High Radial Stretch Automotive Upholstery Fabrics for Molding

Traditionally upholstery fabrics have been rigidly constructed to accommodate conventional automotive seating and interior trim uses but new manufacturing techniques and styles are requiring fabrics with stretch to conform to a variety of contours and shapes. In the cost efficient, mass production of seats through molding, fabrics must have balanced biaxial (isotropic radial) stretch to comply to the shape of the mold and low recovery from stretch to maintain molded detail. This stretch can be imparted to any knit or woven fabric by adding spandex fiber. The level of isotropic radial stretch and recovery, as well as the performance of spandex fibers in molded automotive seating and trim applications, is discussed.