Fibre choice does not change what a net stops. The aperture does that. What fibre choice changes is how the product behaves after a season of sun, washing, packing and abrasion — and that is where most warranty claims originate. Three fibres dominate this category, and each fails differently.
Polyester: the default, and why
Polyester multifilament is the base fabric of most mosquito netting worldwide, and the specification documents for treated bed nets name it explicitly, at around 100D yarn weight. That dominance is not accidental:
- Dimensional stability. Polyester holds its weave. A net that keeps its aperture after washing and packing keeps its protection, which is the whole point of specifying a mesh count in the first place.
- Low moisture regain. Polyester absorbs very little water, so it dries quickly and does not swell. A net that stays dimensionally stable in humid conditions stays on specification.
- UV behaviour. Polyester degrades under prolonged sun exposure, but more slowly than untreated nylon, and UV-stabilised grades extend that further.
- Cost. It is the cheapest of the three at equivalent performance, which matters at container volumes.
Its weakness is abrasion resistance relative to nylon, and its hand feel is drier and less soft. For sleeping nets and camping shelters those are acceptable trades. For a hammock body that takes body weight and repeated friction, they are not.
Nylon: stronger, thirstier
Nylon — polyamide — is stronger per unit weight than polyester and considerably better at abrasion. That combination makes it the default for hammock bodies, where the fabric carries a person's weight and rubs against straps, poles and branches.
Three properties work against it in netting applications:
Moisture regain. Nylon absorbs a meaningful amount of water. A wet nylon net is heavier, slower to dry, and dimensionally changed — which means the aperture changes with it. In a humid climate a nylon net can sit damp for hours after a rain shower.
UV sensitivity. Unstabilised nylon degrades faster in sunlight than polyester. Left pitched for a season, it loses strength before it loses appearance, which is the worst combination for a safety-relevant product.
Stretch under load. Nylon's elasticity is an advantage in a hammock body and a liability in a mesh panel, where stretch means sag, and sag means the mesh touches skin and the protection stops working at the contact point.
The practical rule: nylon for structural fabric, polyester for barrier fabric. Mixing the roles produces products that fail in both directions.
Polyethylene: soft, light, limited
Polyethylene appears in treated bed net specifications at around 150D, usually as a softer, lighter alternative to polyester. It is the fibre behind a lot of the very light, very soft netting sold in tropical markets.
Its advantages are real: it is soft against skin, light, and inexpensive. Its limitations are equally real:
- Lower heat resistance. Polyethylene softens at a lower temperature than polyester, which constrains washing and drying practice and rules out some finishing processes.
- Lower strength at equivalent weight. The specification compensates by moving to a heavier yarn — 150D rather than 100D — which offsets much of the weight advantage.
- Poorer dimensional stability. A soft fibre distorts more in handling, and a distorted weave is a changed aperture.
It is a legitimate choice for a soft, low-cost sleeping net in a warm market where washing is gentle and the product is not expected to survive a decade. It is a poor choice for a camping product that gets stuffed, dragged and pitched in wind.
Side by side
| Property | Polyester | Nylon | Polyethylene |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength per unit weight | Good | Best | Lower |
| Abrasion resistance | Moderate | Best | Low |
| Moisture regain | Very low | High | Very low |
| Drying speed | Fast | Slow | Fast |
| UV resistance (unstabilised) | Moderate | Lower | Moderate |
| Dimensional stability | Best | Moderate | Lower |
| Hand feel | Dry, crisp | Softer | Softest |
| Heat resistance | Good | Good | Lower |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Higher | Low |
| Typical yarn weight | 100D in bed nets | 210D in hammock bodies | 150D in bed nets |
Read that table as a set of assignments rather than a ranking. No fibre wins across the board, and the specification documents for treated netting name polyester and polyethylene precisely because each has a defined role at a defined yarn weight.
Moisture and drying behaviour
Moisture is the property most often ignored in product development and most often cited in customer complaints. Two effects matter:
Weight change. A nylon net absorbs water and gains weight. In a humid climate, a net that was 40 gsm dry can be meaningfully heavier wet, and a heavier net sags. Sag brings mesh into contact with skin, and contact is where bites happen even through an adequate aperture.
Aperture change. Water absorption swells the yarn. Swollen yarn occupies more of the pitch, so the aperture shrinks while the fabric is wet — which sounds protective and is actually a comfort and drying problem. When it dries unevenly, the weave can stay distorted.
Polyester's low regain avoids both. That is the main technical reason it dominates barrier fabrics, and it is worth stating explicitly in a specification: moisture regain is a performance field, not a footnote.
Choosing by end use
Four assignments that cover most of this category:
- Sleeping net, tropical market, long life — polyester multifilament, 100D, 1.2 mm aperture. Dimensionally stable, dries fast, cheap. This is the default and it is the default for good reasons.
- Camping net tent — polyester mesh panels with nylon or fibreglass structure. Do not make the mesh panels nylon; stretch and moisture both work against you.
- Hammock body — nylon, 210D and above, because the fabric carries load and takes abrasion. The net is a separate, finer fabric.
- Soft, low-cost sleeping net in a warm market — polyethylene at 150D. Accept the shorter life and specify gentle care instructions.
The one combination to avoid is a single fibre chosen for everything. A product range built entirely on nylon will have moisture complaints in the mesh. One built entirely on polyester will have abrasion complaints in the load-bearing parts. The correct answer is usually two fibres in two roles.
What this means when you buy
Fibre is where a product's warranty life is decided, and it is usually the last field a buyer thinks to specify.
- Name the fibre, not just the denier. “150D” without a fibre could be polyester, nylon or polyethylene, and those three behave nothing alike in the field.
- Separate the structural and barrier fabrics. Nylon where load and abrasion live; polyester where dimensional stability and drying matter. One fibre for both roles always compromises one of them.
- Ask for moisture regain and UV stabilisation. Both are cheap to specify and both are the difference between a product that survives two seasons and one that survives five.
- Match the care instructions to the fibre. Polyethylene's lower heat resistance constrains washing temperature. Publishing care instructions written for polyester and applying them to polyethylene is how a correct product generates returns.
If you are building a range that mixes fibres across models, send us the product list and we will flag where the fibre assignments create predictable failure modes before the first container ships.