TENCEL (LYOCELL):
Lyocell is "a cellulosic fibre and is classified under the sub-category of rayon. Lyocell is the generic name of the Tencel fibre. Lyocell is produced from wood pulp by solvent spinning methods. The wood pulp is dissolved in N-Methylmorpholine N-oxide, creating a solution called "dope." The dope is then pushed through a spinneret to form the individual Fibres. After the dope has been spun into lyocell Fibres, it is washed and the chemicals are retrieved from the water, purified, and recycled. This is an eco-friendly process because most of the solvent used is recycled and there are relatively lesser by-products.
Lenzing and the former Courtaulds each obtained a license from Akzo, the predecessor of Akzo Nobel, to develop Akzo's lyocell technology. Courtaulds commercialized lyocell under the Tencel brand name in 1992 and Lenzing commercialized lyocell by brand Lenzing Lyocell in 1997.
Tencel’s Lyocell plants are in the USA (Mobile, Alabama) and UK (Grimsby). Lenzing AG’s Lyocell plant is at Heiligenkreuz, Austria.
Akzo acquired Courtaulds in 1998 and combined the companies' Fibre businesses, including Tencel, to create Acordis. Another company CVC bought a 64% stake in Acordis in 1999: Akzo owns 21% and the Acordis management holds the rest. Corsadi BV was created as part of the international financial group CVC to keep the Acordis Tencel business with it. Then Tencel business of Acordis was taken over by Lenzing AG, Austria. Now Lenzing AG is the only producer of Lyocell in the World and now marketed in the name of Tencel.
Tencel has the breathability & absorbency of natural fibres and durability & easy care performance of man-made fibres with smoothness, resilience and drape. It has softness of silk, coolness of linen, warmth of wool and strength of polyester. Because of its special structure it has a sensual, suede-like and peach touch. After dyeing it has very high colour vibrancy. It can be machine washed and dried and it retains its shape, colour and appearance.

MERITS : Nanofibrils, better moisture management, natural cooling, smooth, non allergic to skin, non-irritating, better temperature control, chemical free, bacterial growth reduction, numerous applications, high tenacity and eco-friendly manufacturing process.