• Question: What is the strongest fabric for cloths ever?

    Asked by anon-243889 to Pan-ngum, Natalia, Mick, Manjit, Filipe, Bruce on 11 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Michael Schubert

      Michael Schubert answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      The strongest fabric that is regularly used in clothes is called “ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene,” or UHMWPE. You can find this fabric in protective clothing. It’s not the strongest fabric in the world, but it’s the best one for clothes because it is both strong and light. Fabrics that are stronger are often too stiff or too heavy to be comfortable for wearing.

    • Photo: Natalia Brodaczewska

      Natalia Brodaczewska answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      I’m not sure what’s the strongest fabric for clothes – maybe the other scientists know the answer to this? But I think that the strongest material that we know on Earth is graphene – it is a very thin material made of carbon atoms – a little similar to the stuff that you have in your pencil. Graphene is a very interesting material because it’s lighter than paper and at the same time it is stronger than steel. It’s mostly used to make electronic devices. I am not sure if you could make a dress from graphene but I suspect it would cost you a lot of money and may not be the most comfortable thing to wear!

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