What Is Acrylic?

How is acrylic made?

Acrylic is made by polymerising acrylonitrile into polyacrylonitrile (PAN), dissolving the polymer in a solvent and spinning that solution into fibres. Unlike rayon (viscose), which is regenerated from plant cellulose, acrylic is fully synthetic. Commercial production of PAN fibre began only in the 1940s, after Ray C. Houtz at DuPont found spinning solvents that could dissolve the polymer.

1. Polymerisation. Acrylonitrile is linked into long PAN chains. Acrylic and modacrylic fibres are both based on this polymer.
2. Adding a comonomer. Pure PAN is hard to dye. Mixing in 2–7 per cent of a vinyl comonomer, such as vinyl acetate, gives a copolymer whose fibres soften enough for dyestuffs to penetrate.
3. Solution spinning. The copolymer is dissolved in special solvents and spun into fibres. The finished fibre’s cross-section varies: it can be round, bean-shaped, lobed or shaped like a dog bone.

Sources disagree slightly on the start date. Britannica dates DuPont’s launch of its Orlon acrylic fibre to 1948; CAMEO, the materials database of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gives 1950 as the first year of commercial manufacture. Monsanto’s Acrilan, American Cyanamid’s Creslan and Courtaulds’ Courtelle followed.

What are the properties of acrylic?

Acrylic is soft, light and bulky for its weight, resists sunlight, mildew and moths, and absorbs very little moisture, but it pills, builds up static and melts if it gets too hot.

• Loft and warmth. Acrylic produces lightweight, lofty yarns, which is why its most common clothing use is as a replacement for wool in knitted goods such as a sweater or socks.
• Moisture. Its moisture regain is only 1.0–3.0 per cent. Wool, by contrast, is an absorbent fibre.
• Resistance. Acrylic resists sunlight, mildew and moths better than natural fibres, so it is also used for blankets, carpets, awnings and other outdoor products.
• Cost. Acrylic sells at a fraction of the cost of wool, the natural fibre it most often replaces.
• Weak points. Acrylic pills, builds up static, can yellow in hot water and melts under too much heat.

How is acrylic graded or measured?

Acrylic is defined by its chemistry rather than graded by fineness: US and EU rules set a minimum acrylonitrile content, and laboratories describe individual fibres by measured properties such as strength and moisture regain. For fibre content, a garment label must give only the generic fibre name and its percentage.

How does acrylic appear on a clothing label?

On a clothing label, acrylic appears as the generic name “acrylic” followed by its percentage by weight, and in both the US and the EU that name is reserved for fibre made of at least 85 per cent acrylonitrile units.

Under US rules

• Every fibre making up 5 per cent or more of the total fibre weight must be named by its generic name, with percentages in order of predominance by weight.
• A fibre under 5 per cent is normally shown as “other fiber”, unless it has a clear functional purpose, such as 4 per cent spandex added for stretch.
• A trademark such as Orlon may appear, but the generic name must sit right beside it, in type of equal size.

Under EU rules

• Only the fibre names in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 may be used; “acrylic” is one of them.
• All constituent fibres must be listed with their percentage by weight, in descending order.
• “100 %”, “pure” or “all” may only be used when a product is made of a single fibre.

What the percentage tells you

The first fibre listed is the largest by weight, so a sweater sold on its wool content but labelled “acrylic 70 %, wool 30 %” is mostly acrylic. Both the US and the EU allow a manufacturing tolerance of 3 per cent against the total fibre weight, so a stated 30 per cent wool may test a little higher or lower.

What is the difference between acrylic and modacrylic?

Acrylic and modacrylic are both made from polyacrylonitrile, but modacrylic contains less acrylonitrile and is flame-resistant, while acrylic burns readily.

How do you tell good acrylic from poor acrylic?

You judge acrylic by reading its label precisely and checking a garment for the fibre’s three known weak points: pills, static and heat damage.

1. Read the whole fibre line. In the US a trade name alone is not enough; look for the word “acrylic” next to it. If the label says “modacrylic”, expect a fibre that is even more sensitive to heat.
2. Check the order. The fibres must be listed from largest to smallest share. A piece marketed on its wool or mohair should list that fibre first if it is truly the main one.
3. Look at the surface on a worn or second-hand piece. Acrylic is prone to pilling, and the fuzz balls form partly because of the static the fibre builds up. Heavy pilling on a barely worn garment is a red flag.
4. Pull it over your head. Crackling and clinging are signs of the static build-up that acrylic is known for.
5. Look for heat damage. Yellowing can come from washing in hot water, and hardened, melted patches from an iron set too high.
6. Know the burn signature. Acrylic burns readily with a smoky flame and an acid smell and leaves hard ash. If you try this, use a loose thread from inside a seam allowance, held over a sink, never the garment itself.

Red flags: a US label that names only a trademark; “100 %” or “pure” on a blend sold in the EU; heavy pills or melted patches on a piece sold as new.

How do you care for acrylic?

Wash acrylic in lukewarm water, let knits drip-dry, and keep the iron low, because the fibre yellows in hot water and melts under high heat. Follow the care label first.

• Washing: use lukewarm water. Water-based stains usually wash out; pre-treat oil and grease stains.
• Drying: blot knitted pieces and let them drip-dry; woven acrylic can go in a tumble dryer on low heat.
• Ironing: use a low setting on the wrong side.
• Dry cleaning: allowed, though repeated cleaning may weaken the fibres.
• Pills and static: do not pick at the fuzz, which can make it worse. Fabric softener reduces static, but see the section below on shedding before you rely on it.

Is acrylic sustainable?

Acrylic has two documented environmental problems: almost none of it is recycled, and in a 2016 study acrylic fabric shed more microfibres in the wash than polyester. As of 2024, it is a small fibre by volume.

• Scale. Textile Exchange estimates acrylic production at about 1.6 million tonnes in 2024, roughly 1.2 per cent of global fibre production. Synthetics as a whole made up about 69 per cent, and the “other synthetics” group of polypropylene, acrylic and elastane about 5 per cent.
• Recycled content. Recycled acrylic made up only about 0.8 per cent of acrylic volume in 2024. By contrast, recycled polyester made from plastic bottles supplied most of the world’s recycled fibre.
• Microfibres. Researchers at the University of Plymouth estimated that a 6 kg wash of acrylic fabric could release 728,789 fibres, against 496,030 for polyester and 137,951 for a polyester–cotton blend. Many such fibres are likely to pass through sewage treatment into the environment.
• Washing choices. In the same study, adding bio-detergent or fabric conditioner tended to release more fibres, which sits awkwardly with the usual advice to use softener against static.

For the wider debate on fibre choice, see sustainable fashion.