{"id":376,"date":"2009-04-17T17:57:01","date_gmt":"2009-04-17T16:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/?p=376"},"modified":"2010-08-31T10:54:49","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T09:54:49","slug":"conductive-fabrics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/?p=376","title":{"rendered":"Conductive Fabrics"},"content":{"rendered":"

also see: Connections >> Solderability Tests<\/a>
\nThere are a range of different conductive fabrics available. Some of the most frequently used conductive fabrics, tend to be the most available.
\n
\n<\/p>\n

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:
\nShieldex: MedTex E 130 DS = LessEMF: Stretch Conductive Fabric
\nShieldex: Armor RTF = LessEMF: Zelt Conductive Fabric<\/p>\n

Shieldex<\/h3>\n

>> http:\/\/www.shieldextrading.net<\/a> (USA, DE)<\/p>\n

Balingen<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 4 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 7 Ohm<\/strong>
\nHighly conductive, nice and
\n<\/p>\n

MedTex E 130 DS<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 13 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 23 Ohm<\/strong>
\nSuper similar, if not the same as LessEMF’s Stretch Conductive Fabric. Highly conductive and resistance halves itself when stretched fully.
\n<\/p>\n

MedTex P 180 OS<\/h4>\n

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.
\n<\/p>\n

LessEmf<\/h3>\n

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.
\nOur favorites are their Stretch, FlecTron N and CobalTex conductive fabrics.
\n>> http:\/\/lessemf.com\/fabric.html<\/a> (USA)<\/p>\n

Stretch Conductive Fabric<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 13 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 23 Ohm<\/strong>
\nSilver plated, high conductivity, stretches in both directions.
\n<\/p>\n

Zelt Conductive Fabric<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 0.4 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 0.6 Ohm<\/strong>
\nTin\/copper coated.
\n<\/p>\n

CobalTex<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 5.2 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 12.4 Ohm<\/strong>
\nCobalt alloy top coating, highly conductive. Looks and feels just like FlecTron N. Solderable!
\n<\/p>\n

ShieldIt Super<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 0.3 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 0.6 Ohm<\/strong>
\nNickle 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.
\n<\/p>\n

FlecTron<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 1.5 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 2.5 Ohm<\/strong>
\nCopper plated, high conductivity, but not suitable for wearable applications since the material will tarnish with exposure to liquids and skin oils. Solderable!
\n<\/p>\n

FlecTron N<\/h4>\n

1 x 20 cm = 5.2 Ohm
\n0.5 x 20 cm = 12.4 Ohm<\/strong>
\nNickel\/copper plated, high conductivity and more resistant than FlecTron to skin oils, but nickel might cause skin irritation. Solderable!
\n<\/p>\n

Soft and Safe Shielding Fabric NEW<\/h4>\n

“The Perfect Garment Shield”
\nSilverized, highly conductive, nice and soft, hard to tell it is conductive, but it is!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Pure Copper Polyester Taffeta Fabric NEW<\/h4>\n

Alternative to FlecTron!
\nHave not tried this yet.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Plug and Wear<\/h3>\n

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.
\nPlug and Wear now also stock a range of the LessEMF conductive fabrics!<\/p>\n

>> http:\/\/www.plugandwear.com\/<\/a> (Italy)<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Sparkfun<\/h3>\n

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. <\/p>\n

>> http:\/\/www.sparkfun.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sparkfun Conductive Fabric (MedTex180)
\nStretchy in one direction. Less than 1 ohm\/10cm2 resistance. One side is very shiny and the other is not.
\nSee stretch conductive fabric comparison<\/a> post for more detail.
\n\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Heathcoat<\/h3>\n

Include stripes of conductive thread in their knit fabrics.
\n>> http:\/\/www.heathcoat.co.uk\/<\/a> (UK)
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Toray<\/h3>\n

Integrate X-Static fibers in their woven fabrics, running like needle-stripes.
\nToray – Innovation by Chemistry >> http:\/\/www.seeitsafe.co.uk\/<\/a> (UK)
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Copper Wire Mesh<\/h3>\n

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.
\n<\/p>\n

Copper Fabric with Conductive Adhesive<\/h3>\n

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.
\n<\/p>\n

Suppliers<\/h3>\n

>> Hebei Metals & Minerals Corp. Ltd http:\/\/www.3ltex.com<\/a> (China)
\n>> http:\/\/www.plugandwear.com\/<\/a> (Italy)
\n>> http:\/\/www.lessemf.com\/fabric.html<\/a> (New Jersey, USA)
\n>> http:\/\/eeonyx.com\/<\/a> (USA)
\n>> http:\/\/www.marktek-inc.com\/<\/a> (USA) + They also sell EeonTex Conductive Textiles manufactured by Eeonyx
\n>> http:\/\/www.fine-silver-productsnet.com<\/a> (USA)
\n>> http:\/\/www.seeitsafe.co.uk\/<\/a> (UK)
\n>> http:\/\/www.heathcoat.co.uk\/<\/a> (UK)
\n>> http:\/\/www.lairdtech.com<\/a>
\n>> http:\/\/www.osnf.com\/<\/a> (USA)
\n>> http:\/\/www.mutr.co.uk\/index.php?cPath=6_572<\/a> (UK)
\n>> http:\/\/www.3ltex.com\/<\/a> (China)
\n>> http:\/\/www.sparkfun.com\/<\/a> (USA)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[108,110,107,109],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2793,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/2793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kobakant.at\/DIY\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}