Textile Introduction: Fiber, Yarns & Fabrics

A textile is any kind of woven, knitted, braided or tufted cloth, or a non-woven fabric. Textile also refers to the yarns, threads and wools that can be spun, woven, tufted, tied and otherwise used to manufacture cloth .

The production of textiles is an ancient art, whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by mass-production and the introduction of modern manufacturing techniques.

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Fiber

Fiber is the smallest part of a fabric. It is an individual, fine, long, and hair-like substance, it has many wearing characteristics.

Fiber Classification:

Fibers can be classified as natural fibers and man-made fibers.

1. Cotton, flax, silk, wool and asbestos are ordinary natural fibers.
2. Polyester, acrylic,nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl, polyvinyl chloride, spandex, rayon, and acetate are popular man- made fibers.

Textile fiber has many properties:

• Strength
• Elongation/Elastic Recovery
• Resiliency/Wrinkle Resistance
• Dimensional Stability
• Moisture Regain
• Moisture Permeability
• Thermal Insulation
• Water Repellency
• Luster
• Static Charge
• Heat Resistance/Flammability
• Chemical/Biological Resistance

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Yarns

Fibers usually are grouped and twisted together into a continuous strand called yarns.

Yarns are classified as following:

• Simple Yarns
• Staple yarn & Filament yarn
• Complex Yarns
• Textured Yarns
• Method of texturing
• Effects of texturing
• Blended Yarns

Spun (staple) yarns are composed of relatively short length of fibers twisted or spun to hold them together. The short length of fibers are called staple fibers. This staple is made into yarn by mechanical processes, which first make the fibers more or less parallel, then alternately pull and twist them. High twist is necessary to press the fibers together to give strength to the resulting yarn.

Filament yarns are made from filament fibers–whether natural or man-made–is a simple and direct process. Silk is the only natural filament fiber, and the size of silk yarns depends on the number of cocoons reeled off at one time.

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Fabrics

The yarns are then used to make various textile materials; for example, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and lace, fibers can also be used directly to make a fabric without first being made into yarns, which is called nonwoven fabrics.

Woven fabrics are made by interlacing two sets of yarns at right angles to each other.

Knitted fabrics may be described as structures produced by the inter-loopings of yarns.

In actual construction of the fabric, loops are formed; then new loops are drawn through those previously formed.

Non-woven are defined as textile materials made directly from fibers and held together as a fabric by adhesives, heat fusion (if thermoplastic fibers) or through entanglement of the fibers. These materials are generally flat, flexible, porous sheet structures with high surface areas-to-weight characteristics.

Woven Fabrics

An ancient Roman weaver would have no problem recognizing a plain weave, twill, or satin. Many textiles have been in use for millennia, while other artificial fibers are recent inventions.

The range of fibers has increased in the last 100 years. The first synthetics were made in the 1920s and 1930s. Textiles can be made from a variety of materials. The following is a partial list of the materials that can be used to make textiles.

The textile industry, with its extremely long and rich history, has had a massive impact on the world economy and the very evolution of modern society. Weaving is believed to be one of the oldest surviving crafts in the world today, the actual origins of which are thought to date back to Neolithic times 12,000 years ago.

Even before that time, the same principle was used to interlace branches and twigs to form protective fences, shelters and baskets. Once the practicality of interlacing these kinds of materials was understood, further experimentation with other natural materials probably produced the first basic fabrics and cloths.

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Fiber history

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

EST.DATE	FIBER	BACKGROUND AND PRODUCTION
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: Russia; 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, Russia, 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, Russia, 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 China.

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

YEAR	FIBER	FIRST COMMERICAL PRODUCTION
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, only viscose rayon is being produced 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.
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/POLYPROP-YLENE	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	MICROFIBERS/ MICRODENI-ER	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.