... dammit Ysabet I went down like seventeen rabbit holes on this one.
OK so: minky fabric, as it stands, is probably the closest match we have thus far. It's got variable-length fluff depending on which variety one gets, and it's mildly thermotaxic at much higher temps than body temp for either humans or cats -- only does it when being ironed, but that's still progress. However, it's a polyester mess and not particularly soft to the touch for many folks.
On the other hand, there's modal, which is a semisynthetic fabric related to rayon. It has a very complicated manufacturing process to turn tree pulp into extremely fine fibers, which closely parallels Microfyne's complex stuff. Somehow, and very surprisingly, nobody's done the rayon-velvet thing with any purely modal fabric that I can find, including micromodal which is even softer than regular modal. I have the feeling it's pretty much bound to happen within the next decade, though, and once that happens minky wouldn't be much more difficult. In addition, the thermotaxic property would probably shift down to a more familiar range just by eliminating the plastic component ... so I think I have it pinned down.
Update 6/7/21: OH MY GOSH ok so on a sneaking suspicion, I got some fabric swatches of cotton-modal blend velveteen to see what would happen, and I can confirm, it. cuddles. back. I never want to put this stuff down, Ysabet. Thank you.
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dancing_serpent
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-11 05:17 am (UTC)... dammit Ysabet I went down like seventeen rabbit holes on this one.
OK so: minky fabric, as it stands, is probably the closest match we have thus far. It's got variable-length fluff depending on which variety one gets, and it's mildly thermotaxic at much higher temps than body temp for either humans or cats -- only does it when being ironed, but that's still progress. However, it's a polyester mess and not particularly soft to the touch for many folks.
On the other hand, there's modal, which is a semisynthetic fabric related to rayon. It has a very complicated manufacturing process to turn tree pulp into extremely fine fibers, which closely parallels Microfyne's complex stuff. Somehow, and very surprisingly, nobody's done the rayon-velvet thing with any purely modal fabric that I can find, including micromodal which is even softer than regular modal. I have the feeling it's pretty much bound to happen within the next decade, though, and once that happens minky wouldn't be much more difficult. In addition, the thermotaxic property would probably shift down to a more familiar range just by eliminating the plastic component ... so I think I have it pinned down.
Update 6/7/21: OH MY GOSH ok so on a sneaking suspicion, I got some fabric swatches of cotton-modal blend velveteen to see what would happen, and I can confirm, it. cuddles. back. I never want to put this stuff down, Ysabet. Thank you.