The majority of the world's spandex manufacturing plants are located in China. In the past, most of this fabric was produced in the United States, but reduced labor costs have driven the manufacture of many different types of textiles to China over the last few decades.

Who makes spandex?

DuPont scientist Joseph C. Shivers invented DuPont's spandex fiber in 1959 after a decade of research. Originally designated Fiber K, DuPont subsequently chose the more mellifluous trade name Lycra to distinguish its brand of spandex fiber.

How is spandex fiber manufactured?

Manufacturing Process of Spandex Fibre. Spandex fibres are produced in four different ways including melt extrusion, reaction spinning, solution dry spinning, and solution wet spinning. Each of these methods involve the initial step of reacting monomers to produce a prepolymer.