{{Unreferenced, date=October 2010
Elasterell (officially "elasterell-p") is an alternative to the
generic term
Trademark distinctiveness is an important concept in the law governing trademarks and service marks. A trademark may be eligible for registration, or registrable, if it performs the essential trademark function, and has distinctive character. Re ...
"
polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...
" for a specific subgroup of inherently
elastic
Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics.
Elastic may also refer to:
Alternative name
* Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...
, multicomponent
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
fibers
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
.
The
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
(FTC) in November 2002 issued a final rule which establishes the name (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/federal_register_notices/rules-and-regulations-under-textile-fiber-products-identification-act-16-cfr-part-303/021127rulesandregulations.pdf). Elasterell was originally manufactured by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and previously referred to as "T400". The FTC states that because this material is arguably comparable to other multicomponent polyester fibers, other companies that manufacture fibers satisfying the definition of "elasterell-p" may use that name in making required fiber content disclosures on labels.
The FTC defines "elasterell-p" as fiber formed by the interaction of two or more chemically distinct
polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
s (of which none exceeds 85% by weight) which contains
ester groups as the dominant functional unit (at least 85% by weight of the total polymer content of the fiber) and which, if stretched at least 100%, durably and rapidly reverts substantially to its unstretched length when the tension is removed.
Synthetic fibers