The “crepe look” in textiles is viewed as high fashion.
In Europe and Asia there are several Micrex®/Microcrepers™
producing textiles used in high end women’s shirting, bathing suits,
and home furnishings (drapes, bedspreads, shower curtains).
The range of possible crepe styles, as well as how
easily a substrate will accept a decorative pattern depends greatly
on the type of substrate and the particular “recipe” used to make
it.
As a very rough generalization – textiles will
accept the widest range of patterns, followed by nonwovens, less so
paper, and lastly -- films
Microcreping is also an opportunity for a single
substrate to be converted into a range of products with different
functional and esthetic qualities.
For example, spunlace used in medical gowns and industrial wipes
can be given both stretch and a range of differentiating looks through
Microcreping™.
What follows are pictures of different Microcreped
samples and the terms we use to describe them.
Microcrepe can be described in terms of
its frequency as well as amplitude.
Paper - Very
Fine Microcrepe.
Paper –
Medium Microcrepe.
Note however that as the process strives for a very
fine Microcrepe, uniformity is lost.
As a general rule, it is easier to produce a
pattern which is coarse than one which is fine
Recycled Paper - Two levels of
crepe
One technique used by Micrex is to Microcrepe in
narrow bands. This creates
a plisse effect.
Nonwoven –
magnified 10d. Note that
the flat portion is where the Microcreping takes place, gathering the
remaining material.
Plisse
patterns can easily be modified on the machine with little or no
downtime or wasted material.
The pattern is cut with scissors from a piece of blue steel.
Textile –
very narrow bands of Microcreping gathers the rest of the web for a rich
look.
Textile -
Combining a pattern and a print for a 3D effect.
Note patterns can be asynchronous.
Textiles – a
very fine crepe enhancing the print
Textiles –
broad plissé
Two
completely different looks in a Nylon Trico
Nonwoven
wipes can be differentiated by changing how they look.
Nonwoven
wipes with a “skip” pattern on the left and a “seersucker” pattern on
the right
“Seersucker”
on a roll.
Film – with
“double crepe” meaning both fine and coarse Microcrepe.
Nonwoven - with “double crepe”.
