Both fiberglass cloth and fiberglass chopped strand mat are an inorganic non-metallic material mainly made from the raw materials of waste glass or mineral raw materials such as quartz sand, limestone, alkaline compound, etc. The raw materials are melted at high temperature from 1100-1300℃ and turned into molten liquid. Through very tiny pores, the molten liquid is drawn out of the furnace, and the liquid glass is divided into fine fiber streams through a rotating nozzle or jet nozzle. At the same time, high-speed jet is used to stretch and extend the fibers, forming continuous fiber bundles. The diameters of these fiber bundles are very small, equivalent to 1/20 to 1/5 of a human hair. Although fiberglass cloth and fiberglass chopped strand mat are made from the same raw materials, they have some differences in some aspects.    

The biggest difference between fiberglass cloth and fiberglass chopped strand is their production process. Fiberglass cloth is a woven fabric, however, fiberglass chopped strand mat is a non-woven material. Due to a woven fabric, fiberglass is made through a series of processing techniques. The drawn fiber bundles are twisted and then sent into a loom for weaving. The weaving machine interweaves the longitudinal and weft threads to form a network structure of fibers, obtaining glass fiber cloth. According to specific applications, fiberglass cloth can be coated with different chemical compounds to create coated fiberglass cloth for different purposes. Fiberglass glass cloth features good insulation, strong heat resistance, good corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength, however, fiberglass chopped strand mat is a non-woven fiberglass material which is made from fiberglass rovings. The strand rovings are chopped to certain length and then randomly fall on to the conveyor belt. They are bound together by either emulsion binder or powder binder. After drying, cooling and winding, the mat is formed. The mat bound with emulsion is called the fiberglass emulsion mat and the mat bound with powder is called the fiberglass powder mat. Fiberglass chopped strand mat features excellent properties of uniform roving distribution, good dimensional stability and superior chemical stability.

The second difference is that fiberglass cloth has higher mechanical strength than that of the fiberglass chopped strand mat, because fiberglass cloth is a twisted yarn and woven structure product. Through twisting and weaving, the cloth becomes very strong. The main weaving patterns of the cloth are plain, twill and satin. Fiberglass cloth can be coated with silicone rubber, PU, PVC, PTFE, aluminum foil to create silicone coated fiberglass cloth, PU coated fiberglass cloth, PVC coated fiberglass cloth, PTFE coated fiberglass cloth, aluminum foil coated fiberglass cloth, etc. The coated fiberglass cloth is even stronger than the uncoated fiberglass cloth. Because fiberglass chopped strand mat is an untwisted and unwoven product, the mat is not strong enough itself, but after combination with chemical resins, it can fabricate fiberglass reinforce plastic (FRP). Being a composite material, FRP is a very strong.

The third difference is that fiberglass cloth and fiberglass chopped strand mat have some differences in applications. Fiberglass cloth including the coated fiberglass cloth can be used as excellent insulation materials. It has high temperature resistant property and is a very good thermal insulation product. It also has corrosion resistant property, electrical insulation property, etc. and can be used in various industrial areas as insulation and reinforced materials. Fiberglass woven roving, a plain weaving textile, can be used as excellent material to make fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). Glass fiber cloth can be widely used in the fields of electrical insulation, thermal insulation, construction, printed circuit boards, etc. Fiberglass chopped strand mat is mainly used for making fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). The mat can be well soaked by chemical resins such as polyester resin, phenolic resin, epoxy resin, etc. to create various kinds of fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). FRP products can be seen everywhere in our every day life. With the use of FRP products, we can save a lot of mineral resources. The development of FRP contributes a lot to human being.