Types Of Textiles

Types of Textiles
Textiles are classified according to their component fibers into silk, wool, linen, cotton, such synthetic fibers as rayon, nylon, and polyesters, and some inorganic fibers, such as cloth of gold, glass fiber, and asbestos cloth. They are also classified as to their structure or weave, according to the manner in which warp and weft cross each other in the loom (see loom; weaving). Value or quality in textiles depends on several factors, such as the quality of the raw material used and the character of the yarn spun from the fibers, whether clean, smooth, fine, or coarse and whether hard, soft, or medium twisted. Density of weave and finishing processes are also important elements in determining the quality of fabrics.

Tapestry, sometimes classed as embroidery, is a modified form of plain cloth weaving. The weaving of carpet and rugs is a special branch of the textile industry. Other specially prepared fabrics not woven are felt and bark (or tapa) cloth, which are beaten or matted together, and a few in which a single thread is looped or plaited, as in crochet and netting work and various laces. Most textiles are now produced in factories, with highly specialized power looms, but many of the finest velvets, brocades, and table linens are still made by hand.

The Printing of Textiles

The Printing of Textiles
Textile printing, the various processes by which fabrics are printed in colored design, is an ancient art. Although the time and place of origin are uncertain, examples of Greek fabrics from the 4th cent. B.C. have been found. India exported block prints to the Mediterranean region in the 5th cent. B.C., and Indian chintz was imported into Europe during the Renaissance and widely imitated. France became a leading center and was noted especially for the toile de Jouy manufactured at Jouy from 1760 to 1811.

Early forms of textile printing are stencil work, highly developed by Japanese artists, and block printing. In the latter method a block of wood, copper, or other material bearing a design in intaglio with the dye paste applied to the surface is pressed on the fabric and struck with a mallet. A separate block is used for each color, and pitch pins at the corners guide the placing of the blocks to assure accurate repeating of the pattern. In cylinder or roller printing, developed c.1785, the fabric is carried on a rotating central cylinder and pressed by a series of rollers each bearing one color. The design is engraved on the copper rollers by hand or machine pressure or etched by pantograph or photoengraving methods; the color paste is applied to the rollers through feed rollers rotating in a color box, the color being scraped off the smooth portion of the rollers with knives.

More recent printing processes include screen printing, a hand method especially suitable for large patterns with soft outlines, in which screens, one for each color, are placed on the fabric and the color paste pressed through by a wooden squeegee; spray printing, in which a spray gun forces the color through a screen; and electrocoating, used to apply a patterned pile. Color may be applied by the various processes directly; by the discharge method, which uses chemicals to destroy a portion of a previously dyed ground; or by the resist, or reserve, method, which prevents the development of a subsequently applied color to a portion of the fabric treated with a chemical or with a mechanical resist.

Natural Fibers

Natural Fibers

History of the principal natural fibers used in textiles for apparel and home fashion

5,000+ BC
FLAX:
Generally considered to be the oldest natural textile fiber.
Fine linen was used as burial shrouds for the Egyptian pharaohs
Largest producer: Soviet States; other large producers include Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. Largest exporters are Northern Ireland and Belgium.

3,000+ BC
COTTON:
Earliest use estimated between 3,000 BC to 5,000 BC.
Worn by Egyptians earlier than 2,500 BC.
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized the processing of cotton.
The development of the power loom in 1884 brought significant improvements and variations to cotton fabrics.
Major producers: United States, Soviet States, China and India. Lessor producers include Pakistan, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico Iran and Sudan.

3,000 BC
WOOL:
Used by people of the Late Stone Age,
There are 40 different breeds of sheep, which produce approximately 200 types of wool of varying grades.
Major producers include: Australia, New Zealand, Soviet States, China, South Africa, and Argentina.

2,600 BC
SILK:
Believed discovered by a Chinese princess.
Silk is made from two continuous filaments cemented together and used to form the cocoon of the silkworm.
Silk culture began about 1725 BC, sponsored by the wife of China's emperor.
Secrets of cultivation and fabric manufacturing were closely guarded by the Chinese for about 3,000 years.
There is a story that two monks smuggled seeds of the mulberry tree and silkworm eggs out of China by hiding them in their walking sticks.
India learned of silk culture when a Chinese princess married an Indian prince.
The major producer and exporter of silk is Japan.

History of clothing and textiles

The study oclothingstory of clothing and textiles traces the availability and use of textiles and other materials and the development of technology for the making of clothing over human history. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. It is not known when humans began wearing clothes but anthropologists believe that animal skins and vegetation were adapted into coverings as protection from cold, heat and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates; and an alternative hypothesis is that covering may have been first used for other purposes, such as magic, decoration, cult, or prestige, and later found to be practical as well. Clothing and textiles have been important in human history and reflects the materials available to a civilization as well as the technologies that had been mastered. The social significance of the finished product reflects their culture.

Textiles can be felt or spun fibers made into yarn and subsequently netted, looped, knit or woven to make fabrics, which appeared in the Middle East during the late stone age.[1] From the ancient times to the present day, methods of textile production have continually evolved, and the choices of textiles available have influenced how people carried their possessions, clothed themselves, and decorated their surroundings.[2]

Sources available for the study of clothing and textiles include material remains discovered via archaeology; representation of textiles and their manufacture in art; and documents concerning the manufacture, acquisition, use, and trade of fabrics, tools, and finished garments. Scholarship of textile history, especially its earlier stages, is part of material culture studies.

MAN-MADE FIBERS

MAN-MADE FIBERS

The history of U.S. Production of the principal man-made fibers used in textiles for apparel and home fashion

It is important to understand that all manufactured fibers are not alike. Each fiber has a unique composition and it's own set of physical properties. The U. S. Federal Trade Commission has established generic names and definitions for manufactured fibers, including acetate, acrylic, lyocell, modacrylic, nylon, polyester, polypropylene (olefin), rayon, and spandex. However, all fibers under a generic name are not exactly the same.

Fiber producers have been able to modify the basic composition of each generic fiber, both chemically and physically, to produce variations which provide a softer feel, greater comfort, brighter/longer lasting colors, better warmth/cooling, moisture transport/wicking, and better properties for blending with other fibers. These improved fibers are given a trademark name and are owned and promoted by the fiber producer. The following is a list of producers of manufactured fibers and their trademark names.

1910
RAYON
The first man-made fiber.
The first commercial production of rayon fiber in the United States was in 1910 by the American Viscose Company.
By using two different chemicals and manufacturing techniques, two basic types of rayon were developed. They were viscose rayon and cuprammonium rayon.
Today, there are no producers of rayon in the U.S.

1924
ACETATE:
The first commercial production of acetate fiber in the United States was in 1924 by the Celanese Corporation.

1939
NYLON:
The first commercial production of nylon in the United States was in 1939 by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. It is the second most used man-made fiber in this country, behind polyester.

1950
ACRYLIC:
The first commercial production of acrylic fiber in the United States was in 1950 by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc.

1953
POLYESTER:
The first commercial production of polyester fiber in the United States was in 1953 by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc.
Polyester is the most used man-made fiber in the U.S.

1954
TRIACETATE:
The first commercial production of triacetate fiber in the United States was in 1954 by the Celanese Corporation.
Domestic Triacetate production was discontinued in 1985.

1959
SPANDEX:
The first commercial production of spandex fiber in the United States was in 1959 by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc.
It is an elastomeric man-made fiber (able to stretch at least 100% and snap back like natural rubber).
Spandex is used in filament form.

1961
POLYOLEFIN/
POLYPROPYLENE:
The first commercial production of an olefin fiber manufactured in the U.S. was by Hercules Incorporated.
In 1966, polyolefin was the world's first and only Nobel-Prize winning fiber.

1989
MICRO FIBERS/
MICRODENIER:
The first commercial production of micro fiber in the U.S. was in 1989 by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. Today micro fibers are produced in a variety of synthetic fibers (i.e. polyester, nylon, acrylic, etc.)
The true definition of a micro fiber is a fiber that has less than one denier per filament. Micro Fiber is the thinnest, finest of all man-made fibers. It is finer than the most delicate silk.
To relate it to something more familiar--A human hair is more than 100 times the size of some micro fibers

1993
LYOCELL:
The first commercial production of lyocell in the U.S. was in 1993 by Courtaulds Fibers, under the Tencel¬ trade name.
Environmentally friendly, lyocell is produced from the wood pulp of trees grown specifically for this purpose. It is specially processed, using a solvent spinning technique in which the dissolving agent is recycled, reducing environmental effluents.