NATURAL FIBERS

NATURAL FIBERS come from plant or animal sources

Plant: cotton, flax, ramie

cellulose – fiber substance in the plant

Animal: wool, silk, cashmere, angora

protein

All (except silk) are STAPLE fibers (short – inch or cm

Silk is FILAMENT fiber (long – yards or meters)

COTTON

Advantages: strong, absorbent, comfortable, doesn’t cling or pill, can wash at high temps, accepts dye easily

Disadvantages: wrinkles easily, shrinks, mildews, flammable, not resilient

Special finishes give wrinkle resistance, shrinkage control

Most widely used fiber

Often combined with other fibers

From cotton boll, seed pod of cotton plant

COTTON

Under microscope looks like a twisted ribbon

FLAX

From inside stem of flax plant

Used for linen fabric

One of oldest fibers- “Shroud of Turin” is linen

Advantages: stronger than cotton, very absorbent

Disadvantages: not resilient, wrinkles easily

Under microscope looks like bamboo pole

WOOL

From fleece of sheep

Quality of wool depends on breed of sheep & climate where raised

Advantages: comfortable, durable, traps air so warm, resilient (wrinkles hang out easily), flame resistant

Under microscope has covering of scales, wavy, crimped

Disadvantages: “felts” when heat applied – scales spread & soften, then interlock so mats & shrinks

WATCH WOOL BEING PROCESSED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMjx-t3tH3A&feature=related

SILK

Advantages: soft & smooth, strong, elastic, resists wrinkles, drapes, easily dried

Disadvantages: not washable, expensive

Under microscope smooth rod

Formed when silkworm spins cocoon, continuous filament (can be mile long if harvested before moth breaks cocoon

OTHERS:

SPECIALTY ANIMAL – alpaca, camel, cashmere, llama, mohair

Expensive

RAMIE – from stem of china grass

Advantages – one of strongest fibers known

Disadvantages – stiff, brittle, not elastic

Usually combine with cotton or flax