Polyester, or better polyesters, are a category of polymers, the most significant of which is ' polyethylene terephthalate ', more commonly known as PET .

The marketing of the first polyester for textile use dates back to 1948, in England, under the trademark "Terylene".

This material is mainly used for food and drink containers (among the most common is what is commonly called the "plastic bottle"), but it can also be transformed into textile fiber.

Although they are also present as natural elements, polyesters for industrial use are of the synthetic type, obtained from petroleum derivatives.

For some years now, polyesters can also be produced from recycled materials or through bacterial fermentation in the field of biotechnology.

Polyesters are widely used in the textile sector for the most diverse fields: as padding for winter clothing, basic fiber to obtain, for example, "fleece" or "organza" and as a breathable material for technical-sports clothing.

Polyester can also be used together with other natural or synthetic fibers, to make practically any item of clothing (ribbons, straps, shoulder straps, cords, etc.). Its widespread diffusion in the textile industry is linked to some of its important characteristics: it is very shiny and, if properly worked, it can also be soft and velvety to the touch; it offers high resistance to abrasion and tearing (comparable to that of nylon, with which it is often coupled); it is a fairly elastic material and does not crease (it does not wrinkle, keeps the crease and tends to regain it even after washing, saving ironing), it is resistant to mold and bacteria, it is water repellent and does not absorb stains and humidity; it can be made a good breathable, to let the water vapor produced by the body pass (if worked to exploit the phenomenon of capillarity), offers good thermal insulation, and dries quickly.

Of course, a lot also depends on its thickness, section and type of processing, and it is for this reason that it allows to generate both particularly light and breathable fabrics, and particularly waterproof and very resistant fabrics (such as "Dacron").

Compared to natural fiber fabrics, this synthetic fiber resists very well even if exposed to heat and sunlight for a long time.

The disadvantages of polyester include the tendency to form "pilling" (i.e. the typical balls that form on the surface of the garment after repeated use and washing), the possibility of favoring the development of odors (sometimes even bad), propensity to generate electrostatic charges, attracting dust. Disadvantages that can all be eliminated or mitigated through special processes.