Acrylic

Thanks to acrylic, we can afford to have a sweater in almost every color in our closet. It's much cheaper than wool, and unlike cheaper wool sweaters, it doesn't itch. Artificial fabric has more advantages, but keep in mind its disadvantages when shopping.

Before washing, read the manufacturer's label. If you’ve already cut it off, most acrylic sweaters are washed at a temperature of 30°C. Washing at a higher temperature could shrink your clothes. Wash acrylic clothing carefully and do not wring it out too much, nor hang it to dry. Like wool, acrylic tends to stretch, and damage would be irreversible. Acrylic does not dye during washing. Additionally, it doesn't wrinkle much and is easy to iron.

Acrylic knitwear in the form of sweaters is found in the wardrobes of most women and men today. Acrylic fabric also appears in our homes in the form of inexpensive blankets, furniture covers, and fake fur. In stores, you might encounter acrylic under names like Dolan, Dralon, Orlon, and Cashmilon. It is used as an imitation of fine wool cashmere.

The biggest advantages of acrylic are, for example, its quick-drying properties and the fact that it is a cheaper but not significantly worse alternative to classic wool. Furthermore, we can mention that this material is very soft and pleasant. The downsides include that it is not as warm as, for example, wool or the fact that acrylic is a highly flammable material by itself.

Acrylic is also used to produce acrylic paint. It is a relatively new type of paint used in fine art painting only since the second half of the last century. It has many advantages. It is a dispersion paint based on polyacrylic resin. In its fresh state, it is water-dilutable, while in its dried state, it becomes water-resistant. Nevertheless, it is recommended to lacquer the dried acrylic for greater resilience. It is suitable for painting on paper, cardboard, wood, or canvas. Durability: approximately 30–50 years, depending on the environment. It is widely used in construction for the treatment and protection of plaster, concrete, or drywall. Acrylic paints can be toned with different dyes.

Traditional painting acrylic colors are based on polyacrylates and polymethacrylates. They are mixed with pigment. While fresh, the paint is water-dilutable; once dried, it is water-resistant. The range of pigment options is not as broad as with classic painting techniques, such as oil and watercolor paints. Manufacturers are rather striving to produce new, previously unused pigments. However, with advances in science, new colors are achieving higher lightfastness. The drying speed can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on the needs of the artist and their style of work. Once dried, the acrylic layer is water-resistant, making layering and corrections not problematic. Acrylic paints are very versatile, allowing application not only in thin glazes but also in impasto coatings with textured effects.