Metallic fibers are manufactured fibers composed of metal, plastic-coated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core completely covered by metal. Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as yarns for fabric decoration.Metal yarns make beautiful projects- dynamic, full of a movement a life all their own. Most metal yarns sold for knitting are wrapped in a wool or silk core, which helps make them feel softer than a plain metal wire

1. Advanced Yarn Manufacturing Azmir Latif, MSc in TE
Metallic fibers are manufactured fibers composed of metal, plastic-coated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core
completely covered by metal. Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as yarns for fabric decoration.
More recently, aluminum yarns, aluminized plastic yarns, and aluminized nylon yarns have replaced gold and
silver. Metallic filaments can be coated with transparent films to minimize tarnishing.
Metal fiber may also be shaved from wire (steel wool), bundle drawn from larger diameter wire, cast from
molten metal, or grown around a seed (often carbon).
Contents
 1 History
 2 Fiber properties
 3 Production method
 4 Producers
 5 Trademarks
 6 Uses
 7 Knitting with Metal Yarns
History
Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as decoration in the clothing and textiles of kings, leaders,
nobility and people of status. Many of these elegant textiles can be found in museums around the world.
Historically, the metallic thread was constructed by wrapping a metal strip around a fiber core (cotton or silk),
often in such a way as to reveal the color of the fiber core to enhance visual quality of the decoration. Ancient
textiles and clothing woven from wholly or partly gold threads is sometimes referred to as Cloth of Gold. They
have been woven on Byzantine looms from the 7th to 9th Centuries, and after that in Sicily, Cyprus, Lucca, and
Venice. Weaving also flourished in the 12th Century during the legacy of Genghis Khan when art and trade
flourished under Mongol rule in China and some Middle Eastern areas. The Dobeckmum Company produced
the first modern metallic fiber in 1946. In the past, aluminum was usually the base in a metallic fiber. More
recently stainless steel has become a base as well. It is more difficult to work with but provides properties to the
yarn that allows it to be used in more high tech applications.
Fiber properties
Coated metallic filaments help to minimize tarnishing. When suitable adhesives and films are used, they are not
affected by salt water, chlorinated water in swimming pools or climatic conditions. If possible anything made
with metallic fibers should be dry-cleaned, if there is no care label. Ironing can be problematic because the heat
from the iron, especially at high temperatures, can melt the fibers.
Production method
There are two basic processes that are used in manufacturing metallic fibers. The most common is the
laminating process, which seals a layer of aluminum between two layers of acetate or polyester film. These
fibers are then cut into lengthwise strips for yarns and wound onto bobbins. The metal can be colored and sealed

2. Advanced Yarn Manufacturing Azmir Latif, MSc in TE
in a clear film, the adhesive can be colored, or the film can be colored before laminating. There are many
different variations of color and effect that can be made in metallic fibers, producing a wide range of looks.
Metallic fibers can also be made by using the metalizing process. This process involves heating the metal until
it vaporizes then depositing it at a high pressure onto the polyester film. This process produces thinner, more
flexible, more durable, and more comfortable fibers.
Metal fiber may also be shaved from wire (steel wool), bundle drawn from larger diameter wire (smallest fiber
is produced by this method), cast from molten metal, or grown around a seed (often carbon). Bundle drawn
metal fiber can be produced to sizes smaller than one micrometre in diameter.
Producers
Currently metallic fibers are manufactured primarily in Europe with only three manufacturers still producing
metallic yarn in the United States. Metlon Corporation is one of the remaining manufacturers in the U.S. that
stocks a wide variety of laminated and non-laminated metallic yarns.
Trademarks
The Lurex Company has manufactured metallic fibers in Europe for over fifty years. They produce a wide
variety of metallic fiber products including fibers used in apparel fabric, embroidery, braids, knitting, military
regalia, trimmings, ropes, cords, and lace surface decoration. The majority of Lurex fibers have a polyamdie
film covering the metal strand but polyester and viscose are also used. The fibers are also treated with a
lubricant called P.W., a mineral, which helps provide ease of use.
Metlon Corporation is a trademark of Metallic Yarns in the United States and has been producing metallic yarns
for over sixty years. Metlon produces their metallic yarn by wrapping single slit yarns with two ends of nylon.
One end of nylon is wrapped clockwise and the other end is wrapped counterclockwise around the metallic
yarn. The most commonly used nylon is either 15 denier or 20 denier, but heavier deniers are used for special
purposes.
Uses
The most common uses for metallic fibers is upholstery fabric and textiles such as lamé and brocade. Many
people also use metallic fibers in weaving and needlepoint. Increasingly common today are metallic fibers in
clothing, anything from party and evening wear to club clothing, cold weather and survival clothing, and
everyday wear. Metallic yarns are woven, braided, and knit into many fashionable fabrics and trims. For
additional variety, metallic yarns are twisted with other fibers such as wool, nylon, cotton, and synthetic blends
to produce yarns which add novelty effects to the end cloth or trim. Stainless steel and other metal fibers are
used in communication lines such as phone lines and cable television lines. Stainless steel fibers are also used in
carpets. They are dispersed throughout the carpet with other fibers so they are not detected. The presence of the
fibers helps to conduct electricity so that the static shock is reduced. These types of carpets are often used in
computer-use areas where the chance of producing static is much greater. Other uses include tire cord, missile
nose cones, work clothing such as protective suits, space suits, and cut resistant gloves for butchers and other
people working near bladed or dangerous machinery.

3. Advanced Yarn Manufacturing Azmir Latif, MSc in TE
Knitting with Stainless Steel Yarn (and Other Metal Yarns too!)
Knitting with Metal Yarns
Metal yarns make beautiful projects- dynamic, full of a movement a life all their own. Most metal yarns sold for knitting
are wrapped in a wool or silk core, which helps make them feel softer than a plain metal wire would be- and trust me, as
someone who has knit a scawl out of metal wire, it is both hard on the hand and not very comfortable to wear! The
downside of metal yarns is that they can twist up and break easily if not handled properly, but not to worry, these tips will
help your project be a success!
(SS Fern Knitting Pattern in Habu Silk Stainless Steel)
Tips for knitting with metal yarns:
1. Make sure to let the yarn untwist from the side of the cone or roll, not off the top (which will add more
twist). I find it easiest to lay the cone next to me and unroll several yards at a time to work with.
2. Hold up the project to let it untwist occasionally. Do this every time you see the yarn starting to kink up and
twist in on itself- some twist is inevitable, but the less twisting, the less issues you will have with breaking and
tangling.
3. Don’t tug hard on the yarn- especially if it is tangled! Unlike most yarns, metal yarns tend to not untangle
nicely with a light tug, because that will often cause a kink in the yarn, making the tangle harder to undo.
4. Plan on not ripping out (frogging) your work. Metal yarns are hard to frog, and sometimes will break.
Obviously you will need to unravel if you have a mistake, but swatch in a similar weight of yarn if possible
instead of your metal yarn, or work a very small swatch in case it cannot be undone.
5. Needles- I found addi lace needles to be my favorite for knitting with metal yarns. Addi lace needles are
sharp, but not as slippery as regular additurbos. The metal yarn is both very fine and somewhat slippery, so you
want to use a knitting needle with enough of a point that you can knit the lace easily, but you also don’t want the
needle to be slippery, you don’t want your stitches flying off! I prefer a 32 inch circular, but any circular between
24 and 40 inches will be easy enough to move (smaller can make the needles harder to manipulate, larger and the
cord gets tangled with the yarn)
6. Metal yarns tend to stay how to put them- so to make it easier to knit, tug down on the knitting very lightly
at the end of every row (or do it as you go along, like I do). This makes the stitches elongated and easier to get
the knitting needles through.

4. Advanced Yarn Manufacturing Azmir Latif, MSc in TE
7. Stitch patterns- metal yarns don’t need to be blocked, but they look especially nice when a pattern is fairly
simple- something that looks good when the stitches are distorted from being stretched (simple lace tends to work
well, very complex lace is pretty but the effect just isn’t the same as with plain yarn). I like reversible lace- where
I can knit garter stitch every other row, so the lace looks good for both sides.
 Metallic Yarns
Figure 15: Cross-section of Lamination used for making Metallic Yarns.
It has been used for thousands of years. The laminating process seals a layer of aluminum between two layers
of acetate or polyester film, which is then cut into strips for yarns, as shown in Figure 15. The film may be
transparent, so the aluminum foils shows through, or the film and/or the adhesive may be colored before the
laminating process. The metalizing process vaporizes the aluminum at high pressure and deposits it on the
polyester film
When metal yarn cut and mixed with during yarn, then the yarn made fabric we see all over the garment a metallic
glitter effect is called lurex.