MANUFACTURING: Vinyon

The world’s No. 1 rayon maker, vast, British-owned American Viscose Corp., this week admitted what the trade had recently rumored: its new synthetic fiber—Vinyon—is now being produced in small quantities, already being sold in a few forms. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp. makes the raw resin powder and Viscose turns it into yarn. This year’s probable production: 2-3,000,000 lbs.

New textile fibers take time to demonstrate which parts of the mammoth fiber market properly belong to them. Unlike Du Pont’s nylon, which is mostly aimed at silk hosiery trade, Vinyon appears to be aimed at more varied markets:

>Unaffected by 70% nitric, full-strength hydrochloric acids, or by most other acids and alkalis, Vinyon aims to oust cotton and wool from important industrial filter uses.

>Because it is water-repellent and inhospitable to bacteria and fungi, Vinyon hopes to be tops for raincoats, fish lines, fish nets, boat sails, bathing suits.

>Strong, elastic and capable of being spun exceedingly fine, Vinyon’s big drawback as a garment textile is that it shrivels at 160° Fahrenheit, cannot be ironed.