# difference in nylon, acrylic and polymide?



## Passionetta (Mar 30, 2011)

I try to use merino wool and nylon yarn to knit socks. But I have also used 100 % nylon and it seems to work well also. Now I'm noticing lots of other materials like polymide or "poly" something-or-other in yarns, silk and bamboo in sock yarns. Can any of you give me your opinion on using any of these types of yarns to make socks? I always try to use Fine, Fingering, or Sport, #2 size yarn. This size fits into my shoes better, and, of course, the shoes of those I give them to.


----------



## mousepotato (May 30, 2011)

Nylon, acrylic and polyamide are all different names for what is essentially the same thing--polyester reinforcing fibers that help the sock yarns from wearing out quickly. This is not to say that the yarn won't wear out eventually (some of my 10+ year old socks that I wear all the time are in dire need of replacement soon). Silk is a lovely and strong fiber, but isn't intended really to reinforce the socks. Bamboo in socks is a form of rayon, again, not designed as reinforcement. Both will give your yarns a sheen, but when it comes to silk, some people find it "smells" funny, because it reacts with their body chemistry. Neither fiber has any crimp or bounce to it, so if it is the major fiber in your sock yarn you may find that they will bag and sag in the wearing.


----------



## fergablu2 (Apr 30, 2011)

Nylon and polyamide are similar artificial fibers, which can be used to reinforce yarn for socks, but acrylic and polyester are two other _different _ artificial fibers, that are not as wear resistant. I learned about fibers in fashion school. From personal experience, silk blend socks feel lovely, but don't wear as well as those with nylon or polyamide. Most yarns marketed as sock yarn already contain a percentage of nylon, but you can carry along a strand of wooly nylon thread with yarns that don't have any. I've made a few pair, but they're not old enough to determine longevity.


----------



## Reinharv (Apr 8, 2016)

When I knit socks, I choose wool with a combination of nylon, nylon and silk. Polyamide is just another name for nylon. These add strength to the fabric. 

Acrylic is not the same as nylon or polyamide. It will stretch and a true sock yarn doesn't have it.


----------



## Passionetta (Mar 30, 2011)

Thanks for your replies. I knew I could count on KP followers for help. It's good to know that Polyamide is the same as nylon. And I didn't know that acrylic stretched. This is useful information. Thanks again.


----------



## IndigoSpinner (Jul 9, 2011)

Passionetta said:


> Thanks for your replies. I knew I could count on KP followers for help. It's good to know that Polyamide is the same as nylon. And I didn't know that acrylic stretched. This is useful information. Thanks again.


Polyamide is _NOT_ the same as nylon! They have different names because they're different fibers. They have different chemical make-ups and are different structurally and functionally. Every one of the fibers mentioned so far is different from all the others. That's why they have different names.

What they have in common is that they're all fibers.


----------



## Conchalea (Dec 30, 2013)

I found this from polyamidefabric.com:
"Naturally occurring polyamide are wool & silk which are nothing but proteins while artificiallly manufactured polyamide are nylon, sodium poly(asparate) & aramids. As far as polyamide fabric is concerned, it is generally sold as nylon in all parts of the world." Another article said polyamide yarn is fire resistant. Very interesting to find that wool & silk are both natural polyamides!


----------



## IndigoSpinner (Jul 9, 2011)

Conchalea said:


> I found this from polyamidefabric.com:
> "Naturally occurring polyamide are wool & silk which are nothing but proteins while artificiallly manufactured polyamide are nylon, sodium poly(asparate) & aramids. As far as polyamide fabric is concerned, it is generally sold as nylon in all parts of the world." Another article said polyamide yarn is fire resistant. Very interesting to find that wool & silk are both natural polyamides!


That would explain why wool, silk and nylon can all be dyed with acid dyes, but you need special dyes for all other synthetics.


----------



## Viwstitcher (Jul 29, 2013)

Is polymeade soft? I tend to stay away from acrylics because of what happens when they burn. It would be nice to broaden what I can buy in the way of basic fibers. If polymeade is fire resistant I can add it to the "acceptable" yarns on my list.


----------



## JTM (Nov 18, 2012)

Passionetta said:


> I try to use merino wool and nylon yarn to knit socks. But I have also used 100 % nylon and it seems to work well also. Now I'm noticing lots of other materials like polymide or "poly" something-or-other in yarns, silk and bamboo in sock yarns. Can any of you give me your opinion on using any of these types of yarns to make socks? I always try to use Fine, Fingering, or Sport, #2 size yarn. This size fits into my shoes better, and, of course, the shoes of those I give them to.


When you see the term polyamide think Nylon. 
I especially like sock yarns with a percentage of bamboo as well. I have used (happily) wool/cashmere/nylon blends and have somewhere in my stash some with silk too. If I ever come across it again, I am sure I will love that too.


----------



## sockyarn (Jan 26, 2011)

I will NEVER us bamboo again. The socks become all floppy. I just unravels a pair that had become three inches longer then my foot. I will stick with wool/wool & nylon. I know what they will do.


----------



## painthoss (Jul 10, 2012)

Conchalea said:


> I found this from polyamidefabric.com:
> "Naturally occurring polyamide are wool & silk which are nothing but proteins while artificiallly manufactured polyamide are nylon, sodium poly(asparate) & aramids. As far as polyamide fabric is concerned, it is generally sold as nylon in all parts of the world." Another article said polyamide yarn is fire resistant. Very interesting to find that wool & silk are both natural polyamides!


Oh Lordy. I just googled what an amide is, and started having emotionally devastating flashbacks to organic chemistry, more than 30 years ago. 
:sm04: :sm06: :sm09:


----------



## Spindoctor (Sep 6, 2016)

Why is it such a surprise that wool and silk are polyamides? Amines are the building blocks of proteins. Consider that nylon was invented to replace silk....Wool will stop burning when the flame is removed--prior to "fireproof" fabrics, race car drivers would wear wool to protect them from flames during crashes. Nylon first melts (thus sticking to skin) then burns rapidly. Polyester melts and burns at the same time.


----------



## IndigoSpinner (Jul 9, 2011)

Not all of us had a course in chemistry. 

I didn't.

I've tried to learn it from books, but most of what is available is textbooks, and they do what I call "talking to themselves."

"Talking to yourself" is when you know the subject well, but leave out important basic parts because they're SO basic that on a subconscious level, you expect everyone to already know them. Like leaving out a discussion of the effects of gravity on an instruction to pour something into a container.

Whatever they left out of those books, it turned the rest of it into gobbledygook. I suppose it's OK for textbooks to do that because they assume they'll be used in a classroom and you can ask the teacher.

I did love the discussion on how amino acids polymerize into long chains that sometimes cross-link in ways that form tiny machines that do things. It sounds like nature has already made it's own nanobots.


----------



## Spindoctor (Sep 6, 2016)

Sorry--chemistry has always made "sense" to me. Most of what we make mimics nature in some way (called biomimetics).


----------



## CBB (Sep 12, 2014)

Nylon is also very nearly indestructible, hence its use in sock yarns, as a reinforcer. It is also very soft, in its yarn incarnation. The very first baby garments I knitted were made with nylon yarn, and it was very, very soft. I made a dress for one of my nieces when she was a baby, in the 1960s; when her daughter (from a second marriage; i.e., she was older than most first mothers) was big enough to wear it, 30+ years later she sent me a picture. That's two generations.

Now, having said that, I also have nylon knitting needles, which I love, and a nylon measuring cup which was my husband's, and has held up beautifully over the years. It's incredibly versatile.


----------



## Nanamel14 (Aug 4, 2016)

My first pair of socks were Bamboo/Cotton 70/30 they feel lovely and soft, but end up to saggy after only a short while....they shrink back down in the wash, they now are my 'bed socks' 

I only now use proper sock yarn, their is a lot to pick from


----------



## Conchalea (Dec 30, 2013)

painthoss said:


> Oh Lordy. I just googled what an amide is, and started having emotionally devastating flashbacks to organic chemistry, more than 30 years ago.
> :sm04: :sm06: :sm09:


I feel your pain, & my experience with organic chem was 42 years ago!


----------



## Conchalea (Dec 30, 2013)

Spindoctor said:


> Why is it such a surprise that wool and silk are polyamides? Amines are the building blocks of proteins. Consider that nylon was invented to replace silk....Wool will stop burning when the flame is removed--prior to "fireproof" fabrics, race car drivers would wear wool to protect them from flames during crashes. Nylon first melts (thus sticking to skin) then burns rapidly. Polyester melts and burns at the same time.


Today's marketing of natural fibers make words with 'poly' at the front appear to all be man-made. I did take chemistry, & taught it, but not organic, & didn't recall amides or what they are. I'm glad to learn something new 6 years after retirement. (Or did I know this at one point, but forget? Possibly.)


----------



## zoujiaye (Aug 22, 2018)

The process for manufacturing the yarns includes spinning nylon polymer with a relative viscosity. Nylon is a thermoplastic silky material, Nylon was the first commercially successful polymer and the first synthetic fiber to be made entirely from coal, water, and air. Nylon is bifurcated in to Nylon 6 & Nylon 66. Nylon 6 is used in manufacturing garments mainly, where are nylon 66 is used to manufacture industrial products like tire cords, ropes for finishing nets.

　　Join High (Xiamen) Fiber Tech Co., LTD http://www.joinhigh.com was founded in April 2012. The company is located in Junlongxiang Industrial Park, Xiang'an District, Xiamen City. It has a total investment of 30 million US dollars and covers an area of 41,000 square meters. It integrates R&D, production, and sales.There are products mainly including of nylon/polyester composite yarn, functional composite yarn, polyester/CD blended yarn and other differential fibers and ECO-friendly fibers.


----------



## patnxtdr (Feb 5, 2018)

Conchalea said:


> Today's marketing of natural fibers make words with 'poly' at the front appear to all be man-made.


Poly means 'many'. Think of polygamy, polygon (from high school geometry) and today many young people claim they are 'polyamorous' -- don't look it up if you have any sensitivities! We didn't learn about this in high school!! What about 'polyunsaturates' and 'polycarbons'?

Aminoacids are the building blocks of proteins. So when you have a long chain of amides, you can call that a 'polyamide', which can also be applied to wool and silk as well.

An ester is made from organic acids and the hydorgen or hydroxide is replaced by some other compounds, producing something that is slightly different. Polyester is a large category of products made from a variety of other things. If you see the prefex "poly" in anything, it just means it is a long chain of these molecules.

Wool when blended in the spinning process with nylon makes the yarns stronger. It also needs a very tight twist, and you should have several strands twisted (plyed) together for a sock yarn to improve wearability. Merino is a very soft wool, but does not wear well as socks, even if it is blended with nylon. Feels great, but not practical.

If you have any socks made of sock yarn, and they do become thin at the bottom of the heel, you will still see the nylon strands holding the stitches together. The wool is long gone! It gets cut up by the nylon (which is stronger) from the forces applied to the bottom of the sock and the fibres slowly get worn away, until only the nylon is left behind. Other strong fibres are silk and mohair -- but again, need to be bended in the spinning process for best results. You CAN use the two strands together when knitting socks, but that's not quite the same thing; it works in a pinch.


----------

