Spandex Research Paper
History
The development of spandex was started during World War II. At this time, chemists took on the challenge of developing synthetic replacements for rubber. Two primary motivating factors prompted their research. First, the war effort required most of the available rubber for building equipment. Second, the price of rubber was unstable and it fluctuated frequently. Developing an alternative to rubber could solve both of these problems.
At first, their goal was to develop a durable elastic strand based on synthetic polymers. In 1940, the first polyurethane elastomers were produced. These polymers produced millable gums, which were an adequate alternative to rubber. Around the same time, scientists at Du Pont produced the first nylon polymers. …show more content…
Kindliman, a corsetiere, hardly needed to advertise. At that time, women thought it was necessary to wear a corset and considered themselves indecently dressed without it until early in the twentieth century. Corsets were a combination brassiere-girdle-waist cincher in an all-in-one garment, forming the foundation shape for fashionable dress.
In days before spandex, how did the corset contour the body effectively? In the eighteenth century, thick quilting and stout seams on the corset shaped the body when the garment was tightly laced. In the early nineteenth century, baleen, a bony but bendable substance from the mouth of the baleen whale, was sewn into seams of the corset (hence the term whalebone corsets), however the late 1800s corsets like this were stiffened with small, thin strips of steel covered with fabric. Such steel-clad corsets did not permit movement or comfort. By World War I, American women began separating parts of the corset into two garments—the girdle (waist and hip shaper) and bandeau (softer band used to support and shape the
The development of spandex was started during World War II. At this time, chemists took on the challenge of developing synthetic replacements for rubber. Two primary motivating factors prompted their research. First, the war effort required most of the available rubber for building equipment. Second, the price of rubber was unstable and it fluctuated frequently. Developing an alternative to rubber could solve both of these problems.
At first, their goal was to develop a durable elastic strand based on synthetic polymers. In 1940, the first polyurethane elastomers were produced. These polymers produced millable gums, which were an adequate alternative to rubber. Around the same time, scientists at Du Pont produced the first nylon polymers. …show more content…
Kindliman, a corsetiere, hardly needed to advertise. At that time, women thought it was necessary to wear a corset and considered themselves indecently dressed without it until early in the twentieth century. Corsets were a combination brassiere-girdle-waist cincher in an all-in-one garment, forming the foundation shape for fashionable dress.
In days before spandex, how did the corset contour the body effectively? In the eighteenth century, thick quilting and stout seams on the corset shaped the body when the garment was tightly laced. In the early nineteenth century, baleen, a bony but bendable substance from the mouth of the baleen whale, was sewn into seams of the corset (hence the term whalebone corsets), however the late 1800s corsets like this were stiffened with small, thin strips of steel covered with fabric. Such steel-clad corsets did not permit movement or comfort. By World War I, American women began separating parts of the corset into two garments—the girdle (waist and hip shaper) and bandeau (softer band used to support and shape the