Lace Confusion

Wednesday, October 03, 2007 8:44 AM

Lately, there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the different types of materials used in construction of lace bases. Maybe I can help clear the air. There are really only two basic types of lace materials; but many sub-categories exist under each of these two main laces.

The first is woven, welded monofilament made from nylon. The second is fine hexagon knitted multifilament, traditionally made from polyester (though in recent years there have been some knitted multifilaments made from nylon as well.)

The welded monofilaments are commonly referred to with marketing names such as New York Lace, French Lace and Super Light Monofilament. To complicate things even more, most factories use numbers to identify these lace materials such as 1#, 2# and 11#.

Fine hexagon knitted multfilament, the second type of lace material, uses marketing names such as Hollywood Lace, Swiss Lace, German Lace and European Lace. Additionalty, there has been a recent trend with the use of superlatives to describe lace materials such as extra fine, ultra super fine, etc etc. The factory uses numbers to identeify these laces as well including 64#, 64F, 78#, 75#, 7# and 4#.

For the best appearance, fine hexagon knitted multifilament (Hollywood) is often preferred over the woven welded nylon monofilament (New York) because the monofilament is a bit heavier and jagged around the edges. It has undesirable shine as well and isn't as fine as the knitted multifilament. The only upside is that it is more durable.

I know this stuff can be confusing, it is unfortunate that we all use different names to describe these lace materials. But, we're here to help and as always, you can call toll-free and speak with a hair tech anytime with questions.

Have a great hair day,

Bill