Dacron is an incredibly useful and versatile manmade fiber. Its combination of small fiber diameter, flexibility and robust tensile strength revolutionized the use of artificially produced fibers in science, business, industry and the medical field. Dacron replaced the popular, but much inferior, artificial fiber, Rayon, in the early 1950s.

Dacron’s development and manufacture was based on John Rex Whinfields discovery of polyethylene.

Dacron is a petroleum based, polyethylene fiber; or polyester. It was initially developed by the DuPont Corporation. They purchased the rights to produce the fibers in the United States.

The Dacron revolution really caught the public’s eye in the 1960s with the advent of the polyester leisure suit and psychedelia. Its light weight, glossy shine, tight weave and flexibility made it ideal for the fashions of the flower power and love and peace era.

Today, modified Dacron fibers can be found in bullet proof vests, clothing of all types, sails on ships, light weight sports equipment, and in our homes. Its effective use in ropes gives sailors and mountaineers the strength and durability they need to push their sports to new heights. It is indispensable on a construction site or a pharmaceutical laboratory.

In the medical field alone, Dacron has a multitude of uses. It is used to repair joints, make artificial limbs and a variety of implants and tiny arterial shunts. Its medical uses have saved thousands of lives and improved the quality of countless others.

We find new uses for Dacron everyday. It is a very useful and versatile miracle of modern science and the artificial fiber industry.