What Is Modal Fabric? What It’s Made Of, How It Feels and Washes

Modal is a soft, smooth fiber made from the cellulose in beech trees. The wood is turned into pulp, dissolved, and pushed through tiny holes to form brand-new fibers, so modal starts life as a plant but is made in a factory. That puts it in the same family as viscose and lyocell, which US labels group under the name rayon.

In my work in knit dyeing and fabric development, modal comes through almost every week — mostly blended with cotton and a little spandex for T-shirts, underwear, sleepwear and baby clothes. Below is what it is made of, how it feels, and what our own shrinkage records and lab reports show about how it behaves in the wash.

Key takeaways

• Modal is regenerated cellulose made from beech-wood pulp: plant-based, but factory-made. It contains no plastic.
• It feels softer, smoother and cooler than regular cotton, and it drapes and clings more.
• In our 2026 production records, 513 modal fabric lots shrank a median 6% in length after washing and tumble drying — about the same as cotton knits.
• Pilling and color loss were rarely a problem: 6 of 8 modal fabrics in our lab got the top pilling grade.
• Wash at 30 °C and dry flat or on a line. Our tumble-dried lab tests failed shrinkage more often than line-dried ones (50% vs 40%).

What is modal fabric made of?

Modal is made from cellulose — the same natural building block that cotton is made of — but the cellulose comes from wood instead of a cotton boll. Most modal, including the best-known brand, Lenzing Modal, is made from beech wood.

Because the fiber is re-formed from dissolved cellulose, the textile industry calls it a regenerated cellulose fiber. The international standard for fiber names (ISO 2076) lists modal as a generic name of its own, and the US Federal Trade Commission allows those ISO names on clothing labels. That is why you see “95% modal, 5% spandex” on tags, even though under US rules modal is still a type of rayon.

From beech tree to modal yarn

1. Beech wood is chipped and cooked into dissolving pulp — almost pure cellulose.
2. The pulp is treated with caustic soda and carbon disulfide, which turns it into a thick, honey-like solution (the viscose process).
3. The solution is pushed through spinnerets — metal plates with thousands of tiny holes — into an acid bath, where it sets back into solid cellulose filaments.
4. The filaments are stretched hard while they set. Modal is stretched more than ordinary viscose, which lines up the molecules and makes the fiber stronger, especially when wet.
5. The filaments are cut into short staple fibers, washed, dried and spun into yarn, often blended with cotton or with spandex.

Modal vs viscose vs lyocell vs cotton

Modal, viscose and lyocell are cousins: all three are regenerated cellulose. They differ in how the cellulose is dissolved and how much the fiber is stretched, and that changes how they behave once you own them.

Fiber	Made from	How it is made	What it means for you
Cotton	Seed fibers of the cotton plant	Grown, cleaned and spun	Tough and strong when wet; shrinks unless pre-shrunk
Viscose (rayon)	Wood pulp from many tree species	Viscose process, light stretching	Very soft and drapey, but weak when wet and easily distorted in the wash
Modal	Mostly beech-wood pulp	Modified viscose process, high stretching	As soft as viscose, much stronger when wet, keeps its shape better
Lyocell (Tencel)	Wood pulp	Dissolved in a recycled solvent — no viscose step	Strongest of the three when wet; can look frosty (fibrillate) if washed roughly

How does modal feel to wear?

Soft and cool. Modal fibers are fine and have a smooth, even surface. They slide over the skin instead of catching on it, and they reflect a little light, which gives modal its slight sheen and cool, silky touch.

Absorbent. Regenerated cellulose holds more water than cotton — a moisture regain of roughly 11–13% against about 8% for cotton. Next to the skin that feels dry and comfortable in mild heat. Once it is soaked, though, modal dries more slowly than polyester, so it is not the best choice for hard workouts.

Drapey and clingy. Modal hangs and follows the body more than cotton of the same weight. That is great for underwear, sleepwear and soft tees, and less forgiving if you want a T-shirt that stands away from the body.

Stretch comes from spandex. Modal itself has little stretch. Nearly all stretchy modal you buy has spandex (Lycra) knitted in: in our records, 458 of the 513 modal lots contained spandex.

Does modal shrink? What our production data shows

Every finished fabric lot in our dyeing and finishing department gets a quick quality check before it ships: a sample is washed and tumble dried, then measured for shrinkage, twisting (spirality) and weight. Our 2026 records hold 17,548 of these checks, including 513 lots that contain modal, mostly cotton-modal blends with spandex.

Modal knits: shrinkage after washing

Measured result

Test

Dimensional change after washing and tumble drying

Method

Finished-fabric quality check

Sample

513 modal knit lots, Jan–Sep 2026 (rib, jersey, interlock)

Conditions

One wash, tumble dry

Result

Median length −6%, width −4%

59% of modal lots shrank 6% or more in length. Fabric weight rose a median 13% after the wash.

A typical modal knit after one wash and tumble dry

Length

−6%

Width

−4%

Fabric area

−9.8%

How does that compare with cotton? The fairest test is the same knit with and without modal:

Finished knit fabric	Lots checked	Length change	Width change	Weight change after wash
100% cotton single jersey	6,215	−5%	−2%	+8%
Cotton + spandex single jersey	1,533	−7%	−2%	+12%
Cotton-modal + spandex single jersey	51	−6%	−2%	+14%
Cotton + spandex rib	1,001	−5%	−5%	+12%
Cotton-modal + spandex rib	296	−6%	−5%	+14%
Modal + spandex (no cotton)	77	−6%	−2%	+14%

Two things stand out. First, modal does not shrink much more than cotton: for the same kind of knit, length shrinkage was within one percentage point. Second, modal fabrics gain more weight per square meter after washing (+14% against +8–12% for cotton knits). The fabric pulls in, so the same yarn is packed into a smaller area — in real life, a modal tee comes out of the dryer slightly shorter, denser and clingier.

Our lab reports tell the same story with more spread. Across 8 modal-blend fabrics, length shrinkage after the first wash ranged from −1.0% to −8.2%, and 3 of the 8 missed the brand’s shrinkage limit. The best was a 70% modal interlock (−1.0% length, −0.3% width); the worst was a cotton-modal design rib that reached −11% after five washes. How the fabric is knitted and finished matters more than the word “modal” on the label.

Why modal clothes shrink — and what stops it

Problem

Modal T-shirt or underwear is shorter after washing

Why it happens

• Yarn stretched during knitting relaxes in water
• Cellulose fibers swell when wet, so the knit loops pull in
• Hot tumble drying adds heat and tumbling
• Fabric was not fully relaxed and compacted at the mill

What fixes it

• Wash at 30 °C (cool to warm)
• Dry flat or on a line, not in a hot dryer
• If you are between sizes, size up in 100% modal
• Look for pre-shrunk or a stated low shrinkage

Drying matters as much as washing. Across all 510 lab reports we have from August to October 2026, fabrics that were tumble dried during the test failed the shrinkage limit 50% of the time, against 40% for line-dried ones, and their median length shrinkage was larger (−2.8% vs −2.2% after the first wash).

Does modal pill or lose its color?

Modal fabrics in our lab (8 reports)

Median grade, 1–5, higher is better

• Pilling resistance4.5/5
• Color change after washing4/5
• Staining onto other fabrics in the wash4.5/5
• Staining from sweat (perspiration)4.5/5
• Color rub-off when wet4.5/5

Pilling. Modal has a reputation for pilling, but our results were better than that: 6 of the 8 modal fabrics scored the top grade (4–5), one scored 4, and only a light 160 GSM cotton-modal jersey dropped to 3–4. Most modal knits we see are spun as fine compact or vortex yarns, which have fewer loose fiber ends — and loose ends are what tangle into pills. Thin, loosely spun modal can still pill where it rubs, such as under the arms or between the thighs.

Color. Modal takes the same reactive dyes as cotton and absorbs them deeply, so colors look rich and slightly lustrous. In our tests modal held its color well: the median grade for color rubbing off on a wet cloth was 4–5, compared with 3–4 across all 308 fabrics we tested for rubbing.

Modal pros and cons

Pros

• Very soft, smooth and cool against the skin
• Absorbs sweat better than cotton
• Rich, deep colors that hold up in the wash
• Stronger when wet than ordinary viscose, so it keeps its shape better
• Usually low pilling when it is spun as a fine, compact yarn

Cons

• Shrinks about as much as cotton knits, and more if tumble dried hot
• Clings and shows body lines in thin fabrics
• Dries more slowly than polyester once soaked
• Costs more than cotton and viscose
• Made with chemicals in a factory, so how “green” it is depends on the producer

How to wash modal so it lasts

Best care settings for most modal clothes

Machine wash at 30 °C (86 °F) or belowCool water keeps the dye and fiber stable. Hotter water can shrink the fabric, loosen dye or weaken elastane.

Non-chlorine (oxygen) bleach onlyChlorine bleach would strip the dye or yellow the fiber; oxygen bleach is gentler.

Line dryHang to dry; it keeps size and saves the fiber from dryer heat.

Iron on medium, max 150 °C (300 °F)Medium heat suits polyester, wool, silk, viscose and modal. Use a pressing cloth on dark colors to avoid shine.

Washing modal clothes, step by step

1. Turn the garment inside out to reduce rubbing on the face side, which is what causes pills.
2. Wash at 30 °C (cool to warm) on a normal or gentle cycle with similar colors.
3. Use a regular or mild detergent and skip chlorine bleach.
4. Shake the garment out and dry it flat or on a line, out of strong sun.
5. If you must use a dryer, choose low heat and take the garment out while it is still slightly damp.
6. Iron on medium (two dots, about 150 °C) if needed.

Is modal a good choice for…?

• Underwear and bras: yes. It is soft, absorbent and smooth under clothes. Look for 5–10% spandex for stretch and recovery.
• Sleepwear and loungewear: yes. This is where modal’s softness and drape shine.
• T-shirts: good for a soft, drapey tee. If you want less cling, pick a heavier fabric (180 GSM or more) or a cotton-modal blend.
• Hot weather: good in warm, dry heat; in heavy humidity it absorbs sweat but dries slowly.
• Workouts: fine for yoga or walking; for running or the gym, polyester blends dry faster.
• Sensitive skin and baby clothes: a good option — smooth fibers cause little friction, which is why we often see modal in baby ranges.

Modal fabric: quick answers

How this guide was researched

Shrinkage figures come from 17,548 finished-fabric quality checks recorded in our dyeing and finishing department between January and October 2026, of which 513 were modal fabrics. Grades come from 510 laboratory test reports (ISO and AATCC methods) dated August to October 2026, of which 8 were modal blends. Fiber-name rules are from the US Textile Fiber Rules (16 CFR 303.7) and the FTC’s adoption of ISO 2076 (TÜV SÜD summary). See how we test for our methods.