What Are The Differences between Tencel, Viscose, Modal, Lyocell...?

The abbreviation for polyester/viscose fabric composition is T/R, where R stands for Rayon. So, isn't Visose also viscose?

And how do you distinguish between Modal, Tencel, and Lyocell? Let me explain!

I. They all belong to the category of regenerated cellulose fibers.

Regenerated cellulose fibers are made from natural cellulose materials such as cotton linters, wood, bamboo, sugarcane bagasse, and reeds, through chemical treatment and mechanical processing.

Among chemical fibers, viscose, Modal, Lyocell, Triacetate, Polynosic, Cupro, and bamboo pulp fiber belong to the category of regenerated cellulose fibers.

II. Viscose and Rayon:

First, it's important to clarify that both Viscose and Rayon represent viscose fiber; there is no difference. In some places, Viscose and Rayon are also used to refer to viscose fiber.

In Europe, the ISO standard typically uses Viscose, while the US FTC typically uses Rayon, and later also recognized ISO's Viscose.

In China, some people use Viscose to represent filament, calling it "rayon," and Rayon to represent staple fiber, calling it "artificial cotton," in order to distinguish between viscose filament and staple fiber.

III. Modal:

Modal belongs to the high-wet-modulus (HWM) regenerated cellulose fiber category. (See Table 1, Category 2)

In the early 1940s, Japan successfully developed high-wet-modulus viscose staple fiber, called "Toramomen." China also produced this fiber in 1965, naming it "Fuqiang Fiber," or simply "Fuxian." This fiber overcame the fatal flaws of viscose fiber, and its performance was close to that of cotton fiber. In the early 1950s, high-wet-modulus viscose fiber achieved industrial-scale production.

The most famous of these is the Austrian company Lenzing, which named its high wet modulus regenerated cellulose fiber Lenzing Modal. Later, the term Modal also became synonymous with high wet modulus viscose fiber. Now, ISO standards have a fiber classification for Modal, and it can be used to identify textile hang tags.

IV. Tencel and Lyocell:

Tencel is the trademark name for Lyocell fiber produced by the British company Acocdis, registered in China as  (Tiansi). The Lyocell fiber from the Austrian company Lenzing is named Lenzing-Lyocell.

In 2004, Lenzing acquired Acocdis's Tencel subsidiary, thus Tencel also became a trademark of Lenzing.

Lyocell fiber is a high-strength regenerated cellulose fiber. (See Table 1, Category 3) It was officially named by the International Committee on Man-Made and Synthetic Fibers in 1989. The US FTC has designated Lyocell as a subcategory of viscose fiber for use in textile labeling.

V. Differences between Viscose, Modal, and Lyocell: How to distinguish between viscose and Modal?

According to BISFA's definition, Modal's strength and wet modulus must meet specified values, namely, its breaking strength must be greater than 3.14 cN/dtex, and its wet modulus must be greater than 8.8 cN/dtex.

Differences between Modal and Lyocell:

Both viscose and Modal are regenerated cellulose fibers produced using the viscose method, while Lyocell is a regenerated cellulose fiber produced using the solvent method.

The former involves sulfonating cellulose to form cellulose sulfonate, which is then dissolved in caustic soda and desulfurized through spinning; the latter involves directly dissolving cellulose in NMMO and spinning it into fibers.

Viscose fiber production process