Elastolefin is a

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

composed of at least 95% (by weight) of

macromolecule A macromolecule is a "molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass." Polymers are physi ...

s partially cross-linked, made of

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...

and at least one other olefin. When stretched to one and a half times its original length, it recovers rapidly to its original length. It therefore will stretch up to 50% and recover. Recent updates to EU fabric labelling directive to include elastolefin in Anex I and II. Low crystallinity polyolefin elastomers that have a cross-linked structure have been developed by the DOW Chemical Company in 2002. The trade name of the elastolefin fibers is DOW XLA, the fibers when under lower stress have the ability to expand when larger strains are applied. The DOW XLA fibers were designed to have high thermal and chemical resistance, stretch performance, and durability.

References

Organic polymers Polyolefins Elastomers Synthetic fibers {{textile-stub