Its not just about the "stuff" (rayon cones) but the application method that has pushed it out of fashion. Old school:electrostatic charging the platens such that the cones, when applied airborne (with a hand held device) will adhere to the adhesive in a completely vertical fashion ie; they stand on end. Oh boy does that get messy fast and that rayon will get on absolutely everything. Companies like Shenck make an auto add on applicator but prepare to pay dearly, watch it run sloooowwwwly, and permanently dedicate an auto exclusively to this process and enclose it in its own environment
Oh I know...I ran an M&R gauntlet that was pretty much "dedicated" to flocking like 18 years ago. The entire press was a massive fur ball from spray tack overspray and flock....it was nasty!!
The manual setups I see often use the little cones, but I can also get manual ones here that use a special gun that has a vacuum tool built in that eliminates most of the mess and puts in back in the container so its not wasted. Looks like a shop vac but runs on just air pressure.
As for types, here in China I have seen some crazy ones that indeed look like grass they are are so long and one company I visited was using the process to make fake fur for toys in a flocking conveyor system...truly nuts. Naked toy goes inside the flocking chamber...comes out the other side with hair.
Its just that I see textile printed with it, but it looks like no suppliers offer it and I am 100% sure its not all being done as heat transfer due to the cost and lack of speed. Even hand flocking with a wand is 5x faster than cutting & weeding.
Mostly I am trying to see if its worth my while to bring the stuff in and distribute it. Its super cheap but bulky and with around 60 colors, I am not even sure where to start. But it looks to me like the custom car interior and craft folks use a lot...and for the life of me I cannot understand, but as a ladies fingernail finish too. Flocked fingernails....lol