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!
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