Tencel Splits into Microfibre on Hydroentanglement (1991)

This could be the first public reference to Tencel's propensity to break into microfibres on hydroentanglement.  I guess this was putting a marketing gloss on the fibrillation tendency but the Perfojet line mentioned here was at the time the highest pressure system available and was justified on the basis of allowing a thorough exploration of the way the fibre disintegrated under high pressure water jets.  Commercial lines operating at the pressures achieved in Courtaulds Research took a year or two longer to emerge.

Focus Nonwovens a specialist arm of Courtaulds Research supports Courtaulds Fibres Ltd in the development of new nonwoven products. Courtaulds sees hydroentanglement as an important development in the nonwovens sector, and Focus Nonwovens is extending its hydroentanglement facilities. It has ordered a high-pressure pilot line from the French company Perfojet which is capable of bonding a wide variety of webs. Courtaulds' Viscose staple entangles well, as does the solvent-spun cellulosic fibre Tencel. Under high water pressure Tencel has been shown to split into microfibres which it is considered may offer some benefits.

(Anon, Med. Text., Aug. 1991, p. 4)