What Is Viscose and Why Does It Work All Year?

A dress that does not stick to your back in the heat and still falls softly under a cardigan in September. Viscose often gets thrown in with polyester, because formally it is not a natural fibre. In wear it behaves completely differently, and that is a difference you feel on the first day.

What kind of fibre is viscose?

Viscose is a manufactured fibre made from wood cellulose, most often beech, pine or eucalyptus, so the raw material is natural and the processing is chemical. That double nature explains why the material absorbs moisture like cotton and falls like silk.

Makers sometimes call it artificial silk and that is not marketing. The structure of the fibre after spinning gives a smooth surface with a similar drape, only at a clearly lower price. What separates it from silk is lower strength when wet, and that is what decides how it should be washed.

Is viscose warm or cooling?

Viscose cools in heat and does not chill you in autumn, because it does not insulate temperature, it carries moisture away from the body. That is why the same dress works in July and in September, though in a different role.

In summer it takes moisture and releases it into the air, so the skin stays dry. In autumn, worn under a layer of knit, it stops being a cooling layer and becomes a smooth base that does not itch and does not build static under a piece from sweaters. It is one of the few fabrics you never need to put away for the season.

The two middle rows describe the situations where viscose performs best. It is a transitional material by nature, which is why it handles September and October, when the temperature changes across a day.

Viscose behaves distinctively while doing it: in daylight the surface goes gently matte rather than shining, and in movement the fabric falls vertically and returns to its original arrangement instead of holding creases.

How do you wash viscose so it does not shrink?

Viscose loses strength when wet, so washing above thirty degrees and a strong spin are the two main causes of shrinkage. The material itself is not temperamental, as long as you hold to those two limits.

• Water up to thirty degrees. A delicate or hand programme, without soaking for hours.
• Spin up to six hundred. Wet viscose stretches under its own weight and the drum accelerates that.
• Drying on a hanger or flat. Never in a tumble dryer, because the shrinkage there is irreversible.

Press from the reverse side, at a medium temperature and on slightly damp fabric. Too hot an iron polishes the fibre to a shine that cannot be undone.

Which viscose pieces are worth having?

Viscose performs best where the way the fabric arranges itself matters, meaning in dresses, skirts and loose blouses. In fitted pieces without a proportion of elastane it stretches out sooner.

• A softly cut dress. Pieces from dresses in this fibre follow the silhouette without stiff folds.
• A midi skirt. Viscose gives movement while walking that cotton in the same cut does not have. Look at fuller cuts among skirts, because that is where the drape shows most.
• A loose blouse. It works under a piece from blazers, because it builds no volume in the sleeve. The same weave works in shirts worn on the outside.
• A set for the turn of the seasons. Two piece matching sets in viscose split into separate looks once it warms up.

That last category has gained the most over recent seasons. Viscose in a set gives the single line of a dress with the option of taking one half off in the afternoon, which a dress itself does not offer.

What not to do with viscose

Four mistakes shorten the life of this material fastest, and all of them come from treating it like cotton.

• Never tumble dry viscose. The shrinkage runs to a few percent and usually affects length rather than width.
• Avoid hanging a wet dress on a thin hanger. The shoulders pull into distinctive points that cannot be pressed out.
• Never wring wet fabric. The fibre is at its weakest wet and breaks inside the weave, which only shows once it dries.
• Avoid bleach and anything with chlorine. Viscose answers those by yellowing, particularly in pale shades.

It is also worth checking the composition before buying. Viscose with a proportion of elastane takes wear considerably better and bags less at the elbows. With anything fitted at the waist, that addition can decide how long the cut survives.

Is viscose a natural material?

Not in the formal sense, because it is made through a chemical process, but the raw material is wood cellulose. That is why in wear it behaves closer to cotton than to polyester, despite being classified as a manufactured fibre.

Does viscose crease?

It creases less than linen and cotton, and the creases fall out after a night on a hanger. At a higher weight the problem barely appears at all.

Does viscose go sheer?

In pale colours and at a low weight it does, especially in strong light. Check before buying by holding the fabric up to the light, or choose a lined model.

Does viscose suit autumn?

It does, and as a layer under knitwear it works through the whole transitional season. Under an open piece from coats it gives a smooth base that neither itches nor adds volume.

Go back to that dress which did not cling in the heat. It is the same piece that goes under a cardigan in September and still looks right. Viscose is rarely the star of a wardrobe, but it is one of the few fabrics you never have to move between seasons.