also see: Connections >> Solderability Tests
There are a range of different conductive fabrics available. Some of the most frequently used conductive fabrics, tend to be the most available.
LessEMF is a retail company that stocks a great range of conductive fabrics for electro magnetic field shielding. It seems like some of their fabrics are manufactured by Shieldex, but LessEMF renames the fabrics for their own sales and so it is unclear which ones are really the same. I’ve tried to match a few up through comparison:
Shieldex: MedTex E 130 DS = LessEMF: Stretch conductive fabric
Shieldex: Armor RTF = LessEMF: Zelt Conductive Fabric
Shieldex
>> http://www.shieldextrading.net (USA, DE)
Balingen
1 x 20 cm = 4 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 7 Ohm
Highly conductive, nice and
MedTex E 130 DS
1 x 20 cm = 13 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 23 Ohm
Super similar, if not the same as LessEMF’s Stretch Conductive Fabric. Highly conductive and resistance halves itself when stretched fully.
MedTex P 180 OS
From the small sample I have it looks like a nice stretch conductive fabric to work with. Similar to LessEMF’s Stretch Conductive Fabric. Resistance also halves itself when stretched fully.
LessEmf
All of the fabrics that LessEMF has to offer are very interesting, but some of them find more use than others in many of our projects.
Our favorites are their Stretch, FlecTron N and CobalTex conductive fabrics.
>> http://lessemf.com/fabric.html (USA)
Stretch Conductive Fabric
1 x 20 cm = 13 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 23 Ohm
Silver plated, high conductivity, stretches in both directions.
Zelt Conductive Fabric
1 x 20 cm = 0.4 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 0.6 Ohm
Tin/copper coated.
CobalTex
1 x 20 cm = 5.2 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 12.4 Ohm
Cobalt alloy top coating, highly conductive. Looks and feels just like FlecTron N. Solderable!
ShieldIt Super
1 x 20 cm = 0.3 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 0.6 Ohm
Nickle and copper coated, comes with a non-conductive hot melt adhesive on one side, not as flexible and soft as other conductive fabrics but very conductive and great for making circuits that don’t need to be soft, but merely flexible. Nickle may cause skin irritation.
FlecTron
1 x 20 cm = 1.5 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 2.5 Ohm
Copper plated, high conductivity, but not suitable for wearable applications since the material will tarnish with exposure to liquids and skin oils. Solderable!
FlecTron N
1 x 20 cm = 5.2 Ohm
0.5 x 20 cm = 12.4 Ohm
Nickel/copper plated, high conductivity and more resistant than FlecTron to skin oils, but nickel might cause skin irritation. Solderable!
Soft and Safe Shielding Fabric NEW
“The Perfect Garment Shield”
Silverized, highly conductive, nice and soft, hard to tell it is conductive, but it is!
Pure Copper Polyester Taffeta Fabric NEW
Alternative to FlecTron!
Have not tried this yet.
Plug and Wear
This Italian textile company is knitting conductive textiles from thin metal wires, including them in three layer knitted textiles to create switches. And also including resistive yarns to knit pressure pressure sensors.
Plug and Wear now also stock a range of the LessEMF conductive fabrics!
>> http://www.plugandwear.com/ (Italy)
Sparkfun
Sparkfun now also sells small amounts of two different kinds of conductive fabric, that are most likely from Shieldex, but it is unclear exactly which ones these are.
Sparkfun Conductive Fabric (MedTex180)
Stretchy in one direction. Less than 1 ohm/10cm2 resistance. One side is very shiny and the other is not.
See stretch conductive fabric comparison post for more detail.
Heathcoat
Include stripes of conductive thread in their knit fabrics.
>> http://www.heathcoat.co.uk/ (UK)
Toray
Integrate X-Static fibers in their woven fabrics, running like needle-stripes.
Toray - Innovation by Chemistry >> http://www.seeitsafe.co.uk/ (UK)
Copper Wire Mesh
A woven copper wire mesh that is fine enough to feel soft, but stiff enough to be bend into shape and is ideal for soldering to.
Copper Fabric with Conductive Adhesive
I don’t know the origins of the following fabric. It is a dark shade of copper, riptop fabric that comes with peel-off adhesive on the back, it is highly conductive and reminds of FlecTron.
Suppliers
>> Hebei Metals & Minerals Corp. Ltd http://www.3ltex.com (China)
>> http://www.plugandwear.com/ (Italy)
>> http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html (New Jersey, USA)
>> http://eeonyx.com/ (USA)
>> http://www.marktek-inc.com/ (USA) + They also sell EeonTex Conductive Textiles manufactured by Eeonyx
>> http://www.fine-silver-productsnet.com (USA)
>> http://www.seeitsafe.co.uk/ (UK)
>> http://www.heathcoat.co.uk/ (UK)
>> http://www.lairdtech.com
>> http://www.osnf.com/ (USA)
>> http://www.mutr.co.uk/index.php?cPath=6_572 (UK)
>> http://www.3ltex.com/ (China)
>> http://www.sparkfun.com/ (USA)
Is it possible for someone to send me some ideas
for visual arts projects for students 12-18
involving cool neon on clothing, and maybe
simple clothing such as vest?
thank you,
Lynne
Where can I buy any of the highly conductive and solderable or a phone # for pricing.
thnx John Dallara
[...] Conductive Fabric By juliaschreiber Eine gute Übersicht über conductive fabric und eine Liste mit Zulieferern im Vergleich findet sich bei Kobakant [...]
Am interested in the plug and wear fabrics…is anyone going to place an order that I can share and try some? Does this factory sell small quantities? In addition, where is a basic “how to” for stitching in lights or the conductive yarns to textiles?
you can order directly from their website: http://www.plugandwear.com/
they sell in very conveniently small quantities!
basic how-to for LEDs in textiles by Leah Buechley can be found here: http://thehighlowtech.com/diy/diy_tank.html
I am interested in a conductible material that can laminate to another material like a sandwich. It needs to conduct things as we have a request for a taser dart that can be tested against a material to make sure it conducts. We need it as a minimum of 150cm wide. I have a sample of shiny silver aluminium conductible foil that we have which does the job we need it to do. It has a sticky back and this can be laminated but it only comes in strips 7.3cm wide which is no good to us and is about 1 - 2mm thick. Do you have anything like this? We don’t mind that it isn’t raised but we need it to have aluminium in to conduct the taser.
[...] out the information collected by Kobakant This entry was posted in Basics. Bookmark the permalink. ← Cory [...]
[...] +info [...]
from China,
call me share,
I can provide EN 1149 anti static fabric,conductive fabric
I am looking for conductive fabric to place on the body. I prefer copper in the fabric and am looking for a bolt of this fabric. Suzanne
LessEMF will sell you rolls of fabric. Make sure the copper fabric you choose does not tarnish with skin oils. Because it will loose conductivity otherwise, especially if you plan to wear it and touch it.