for longer times we recommend a maximum of 150°C in dry atmospheres, and 100°C in humid conditions.

Transfer printing
Any papers printed with dispersion dyestuffs can be employed. Checks should first be made to ensure the light fastness of the dyestuffs involved is adequate. Varnish should not be used, as part of the residue may adhere to the fabric in printing and exercise a negative effect of the flame-retardant behaviour on Trevira CS material.

Trevira CS: definition
Trevira CS is a registered trademark of Trevira. It is used in flame-retardant textiles. The flammability of fabrics can only be tested on the finished article, thus the latter must be tested before the trademark can be free licensed to our customers. The two marks differ in the following ways:

Trevira CS
fabrics are tested by Hoechst Trevira to DIN 4102, B1 (in part to the French Standard M1).
• General test certificates may be employed for certain countries and applications for our customers.
• world-wide recognition
• comprehensive technical and marketing support by Trevira.

Trevira spinning fibres
The wide range of flame-retardant Trevira spinning yarns enables spinners to offer complete collections of yarns. They have here a quality which is not only ideal for their purposes but is flame -retardant as well. The range comprises degrees of finenesss for practically every application: from the finest (1.3 -> 1.7 dtex) for delicate fabrics right through to the extremely coarse (13 dtex) for carpets.

Trevira CS trademarks, use of
Trevira concludes trademark agreements with its industrial partners to maintain the high quality of Trevira Safety fibres.

Wash fastness
With a 40°C wash there are no discernible differences between normal and modified Trevira fibres. At 60°C with the same dyeing similar values are achieved on flame-retardants as on non-modified types. In general dyeing with coloured and patterned fabric results in adequate wash fastness. Preliminary tests are recommended however as there is a possibility of staining adjacent material.

Dyes on Trevira CS are fast to washing at boiling temperatures in bright shades and with selected dye-stuffs. A chlorine-fast finish is possible with the appropriate dye-stuffs.

Boiling is not recommended for drapes and decorative fabrics.

Back | Top