REGENERATED FIBRES

VISCOSE
These are fibres that are made from cellulose a natural polymer, but the fibre structure has been chemically altered by man, therefore the original fibres are reborn or regenerated, but are not totaly man-made. Viscose rayon Viscose was the first man-made fibre to be produced It was first introduced in 1905 It is manufactured from wood pulp cellulose As it cannot be dissolved in it's original form, the polymer is first chemically altered It is then dissolved in a sodium hydroxide solution The liquid polymer is regenerated by extrusion into a dilute sulphuric acid solution (wetextrusion) The resulting filament is called Viscose Using this basic process a range of viscose fibres with different charactoristics can be produced These charactoristics could include, additional strength, texture or addition of a high moisture absorbancy factor Viscose fibres are chemically similar to those of cotton Viscose fibres are fairly weak and best when blended with other fibres

MODIFIED FIBRES
THE RAYONS
Cellulose is also the raw material for the modified cellulose acetate fibres. The cellulose is first refined by scouring and bleaching, then it is slightly altered (modified) using acetic solutions. Diacetate rayon The cellulose polymer is reacted with water Then the polymer is dissolved in acetone The solution is extruded into hot air using the solvent-dry process The solvent evaporates leaving the polymer in the fibrous form Acetate rayon fibre is spun to produce a fabric that is soft to the touch and drapes like silk A common brand name is Dicel Triacetate rayon Triacitate rayon is similar to Diacetate but needs a different solvent The polymer is reacted with acetic anhydride in acetic acid It is then dissolved in dichloromethane before being extruded in the same way as diacetate The Triacetate filament is not absorbent, and does not shrink or stretch It is usually blended with other fibres for use in knitting yarns The two common brand names are Tricel and Arnel The term synthetic means that the polymer is entirely man-made In terms of thread and yarn production there are four important fibre classes in this group

Polyamide (nylon) Polyester Acrylic and Elastane Polyamide (nylon) Polyamide (nylon) is made from a mixture of coal and petroleum, and was the first synthetic fibre to be produced It was introduced in the USA in 1938 The fibre was initially used for the manufacture of stockings Later nylon became a very popular fabric for shirts, bed-linen and underwear The properties of nylon are that it is quick drying, non-iron and very abrasion resistant, it is also non-absorbant Today nylon filament is usually chopped into staple lengths and blended with wool or cotton Polyester Polyester is another fibre derived from petroleum It is a thermoplastic (deforms in heat) fibre and is produced using the melt-extrusion method The extruded continuous filament is chopped into staple and blends well with wool, cotton and viscose to improve their wearing qualities Polyester has a flame-retardant built into the polymer at the fibre making stage, and is now sold in this non-burning form Because the fibre can also discharge enough static to cause a small electric shock, an antistatic treatment is generally applied Terylene is the most well known polyester fibre Other brand names include Crimplene, Dacron, Diolen, Terlenka, and Trevira Acrylic Acrylic fibres were first produced in 1946 They are made from ammonia, propylene and oxygen The componants are dissolved in a solvent, and the viscose solution is extruded by the solvent-dry method The staple fibres are soft and warm, and have charactoristics similar to wool Acrylic fibres are used extensively in knitting yarns, and are often blended with wool, nylon or cotton Brand names include Acrilan, Orlon, and courtelle Elastane Elastane fibres are able to expand and relax (elastic) They can be extended from 3 to 5 times their original length before they break The fibres are used in stretch body wear such as swimsuits Elastane can also be combined with other fibres (wool, cotton, nylon, for example) to produce extendable yarns Brand names include Vyrene, Spandex, Spanzelle and Lycra

well thats all on fibres, I hope you found it interesting,

Wool fibres are obtained from the fleece of sheep

The fleece from different breeds of sheep varies in colour, quality, fineness and crimp (wavyness) The more crimps or waves to the inch, the finer the wool Sheep are usually shorn once a year In preparation for spinning the wool is graded, sorted, then scoured to remove impurities and grease The wool industry produces two types of yarn, 'woollen' yarn and 'worsted' yarn

WORSTED YARN To produce 'worsted' yarn the longer staples are are used The fibres are both carded and combed, this removes any burrs or vegetable matter and causes the fibres to lie parallel to each other The resulting 'slivers' are then drawn out and spun into a strong, smooth yarn Worsted yarn is usually used in the production of woven wool fabric WOOLLEN YARN To produce 'woollen' yarn the shorter staple fibres are used The fibres are carded between rollers with wire teeth, this tidies and cleans the fibres, but leaves them intermingled rather than parallel to each other. It is important to have fibres lying across the yarn as well as along it The resulting 'slubbings' are then spun to produce a soft, light, bulky yarn Woollen yarn is used for handknitting as well as industrial and domestic machine knitting

SOME EXAMPLES OF WOOLLEN YARNS

Shetland wool is a type of yarn spun from a particular variety of sheep fleece which has courser and longer fibres.

Lambsw ool is spun from the fleece of a sheep that has been shorn for the very first time. It is a very soft but fragile yarn.

Merino wool is spun from the fleece of Merino sheep. It is the softest and warmest wool, stronger than Lambsw ool, but rather more expensiv e.

Botany wool is Merino wool that comes from the Botany Bay area of Australia. Superwash wool has been chemically treated before spinning, in order to prevent the shrinking and felting of finished garments when they are washed.

NATURAL ANIMAL FIBRES

HAIR
Mohair The fibre comes from the coat of the angora goat found in Turkey, but also farmed in the USA and Australia The goats are shorn once or twice a year The staple is 15-30cms (6-12inches) in length The fibres are white, lustrous, very soft and silky, strong and hard-wearing The fibres are often spun with other fibres to provide extra strength The spun yarn produces a very warm, soft fabric Mohair dyes particularly well as a fibre or as a spun yarn Mohair has less tendency than wool to shrinkage or felting

Alpaca The Alpaca is a South American camel belonging to the llama family It is kept as a domestic animal in Bolivia and Peru It is shorn once a year, the fleece being about 30cms (12 inches) in length The brown, tan, fawn or white hair is long, lustrous and silky The hair is strong enough to be spun on its' own The spun hair produces an expensive and luxurious yarn

Llama The Llama is similar to the Alpaca in appearance and colour, but has hair which is more coarse The fibre is less strong and lustrous and of poorer quality than that of the Alpca Cashmere Cashmere is the under-fur of the Cashmere goat native to Kashmir in Northern India, Tibet and Outer Mongolia The hair is combed or plucked by hand from the animal, and is about 1-8cms (-3 inches) in length Only 100grams (3-4 oz) is obtained from each animal Cashmere is very soft, fine and downy, and weight for weight is the warmest of all fibres When spun it is also considered to be the most luxurious yarn and possibly the most expensive Angora Angora fur is plucked or clipped from the rabbit the fur measures 2-10cms (1-4 inches) in length Each rabbit produces an average of 350grams (12oz) each year The fibres are very fine, light and silky In spinning the angora fibres are often mixed with wool to produce a more bouncy, bulky yarn, or with a man-made fibre to give added strength Dog The hair from the soft undercoat of the dog can be collected and spun into a yarn This is becoming a popular fibre for hand spinners and knitters The spun yarn can be easily dyed using wool (acid) dyes

NATURAL ANIMAL FIBRES

SILK
Silk is the only example of a natural filament yarn. The continuous filament can be up to three miles long and, size for size, it is stronger than steel. It is both elastic and absorbent. Silk was being cultivated in China as long ago as 2600 BC, and is renowned for its lustre and brilliance.

There are two categories of silk cultivated and wild

cultvated silk Bombyx is a cultivated silk produced on a silk farm by the Bombyx mori silkworm The diet of this silkworm is mulberry leaves The leaves of the black-mulberry tree are gathered daily to be fed to the silkworms The caterpillar spins a cocoon when it has grown to about 7cm (3inches) long The caterpillar extrudes two filaments which it cements together with a gum called sericin In order to preserve the unbroken filament, cultivated silkworms are not allowed to hatch When eight days old the cocoons of silk filament are steamed to stifle the grub which is inside The cocoons are then softened in hot water to release the gum, and the silk filament is wound off Filaments from a number of cocoons are usually wound off together, to be spun into a mult-filament yarn The cultivated silkworm produces the best white filament wild silk Tussah silk is produced by wild silkworms which feed on oak leaves The caterpillar spins a cocoon when it has grown to about 7cm (3inches) long When the wild silk moths hatch and eat their way out of the cocoon, they damage the silk filament After the filament has been spun this damage shows as small slubs in the yarn. It is these slubs that give some woven silk fabrics (such as dupion), that charactoristic natural texture It is usual to cut the long filaments of wild silk into staple lengths, which are then carded before spinning Wild silk is coarser and stronger than cultivated, and is creamy or brown in colour

NATURAL VEGETABLE FIBRES

STEMS

In order to produce yarns vegetable fibres can be extracted from the stalks, the leaves or the seed pods of specific plants. Flax, Jute, Ramie and Hemp fibres are all obtained from plant stems. The most well known stalk/stem fibre is flax, from which linen yarn is produced, but Jute, Ramie and Hemp yarns are all popular yarns used by textile artists and crafts-people. More recently because of it's environmentally sound cultivation process Hemp has found favour with the Fashion and Knit Industries, and is fast becoming recognised as an important new material.

Flax (linen) Flax is the raw material of linen The long fibres come from the woody stem of the flax plant, Linum usistatissimum The plant grows to a height of about 1m (3 feet) tall, it is spicky and has blue, or sometimes white, flowers It is the only natural vegetable fibre indigenous to Western Europe

Flax is cultivated for the production of linseed oil as well as for textile fibres From July to mid-August, the flax is harvested by pulling up rather than cutting the stems The seeds are extracted from the seed pods for linseed oil production, then the plant is 'retted' to decompose the adhesive that binds the fibres together Next the plant is 'scutched' a mechanical process which seperates the

textile fibres from the bark and woody matter, and removes the short fibres

After scutching, the fibre is combed, and slightly twisted to form a sliver or rove The rove is then spun to produce yarn There are two methods of spinning flax fibres 'Wet spinning' produces a very fine and regular linen yarn 'Dry spinning' produces a coarser slightly rough linen yarn

Jute (Hessian) Jute is mostly grown in India, Bangladesh and Thailand It comes from the stem of the Corchorus plant The plant grows to 2.5-5m (8-15feet) high, but the fibres are only 15-30cms (6-12 inches) long After flowering the plant is harvested by cutting close to the ground The fibres are extracted by retting, then they are washed and dried Natural Jute fibres are yellowish-brown in colour with a lustrous finish and little elasticity Jute is the weakest of the stem fibres, but is stronger than cotton It is a low-cost fibre used for making rugs, carpet backing and packaging

Ramie Ramie comes from the Boehmeria nivea plant (China grass) It is grown in China, but is also cultivated in Japan, Russia, and parts of the USA and Europe The fibres are short, about 15cm (6inches) After retting the ribbons of fibre are stripped from the stalk They are then chemically treated to remove the pectin gum and seperate the fibres ready for spinning Ramie is coarser than Flax, but more lustrous It is silky, fine and strong and pure white in colour It is used for making rope, twine and nets, but it can also be blended with cotton to produce clothing, such as shirts and blouses

Hemp Hemp is a very ancient fibre, coming originaly from China It is now grown in Russia and Japan as well as China The fibres come from the plant Cannabis sativa or cannabis indica The plant grows to about 3m (10 feet) tall Hemp is the strongest textile fibre, being four times stronger than cotton It has high insulation properties, cool in summer, warm in winter The cultivation of Hemp is an environmentally friendly process

NATURAL VEGETABLE FIBRES

LEAVES
Natural vegetable fibres can be extracted from the stems, leaves or seed pods of specific plants. Sisal is a fibre that is extracted from the leaf of the plant.

SISAL

Sisal is obtained from the leaf of the Agave sisalana plant The plant is grown in Central America It can be a very tall plant often reaching 6m (20 feet) The long fibres are between 1 and 2m (3-6 feet) They are extracted by scrapping away the fleshy parts of the leaf The fibres are stiff, white, lustrous and very strong These stiff fibres can be spun with relative ease if the fibres are dampened before processing The spun yarn is used mainly for mats, rugs, carpets, string and ropes Sisal is also used by textile artists to produce wall hangings and sculptures

NATURAL VEGETABLE FIBRES

SEED PODS
Cotton fibre, is by far the most important textile fibre, it makes up almost 50% of the total weight of fibres used in the world. It is also the oldest fibre known to man. It's production in parts of Asia date back to 3000BC. Cotton fibre is the seed-hair of the cotton plant. COTTON

Cotton fibres come from the seed-pods of the Gossypium plant The plant is grown in more than 70 countries It requires a hot climate with lots of sunshine and a good amount of moisture Cultivated annual cotton can grow to a height of 2 metres (6-7 feet) Perennial cotton which is the wild sort can grow much taller Most cotton produced comes from the cultivated plant After a 2 or 3 day flowering period, the plant flower dies leaving a seed-pod or boll Each seed-pod may contain as many as 30 seeds The boll bursts open after about 7 weeks growth, revealing the cotton fibres inside The cotton fibres grow as hairs out of the skin of the seed Each living fibre is a hollow cylindrical tube filled with a liquid nutrient When exposed to the sun the fibre dries out and the tube collapses and twists At this stage the fibre looks like a dry flat, twisted ribbon Harvesting can be done by the fast and efficient means of a mechanical harverster, or the bolls can be hand picked; a method which produces better quality fibres The harvested cotton is sent to a gin for cleaning, this process removes seeds, twigs, leaves and other foreign matter Then the cleaned cotton is compressed into standard-weight bales ready for sale Waste products are utilised, by crushing the seeds to produce edible cooking oil, and the remaining residue is made into a cattle food suppliment

The finished cotton yarn is available in two forms: natural or mercerised.

mercerised cotton Mercerised cotton is cotton that has been treated with a caustic alkaline under pressure This causes the fibre to swell and regain it's original cylindrical tube form, thus making the fibre stronger and it's surface more reflective and lustrous Mercerised cotton absorbs dye very readily, and when dyed has a much brighter colour than that of ordinary cotton

COTTON FIBRE IS QUALITY GRADED BY IT'S FINENESS, LENGTH AND STRENGTH QUALITY FIBRE LENGTH SOURCE

BEST

2.5-6.5cms (1-2ins)

West Indies sea island cotton and Egypt USA Uplands and Peru India and China

MEDIUM

1.25-2.75cms (-1ins) 0.9-2.5cms and (-1ins)

LOWER

MAN-MADE FIBRES
AN OVERVIEW
All man-made fibres are made from polymers. Most of these polymers are chemically produced and the resulting fibres are completly manmade. These fibres are defined as synthetic. Others are natural vegetable (cellulosic) polymers that have been interfered with and altered by man. The fibres resulting from these polymers sit in one of two sub-groups known as regenerated or modified. In order to make them into filaments all polymers must be converted to a liquid form. The molten polymer can then be extruded (forced through fine holes) to form long continuous threads or filaments. The molten filaments then have to be solidified, usually by being passed through a cooling air current. After extrusion the plastic (solid, but still pliable) filament is drawn or stretched over rollers. This process is needed to align the molecules along the length of the fibre axis. Some of these filaments remain as continuous lengths of filament. Others are chopped into staple lengths ready to be spun into staple yarns. The chopped staple can either to be blended with other fibres or spun on it's own.

Three different methods are used for extruding the fibres.

The method chosen depends on the ease with which the polymer can be turned into a liquid.

melt extrusion
Used for a polymer which when heated will melt and become liquid. The viscous solution is extruded and coagulates on cooling. Some common brand names include: Nylon, Polyester, Polypropylene.

solvent-dry extrusion
Used for a polymer that would be damaged by heating, but is able to be dissolved in a volatile solvent that evaporates. The molten filament is extruded into warm air; the solvent evaporates, and the filament solidifies. Some common brand names include: Orlon, Dralon and some Acrylics.

solvent-wet extrusion
Used for a polymer that would be damaged by heating, and can only be dissolved in a non-volatile solvent that does not evaporate. In order to solidify the viscous solution has to be extruded into a chemical coagulating bath. Some common brand names include: Courtelle, Acrylan.

REGENERATED FIBRES
VISCOSE
These are fibres that are made from cellulose a natural polymer, but the fibre structure has been chemically altered by man, therefore the original fibres are reborn or regenerated, but are not totaly man-made. Viscose rayon Viscose was the first man-made fibre to be produced It was first introduced in 1905 It is manufactured from wood pulp cellulose As it cannot be dissolved in it's original form, the polymer is first chemically altered It is then dissolved in a sodium hydroxide solution The liquid polymer is regenerated by extrusion into a dilute sulphuric acid solution (wetextrusion) The resulting filament is called Viscose Using this basic process a range of viscose fibres with different charactoristics can be produced These charactoristics could include, additional strength, texture or addition of a high moisture absorbancy factor Viscose fibres are chemically similar to those of cotton Viscose fibres are fairly weak and best when blended with other fibres

MODIFIED FIBRES
THE RAYONS
Cellulose is also the raw material for the modified cellulose acetate fibres. The cellulose is first refined by scouring and bleaching, then it is slightly altered (modified) using acetic solutions. Diacetate rayon The cellulose polymer is reacted with water Then the polymer is dissolved in acetone

The solution is extruded into hot air using the solvent-dry process The solvent evaporates leaving the polymer in the fibrous form Acetate rayon fibre is spun to produce a fabric that is soft to the touch and drapes like silk A common brand name is Dicel Triacetate rayon Triacitate rayon is similar to Diacetate but needs a different solvent The polymer is reacted with acetic anhydride in acetic acid It is then dissolved in dichloromethane before being extruded in the same way as diacetate The Triacetate filament is not absorbent, and does not shrink or stretch It is usually blended with other fibres for use in knitting yarns The two common brand names are Tricel and Arnel

SYNTHETIC FIBRES
The term synthetic means that the polymer is entirely man-made In terms of thread and yarn production there are four important fibre classes in this group Polyamide (nylon) Polyester Acrylic and Elastane Polyamide (nylon) Polyamide (nylon) is made from a mixture of coal and petroleum, and was the first synthetic fibre to be produced It was introduced in the USA in 1938 The fibre was initially used for the manufacture of stockings Later nylon became a very popular fabric for shirts, bed-linen and underwear The properties of nylon are that it is quick drying, non-iron and very abrasion resistant, it is also non-absorbant Today nylon filament is usually chopped into staple lengths and blended with wool or cotton Polyester Polyester is another fibre derived from petroleum It is a thermoplastic (deforms in heat) fibre and is produced using the melt-extrusion method The extruded continuous filament is chopped into staple and blends well with wool, cotton and viscose to improve their wearing qualities Polyester has a flame-retardant built into the polymer at the fibre making stage, and is now sold in this non-burning form Because the fibre can also discharge enough static to cause a small electric shock, an antistatic treatment is generally applied Terylene is the most well known polyester fibre Other brand names include Crimplene, Dacron, Diolen, Terlenka, and Trevira Acrylic Acrylic fibres were first produced in 1946 They are made from ammonia, propylene and oxygen The componants are dissolved in a solvent, and the viscose solution is extruded by the solvent-dry method The staple fibres are soft and warm, and have charactoristics similar to wool Acrylic fibres are used extensively in knitting yarns, and are often blended with wool,

nylon or cotton

Brand names include Acrilan, Orlon, and courtelle Elastane Elastane fibres are able to expand and relax (elastic) They can be extended from 3 to 5 times their original length before they break The fibres are used in stretch body wear such as swimsuits Elastane can also be combined with other fibres (wool, cotton, nylon, for example) to produce extendable yarns Brand names include Vyrene, Spandex, Spanzelle and Lycra

well thats all on fibres, I hope you found it interesting,