Just take a stroll through here, and you'll realize that without polymers, you'd have no clothes at all!! The polymers in clothes can be everything from plant materials, to synthetics, to proteins like silk and wool. The one thing that most of the polymers in clothes have in common is that they are fibers.

First of all, these blue jeans and t-shirts are made of cotton, which is mostly cellulose.

Sweaters like these can be made from wool, which is a protein called keratin. So is your hair and fingernails, by the way. Sweaters are also made out of acrylics, like polyacrylonitrile. Sweaters can also be made of cotton or rayon.

Socks are made out of a lot of the same polymers as sweaters. Plus, you'll also find socks and ladies' stockings made of nylon. Also, to keep them from falling down, socks sometimes have a little bit of spandex in them.

Spandex is a special kind of polyurethane that's very stretchy. Spandex is also used in bicycle pants, swim suits, and other items of stretchwear.

These are examples of retrowear. People seem to like to wear these clothes that look like they were made in the 1970's. Back then a lot of clothes were made from polyester. In fact, a lot of clothes still are. And thankfully polyester has come a long way. Clothes made from it don't look as cheesy as they used to.

You can dress Paul Lemur in clothes from the 70's and other decades, and learn about the polymers in his clothes. Try Paul's Dress Up Game.

Return to Where Are Polymers?

Return to Main Page