Synthetic flock fibres: a population and target fibre study

One hundred garments were examined for synthetic flock fibres. Flock fibres were found on 82% of garments. The majority of flock fibres were nylon (6 or 6,6) with a round cross-section, a diameter between 15 and 20 μm and a length between 0.5 and 1 mm. Black pigmented flock fibres (polyester or nylon) were present on 33% of garments. Each garment was examined for several target automotive flock fibres from the glove compartments and window channels of a range of vehicles. None of the dyed target flock fibres were found on the garments. The black pigmented target flock fibres were found on 3-4% of the garments examined.