Example Projects
Workshops
Announcements
Actuators
Connections
Power
Sensors
Traces
Circuits and Code Wireless
Meet the Materials
Conductive Materials
Non-Conductive Materials
Tools
Techniques
Thinking Out Loud
Conductive Materials
  • Anti-static Foam
  • Cheap Electronic Toys
  • Conductive Fabric Substitute
  • Conductive Fabrics
  • Conductive Gel
  • Conductive Paints and Inks
  • Conductive Pen
  • Conductive Play-Doh
  • Conductive Tapes
  • Conductive Threads
  • Conductive Velcro
  • Conductive Wool
  • Merino Wool conductive yarn from Bart and Francis
  • Conductive Yarns
  • Conductive/Piezoresistive Leather!
  • Elastic Conductive Thread
  • Fine Steel Wool
  • Graphite Powder
  • Headers
  • Meet the Materials
  • Metal Beads
  • Metal Fasteners
  • Metal Poppers
  • Multi-Conductor Fabrics
  • Perfboard
  • Resistive and Piezoresistive Fabrics
  • Resistive Paper
  • Resistive Rubbers
  • Shopping List: Basic E-Textile Materials
  • Sparkfun finally selling Eeontex!
  • stretch conductive fabric comparison
  • Thin Flexible Wire
  • Velostat
  • Zebra Zebra Fabric (X-Zebra, Y-Eeonyx)
    • Support the creation of content on this website through PATREON!
  • About
  • E-Textile Events
  • E-Textile Spaces
  • Newsletter
  • Print & Publications
  • E-Textile Shopping

    • SEARCH
    Content by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson
    E-Textile Tailor Shop by KOBAKANT
    The following institutions have funded our research and supported our work:

    Since 2020, Hannah is guest professor of the Spiel&&Objekt Master's program at the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch in Berlin

    From 2013-2015 Mika was a guest professor at the eLab at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee

    From July - December 2013 Hannah was a researcher at the UdK's Design Research Lab

    From 2010-2012 Mika was a guest researcher in the Smart Textiles Design Lab at The Swedish School of Textiles

    From 2009 - 2011 Hannah was a graduate student in the MIT Media Lab's High-Low Tech research group led by Leah Buechley


    In 2009 Hannah and Mika were both research fellows at the Distance Lab


    Between 2003 - 2009 Hannah and Mika were both students at Interface Cultures
    We support the Open Source Hardware movement. All our own designs published on this website are released under the Free Cultural Works definition
    Conductive Materials

    stretch conductive fabric comparison

    I have recently ordered sparkfun conductive fabric (MedTex180), which is similar to LessEMF stretchy fabric but much thicker and stiffer.

    The structure of the fabric is more like a rib than Lycra. The front side is very shiny and you can see the rib structure from the back side.

    It stretches very well on once direction but not at all for the other.

    Here are some pictures comparing Sparkfun conductive fabric (left) and LessEMF stretch conductive fabric (right)

    When measuring resistance over 10cm2 fabric, the sparkfun conductive fabric (left) measures less than 1 ohm/10cm2, while LessEMF stretch conductive fabric (right) measures 2ohm/10cm2.

    This post is not to compare which is “better”, but to understand the difference so you can pick the suitable one for your project.
    When you use MedTex180 for fabric traces, you have to be careful which direction you are cutting the fabric, and which direction the trace needs to be stretchy.
    I used MedTex180 for Solar T-shirt II project and it worked wonderful.

    5 Comments so far

    1. Electronic Girl on October 22nd, 2010

      Could you please fill me in on which material is stronger? I have the Less EMF material and it unfortunately quickly broke down during a stress test with Velcro. Thanks!

    2. RB on October 6th, 2012

      I am wondering if your interpretation of the measure is correct. First, according to the picture the area is 10 x 10 cm, meaning 100 cm2, not 10 cm2. Second, what you measure is the resistance for the shortest path between the electrodes (the diagonal in your example – something like 14 cm), meaning that the measurement is for a distance, not a surface.

    3. Inese on October 18th, 2013

      Does electrical resistance change when fabric is stretched?

    4. susanne russell on November 5th, 2013

      Any chance of getting a small sample of your MedTex 180 conducive fabric.
      I work with lots of disabled kids and need to fabricate custom iPad styli, which they can use.
      I look forward to your response.

      Susanne S Russell MS OTR
      Augmentative Communication Program
      Boston Children’s Hospital
      Tel. (781) 216-2228

    5. Stephen Bloodworth on March 9th, 2015

      Could I possibly get a small sample of your MedTex 180 conducive fabric?
      I am a senior at The Science Academy of South Texas and am in a group working on a SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) preventative pressure sensor onesie that would greatly benefit from this product. I would appreciate knowing your response as soon as possible.

      Tel. (956) 393-1798

    Leave a comment