World's first nanofibre golf gloves

10 November 2009, Osaka - Teijin Fibers Limited has announced that it has begun to market its high-strength polyester nanofibre Nanofront for use in the palms of golf gloves manufactured and marketed by Acushnet Japan Inc. under the FootJoy brand. Called Nanolock, the new product is the world's first golf glove to use nanofibre material, and will be available in Japan from November.

Conventional golf gloves are made with natural or artificial leather, with waterproof coating applied to products developed for wet conditions. For its new gloves, however, Acushnet Japan has chosen Teijin Fibers' Nanofront, attracted by its slip-resistant and soft features, as well as its high absorbency and diffusion property.

Nanofront is a high-strength polyester fibre with an unprecedented thickness of just 700 nanometres, 7,500 times thinner than a strand of hair. With its proprietary ‘island-in-sea’ composite spinning technology, Teijin says it has eliminated the problem of unstable quality associated with conventional mass-produced nanofibres. With a surface area dozens of times greater than regular fibre, the nano-sized bumps on the surface of Nanofront create a higher frictional force, giving the material outstanding slip resistance. The ultra-fine fibre is also soft and stretchable, and boasts excellent absorbency and opaqueness.

Teijin Fibers started commercial production of Nanofront in 2008 and has been developing applications in areas such as innerwear, sportswear, and industrial materials. The company will continue to market Nanofront for use in golf gloves as well, aiming to generate sales of 3 billion yen from finished products in three years.